Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 1 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Michelle Casto whose book The Destiny Discovery: Find Your Soul’s Path to Success launches on Amazon on Tuesday January 17, 2012.
A renowned Life & Business Coach, Michelle L. Casto is an advocate for “everyday enlightenment”, and author of the book The Destiny Discovery: Find Your Soul’s Path to Success. Throughout her 20-year career, she has published over 30 life empowerment and career development books, including Get Your Career on the Fast Track. A former university lecturer and career counsellor, Michelle has worked with thousands of international clientele to find their ideal career path. A natural-born empath and healer, Michelle has become well known for her potent magic that transforms people into knowing and honouring who they are at a very deep level. Michelle’s mission is to awaken people to their soul purpose through her unique Destiny Success Process. Michelle’s mission is to awaken people to their life purpose through her unique Destiny Success Process.
Today, I’d like to share with you a recent interview I had with Michelle on my Garden of The Soul radio show on Blog Talk Radio, when I got to interview her about the idea of destiny and the teachings in her new book, The Destiny Discovery.
I particularly liked the part of the interview where Michelle shared her model of the “Four V’s” or the “Four Stages of Consciousness”: Victim, Victor, Vehicle and Vessel. It reminds me of a cross between Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and M. Scott Peck’s four stages of community (I’m a big fan of both). However, Michelle presents it all within a much more “daily life” approach, so readers can relate to it and work with it at a practical level.
If you click the flash player below, you can listen to the whole show. I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed hosting it:
Over the course of 3 days, we’ll be exploring the journey of AWAKENING to the path of destiny, FINDING the path of true destiny, and SUCCEEDING on the path of destiny.
Here’s our wonderful guest line-up:
Michelle L. Casto - Life & Business Coach; author of The Destiny Discovery
Lynn Serafinn - Coach; marketer; author of The 7 Graces of Marketing and The Garden of the Soul
Christine Kloser - award-winning author; mentor to transformational authors and conscious entrepreneurs
Paul Zelizer – business success coach for spiritual people
Brenda McIntyre - healer, business coach, spiritual mentor and award-winning singer
Dee Wallace - acclaimed Hollywood actress, acting coach, internationally known healer, author of Bright Light
Dr. Roy Martina - world-renowned holistic medical doctor, author of #1 bestseller Emotional Balance: the path to inner peace and harmony, and 40 other books
Nan Akasha – CHT Mind over Money Coach, #1 bestselling author of Already Rich! Secrets to Master Your Money Mind.
Eva Gregory – master coach, conscious channel, speaker and author
Jackie Lapin - speaker, coach, transformational business consultant and mentor in Practical Conscious Creation
Gail Goodwin – Founder of InspireMeToday.com, providing free inspiration from world-renowned luminaries every day to members in more than 120 countries
Steve D’Annunzio- productivity trainer, life success coach, author, President of the Soul Purpose Institute, member of the Transformational Leadership Council
This special 3-Day telesummit is Michelle’s FR*EE gift to you,
to celebrate the launch of her book, which is coming
Tuesday January 17th, 2011.
When you buy Michelle’s book on Tuesday January 17, 2012, you can ALSO receive the MP3 download of all 3 days of this inspiring telesummit, plus a complete library of beautiful personal development gifts from authors, speakers, coaches and other enlightened professionals from around the globe including one from me:
Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.
AND… be sure to follow Michelle tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is with Callie Carling, who will be interviewing Michelle on choice stepping stone, identifying soul purpose and overcoming low self-esteem. To visit that “stop” on the tour, go to http://www.positivitybubbles.com/2012/01/destiny-discovery/
Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 7 of the Virtual Blog Tour of Hay House author Dr Roy Martina, whose book Emotional Balan6ce: the path to inner peace and harmonycomes to Amazon on Tuesday March 15, 2011.
Roy Martina is a holistic medical doctor with over 30 years experience helping people tap into their true selves and “cure the incurable” by understanding the connection between emotional balance and dis-ease. He is the author of over 40 books in Dutch and other languages. He has spent the last 25 years studying acupuncture and numerous holistic techniques in order to offer people a profound level of healing, and he has been tireless in his pursuit of methods that work swiftly and effectively to aid the healing process. This work has put him at the leading edge of the holistic and self-help world.
Today, I’d like to share with you a recent interview I had with Roy when I got to ask him on questions relating to personal and social transformation. I hope you enjoy it.
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Lynn Serafinn: In your experience, what are some of the common misunderstandings people have about the term “personal transformation”? What is the actual meaning?
Roy Martina: From my medical holistic standpoint, personal transformation can be disease forming. If someone believes that they need to be in their power and be able to do what they want, this can lead to suppression of emotions and thus be the cause of suppression of the immune system. My research shows that the only way to transform is to return to your authentic self because that is the state of being where there is no conflict between whom you are and the false image you create of yourself.
Many schools of personal transformation help people create a false persona they need to become and give them the tools to program their brains to be in that state. Often these pathways are immune depressing and cause many types of diseases. I have treated many leaders of motivation movements and self-development and understood that when we do not find the way to our authentic self we step into false power beliefs that make us sick. Personal transformation is the path of unlearning the beliefs that take us away from our unconditional loving authentic self.
Lynn Serafinn: What are the top 3 most important keys to help us transform? How can we access them?
Roy Martina: The most important 3 keys:
1. Become aware when you are not connected with your Authentic Self. You will notice because you are not at peace, you don’t feel happy and you take things personal and that creates stress)
2. The next step is to have the power or tool to let go of where you are and to find a way to return to inner peace and harmony. So the idea is that you step out of the turmoil, reconnect and from that still point look at the whole situation again but now through the eyes of the Authentic Self and discover the power of the subconscious mind and the false self-image. 3. The third step is to train your nervous system through exercises like Emotional Balance to become at ease to maintain the still point and to make choices from this power. And let go anything from the past experiences and education that block you to keep that power of authenticity.
Lynn Serafinn: There is so much talk today about conscious evolution, especially with all the 2012 “hype” in the media. What’s your personal stance on conscious evolution? What is it? Is it really happening? Where do you think humanity is headed?
Roy Martina: I am seeing the increase of the effects of conscious evolution in the media (TV programs, magazines, movies, social media, books, etc) but what is lacking is the subconscious evolution. In spiritual groups I see that most people are aware how they want to be, but when they get stressed, they fall back in subconscious patterns of jealousy, fear, anger and worries. Many struggle financially and do not really know how to make the law of attraction work for them even though consciously they understand. So we are heading in the right direction but have to shift from conscious to subconscious evolution. 2012 is a great moment in history because we make it so by the hype, so now it has become inevitable a tipping point for the better or the worse. Only history will tell.
Lynn Serafinn: If you could use your healing process to shift one thing in humanity, what would that be? How can we as a society begin this process together?
Roy Martina: The big shift that needs to happen is that most the so called ‘holistic therapists’ need to stop calling themselves ‘holistic’ (because they are not) and start to study true holistic healing. The biggest shift is when we learn to forgive and to let go the past and focus on opening our hearts. The power of healing begins not with loving oneself because that is impossible. To say ‘I love myself’ is an enigmatic paradox: who is the I and who is the self? If the “I” is pure love how can it NOT love itself? If the self is the human form why does it need to be loved if it is held together by love (itself)? We need to become the authentic expression of ourselves and that is the expression of love.
If we can make that shift in healing, we will learn that all that we resist in life is the cause of disease. Stop the resistance to express your Authentic Self and you become the source of healing of the human self (your body, mind and soul) and others.
When you visit the page at the link above and request a “launch reminder”, you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Roy’s 4-day “Emotional Balance Telesummit” with a line up of 10 TOP international experts on the topic of emotional healing and inner balance. You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast. This is a completely free “no purchase necessary” gift from Roy, to celebrate the release of the new Hay House publication of his book.
FREE GIFTS
Then, if you decide to you buy the book during its official launch celebration on Tuesday March 15, 2011, you can ALSO receive a complete library of over 40 beautiful personal development gifts from authors, speakers, healers, coaches and other enlightened professionals from around the globe including one from me: 4 Audio Meditations from the Garden of the Soul Workshop
Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.
AND… be sure to follow Roy tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is Cindy Eve who will be interviewing Roy on questions relating to affirmations, gratitude journal and self-sabotage. To visit that “stop” on the tour, go to http://wp.me/pGa6q-y8
Author Maria Gamb proposes some answers in her new Book Healing the Corporate World, coming to Amazon Tues Oct 12th, 2010.
It’s staggering to think about it.
The American Institute of Stress calls stress “American’s #1 Health Problem.” They estimate “75 – 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems” and that “Job Stress is far and away the leading source of stress for adults.” The New York Times quoted Steven L. Sauter (Chief of the Organizational Science and Human Factors Branch of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) as saying, “workplace stress costs more than $300 billion each year in health care, missed work and stress-reduction” and “workers who report that they are stressed incur health care costs that are 46 percent higher, or an average of $600 more per person, than other employees. And in the UK, nearly half a million people expressed they felt work related stress was at a level that was making them ill in 2008, and these figures appear to be increasing rapidly every year.
But in spite of all this, to my shock, all too many sites I found during my research provide tips on how to “deal” with stress, rather than trying to change “what is.” One site even talks about being “stress hardy” to make us better able to survive what we believe we cannot change. In other words, it seems that all too many have thrown in the towel, and given into the idea that being stressed (and unhappy) at our work is simply a part of life, and that the best we can do is to learn how to cope.
By all accounts, Maria was experiencing a highly “successful” career for many years—at least to the naked eye. But inwardly, Maria, a highly sensitive and intuitive woman, with a great belief in the human spirit, knew something was intrinsically wrong with the way businesses were being run in our modern world. Stress wasn’t the problem; it was merely the natural symptom that arouse as a result of much deeper issues. Competition, fear, blame, feelings of helplessness, and a sense of not being “seen” had become the norm rather than the exception, especially in corporate life. And no amount of stress management would ever make stress go away until these issues were addressed—not only at a personal level, but also at a global level.
It was time to talk about how we were going to transform the business world and heal a seriously ailing system.
Maria wrote this book with a passion to start the ripple of change that will do exactly what the title says: HEAL the corporate world. That doesn’t just mean to rescue our culture from economic crisis, but rather to heal the people and relationships within organizations so they can become healthy, flowing systems for change and creativity that are founded upon values, innovation, personal responsibility and authentic leadership at all levels of the business structure.
And while the title suggests a focus on corporate life, the book is NOT just for CEOs, senior managers or even corporations—it is a book for anyone who works. You might be a middle-manager, or a new employee on a team. You might even be self-employed, or the owner of a small business. The principles in this book are applicable to anyone who wants to create a more human-focussed society by transforming the way we do business.
To celebrate the release of this “inspiring and visionary book” (Ernest Chu, bestselling author of Soul Currency), when you purchase Healing the Corporate World on the day of its launch, you can receive a complete library of personal development gifts from dozens of leading authors, business professionals, speakers on the subject of business and self-improvement.
There you will find links to purchase the book from Amazon and instructions on how to claim your bonus gifts, including a special gift from Maria: almost 5 hours audio recordings of her 4-Day Telesummit, “Transforming Business from the Inside Out”, an uplifting and inspiring online telesummit with 9 of today’s top business and transformational authors and speakers.
When you look at all the bonus gifts, don’t worry about not having enough time to download them all. As long as you purchase the book during the launch, you’ll have access to the download page until October 31st.
I hope you’ll check out Healing the Corporate World on Tuesday October 12th, so we as a society can begin to apply these values-based principles in our work-place, and help start the process of healing for everyone.
Did you ever sit on the floor for too long and your leg went numb? Remember that horrible feeling you got when you stood up? At first, you don’t even feel your leg and your leg might wobble (or even collapse) underneath you. That happened to me on more than one occasion in India after having sat on a marble floor for several hours listening to a lecture. I had to get used to the locals laughing at me whenever they saw this western woman in a badly-wrapped sari fall over her own two feet for no apparent reason!
But once you’ve made it through the wobble, something else starts to happen—the dreaded “pins and needles” sensation as the blood starts to flow again in your legs. It feels absolutely horrible at first, and there is an overwhelming urge to sit back down on your leg and make it go “dead” again. But we know this is the worst thing we can do. We know the blood has to start flowing again. We know that the “pins and needles” is the signal that our leg is returning to its healthy state, where the leg recovers from its numbness, and we are again able to feel it and use it fully and effortlessly. We know it is necessary to feel the wobble and the pain (and maybe even the falling and the humiliation!) before we can move forward.
The interesting thing is, our emotional world works in exactly the same way, but for some reason, many of us do not respond to our emotions the same way we respond to our leg. Let me explain.
Emotions get “blocked” within us in exactly the same way the blood in our leg gets block—we “sit” on them and do not allow them to flow. And just like our legs, when we sit on our emotions, we go “numb”. We become detached and desensitized to our own feelings, as well as to the feelings of others. In extreme cases, we become incapable of connecting at an intimate level with anyone, what to speak of ourselves. Many of us can go on for years—decades—with blocked emotions.
When something shakes us up from our “numb” state, it is very similar to what happens when we first stand up on our “dead” leg. We wobble. We might even stumble. We have been hiding our emotions from others for so long, that when we start to allow them to be seen, our world starts to rock. People might not recognise or relate to us anymore, and because we fear losing them, we might try to convince ourselves to return to our familiar, stuck, numb place. We might also quite possibly become afraid of what we intuitively know is coming next—the “pins and needles”. This is the stage where sensation is returning to us. And just like pins and needles in our legs, it probably doesn’t feel particularly nice. We might experience an avalanche of confusing emotions like humiliation, shame, grief, anger, blame and fear. And being inexperienced with these emotions, having been cut off from them for so long, we might not know what to do with them or how to process them in a constructive way.
Now, if we were to sit our leg for decades, you can be pretty sure we would render it permanently useless, and it would be unlikely to heal. But the wonderful thing about emotions is that, even those that have been stuck for most of our lives can come back to life—if we can stay with the “pins and needles” long enough to allow the “flow” to come back into our feelings, without succumbing to the urge to jump back in the box of our numbness.
And just as how the end of the “pins and needles” stage restores full sensation and mobility to you leg, making it to the other side of your emotional pins and needles brings you into full sensation, which leads to flow at a heart and soul level. In both the leg and our emotions, feeling is the doorway to healing, and healing is the doorway to transformation.
And while the above analogy is my own, the essence of this story is the fundamental principle of the book Memory in the Cells: how to change behavioral patterns and release the pain body by my client and good friend Luis Angel Diaz. The book teaches both the theory and the practical methodology of what Luis calls “Cellular Memory Release” (CMR), where you learn how to FEEL your emotions at a deep level, not only for the purpose of healing old wounds, but also of transforming them so your life is full of awareness, sensation, aliveness and flow.
As Luis puts it, “It is about transforming the ‘Pain Body’ into the ‘Joy Body.’
Memory in the Cells is coming to Amazon at exactly 12:01 AM Pacific THIS TUESDAY October 5th (yes, that’s TOMORROW, as I write this). In celebration of the release of his book, dozens of Luis’ friends and colleagues have kindly donated a complete library of personal development gifts that you can download for free, when you buy the book Memory in the Cellson the day of its launch this week. I’m also giving away a free download (audio and text) of my mini-eCourse “Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed.”
To find out more about the book and the free gifts, and to see a video in which Luis talks about how he came to develop this method to help people learn how to deal with pain, go to: http://memoryinthecells.com
AND… when you buy the book on Tuesday, Oct 5th, not only will you receive those free gifts, but you will also receive a special FR*EE 2-part LIVE online class with Luis himself, where he will take you through the CMR process, step-by-step.
This is not going to be another one of those self-help books that just sits on the shelf, unused. Luis is truly dedicated to sharing the information and practical tools in the book, and this free class is his way of showing that he “walks his talk.”
I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the release of this highly-practical, and truly healing, book by Luis Diaz. To buy the book on Tuesday October 5th, just go to http://memoryinthecells.com.
And then, I hope to see you on the fr*ee class a few weeks later.
Warm wishes
Lynn Serafinn
Author, Transformation Coach, Book Promotions
Lynn Serafinn is a an award-winning transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host and bestselling author of the book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. She also works as a campaign manager for mind-body-spirit authors and has many bestselling book campaigns, including four #1 sellers in 2010 alone. She is also the creator of Spirit Authors, which offers training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. To contact Lynn for coaching, campaign management or media appearances, please fill in the form at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.
Maria Gamb, author of "Healing the Corporate World"
Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 5 of the Virtual Blog Tour for Healing the Corporate Worldby author Maria Gamb.
Written by former Fortune 500 executive, Maria Gamb, who spent more than 20 years trailblazing businesses valued at upwards of $100 million, Healing the Corporate World is a cutting-edge book examining the deep, and usually unspoken, ailment of the modern corporate world, offering solutions for healing at a personal, financial and even spiritual level. By showing the reader “the four cycles of transformational leadership”, Maria provides business leaders, from solo entrepreneurs to corporate senior executives, practical answers on how to transform their organizations from the inside out, and become “Change Agents”, consciously creating their own reality.
Yesterday, Maria visited Liz Pabon at www.lizpabon.com/blog. For today’s stop on the tour, I decided to ask Maria some questions about self-sabotage, feelings of powerlessness in the workplace, and how to rise above them.
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Lynn: You mention in your book that some of us actually sabotage or compromise our own success. In your experience, what are some of the most common ways we do it?
Maria: Often times we engage in competitive behaviors, defensiveness and/or our values are compromised. But ultimately this all goes back to the same thing: we’re afraid that we’ll be found out as “not being good enough” or that potentially we believe there isn’t “enough” to go around. That means not enough opportunities, not enough resources to share, not enough praise or recognition. These are actually basic needs: to be seen, heard and recognized. By engaging in these “not enough” behaviors and attitudes, we often alienate those around us who can contribute directly to success.
Lynn: You mention in your book that it is vital to build teams that reflect our core values. What advice can you give for doing that when there are so many different value systems at play, and when some people in the workplace might not even be in touch with their own values?
Maria: It’s important for the individual business professional to decide what is most important to them. If it’s honesty, for example, then you would need to quantify exactly what that means in specific, actionable terms. Doing this helps to create a very clear framework of reference rather than an abstract ideal that will be hard for others to fulfil. More importantly, it will be challenging for the individual to know or experience that value in another human being without this quantifiable method.
People will be different, but that’s the beauty of this. In fact, my suggestion is to decide on 2-3 core values or beliefs of what they feel is most valuable for their team members to embody and then build that team. There will never be a 100% perfect match where everyone has the same values, but it is important to pick the ones that matter most to you. What you’re doing in this process is insuring that you’re all on the same page with regards to your rules of engagement in how you will work together and with others.
Lynn: You talk about “blazing a new trail no matter where you are.” What words of encouragement do you have for people who see themselves as powerless and at the “bottom of the food chain” in their business environment?
Maria: People are only victims if they choose to take on that role. That is a belief that no one will ever hear them or understand or appreciate what they have to offer. The truth is that the individual has to believe in themselves first and what they have to offer as truly valuable. When they do they do not feel powerless.
A majority of the book is based on helping the reader to understand that they create their work environments and outcomes. They are in control of their happiness and security when they work through the processes outlined. Those who may perceive themselves as at the bottom of the food chain may not feel they can make any real difference on the scale they’d like. However, when they begin integrating this work into their lives they first change the immediate environment and effectiveness, which builds to greater influence to those around them. That’s the point: to use your influence in a positive manner. But first, you’ve got to start exercising those beliefs and values into your personal and professional life first.
Lynn: A lot of your work focuses on corporate environment and teams. Most of my clients are solo-preneurs who don’t work within the same kind of environment. How can these kinds of people apply your principles? What will it bring them and their business?
Maria: The beauty of the content in the book is that it applies to all those in business, not necessarily just large corporations. Many entrepreneurs dream of having large businesses with a huge earning potential. That sounds like they want to build their own legacy within their niche. The tools, tips and processes outlined in the book are universal. They share what it takes to be a person in business who creates solid, healthy relationships and influence. With that influence they have a decision to make about how they want to use that success: to take care of themselves and their families only or to help others too. You see, the concept of commerce was built to bring the flow of goods, services and opportunities, including the flow of money, into the world. Entrepreneur or executive, both are engaged in this exchange. So why not use the tools for building a more compassionate and conscious business from the start – when the entrepreneur has the dream or idea then begins to bring it into the world. What this system brings is positive influence and affluence: the fulfilment of one’s purpose and a deeper understanding of what you’re doing and why it’s so important.
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I hope you enjoyed this interview with Maria Gamb and that you’ll check out her new bookHealing the Corporate World, which is coming to Amazon on Tuesday October 12, 2010.
You can receive a complete library of beautiful personal development gifts when you buy the book on the day of its launch, including one from me: a special report called “Why Nice People HATE Marketing” (it’s actually a sneak peek at some of the content from my upcoming book).
In addition, Maria is hosting an exciting FREE 4-day telesummit entitled “Transforming Business from the Inside Out” on October 4th – 7th with a distinguished panel of 9 of today’s most innovative authors and speakers on becoming the ‘Change Agent’ in your business, in your life and in the world!
If you’d like to attend, all you have to do is request a “launch reminder” about the book, and you’ll receive all the information to attend. If you cannot make the live event, you can download the audio at your convenience.
To find out how to buy Maria’s BOOK and receive these gifts,
including the FREE pass to the 4-day online telesummit, go to
Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day number 5 of the Virtual Blog Tour for Memory in the Cellsby author Luis Angel Diaz.
Newly translated from the popular Spanish edition, author Luis Diaz describes his book Memory in the Cells as “where Eckhart Tolle meets What the Bleep Do We Know, but taking you on a much more practical journey.” He says Memory in the Cells teaches “emotional education” and shows the reader how to transform the “pain body” into the “joy body”, helping to heal all aspects of their lives.
For today’s stop on the tour, I decided to ask Luis some questions about how to utilise both “positive” and “negative” emotions in our lives so we can find happiness and fulfilment.
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Lynn: I heard you say once that “Self betrayal is a cultural habit”. Can you explain what you mean by that and give some examples?
Luis: The process starts with the disconnection between mind and body in each of us. I’ll give you some examples: We say things that we don’t feel or feel things that we don’t express. We do things we don’t want to do and then we don’t follow through. We want something but we don’t ask for it, and then we get mad because we didn’t get it! We say yes when we want to say know and then we resent others for that. We don’t set boundaries but then we blame others when they crossed them. We betray ourselves each time we are not honoring our truth and we pretend to feel, to think or to do what is not coherent with ourselves. The result is unhappiness and disease no matter what we do to try to change it.
Lynn: You also say that “positive and negative feelings are both necessary.” How do you help people embrace their painful feelings rather than avoid them?
Luis: We human beings do everything based on our needs and values, but only 100% of the time! Therefore our values rule our life. Let´s say; “freedom”: if we lose it, we feel sad, angry or afraid. But if we have it; we’ll feel open, trusting, creative and happy. The same happens with all other human values; love, respect, honesty, trust, compassion. If I have them, I feel great. If I don’t, I feel horrible.
Then, negative and positive feelings are both indispensable to tell me where I am in relation with my values in life. How far or close I am from them. Then, feelings both positive and negative are our guidance system and without them, we are totally lost.
Lynn:You mention that people can get addicted to emotions. Can you give some examples of that? What happens to us when we are addicted to certain emotions? How can we get “unaddicted” and what benefit will this bring to us?
Luis: Addiction is a strong word, but it works in this case. What really happen is that we create deep habits and we keep repeating them automatically endlessly. We are addicted to anger when we are irritable and frustrated most of the time. We may be addicted to fear if we are anxious and worry frequently. Behind a habit like this, there is always a pay off or a benefit that is deep rooted in our subconscious and the first step to change is always; AWARENESS. Then it comes the deactivation of the pattern and after that the reconditioning based on my main priorities set by my values.
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I hope you enjoyed this interview with Luis Angel Diaz and that you’ll check out his new bookMemory in the Cells, which is coming to Amazon on Tuesday October 5, 2010. You can receive a complete library of beautiful personal development gifts when you buy the book on the day of its launch, including one from me: a free mini eCourse called “Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed”, which can help you start to recognise your limiting beliefs so you can move past whatever emotions might be keeping you stuck in areas of your life.
In addition, Luis is hosting a very special FREEtelesummit entitled “Healing at a Cellular Level” on September 27th, 28th and 29th with a distinguished panel of some of today’s most inspiring authors and speakers on the topic of emotional healing and holistic wellbeing. If you’d like to attend, all you have to do is request a “launch reminder” about the book, and you’ll receive all the information to attend. If you cannot make the live event, you can download the audio at your convenience.
To find out how to buy Luis’s book and receive these gifts,
including the FREE pass to the 3-day online telesummit, go to
Lynn Serafinn takes a look at the “2012 phenomenon” and tells you about a FREE event Sept 14-16 where 9 leading authors and speakers discuss “the Shift” occurring on our planet today.
Throughout history there have been many prophecies about the “ending” times. I remember doing a history report when I was a teenager on the so-called “dark ages”, and I read about the apocalyptic panic that swept through parts of Europe as the calendar approached the “doomsday” date of January 1, 1000. While this might seem silly to some of us today, ironically, only a few years ago, millions of people were gripped by fear over the predicted “Y2K” catastrophe, or the “millennium bug”, which was supposed to wipe out global communications and commerce virtually overnight. I personally knew many people who were stock-piling food (and even weapons!), in anticipation of wide-spread civil war in the last few years of the 20th century.
Have a look for yourself. Google the term “end of the world predictions throughout history” and see how many amusing articles you will find on “failed” predictions, and how many times the world simply didn’t end.
Given all that experience, you would think our society would have given up on “end of the world as we know it” predictions, and take faith that, while the world is constantly in a state of flux and change, life moves onward regardless.
So why is it that nowadays people are getting all hyped up about the “2012” phenomenon?
By now, most of you know that the year 2012 (more specifically, the date of December 21, 2012) is the end of the Mayan calendar. Predictions of what might happen have been appearing in the media at both extremes of the spectrum, from catastrophic polar shifts to spontaneous ascension to a higher dimension. And amidst these extremes, my guess is there is a vast silent majority of people who believe December 21, 2012 will be a day just like any other and that life will simply move on as usual.
Personally, I do believe 2012 will be a year of change, but I believe this change will be a subtle conglomerate of all three of the above outlooks.
While I do not particularly think the Earth will roll over on its axis, I do see unnatural shifts in the environment occurring around us, and humankind seems to have had a hand in much of it. But then, amidst this environmental imbalance, I also see thousands of grass-roots movements on the planet cropping up who hold the core belief that we humans must re-establish our emotional and spiritual connection with our planet.
I see our economies collapsing, and again it is largely the result of our own miscalculations and anxieties. But again, amidst this collapse, I see people becoming immensely creative in developing new economic paradigms that will change our world significantly in the coming generations.
And amidst all this environmental and economic upheaval, I also see a greater percentage of the population becoming disheartened with the “old way” of leading their lives, and seeking pathways to a higher Self and more integrated way of being. In the workshops I have delivered over the past year, I see people going further and reaching higher levels more quickly than in the past. Whether this is “cosmological” or a purely social phenomenon doesn’t really matter. The fact is, more and more people are becoming interested in raising their own consciousness and cultivating their own personal spirituality.
I don’t believe the “end” is coming, but the world IS changing; and we are part of that great and wonderful change.
So what really lies ahead?
One of my spiritual author clients, Ms E.Dee Conrad, addresses this very question in her upcoming book A New Dawn Awaits, which is coming to Amazon on Tuesday September 21st. To celebrate the launch of her book, E.Dee and I thought the topic was so compelling that we have coordinated a very special 3-day FREE online event with a great line-up of guest speakers. We would love for you to attend.
Over these 3 days, you will hear from 9 of today’s leading authors and speakers on the subject of consciousness and the great “shift” that is taking place on our planet today. Our guests include:
Hunt Henion, author of four books, including the bestseller, Looking, Seeing & Knowing
Bill Douglas, Tai Chi master and author of 2012 The Awakening
Christian Kyriacou, Energy Healer, Ki Architect and House Whisperer
Tambra Harck, spiritual teacher, radio host and author of the book Sacred Truths
Jeff Fasano, photographer, author, angelic channeler
Alan Seale, award-winning author, and leadership/transformation coach
Tracy Latz and Marion Ross, “Shift” Doctors, and co-authors of the bestseller SHIFT: a woman’s guide to transformation.
And of course, E.Dee and I will be co-hosting the discussion and offering our own thoughts and insights.
This telesummit is absolutely free. You can listen either via telephone or via webcast. And if you cannot make the live event, register anyway, because you can download the audio anytime up to 30 days after the event.
Again, to reserve your place, just go to http://virtualspiritualevents.com/. You can even send in a question you would like to ask the panel.
ALSO, at the telesummit, E.Dee and I will be telling you how you can receive a complete library of 30 personal development gifts when you purchase her inspiring new book A New Dawn Awaits on September 21st, including a free mini-eCourse entitled “Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed” from me, which can help you recognise your own limiting beliefs, to make way for your own conscious evolution.
For more information about E.Dee and her book, A New Dawn Awaits,
visit http://edeeconrad.com
About Lynn Serafinn
Lynn Serafinn is a an award-winning transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host and bestselling author of the book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. She also works as a campaign manager for mind-body-spirit authors and has produced two #1-selling book campaigns, and another #2-selling campaign, in just the past few months. She is also the creator of Spirit Authors, which offers training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. To contact Lynn for coaching, campaign management or media appearances, please fill in the form at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.
If you’re looking to reclaim your inner space this month, Karen’s luscious Walkingspirit Retreat runs June 26th to July 3rd in Tuscany, Italy. See full details at the end of this article to find out how to book and receive a discount as one of Lynn’s subscribers.
When Karen Maycey (pictured above) changed careers to become a coach in 2005, she was asked a simple question: “What is your dream?” Karen replied quickly, saying, “My dream is to run a retreat in the mountains!”
She had first had this dream when she was working as a tour guide in the Austrian Alps. During that period of her life, Karen had a successful and exciting career as a guide for long haul and adventure holidays. She had taken groups to the Great Wall of China, through the US National Parks, and countless times through New Zealand and Australia. And throughout those times, she kept dreaming of creating her own retreat-not one that was defined by the tour companies that hired her-which would incorporate yoga, walking, being in inspirational surroundings in the mountains (her favourite place) and good quality home-cooked food.
But the fact she was so successful at her job actually proved to be a distraction to Karen, and over time this dream got somewhat forgotten.
But when her coaching trainers asked the question, “What is your dream?”, the dream reappeared. And this time, she knew her mountain retreat would also include coaching.
But while the picture of the dream became clearer in Karen’s mind, life took over, and once again the dream got pushed into the background of her life. She says, “The dream sort of ‘hung around’ but it was semi-forgotten.”
In 2006, Karen she met a man named Verran, who was at that time a marketing director of private company. Soon, the two became a couple. Like Karen, Verran loved the mountains and the great outdoors, but his job offered little opportunity to live his passion. He had a dream to start a new company that incorporated his love for the outdoors and his work with businesses. Karen encouraged and supported him to follow his heart, and Verran resigned from his job. He soon started a company called “Outside Insights”, where he works as a walking guide taking businesses into the outdoors for team building, problem solving and personal growth. But Karen’s own dream was still not yet manifesting,
Then, April 2007 she took a course called Awakened Wisdom with Patrick Ryan where one of the tasks was to create a “mandala” envisioning her dreams for the future and how she wanted to “be” in the world. Over and over again, the theme of retreats kept popping up, along with being open-hearted, tapping into cosmic love, being a shining star, and being a catalyst for change and an inspiration. She was inspired by the words of Marianne Williamson that spoke of allowing one’s light to shine, and that it didn’t serve anyone for her to hide away. In making this mandala, Karen knew it was time to start being that shining star.
Astonishingly, within weeks of coming to that realisation, she was called by a company called “The Big Stretch” for an interview, and was subsequently hired. “The Big Stretch” was very close to her dream, as every gave her the opportunity to lead personal development courses for small groups that involved a “full on” week of coaching and walking in mountains of Spain. She felt this new job “semi-satisfied” her dream, but the bigger dream was still on the back burner. But all of it was slowly building up to the experience she truly wanted to create, and helped to give her the confidence she could do it.
But then, things changed.
In May 2008, Karen noticed a lump in her left breast. Shortly thereafter she went for an operation and her first diagnosis. At age 37, Karen had grade-2 breast cancer.
Karen was filled with shock and disbelief. How could she have cancer? She had always been so healthy and health conscious. She was young, fit, active, sporty and spent a lot of time outdoors. How could this happen?
But after the initial shock, she got down to dealing with the situation. After all, this was a matter of life and death. But Karen soon realised it was not so simple. She realised that deciding upon a treatment regime had to be something that matched her philosophy in life. Trusting her intuition, and frequently needing to hold true to her convictions in the face of advice she was receiving from her NHS doctors, Karen decided not to do chemotherapy, and embarked on a naturopathic route to healing. She felt her healing could only really happen if she worked in a way she herself believed.
Karen says, “I think what matters is that you believe in the choices you are making.”
She spent more than a year on an intense 5-hour a day regime that included detox and supplements, costing her thousands of pounds.
And all through the process, she kept saying to herself, “When I get better, I’ll do this or I’ll do that” But while her treatments seemed to be working well, and she began to look more healthy and vibrant than she did before the cancer, whenever her test results came back from the lab, the doctors never said, “Your cancer is gone forever.” Instead, they would always say, there is more work to do. It seemed like everything in her life was put “on hold” while she focussed on her cancer.
But then, over the Christmas holiday in 2009, things changed again.
She and Verran were on holiday on the La Vacchio farm in a valley in northern Italy. They spent many hours talking together about the experience of the past year and their vision for the future. Looking at the beautiful surroundings, Karen felt a shift within her. Suddenly, she realised how long she had been delaying her dream, year after year. But now she saw it was time to start living in the now. If she kept using other things as excuses to delay her dreams, they might never come true. And if she simply put her dreams on hold while she had cancer, she might even die before she had had the chance to live life fully.
In one instant, she shifted from a ‘When I get better then I’ll do…” attitude, to a ‘Go for it!’ attitude. It was time to do her retreat–NOW.
And in the serendipitous fashion of the Universe, no sooner had she made this shift, the owners of the farm asked her and Verran if they would be interested in running a retreat on their farm! So all of a sudden they had their venue sorted, without any effort.
Karen’s entire life has changed since then. She lives life fully and makes the most of every moment. She didn’t do this last year when she was focussing on her illness. There’s no more waiting for tomorrow, no matter what the situation might be–even when you have cancer.
So now, Karen wants to share her dream with the world. She says, “I’m really looking forward to showing others that self–indulgence–this lovely thing-is actually a gift for the sake of their happiness and health. I want people to have a gorgeous time reconnecting with nature and themselves, chilling out, and recharging their batteries.”
“What I want people to gain from the retreat is to know they matter–that they are important–and that they can choose their attitude in every moment. The retreat is an opportunity to kick-start loving life and to shift from deferring one’s dreams to being in now. The yoga, coaching, walking, wonderful food and beautiful surroundings will all bring that. It’s all about being in the present and going for what you want.”
“In a way, that’s the secret to life,” she adds.
WALKINGSPIRIT RETREAT
Date: June 26-July 3, 2010 (7 days)
Place: La Vacchio Retreat (in valley north of Luca, Tuscany, Italy
Retreat Leaders: Karen Maycey (coaching), Verran Townsend (walking guide), Lisa Jones (yoga)
Agenda: Coaching, Yoga, Walking, organic food, relaxing and fun!
There will be group coaching every day 1-2 hours, and the opportunity to have one 1-to-1 session of either coaching or yoga during the week.
Cost: £995 (including accommodation and food)
You can get £25 off to cost of the retreat if you say “Lynn sent me” when you book!
Lynn Serafinn is a transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host and bestselling author of the book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. She also works as a campaign manager for mind-body-spirit authors and has produced two #1-selling book campaigns, and another #2-selling campaign, in just the past 4 months. She is also the creator of Spirit Authors to offer training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. She’s also in Round 2 of the Next Top Spiritual Author contest! To check out Lynn’s video entry, brand new book proposal and read 80 pages from her book The Garden of the Soul, go to http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=2016. A free gift awaits you when you cast your vote.
When Vrinda Pendred (nee Barker) was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at age 7, the doctor failed to notice she had Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as well, despite OCD symptoms being a huge part of why her parents had brought her to the doctor in the first place. Even when she was finally diagnosed with OCD at almost 14, Vrinda had no comprehension of how complex and wide-ranging the disorder was, even within herself. Only as an adult did she finally start to understand just how deeply OCD affected her life, mentally, physically, emotionally and socially.
Vrinda’s story is not at all unique. In fact, if there is anything rare about it, it’s that she was diagnosed as young as age 13. Some people don’t discover there’s a name for their intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviour until mid-life. Others are never diagnosed throughout their entire lives, their ‘quirkiness’ remaining a mystery both to themselves and to the people in their lives. We can only imagine the suffering they’ve experienced, struggling through homelife, school and work, feeling misunderstood by teachers, parents, friends and colleagues.
And it’s not just the people who have OCD who are suffering. Think of the frustration and heartache felt by millions of teachers and parents around the world, who watch their students or children struggling with OCD (often undiagnosed), but cannot understand what is happening because these children are too young to express what is going on inside their heads. The sense of helplessness, and even guilt, can be enormous, as they simply do not know what to do to help an OCD child, and are at a total loss as to how to manage or respond to the unusual behaviour and destructive anxieties.
And what is most poignant is the thought that all of this could be avoided – and even treated – if there were more education about the many facets that make up OCD.
And that is what Vrinda Pendred has set out to do. Now 27 years old, and a mother herself, she has merged her two most passionate callings in life: 1) writing and 2) educating the world about neurological conditions, such as OCD. Vrinda has created a unique publishing company called Conditional Publications, whose primary aim is to help push forward this education, by devoting its catalogue to publishing the works of writers with neurological conditions, thus giving a voice to the real experts on these mysterious disorders.
Put together by 20 writers and artists from around the world, all who have OCD, Check Matesshowcases a range of emotions, from love to hate, joy to rage, fear and sorrow to hope and optimism. There’s even a little bit of humour. What it doesn’t do is shy away from the truth. Every angle is covered, no matter how painful, which makes for a startling and moving read.
If you are wondering why I am so empassioned by Vrinda’s story it’s this: Vrinda is my own daughter, and I personally know what she has gone through to reach this remarkable achievment. I also know what I, as a mother, have felt watching her grow up. And lastly, my father had undiagnosed OCD, and it is only through Vrinda that I have come to understand much of the pain and confusion from my childhood.
On this Day-After-Mothers’-Day, I could not be more proud of my daughter than I feel today.
Whether you’re a parent or teacher of a child dealing with OCD, a therapist or coach of OCD clients, or you have OCD yourself, everyone will find something in this book that speaks to them.
And if you don’t think you know anyone with OCD, have a look around. I think you’ll be surprised (if not shocked) at how many people have it, but are hiding in silence and isolation. This book will open up your eyes, your mind and your heart, and will bring a long overdue healing for many.
And, true to her principles, Vrinda will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every copy of Check Matesto OCD charities, to encourage research and treatment for the condition.
AND… In addition to my gift, there are over 30 other wonderful gifts being offered by mind-body-spirit teachers, authors, coaches and healers from around the planet when you purchase the book on May 11th.
To find out how you can buy this book on May 11th
and receive over 30 other gifts, just click HERE
I hope you will join me in celebrating the launch of this unique book, Check Mates, the first ever collection of fiction, poetry and artwork about OCD.
If you follow my weekly radio show on Blog Talk Radio, you know I open every episode by saying it explores “personal empowerment, life purpose, balance of mind, body and spirit, and how to tap into the inner hero that lies within every human being.” While I believe all of my guests are “heroes” in their own right, never have I been more filled with emotion to introduce the hero of the show I hosted this past Wednesday, April 28.
Why? Because the guest was my own daughter, Vrinda Pendred, author and founding Director/Editor of Conditional Publications, a new independent publisher dedicated solely to publishing the works of authors with neurological conditions. Their first book ‘Check Mates’ comes out on May 11, 2010, and it is nothing short of groundbreaking. What makes Check Mates so special is that it is a collection of short fiction and poetry either about or inspired by the struggle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, all written by people with OCD. Whether solidly real, allegorical, or completely fictionalised, all the compelling work contained in this collection portrays the true story of this greatly misunderstood condition.
It is also the first ever book of fiction written entirely by OCD authors—including Vrinda herself.
This interview is stop number 6 on Vrinda’s 14-day Virtual Blog Tour to promote the launch of Check Mates. Yesterday Vrinda stopped by the blog of Yvonne Perry from Writers in the Sky. If you happened to miss that stop, just click here.
In our interview together on April 28, Vrinda started out by describing the struggles she faced as a child growing up with neurological disorders.
She was first diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at age 7, but doctors did little to educate her, her parents or her teachers about the disorder. She describes the frustration of not being able to explain what compelled her to think and do the things she did, and how this impacted her childhood experiences and emotions. For years, she pretty much kept the reality of having Tourette’s hidden from her friends, but she finally had a breakthrough when the topic of Tourette’s came up in a discussion in a science class at school when she was 13 years old. She described how learning more about her condition was a “stunning” revelation, and how it released her from the feeling she needed to hide her condition from the world.
Wanting to understand her condition, Vrinda requested to go back to the doctor to find out more. It was then that a new neurologist finally diagnosed Vrinda with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Vrinda, now 27 years old and extremely knowledgeable about both Tourette’s and OCD, said she finds it “shocking” she was not diagnosed with OCD by the paediatric neurologist when she was 7 years old, as “half the stuff you brought me to the doctor for [at age 7] was actually OCD, and not Tourette’s at all.”
Vrinda explained that OCD, Tourette’s, autism, bipolar disorder and other neurological conditions are genetic in nature, but the way they manifest in a person are “completely founded in your own emotional experiences in life.” Vrinda and I discussed how her diagnosis opened up my own understanding about my own frustrations as a child because my father (Vrinda’s grandfather) had OCD, although it was never diagnosed when he was alive. Vrinda gave some pretty humorous examples of her grandfather’s OCD behaviour in a way that only a fellow OCD person could recognise.
I asked Vrinda about the freedom she has found from learning about her diagnosis. She described how most of her life she had suffered from the terrors of intrusive thoughts, and when she found a name for what she was experiencing, and realised that other people experienced the same thing, she stopped feeling “crazy” and alone. She said, “Once it had a name, it seemed so much smaller. As soon as I could box it and put a name on it I said, ‘Ok, this is the OCD—and I am more than it.”
Vrinda discussed how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy has successfully helped her with many of her obsessions, by enabled her to learn how to allow her anxieties to pass without acting upon them. She said, however, that “intrusive thoughts” were frequently much more difficult to overcome and she is still challenged by many of them.
Vrinda discussed how important it was for parents to “educate” teachers about how OCD impacts the child’s behaviour and performance at school. She gave an example of how helpful it was when one compassionate teacher allowed her to take an exam in his private office so she would not be challenged by her OCD by being in a distracting environment.
Vrinda went on to talk about her book Check Mates. She explained that the title “Check Mates” refers to the tendency for people with OCD to “check” things, and also because it is a collection of stories by people who have now become good friends (“mates”). The 20 authors of this book all met each other on a social network called “OCD Tribe” (http://ocdtribe.com). Vrinda said it was “indescribable” and “life-changing” to find a “tribe” of people who all shared the same condition.
She explained that what makes Check Mates unique amongst other books is that it is not a “self-help” book, but rather a book of fiction by OCD authors. She said she felt fiction was “more powerful” than an autobiography in this case, as readers who do not have OCD would be able to see something of themselves within the stories as well.
She explained how the stories in the book shed light on the wide range of the types of obsessions people with OCD have, such as fear of death, post-partum OCD, pre-occupation with religion, compulsive cleaning, self-harming, hoarding, counting rituals, checking, etc. “We wanted to show that OCD is a very complex thing. When you see it on television, they only ever focus on one or two problems that seem really extreme. They certainly don’t ever talk about the thoughts, or ‘pure obsessional OCD’ (obsessive ruminations), which in my view is the most debilitating problem.”
If you or a family member has OCD, or any neurological condition, you definitely will want to check out Check Mates when it comes out on Tuesday May 11.
When you are there, be sure to sign up for a “launch reminder” so you can receive over 30 free personal development gifts when you buy the book on the day of its launch. Amongst the gifts are a free short story on Tourette Syndrome from Vrinda, and a free mini-course from me called “Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed.” Just click HERE to read more about the book and the 30 free gifts (if you are reading this article after that date, you may buy the book directly from that page).
I should also mention that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every single book goes to OCD charities, so when you buy it, YOU are also making a difference.
Being Vrinda’s mom makes me understand what they mean by the term “pride and joy.”
______
Be sure to follow Vrinda to her next Virtual Blog Tour stop on Sunday May 2nd, hosted by Geoff Laughton at http://geofflaughton.com/gltc/blog/.
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to let you know that the 8 finalists have been announced in the the beautiful Awakened Wisdom Experience Contest on offer from Patrick Ryan. I know because I set up the page for them this afternoon!
The winner for this contest is being decided by PUBLIC vote. Each of the contestants had to answer a single question: ”
What will YOU give the world when you reclaim your brilliance?”
Please take a moment to go over the to voting page, and read the (very short) answers to this question each of our 8 finalists gave. Then, vote for the one you believe has the most passion and desire to make good use of the Grand Prize, which is a $3000 “Awakened Wisdom Experience” (AWE) including 4 one-to-one coaching sessions with Patrick Ryan, 2 VIP guest passes to his 3-day workshop “Awakened Wisdom”, and a signed copy of his new book, “Awakened Wisdom”. All I can say is there are some VERY deserving people on there.
And if YOU missed out on this great contest, no worries. Check out Patrick’s book “Awakened Wisdom: A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance”. It’s coming to Amazon on Tuesday April 20th (that’s just ONE week away). When you purchase the book on that day, you can receive over 40 GORGEOUS gifts from a lot of wonderful people (including me!!).
Patrick’s a personal friend and mentor of mine, and I have to tell you that his work (and this book) is simply AWE-some. I urge you to go over and sign up for a “launch reminder” at this page: so you’ll remember to pick up the book next Tuesday, and be able to claim all those gifts (my mind is boggled at how many there are).
Ok, that’s enough for now. Just remember 2 things:
P.S.: The CONTEST ENDS ON SUNDAY APRIL 18TH! Be sure to cast your vote before the end of the weekend, as the winner will be announced just after midnight on Monday.
In today’s world, you’ll see a lot of advertisements for beauty makeovers, pamper days and the like. That’s great for the body, but how about a makeover for the mind and spirit?
That’s what I imagine it will feel like to the lucky person who wins a wonderful contest being offered by coach Patrick Ryan, author of the upcoming book Awakened Wisdom: a Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance, which is coming to Amazon on Tuesday April 20, 2010.
As part of the celebration of the launch of the book, Patrick is giving away a $3000 “Awakened Wisdom Experience” (AWE) to one person. The AWE-some Grand Prize includes 4 private 1-to-1 personal coaching sessions with Patrick, a personally signed copy of the book Awakened Wisdom AND 2 free VIP passes to attend his 3-day Awakened Wisdom Workshop anywhere in the world.
Patrick is a world renowned executive coach, leadership trainer and spiritual teacher. For more than three decades, he has studied and practiced the way of an awakened life with spiritual masters and indigenous teachers all over the planet, and even served as a Buddhist monk in a monastery in Burma. His depth of spiritual knowledge, combined with his natural, down-to-earth personality, make him both a powerful and accessible coach and teacher.
Anyone who receives this exceptional prize should ready for a complete “inner beauty” makeover. And remember: there are TWO free passes to the Awakened Wisdom workshop, which means you can share this gift with a friend or loved one.
To enter the AWE contest, you only need to answer one question:
“What will you give the world when you reclaim your brilliance?”
To qualify, you will be asked to sign up for a “launch reminder” for Patrick’s book, Awakened Wisdom first. As soon as you’ve done that, you’ll be taken to a page with a link to the contest entry page.
A list of semi-finalists will be announced on April 12th. The Grand Prize winner will be decided by public vote (so be sure to get your friends and family on board to support you!).
And…
Even if you don’t want to enter the contest, do please check out Patrick’s book Awakened Wisdom: A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brillianceon that same page. If you scroll down on that page, you’ll see that dozens of authors, coaches, entrepreneurs and spiritual teachers have come together to celebrate the launch of this profound and practical book, by giving away over 40 very special gifts to anyone who buys the book on April 20. And I am one of them!
To everyone who buys Patrick’s book, I will be giving away FOUR free audio meditations from my Garden of the Soul Workshop. These are very special meditations I have never offered before anywhere, unless you happen to have taken my workshop. I hope you’ll like them.
Best of luck to all of you who enter the contest. Please keep me posted if you win, so I can announce it in my upcoming newsletter. I’d also love to hear your answers to this great question!
“Imagine a life through which you managed to rise above the fears and concerns that always linger faithfully in the background, haunting us with their song of intended safety, always with the purpose of keeping the status quo. Imagine a life without those messages you tell your Self about what you can’t do, or those messages that diminish the brilliance of who you are in any way. You know the voice I mean.
“Imagine that you integrated those voices in such a way that they no longer gripped you but rather informed you about interesting and relevant conditions to pay attention to.
“And now, as you are no longer held in false constraints, you are free. Free to listen and respond to the wisdom of the moment. Free to wonder what is possible in creating more beauty and dreams. Free to respond to the yearning of your heart that knows that more is possible…”
These are the opening words of a most inspiring new book by Patrick Ryan called Awakened Wisdom – A Guide To Reclaiming Your Brilliance. The first chapter is called “A Life Well-Lived”, and as we read it, we cannot help but think to ourselves, “Yes! I want to know how to have that!”
In his book, Awakened Wisdom, Patrick Ryan says a life well-lived is an awakened life, in which we shift away from our “distorted self” and connect with our “Divine Essence”, and allow that wisdom to guide us.
But how precisely do we DO that?
Fortunately, Patrick Ryan gives us a formula: the Eight States of an Awakened Life”.
Patrick explains the “Eight States of an Awakened Life” in great detail in his book Awakened Wisdom. He says, for our awakening to unfold, we must come into a “good state” of relationship with our understanding, our intention, our words, our being, our purpose, our effort, our practice and our doing. And when we are in a “good state” with all these things, we are able to see life clearly, and our decisions and actions in life become purposeful, powerful and meaningful.
It sounds very inspiring, doesn’t it? It is. But what I really like about Patrick’s book is that it is also a practical manual. There are dozens of affirmations and practical exercises to help you learn and master each of the Eight States, to help you begin to create your own well-lived life. It’s great to see such a spiritual book come down-to-earth so we can actually apply the teachings within our daily lives.
Awakened Wisdom – A Guide To Reclaiming Your Brilliancecomes out on Amazon on April 20th, 2010. To expand the giving and receiving of this wisdom I am giving away FOUR free audio mediations from my Garden of the Soul Workshop to everyone who buys Patrick’s wonderful book with the first 24 hours of its release. I’ve never offered these meditations before, as they have only ever been available to those who have attended my live Transformation workshops.
AND… In addition to my gift, there are over 40 other wonderful gifts being offered by mind-body-spirit teachers, authors, coaches and healers from around the planet when you purchase Awakened Wisdom – A Guide to Reclaiming Your Brilliance on April 20th.
AND… Patrick is giving away an EXTRA special gift of his own: An AWAKENED WISDOM VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE, a 2-day global event where you can learn the Eight States of an Awakened Life directly from Patrick himself after you have bought the book. I’m really lucky because I’ll be hosting that event!
To find out how you can buy this book on April 20th, claim your free admission to the Awakened Wisdom Virtual Experience, and receive over 40 other gifts, just click HERE
I can hardly believe that we are now into the second decade of the new millennium. It seems like only yesterday I was watching the fireworks over London (on TV) as we passed from the 20th century into the 21st. I don’t know about you, but I have a truly wonderful feeling about this next decade. I’m going to be 55 this month (happy birthday wishes graciously accepted), which means that this decade is “traditionally” the time when someone my age would be moving towards retirement. Well I can tell you right now I have no intention of retiring at age 65. In fact, I feel like I’m just getting warmed up! Both my energy and my spirits are high, and I feel full of optimism and hope as we step into the “teenies”.
To honour the coming of the new decade, I decided to set some intentions. To keep me focussed and balanced, I decided to use the four principles of “Give, Receive, Become and Be” from my book The Garden of the Soul as a foundation for those intentions. I’d like to share them with you here.
My intention for the Principle of Giving
I have learned that true “Giving” means to listen deeply to people’s hearts and give them what they truly want, rather than imposing what my ego tells me what I think they need. This decade, I make the intention to give to everyone I meet, from my heart to theirs.
My intention for the Principle of Receiving
I have learned that true “Receiving” means to open my eyes and ears to become aware of the boundless gifts being sent to me at every moment of my life. This decade, I make the intention to allow myself to receive, with wonder, joy and gratitude, all the Universe offers me.
My intention for the Principle of Becoming
I have learned that we cannot “Become” or grow unless we let go of old ways of thinking that do not serve us and keep us stuck in a treadmill. This decade, I make the intention to let go of old stories I have about myself and the world, and to become extraordinary in ways I had never before imagined I could.
My intention for the Principle of Being
I have learned that “Being” means to know and love the Self regardless of the multitude of labels we use to describe ourselves, and to be aware of who we are no matter what challenges surround us. This decade, I make the intention to be me, and only me, and to see you as only you.
Thank you for allowing me to share my intentions with you. I had an ulterior motive for doing so. You see, I know that the true power of intentions comes when you share them with others. And I really, really want to be able to be mindful of these intentions, because I know they sometimes might not be so easy to remember. The fact that you have heard them means there is more power behind them, so thank you for reading.
Try it out for yourself. Make your intentions for the new decade, and then share them with special and supportive people in your life. Then see how much this action helps you to be mindful of your promises to yourself. And what’s even more interesting is that we don’t necessarily have to share our intentions with other people (although it’s always good to, because they can hold us accountable). If you prefer, you can go out into Nature and shout your intentions to the moon, the trees, the birds, the ocean or whatever has meaning and energy for you. Or, if you are the kind of person who likes to pray or meditate, state your intentions to Spirit, in whatever form is true for you. No matter how you state your intentions, when others bear witness to our sincere expression of them, it’s as if the Universe has etched our words into our cosmic diaries, and holds us firmly on our true course in life.
And of course, you are MOST welcome to share your intentions with me below in the comments! I’d love to be your “intention buddy.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Is one of your intentions in 2010 to start writing a spirit-based book? Maybe you’ve already written it and you are ready to find out how to publish and promote your book. Or maybe, you’ve just started your writing journey by keeping a diary, a blog or other journal of your thoughts, feelings or creative ideas. No matter where you are in your writing journey, I’d like to invite you to visit Spirit Authors, my brand new Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience just for mind-body-spirit writers.
We are having a fantastic Spirit Authors Grand Opening Webinar Week from Monday 22 February through Friday 26 February, where you can hear (for fr*ee) over a dozen top mind-body-spirit industry professionals, from authors, to publishers, to editors, to marketers and more, all talking about spirit-based books, from writing to publishing to promotion. You’ll also find out how you can join the new Spirit Authors membership site, bringing you bespoke courses, business resources, and great opportunities for both personal and professional networking, all aimed at writers in the mind-body-spirit genre.
To make sure you don’t miss our Grand Opening, be sure to come over to www.spiritauthors.com and sign up for our news updates, so you can receive a VIP invitation to this very special Grand Opening Webinar Week.
Intentions for a Wonderful New Decade
I can hardly believe that we are now into the second decade of the new millennium. It seems like only yesterday I was watching the fireworks over London (on TV) as we passed from the 20th century into the 21st. I don’t know about you, but I have a truly wonderful feeling about this next decade. I’m going to be 55 this month (happy birthday wishes graciously accepted), which means that this decade is “traditionally” the time when someone my age would be moving towards retirement. Well I can tell you right now I have no intention of retiring at age 65. In fact, I feel like I’m just getting warmed up! Both my energy and my spirits are high, and I feel full of optimism and hope as we step into the “teenies”.
To honour the coming of the new decade, I decided to set some intentions. To keep me focussed and balanced, I decided to use the four principles of “Give, Receive, Become and Be” from my book The Garden of the Soul as a foundation for those intentions. I’d like to share them with you here.
My intention for the Principle of Giving
I have learned that true “Giving” means to listen deeply to people’s hearts and give them what they truly want, rather than imposing what my ego tells me what I think they need. This decade, I make the intention to give to everyone I meet, from my heart to theirs.
My intention for the Principle of Receiving
I have learned that true “Receiving” means to open my eyes and ears to become aware of the boundless gifts being sent to me at every moment of my life. This decade, I make the intention to allow myself to receive, with wonder, joy and gratitude, all the Universe offers me.
My intention for the Principle of Becoming
I have learned that we cannot “Become” or grow unless we let go of old ways of thinking that do not serve us and keep us stuck in a treadmill. This decade, I make the intention to let go of old stories I have about myself and the world, and to become extraordinary in ways I had never before imagined I could.
My intention for the Principle of Being
I have learned that “Being” means to know and love the Self regardless of the multitude of labels we use to describe ourselves, and to be aware of who we are no matter what challenges surround us. This decade, I make the intention to be me, and only me, and to see you as only you.
Thank you for allowing me to share my intentions with you. I had an ulterior motive for doing so. You see, I know that the true power of intentions comes when you share them with others. And I really, really want to be able to be mindful of these intentions, because I know they sometimes might not be so easy to remember. The fact that you have heard them means there is more power behind them, so thank you for reading.
Try it out for yourself. Make your intentions for the new decade, and then share them with special and supportive people in your life. Then see how much this action helps you to be mindful of your promises to yourself. And what’s even more interesting is that we don’t necessarily have to share our intentions with other people (although it’s always good to, because they can hold us accountable). If you prefer, you can go out into Nature and shout your intentions to the moon, the trees, the birds, the ocean or whatever has meaning and energy for you. Or, if you are the kind of person who likes to pray or meditate, state your intentions to Spirit, in whatever form is true for you. No matter how you state your intentions, when others bear witness to our sincere expression of them, it’s as if the Universe has etched our words into our cosmic diaries, and holds us firmly on our true course in life.
And of course, you are MOST welcome to share your intentions with me below in the comments! I’d love to be your “intention buddy.”
Is one of your intentions in 2010 to start writing a spirit-based book? Maybe you’ve already written it and you are ready to find out how to publish and promote your book. Or maybe, you’ve just started your writing journey by keeping a diary, a blog or other journal of your thoughts, feelings or creative ideas. No matter where you are in your writing journey, I’d like to invite you to visit Spirit Authors, my brand new Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience just for mind-body-spirit writers.
We are having a fantastic Spirit Authors Grand Opening Webinar Week from Monday 22 February through Friday 26 February, where you can hear (for fr*ee) over a dozen top mind-body-spirit industry professionals, from authors, to publishers, to editors, to marketers and more, all talking about spirit-based books, from writing to publishing to promotion. You’ll also find out how you can join the new Spirit Authors membership site, bringing you bespoke courses, business resources, and great opportunities for both personal and professional networking, all aimed at writers in the mind-body-spirit genre.
To make sure you don’t miss our Grand Opening, be sure to come over to www.spiritauthors.com and sign up for our news updates, so you can receive a VIP invitation to this very special Grand Opening Webinar Week.
5 Easy Ways to Beat the Blues and Feel Joyous this Holiday Season- Part 4 of 5
by Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC
Well, as we move into the last week of the holiday season, we move into the penultimate article in our series of tips to help you beat the blues over the holidays:
Holiday Blues Number 4:Stress over Money in today’s post
Holiday Blues Number 5: Feelings of Isolation (coming Thursday 31 December)
TIP: If you want to receive all 5 articles, be sure to subscribe to this blog in the box on the right hand side of your screen.
Let’s face it. Sometimes we spend money during the holidays as if we had an unlimited supply of cash. But then, the bills start to arrive. And while we might have felt bright, bubbly and festive when we did our holiday shopping, when we begin to assess the financial “damages”, our euphoria can rapidly turn into stress, and even guilt, making it impossible for us to feel the joy of the season.
I’m pretty sure just about all of us have experienced such “buyer’s regret” at one time or another in our lives when we have purchased something and thought twice about it after the fact. At other times of the year, if we bought something and had regrets about it afterwards, we could usually return it if we wished. But with holiday spending, this isn’t so easy, as most of our spending is on gifts for others, or on holiday consumables like food, drink and entertainment. We cannot return these items and get our money back.
So, how can we relieve ourselves from this stress and guilt? Continue Reading…
Holiday Blues Number 5: Feelings of Isolation (coming Thursday 31 December)
TIP: If you want to receive all 5 articles, be sure to subscribe to this blog in the box on the right hand side of your screen.
Surviving Family Dramas during the Holiday Season
For many people, visiting with relatives during the holidays is a wonderful experience, because it allows them to reconnect with loved ones they might not ordinarily see during the rest of the year. But for many others, visiting with parents, siblings and extended family can bring out the worst in us. It’s as if we’ve travelled back in time. We might be the most powerful and respected person in our professional life, but somehow when we are around our childhood families, we change into blithering idiots. By dint of some inexplicable time-warp, we get caught up in the age-old “family dramas” that drive us absolutely batty and leave such a horrible aftertaste when we go back home to our “adult” world. Within minutes, we manage to regress into a juvenile version of ourselves that never shows up under any other circumstances. But what is worse is that we find it nearly impossible to get out of the age-old scripts we have played out since our youth.
Small wonder why I chose to speak about this in a Holiday Survival Guide!
Getting “hooked” into a role
When we get stuck into a family drama, I call it being “hooked.” The reason why we get hooked into our family dramas lies in the term “drama” itself. Think of what a drama is. It’s not merely a judgemental word; it’s actually a very accurate description of what is taking place. A drama is a complex story with complex characters. And our family dramas are no different. When we are hooked, it means we have taken on the role of one of these characters. And, yes, there are cliché roles in which people tend to be cast. Continue Reading…
Meditation 28: Aesthetic Awareness
from “Lessons from the Iris: the Principle of Receiving”
Aesthetics are the subtle qualities of beauty, originality, ingenuity and artistry that surround us at every moment in the world. They are not things that can be defined or quantified with any kind of measurement. They speak to us at an intuitive level, and can be found both in nature, as well as in the creations of humankind. After all, humankind is also a vital part of the Natural World, even if we sometimes lose sight of our connection to it.
Aesthetics surround us at every moment. When we feel moved by a sunset or other natural wonder, cry when we hear a particular song, feel a lump in our throat over a work of art of any kind, or find ourselves affected in an inexplicable way by the poignancy, perfection, or uniqueness of anything we witness or experience, Continue Reading…
As a child growing up in the 50s and 60s in the US, I loved Halloween. Apart from the fun of dressing up and going out for trick-or-treat, it was also my father’s birthday (he would have been 90 years old today if he were still alive), so my mother always bought a really fancy bakery cake every Halloween in honour of Dad’s birthday. After many years of having the same type of cake year in and year out—orange and chocolate layer cakes smothered with sugar jack-o-lanterns, black cats and witches—he finally rebelled and asked to have a “normal” birthday cake instead. But as far as I was concerned, I loved the fun of my father’s Halloween birthday cakes every year.
Apart from being the one day of the year where parents surrender all attempts to keep their children on a healthy diet, Halloween is also the day where we, both children and adults, get to dress up and make believe we are someone or something else for a day. What we choose could be our alter ego, our wildest fantasy or our scariest nightmare. I believe we can often learn a lot about ourselves by looking back at what we wanted to be on Halloween when we were children.
What do our Halloween costumes reveal?
I remember the very first Halloween outfit that I selected for myself when I was about 4 years old. Continue Reading…
The following blog post was originally written for Transition Bedford site at http://www.transitionbedford.org. I decided to include it here on my own blog because, although it makes references to working within the Transition Network, the key points are relevant to everyone who wants to understand more about what it means to be free at an inner level, and to understand more about why they may not always be creating the impact in the world they desire to create. I welcome your comments and feedback, as I spent significant amount of time writing it, lol! Hope you enjoy it. –Lynn
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Whether we are aware of it or not, the members of the Initiating Group (IG) at Transition Bedford are now evolving from the “forming” stage into the “storming” stage. Can you feel it? Entering the storm means we are making real progress, even if it seems unclear right now. So, at this important juncture, in hopes of taking us even further into the eye of the storm, I’d like to share some ideas which have been swirling about in my mind ever since my Transition Training in London. It has to do with media, our responsiveness to it, both conscious and unconscious, and our role as leaders in the community. After much reflection, I believe in our work within the Transition network, it is essential that we bear in mind
1. That we as an initiative will need to understand and address publicemotions that may be stirred up by the media in all its forms (TV, film, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, pop culture, music, advertising, Internet, social media, etc)
2. That we will also need to become acutely aware of how WE ourselves are impacted by media, whether consciously or unconsciously
3. That we will need to know how to protect ourselves against succumbing to any unconscious unwanted impact, so we do not become “reactionary machines” instead of creative, resilient human beings, both individually and collectively.
4. That we will also need to become acutely aware of our own impact upon our community as we reach out to them.
5. That we will also (and most importantly) understand how toavoidunintended impact upon the community.
It is important to understand that these statements do NOT mean that we, as part of the Transition Network, are not entitled to our emotions. It would be an unreasonable expectation to think that we as humans should never feel angry, overwhelmed, grief-stricken, bitter, hopeless or cynical, especially when we are facing issues of such importance as climate change. Nor is it true that, by being part of a Transition Town initiative, we are expected to become super-humans or non-humans.
Many thanks to Evelyn Thomas of Lizard Life Coaching who selected the number 27 for this week’s meditation. If you would like to help me write my upcoming book “The Companion Guide to the Garden of the Soul” and possibly have your name listed in the acknowledgements of the book, and announced on my weekly radio broadcast, just select a number from 1-80 and post it in the comment thread below.
Meditation 27: Poise from “Lessons from the Iris: the Principle of Receiving”
Poise is a state of being in which you move freely and effortlessly within your own energy.
We tend to think of Poise as a word used to describe the quality of someone who is physically graceful and calm. Many of us also believe Poise to be the ability to control our emotional expression. While these external symptoms might sometimes be indicators of Poise, there are not the key elements. In fact, they might even been a shield that is covering up a lack of genuine Poise. How many of us refrain from expressing our emotions because we have told ourselves that it is the more “poised” thing to do. But if such emotional restraint is coming from the desire to appear mature, professional or in control, it is unlikely to be genuine Poise. You can tell the difference between the two, because true Poise results in a feeling of ease, satisfaction and freedom, while false Poise results in a feeling of being stuck, frustrated or stifled.
Poise, therefore, is not the absence of emotions, but the strength of their authenticity. We can be poised even when our emotions appear to be very powerful. Some of the most poised people in history are those who have wielded their genuine anger, grief or passion with creativity, honesty and fearlessness. When we are poised, we are most able to express all the colours of our Heart and Soul. Continue Reading…
Special 3 Year Anniversary Show! Author, coach and book marketer, Lynn Serafinn, hosts coach, bestselling author, visionary and world-renowned inspiration, Martha Beck. Martha Beck has inspired and changed the lives of millions through her bestselling books such as Finding Your Own North Star, Expecting Adam and many others. Her personality is a unique mixtu […]
Author, coach and book marketer, Lynn Serafinn, hosts author, lifestyle and relationship expert. Lissa Coffey Lissa is the author of six books on personal growth and relationships. She has studied with Dr. Deepak Chopra since 1998 and is the world's only expert on Ayurveda and Relationships. Lissa's purpose is sharing Ancient Wisdom with Modern Sty […]
Author, coach and book marketer, Lynn Serafinn, hosts author, psychotherapist and communications skills expert Rich Gallagher. Rich Gallagher is a former corporate executive turned author, speaker, and practicing marriage and family therapist. He specializes in helping people communicate in their most difficult situations, using techniques from psychotherapy […]
Author, coach and book marketer, Lynn Serafinn, hosts destiny mentor, energy aligner and author of The Destiny Discovery, Michelle Casto. A renowned Life & Business Coach, Michelle L. Casto is an advocate for "everyday enlightenment" and author of the book The Destiny Discovery: Find Your Soul's Path to Success. Throughout her 20-year care […]
Author, coach and book marketer, Lynn Serafinn, hosts energy worker and author of Ever-Flowing Streams of Healing Energy, Dana Taylor. While leading a “normal” life as wife, mother and writer, a life-long physical and spiritual mystery led Dana from traditional medicine and the church to alternative therapies and spiritual exploration. In 2005, an encounter […]
Author, coach and book marketer Lynn Serafinn hosts speaker, activist and author Carolyn A. Brent. CAROLYN A. BRENT MBA- Carolyn Brent is a speaker, activist and author dedicated to transforming the landscape of elder care giving helping parents and siblings communicate about painful End-of-Life Issues. For seventeen years Carolyn worked for some of the worl […]
Author, coach and book marketer, Lynn Serafinn, hosts healer, counselor and author of The Healers' Almanac Patty Shaw. As a young adult, Patty Shaw decided to immerse herself in alternative healing modalities, like homeopathy, Reiki, EFT, Cranio Sacral, Aurveydic and broadened her spirituality with divination, learning about world religions, mediumship, […]
Author, coach and book Marketer Lynn Serafinn hosts seven-generation parent, creative coach and children's author Nick Kettles. After 12 years as a spiritual seeker, during which time Nick tried just about anything to attain enlightenment (read: escape from the world and it's suffering) he finally realised, through the birth of his two daughters, t […]
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Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 1 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Michelle Casto whose book The Destiny Discovery: Find Your Soul’s Path to Success launches on Amazon on Tuesday January 17, 2012.
Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 7 of the Virtual Blog Tour of Hay House author Dr Roy Martina, whose book Emotional Balan6ce: the path to inner peace and harmony comes to Amazon on Tuesday March 15, 2011.
When you visit the page at the link above and request a “launch reminder”, you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Roy’s 4-day “Emotional Balance Telesummit” with a line up of 10 TOP international experts on the topic of emotional healing and inner balance. You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast. This is a completely free “no purchase necessary” gift from Roy, to celebrate the release of the new Hay House publication of his book.
Did you ever sit on the floor for too long and your leg went numb? Remember that horrible feeling you got when you stood up? At first, you don’t even feel your leg and your leg might wobble (or even collapse) underneath you. That happened to me on more than one occasion in India after having sat on a marble floor for several hours listening to a lecture. I had to get used to the locals laughing at me whenever they saw this western woman in a badly-wrapped sari fall over her own two feet for no apparent reason!
And while the above analogy is my own, the essence of this story is the fundamental principle of the book 
To find out more about the book and the free gifts, and to see a video in which Luis talks about how he came to develop this method to help people learn how to deal with pain, go to: 
Lynn: I heard you say once that “Self betrayal is a cultural habit”. Can you explain what you mean by that and give some examples?
Lynn Serafinn takes a look at the “2012 phenomenon” and tells you about a 
If you’re looking to reclaim your inner space this month, Karen’s luscious Walkingspirit Retreat runs June 26th to July 3rd in Tuscany, Italy. See full details at the end of this article to find out how to book and receive a discount as one of Lynn’s subscribers.
Hi everyone,
In today’s world, you’ll see a lot of advertisements for beauty makeovers, pamper days and the like. That’s great for the body, but how about a makeover for the mind and spirit?
I can hardly believe that we are now into the second decade of the new millennium. It seems like only yesterday I was watching the fireworks over London (on TV) as we passed from the 20th century into the 21st. I don’t know about you, but I have a truly wonderful feeling about this next decade. I’m going to be 55 this month (happy birthday wishes graciously accepted), which means that this decade is “traditionally” the time when someone my age would be moving towards retirement. Well I can tell you right now I have no intention of retiring at age 65. In fact, I feel like I’m just getting warmed up! Both my energy and my spirits are high, and I feel full of optimism and hope as we step into the “teenies”.
5 Easy Ways to Beat the Blues and Feel Joyous this Holiday Season- Part 4 of 5
Meditation 28: Aesthetic Awareness
As a child growing up in the 50s and 60s in the US, I loved Halloween. Apart from the fun of dressing up and going out for trick-or-treat, it was also my father’s birthday (he would have been 90 years old today if he were still alive), so my mother always bought a really fancy bakery cake every Halloween in honour of Dad’s birthday. After many years of having the same type of cake year in and year out—orange and chocolate layer cakes smothered with sugar jack-o-lanterns, black cats and witches—he finally rebelled and asked to have a “normal” birthday cake instead. But as far as I was concerned, I loved the fun of my father’s Halloween birthday cakes every year.
