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	<title>Lynn Serafinn&#039;s [Cosmic] Journey &#187; Awareness</title>
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		<title>What is the Path of DESTINY? Author Michelle Casto Speaks with Lynn Serafinn</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/authors/what-is-the-path-of-destiny-author-michelle-casto-speaks-with-lynn-serafinn/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/authors/what-is-the-path-of-destiny-author-michelle-casto-speaks-with-lynn-serafinn/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:40:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Authors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Interviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Awareness]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BlogTalkRadio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book launch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[destiny]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free teleseminar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michelle Casto]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[virtual blog tour]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[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 &#38; Business Coach, Michelle L. Casto is an advocate for &#8220;everyday enlightenment&#8221;, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><a href="http://www.liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html" target="_blank"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1735" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="destinydiscovery_3d-book_small" src="http://lynnserafinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/destinydiscovery_3d-book_small.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="286" /></a>Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 1 of the Virtual Blog Tour of author Michelle Casto whose book <a href="http://www.liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html" target="_blank"><em>The Destiny Discovery: Find Your Soul’s Path to Success</em></a> launches on Amazon on Tuesday January 17, 2012.</strong></p>
<p><strong>A renowned Life &amp; Business Coach, Michelle L. Casto is an advocate for &#8220;everyday enlightenment&#8221;, </strong>and author of the book <em>The Destiny Discovery: Find Your Soul&#8217;s Path to Success.</em> 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&#8217;s mission is to awaken people to their soul purpose through her unique Destiny Success Process. Michelle&#8217;s mission is to awaken people to their life purpose through her unique Destiny Success Process.</p>
<p><strong>Today, I&#8217;d like to share with you a recent interview I had with Michelle on my  Garden of The Soul radio show </strong>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.</p>
<p><strong>I particularly liked the part of the interview where Michelle shared her model of the &#8220;Four V&#8217;s&#8221; or the &#8220;Four Stages of Consciousness&#8221;: </strong>Victim, Victor, Vehicle and Vessel. It reminds me of a cross between Abraham Maslow&#8217;s Hierarchy of Needs and M. Scott Peck&#8217;s four stages of community (I&#8217;m a big fan of both). However, Michelle presents it all within a much more &#8220;daily life&#8221; approach, so readers can relate to it and work with it at a practical level.</p>
<p><strong>If you click the flash player below, you can listen to the whole show.</strong> I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed hosting it:</p>
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<div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lynn-serafinn">Lynn Serafinn</a> on Blog Talk Radio</div>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>If you are receiving this article via email and cannot see the flash player <a href="http://lynnserafinn.com/authors/what-is-the-path-of-destiny-author-michelle-casto-speaks-with-lynn-serafinn" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> to listen online.</em></p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed this interview with Michelle Casto and that you’ll check out her book The Destiny Discovery: Find Your Soul’s Path to Success at <a href="http://www.liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html" target="_blank">http://www.liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Here&#8217;s why:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/images/vip-banner.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/images/vip-banner.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="65" /></a></strong><a href="http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/images/vip-banner.jpg" target="_blank"><strong></strong></a></p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/images/vip-banner.jpg" target="_blank"><strong>The Discover Your Divine Destiny Telesummit</strong></a></h4>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>How Can We Discover Our True Destiny in 2012?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>12 Destiny Mentors Discuss this Question on this FR*EE 3-Day Online Event<br />
January 10th, 11th &amp; 12th, 2012<br />
10am Pacific/1pm Eastern/6pm UK</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Read more about the event and register FREE at:<br />
</strong><a href="http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/telesummit.html" target="_blank">http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/telesummit.html</a></p>
<p>Over the course of 3 days, we&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>Here&#8217;s our wonderful guest line-up:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li> <strong>Michelle L. Casto </strong>- Life &amp; Business Coach; author of The Destiny Discovery</li>
<li><strong>Lynn Serafinn </strong>- Coach; marketer; author of The 7 Graces of Marketing and The Garden of the Soul</li>
<li> <strong>Christine Kloser </strong>- award-winning author; mentor to transformational authors and conscious entrepreneurs</li>
<li><strong>Paul Zelizer</strong> &#8211; business success coach for spiritual people</li>
<li> <strong>Brenda McIntyre </strong>- healer, business coach, spiritual mentor and award-winning singer</li>
<li> <strong>Dee Wallace </strong>- acclaimed Hollywood actress, acting coach, internationally known healer, author of Bright Light</li>
<li> <strong>Dr. Roy Martina </strong>- world-renowned holistic medical doctor, author of #1 bestseller Emotional Balance: the path to inner peace and harmony, and 40 other books</li>
<li> <strong>Nan Akasha</strong> &#8211; CHT Mind over Money Coach, #1 bestselling author of Already Rich! Secrets to Master Your Money Mind.</li>
<li> <strong>Eva Gregory</strong> &#8211; master coach, conscious channel, speaker and author</li>
<li> <strong>Jackie Lapin -</strong> speaker, coach, transformational business consultant and mentor in Practical Conscious Creation</li>
<li><strong>Gail Goodwin</strong> &#8211; Founder of InspireMeToday.com, providing free inspiration from world-renowned luminaries every day to members in more than 120 countries</li>
<li> <strong>Steve D&#8217;Annunzio</strong>- productivity trainer, life success coach, author, President of the Soul Purpose Institute, member of the Transformational Leadership Council</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>This special 3-Day telesummit is Michelle&#8217;s FR*EE gift to you,<br />
to celebrate the launch of her book, which is coming<br />
Tuesday January 17th, 2011.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Attend this 3-day event FREE by registering at <a href="http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/telesummit.html" target="_blank">http://liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/telesummit.html</a></p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><strong>FREE GIFTS TOO!</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>When you buy Michelle&#8217;s book on Tuesday January 17, 2012, </strong>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:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>FREE Audio Book: The Very Good King</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>To claim your FREE pass to the Discover Your Divine Destiny Telesummit<br />
and read about the free gifts, go to:<br />
<a href="http://www.liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html" target="_blank">http://www.liveyourdivinedestiny.com/book-launch/pages/pre-launch.html </a></strong></p>
<p>Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.</p>
<p><strong>AND… be sure to follow Michelle tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is with Callie Carling, </strong>who will be interviewing Michelle on choice stepping stone, identifying soul purpose and overcoming low self-esteem. To visit that &#8220;stop&#8221; on the tour, go to <a href="http://www.positivitybubbles.com/2012/01/destiny-discovery" target="_blank">http://www.positivitybubbles.com/2012/01/destiny-discovery/ </a></p>
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		<title>Talking About Tranformation &#8211; Interview with Dr Roy Martina</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/talking-about-tranformation-interview-with-dr-roy-martina/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/talking-about-tranformation-interview-with-dr-roy-martina/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Mar 2011 08:05:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[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.
Roy Martina is a holistic medical doctor with over 30 years experience [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="Dr Roy Martina" src="http://emotionalbalance.com/book-launch/images/roymartina.png" alt="" width="150" height="149" />Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 7 of the Virtual Blog Tour of <strong>Hay House author Dr Roy Martina</strong>, whose book <strong><em>Emotional Balan6ce: the path to inner peace and harmony</em> </strong>comes to Amazon on Tuesday March 15, 2011.</p>
<p><strong>Roy Martina</strong> 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.</p>
<p>Yesterday, Roy visited Tambra Harck where he talked about shifting perspective of helplessness and victimhood, respecting our body and the abstract of energy is knowing.  To visit that &#8220;stop&#8221; on the tour, go to <a href="http://theartofwellbeing.typepad.com/the_art_of_wellbeing/2011/02/emotional-balance.html">http://theartofwellbeing.typepad.com/the_art_of_wellbeing/2011/02/emotional-balance.html</a></p>
<p>Today, I&#8217;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.</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;-</p>
<p><strong>Lynn Serafinn:</strong> In your experience, what are some of the common misunderstandings people have about the term &#8220;personal transformation&#8221;? What is the actual meaning?</p>
<p><strong>Roy Martina:</strong> 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong>Lynn Serafinn:</strong> What are the top 3 most important keys to help us transform? How can we access them?</p>
<p><strong>Roy Martina:</strong> The most important 3 keys:</p>
<p><strong>1. Become aware </strong>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)</p>
<p><strong>2. The next step is </strong><strong>to have the power or tool to let go</strong> 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.<br />
<strong>3. The third step is to train your nervous system</strong> 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.</p>
<p><strong>Lynn Serafinn:</strong> There is so much talk today about conscious evolution, especially with all the 2012 &#8220;hype&#8221; in the media. What&#8217;s your personal stance on conscious evolution? What is it? Is it really happening? Where do you think humanity is headed?</p>
<p><strong>Roy Martina:</strong> 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 <strong><em>subconscious evolution.</em></strong> 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 <strong>from conscious to subconscious evolution</strong>. 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.</p>
<p><strong>Lynn Serafinn: </strong>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?</p>
<p><strong>Roy Martina: </strong>The big shift that needs to happen is that most the so called ‘holistic therapists’ need to stop calling themselves &#8216;holistic&#8217; (because they are not) and start to study <em>true</em> 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 &#8216;I love myself&#8217; 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-</p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed this interview with Dr Roy Martina and that you’ll check out his book <strong><em>Emotional Balance: the path to inner peace and harmony</em></strong> at <a href="http://emotionalbalance.com/book-launch/pre-launch.html">http://emotionalbalance.com/book-launch/pre-launch.html</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Here&#8217;s why:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>FREE 4-DAY PASS</strong></p>
<p><img class="alignleft" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="VIPs" src="http://emotionalbalance.com/book-launch/images/JVPs/VIP-guests-block.jpg" alt="" width="248" height="354" />When you visit the page at the link above and request a &#8220;launch reminder&#8221;, you will automatically receive a FREE pass to Roy&#8217;s 4-day &#8220;Emotional Balance Telesummit&#8221; with a line up of <strong>10 TOP international experts on the topic of emotional healing and inner balance.</strong> You can listen to the telesummit online in the comfort of your own home, and even ask questions during the broadcast. <em>This is a completely free &#8220;no purchase necessary&#8221; gift from Roy,</em> to celebrate the release of the new Hay House publication of his book.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>FREE GIFTS</strong></p>
<p>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 <strong>over 40</strong> beautiful personal development gifts from authors, speakers, healers, coaches and other enlightened professionals from around the globe including one from me: <em>4 Audio Meditations from the Garden of the Soul Workshop</em></p>
<p><strong>To claim your 4-Day Pass and read about the 40 free gifts, go to: <a href="http://emotionalbalance.com/book-launch/pre-launch.html">http://emotionalbalance.com/book-launch/pre-launch.html</a></strong></p>
<p>Thanks for reading! As usual, please feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.</p>
<p>AND… be sure to follow Roy tomorrow when the next stop on the Virtual Blog Tour is <strong>Cindy Eve</strong> who will be interviewing Roy on questions relating to affirmations, gratitude journal and self-sabotage.  To visit that &#8220;stop&#8221; on the tour, go to <a href="http://wp.me/pGa6q-y8">http://wp.me/pGa6q-y8</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>As usual please DO leave your comments below!</strong></p>
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		<title>What&#8217;s REALLY Ailing Our Businesses and How Do We Heal Them?</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/whats-really-ailing-our-businesses-and-how-do-we-heal-them/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/whats-really-ailing-our-businesses-and-how-do-we-heal-them/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 12 Oct 2010 01:13:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Author Maria Gamb proposes some answers in her new Book Healing the Corporate World, coming to Amazon Tues Oct 12th, 2010.
It&#8217;s staggering to think about it.
The American Institute of Stress calls stress &#8220;American&#8217;s #1 Health Problem.&#8221; They estimate &#8220;75 &#8211; 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems&#8221; and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em><strong><a href="http://lynnserafinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Blonde-at-Computer.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-1418" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; border: 0pt none;" title="Blonde at Computer" src="http://lynnserafinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Blonde-at-Computer.jpg" alt="" width="217" height="145" /></a>Author Maria Gamb proposes some answers in her new Book Healing the Corporate World, coming to Amazon Tues Oct 12th, 2010.</strong></em></p>
<p>It&#8217;s staggering to think about it.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.stress.org/americas.htm">American Institute of Stress</a> calls stress &#8220;American&#8217;s #1 Health Problem.&#8221; They estimate &#8220;75 &#8211; 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress related problems&#8221; and that &#8220;Job Stress is far and away the leading source of stress for adults.&#8221; The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/05/health/05stress.html?_r=2">New York Times</a> quoted Steven L. Sauter (Chief of the Organizational Science and Human Factors Branch of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) as saying, &#8220;workplace stress costs more than $300 billion each year in health care, missed work and stress-reduction&#8221; and &#8220;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. <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/faqs.htm">And in the UK</a>, 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.</p>
<p>But in spite of all this, to my shock, all too many sites I found during my research provide tips on how to &#8220;deal&#8221; with stress, rather than trying to change &#8220;what is.&#8221; One site even talks about being &#8220;stress hardy&#8221; to make us better able to survive <em>what we believe we cannot change</em>. 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.</p>
<p>But Maria Gamb, former Fortune 500 executive with over 20 years of experience in the corporate world, and author of the new book <strong><em><a href="http://healingthecorporateworld.com/">Healing the Corporate World: how value-based leadership transforms business from the inside out</a></em></strong>, has a different idea altogether.</p>
<p>By all accounts, Maria was experiencing a highly &#8220;successful&#8221; 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&#8217;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 &#8220;seen&#8221; 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.</p>
<p>It was time to talk about how we were going <em>to transform the business world</em> and heal a seriously ailing system.</p>
<p>Understanding that real change could only come from within, with each person taking personal responsibility for his or her own thoughts and actions, Maria decided to write a book that would be a call-to-action to the business community entitled <strong><em><a href="http://healingthecorporateworld.com/">Healing the Corporate World: how value-based leadership transforms business from the inside out.</a></em></strong></p>
<p>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&#8217;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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>The official Amazon launch of <a href="http://healingthecorporateworld.com/">Healing the Corporate World</a><br />
starts at 12:01 AM Pacific, Tuesday October 12th.</em></strong></p>
<p>To celebrate the release of this <em>&#8220;inspiring and visionary book&#8221; </em>(Ernest Chu, bestselling author of Soul Currency), when you purchase <strong><em><a href="http://healingthecorporateworld.com/">Healing the Corporate World</a></em></strong> 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.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>To purchase the book and claim your bonus gifts, go to<br />
<a href="http://healingthecorporateworld.com/">http://healingthecorporateworld.com</a></strong></p>
<p>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, <strong>&#8220;Transforming Business from the Inside Out&#8221;</strong>, an uplifting and inspiring online telesummit with 9 of today&#8217;s top business and transformational authors and speakers.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>I hope you&#8217;ll check out <em><a href="http://healingthecorporateworld.com/">Healing the Corporate World</a></em> 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.</p>
<p>Lynn Serafinn</p>
<p>Author, coach, book promotions<a href="../../../../../"></p>
<p>http://lynnserafinn.com</a></p>
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		<title>Feeling, Healing and Transformation &#8211; What Can We Learn from Pins and Needles?</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/feeling-healing-and-transformation-what-can-we-learn-from-pins-and-needles/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/feeling-healing-and-transformation-what-can-we-learn-from-pins-and-needles/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Oct 2010 22:09:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lynnserafinn.com/?p=1405</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em><img class="alignleft" style="border: 0pt none; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="pins and needles" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/123rf/pins-and-needles-purple-cushion.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="195" /></em>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&#8217;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!</p>
<p>But once you&#8217;ve made it through the wobble, something else starts to happen—the dreaded &#8220;pins and needles&#8221; 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 &#8220;dead&#8221; 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 &#8220;pins and needles&#8221; 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Emotions get &#8220;blocked&#8221; within us in exactly the same way the blood in our leg gets block—we &#8220;sit&#8221; on them and do not allow them to flow. And just like our legs, when we sit on our emotions, we go &#8220;numb&#8221;. 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.</p>
<p>When something shakes us up from our &#8220;numb&#8221; state, it is very similar to what happens when we first stand up on our &#8220;dead&#8221; 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 &#8220;pins and needles&#8221;. This is the stage where sensation is returning to us. And just like pins and needles in our legs, it probably doesn&#8217;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.</p>
<p>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 &#8220;pins and needles&#8221; long enough to allow the &#8220;flow&#8221; to come back into our feelings, without succumbing to the urge to jump back in the box of our numbness.</p>
<p>And just as how the end of the &#8220;pins and needles&#8221; 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.</p>
<p><img class="alignright" style="border: 0pt none; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px;" title="Luis Angel Diaz" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/JVPs/Luis-Angel-Diaz-large.jpeg" alt="" width="200" height="200" />And while the above analogy is my own, the essence of this story is the fundamental principle of the book <strong><em><a href="http://www.cellularmemory.org/landing/memory-in-the-cells-prelaunch.html">Memory in the Cells: how to change behavioral patterns and release the pain body</a></em></strong> by my client and good friend Luis Angel Diaz. The book teaches both the theory and the practical methodology of what Luis calls &#8220;Cellular Memory Release&#8221; (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.</p>
<p>As Luis puts it, &#8220;It is about transforming the &#8216;Pain Body&#8217; into the &#8216;Joy Body.&#8217;</p>
<p><strong><em><a href="http://www.cellularmemory.org/landing/memory-in-the-cells-prelaunch.html">Memory in the Cells</a></em></strong><strong> is coming to Amazon at exactly 12:01 AM Pacific THIS TUESDAY October 5th (yes, that&#8217;s TOMORROW, as I write this).</strong> In celebration of the release of his book, dozens of Luis&#8217; friends and colleagues have kindly donated a complete library of personal development gifts that you can download for free, when you buy the book <strong><em><a href="http://www.cellularmemory.org/landing/memory-in-the-cells-prelaunch.html">Memory in the Cells</a> </em></strong>on the day of its launch this week. I&#8217;m also giving away a free download (audio and text) of my mini-eCourse &#8220;Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed.&#8221;</p>
<p><img class="alignleft" style="border: 0pt none; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="Memory in the Cells by Luis Diaz" src="http://virtualspiritualevents.com/images/launches/memory_in_cells.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="176" />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: <a href="http://memoryinthecells.com/">http://memoryinthecells.com</a></p>
<p>AND… when you buy the book on Tuesday, Oct 5th, not only will you receive those free gifts, but you will also receive a <strong>special FR*EE 2-part LIVE online class</strong> with Luis himself, where he will take you through the CMR process, step-by-step.</p>
<p>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 &#8220;walks his talk.&#8221;</p>
<p>I hope you&#8217;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 <a href="http://memoryinthecells.com/">http://memoryinthecells.com</a>.</p>
<p>And then, I hope to see you on the fr*ee class a few weeks later.</p>
<p>Warm wishes<br />
Lynn  Serafinn<br />
Author, Transformation Coach, Book Promotions</p>
<p><a href="http://spiritauthors.com/contact">http://spiritauthors.com/contact</a></p>
<hr />
<h5>About Lynn Serafinn</h5>
<p><img class="alignleft" style="margin: 10px;" title="Lynn Serafinn" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/grand_opening/Lynn_Serafinn_150H.jpg" alt="Lynn Serafinn" width="133" height="150" /></p>
<p>Lynn Serafinn is a an award-winning transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio  host and bestselling author of the book <strong><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/075521126X?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thegaroftheso-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=075521126X">The Garden of the Soul:  lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self</a>.</em></strong> 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 <strong><a href="http://spiritauthors.com">Spirit Authors</a></strong>, 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 <a href="http://spiritauthors.com/contact">http://spiritauthors.com/contact.</a></p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: center;">[mlb/]</p>
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		<title>When You Feel Like You’re at the Bottom of the Food Chain</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/when-you-feel-like-you%e2%80%99re-at-the-bottom-of-the-food-chain/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/when-you-feel-like-you%e2%80%99re-at-the-bottom-of-the-food-chain/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Oct 2010 01:01:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 5 of the Virtual Blog Tour for Healing the Corporate World by 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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_1386" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 250px"><a href="http://lynnserafinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/maria-RTC-033-3inch.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-1386" title="maria RTC 033 3inch" src="http://lynnserafinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/maria-RTC-033-3inch.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="192" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Maria Gamb, author of &quot;Healing the Corporate World&quot;</p></div>
<p><strong>Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day 5 of the Virtual Blog Tour for </strong><strong><em>Healing the Corporate World</em><em> </em>by author Maria Gamb.</strong></p>
<p>Written by former Fortune 500 executive, Maria Gamb, who spent more than 20 years trailblazing businesses valued at upwards of $100 million, <strong><em>Healing the Corporate World</em></strong> 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 &#8220;the four cycles of transformational leadership&#8221;, 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 &#8220;Change Agents&#8221;, consciously creating their own reality.</p>
<p>Yesterday, Maria visited Liz Pabon at <a href="http://www.lizpabon.com/blog/2010/09/30/healing-the-corporate-world-your-story-matters/">www.lizpabon.com/blog</a>. 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.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>*   *   *   *   *</strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Lynn</em><em>: 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?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Maria:</strong> 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.<strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Lynn</em></strong><strong><em>: 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?</em><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>Maria:</strong> 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.</p>
<p>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.<strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Lynn</em></strong><strong><em>: You talk about &#8220;blazing a new trail no matter where you are.&#8221; What words of encouragement do you have for people who see themselves as powerless and at the &#8220;bottom of the food chain&#8221; in their business environment?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Maria:</strong> 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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong><em>Lynn</em></strong><strong><em>: A lot of your work focuses on corporate environment and teams. Most of my clients are solo-preneurs who don&#8217;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?</em></strong><br />
<strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>Maria:</strong> 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.<strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>*   *   *   *   *</strong></p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed this interview with Maria Gamb and that you’ll check out her new book<em> <strong>Healing the Corporate World</strong></em><strong>, which is coming to Amazon on Tuesday October 12, 2010. </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>You can receive a complete library of <strong>beautiful personal development gifts</strong> 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).</p>
<h4>In addition, Maria is hosting an exciting FREE 4-day telesummit entitled “Transforming Business from the Inside Out” on October 4th &#8211; 7<sup>th</sup> with a distinguished panel of 9 of today&#8217;s most innovative authors and speakers on becoming the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">&#8216;Change Agent&#8217;</span> in your business, in your life and in the world!</h4>
<p>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.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>To find out how to buy Maria’s BOOK and receive these gifts,<br />
including the FREE pass to the 4-day online telesummit, go to </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.healingthecorporateworld.com/">http://www.healingthecorporateworld.com</a> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>AND you can read all about the TELESUMMIT and the guests at </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.healingthecorporateworld.com/telesummit.html">http://www.healingthecorporateworld.com/telesummit.html</a> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong></p>
<p>Be sure to follow Maria tomorrow when the next stop on his Virtual Blog Tour is <strong>Geoff Laughton’s blog at <a href="http://geofflaughton.com/gltc/2010/10/healing-the-corporate-world-i-interview-author-maria-gamb/">www.spiritedmusings.com.</a> </strong></p>
<p>As usual, please do feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.</p>
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		<title>Balancing Emotions &#8211; Interview with author Luis Diaz</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/balancing-emotions-interview-with-author-luis-diaz/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 25 Sep 2010 01:30:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day number 5 of the Virtual Blog Tour for Memory in the Cells by 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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="BOOK: Memory in the Cells" src="http://virtualspiritualevents.com/images/launches/memory_in_cells.jpg" alt="" width="175" height="176" />Today I have the great pleasure of being the host on Day number 5 of the Virtual Blog Tour for <strong><em>Memory in the Cells</em></strong><em> </em>by author Luis Angel Diaz.</p>
<p>Newly translated from the popular Spanish edition, author Luis Diaz describes his book <em>Memory in the Cells </em>as “where Eckhart Tolle meets <em>What the Bleep Do We Know</em>, but taking you on a much more practical journey.” He says <em>Memory in the Cells</em> 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.</p>
<p>Yesterday, Luis visited Charly Leetham at <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://www.askcharlyleetham.com/">www.AskCharlyLeetham.com </a></span></p>
<p>For today’s stop on the tour, I decided to ask Luis some questions about <strong>how to utilise both &#8220;positive&#8221; and &#8220;negative&#8221; emotions in our lives so we can find happiness and fulfilment. </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>*   *   *   *   *</strong></p>
<p><strong><em><img class="alignleft" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="Luis Diaz" src="http://www.cellularmemory.org/images/jvs/luis_diaz.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="168" />Lynn</em></strong><strong><em>: </em><em>I heard you say once that &#8220;Self betrayal is a cultural habit&#8221;. Can you explain what you mean by that and give some examples?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Luis:</strong> The process starts with the disconnection between mind and body in each of us. I&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong><em>Lynn</em></strong><strong><em>: You also say that &#8220;positive and negative feelings are both necessary.&#8221; How do you help people embrace their painful feelings rather than avoid them?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Luis:</strong> 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; &#8220;freedom&#8221;: if we lose it, we feel sad, angry or afraid. But if we have it; we&#8217;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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>Lynn</em></strong><strong><em>:</em></strong> <strong><em>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 &#8220;unaddicted&#8221; and what benefit will this bring to us?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em> </em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Luis:</strong> 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.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>*   *   *   *   *</strong></p>
<p>I hope you enjoyed this interview with Luis Angel Diaz and that you’ll check out his new book<em> <strong>Memory in the Cells</strong></em><strong>, which is coming to Amazon on Tuesday October 5, 2010. </strong>You can receive a complete library of <strong>beautiful personal development gifts</strong> when you buy the book on the day of its launch, including one from me:  a free mini eCourse called &#8220;Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed&#8221;, 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.</p>
<p>In addition, Luis is hosting a very special <strong>FREE</strong> <strong>telesummit entitled “Healing at a Cellular Level” on September 27<sup>th</sup>, 28<sup>th</sup> and 29<sup>th</sup></strong> 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.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>To find out how to buy Luis’s book and receive these gifts,<br />
including the FREE pass to the 3-day online telesummit, go to </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong><a href="http://www.memoryinthecells.com/" target="_blank">http://www.memoryinthecells.com</a></strong><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>AND you can read all about the telesummit and the guests at </strong><strong><a href="http://tinyurl.com/cmr-telesummit" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/cmr-telesummit</a></strong><strong> </strong></p>
<p>Be sure to follow Luis tomorrow when the next stop on his Virtual Blog Tour is <strong>Tomar</strong><strong> </strong><strong>Levine </strong>at <strong><a href="http://www.yourtimetobloom.com/" target="_blank">www.YourTimeToBloom.com</a></strong></p>
<p>As usual, please do feel free to share your comments and thoughts below. I love reading your feedback.</p>
<p>For a &#8220;sneak peek&#8221; at what Luis&#8217; message is, and how he communicates it, here&#8217;s the replay of his recent interview on my radio show:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><object id="42279" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="210" height="105" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="name" value="42279" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Flynn-serafinn%2Fplay_list.xml&amp;autostart=false&amp;bufferlength=5&amp;volume=80&amp;corner=rounded&amp;callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" /><param name="flashvars" value="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2flynn-serafinn%2fplay_list.xml&amp;autostart=false&amp;shuffle=false&amp;callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&amp;width=210&amp;height=105&amp;volume=80&amp;corner=rounded" /><embed id="42279" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="210" height="105" src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf?file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2Flynn-serafinn%2Fplay_list.xml&amp;autostart=false&amp;bufferlength=5&amp;volume=80&amp;corner=rounded&amp;callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flashplayercallback.aspx" flashvars="file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2flynn-serafinn%2fplay_list.xml&amp;autostart=false&amp;shuffle=false&amp;callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&amp;width=210&amp;height=105&amp;volume=80&amp;corner=rounded" allowscriptaccess="always" menu="false" wmode="transparent" quality="high" name="42279"></embed></object></p>
<div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 220px;">Listen to <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com">internet radio</a> with <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lynn-serafinn">Lynn Serafinn</a> on Blog Talk Radio</div>
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		<title>Ending Times or Just the Beginning? Thoughts on 2012</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/ending-times-or-just-the-beginning/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Sep 2010 17:33:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Lynn Serafinn takes a look at the &#8220;2012 phenomenon&#8221; and tells you about a FREE event Sept 14-16 where 9 leading authors and speakers discuss &#8220;the Shift&#8221; 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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em><strong><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1337" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px;" title="Question Marks" src="http://lynnserafinn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/3350488_s-212x300.jpg" alt="Question Marks" width="212" height="300" />Lynn Serafinn takes a look at the &#8220;2012 phenomenon&#8221; and tells you about a <a href="http://virtualspiritualevents.com" target="_blank">FREE event Sept 14-16 </a>where 9 leading authors and speakers discuss &#8220;the Shift&#8221; occurring on our planet today. </strong></em></p>
<hr />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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>So why is it that nowadays people are getting all hyped up about the “2012” phenomenon?</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<ul>
<li>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.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>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.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>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.</li>
</ul>
<p>I don’t believe the “end” is coming, but the world IS changing; and we are part of that great and wonderful change.</p>
<p>So what <em>really</em> lies ahead?</p>
<p>One of my spiritual author clients, <strong>Ms E.Dee Conrad,</strong> addresses this very question in her upcoming book <strong><em>A New Dawn Awaits</em>,</strong> 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 <strong>a very special 3-day FREE online event with a great line-up of guest speakers. </strong>We would love for you to attend.</p>
<p>It’s called:</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>“The Shift. The Message. The Transformation”</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>DATES:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Tues Sept 14, Wed Sept 15 and Thurs Sept 16</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>TIME:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>9am – 10.30am PDT</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>12pm – 1.30pm EDT</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>5pm – 6.30pm UK </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong> </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Register FREE at <a href="http://virtualspiritualevents.com/">http://virtualspiritualevents.com/</a> </strong></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p>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:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Hunt      Henion,</strong> author of four books, including the bestseller, <em>Looking, Seeing &amp; Knowing</em></li>
<li><strong>Bill      Douglas,</strong> Tai Chi master and author of <em>2012 The Awakening</em></li>
<li><strong>Christian Kyriacou,</strong> Energy Healer, Ki Architect and House      Whisperer</li>
<li><strong>Tambra Harck,</strong> spiritual teacher, radio host and      author of the book <em>Sacred Truths</em></li>
<li><strong>Jeff Fasano,</strong> photographer, author, angelic      channeler</li>
<li><strong>Alan Seale,</strong> award-winning author, and leadership/transformation coach</li>
<li><strong>Tracy Latz and Marion Ross, </strong>&#8220;Shift&#8221; Doctors, and co-authors of the bestseller <em>SHIFT: a woman&#8217;s guide to transformation.</em></li>
<li>And      of course, <strong>E.Dee and I</strong> will be co-hosting the discussion and      offering our own thoughts and insights.</li>
</ul>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Again, to reserve your place, just go to <a href="http://virtualspiritualevents.com/">http://virtualspiritualevents.com/</a>. You can even send in a question you would like to ask the panel.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>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 <em>A New Dawn Awaits</em> on September 21st, including a free mini-eCourse entitled &#8220;Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed&#8221; from me, which can help you recognise your own limiting beliefs, to make way for your own conscious evolution.<br />
</strong></p>
<p>I do hope you will join us on Sept 14, 15 and 16 for <a href="http://virtualspiritualevents.com/">“The Shift. The Message. The Transformation.”</a></p>
<p>As E.Dee says in her book:</p>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><strong><em>“The end is not near, but the future is.”</em></strong></h4>
<p>Warm wishes,<br />
Lynn Serafinn<br />
Spirit Authors Coach<a href="http://spiritauthors.com/contact"></p>
<p>http://spiritauthors.com/contact</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>For more information about E.Dee and her book,<br />
<em>A New Dawn Awaits,</em><br />
visit <a href="http://edeeconrad.com/">http://edeeconrad.com</a></strong></p>
<hr />
<h5>About Lynn Serafinn</h5>
<p><img class="alignleft" style="margin: 10px;" title="Lynn Serafinn" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/grand_opening/Lynn_Serafinn_150H.jpg" alt="Lynn Serafinn" width="133" height="150" /></p>
<p>Lynn Serafinn is a an award-winning transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio  host and bestselling author of the book <strong><em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/075521126X?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=thegaroftheso-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=075521126X">The Garden of the Soul:  lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self</a>.</em></strong> 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 <strong><a href="http://spiritauthors.com">Spirit Authors</a></strong>, 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 <a href="http://spiritauthors.com/contact">http://spiritauthors.com/contact.</a></p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: center;">[mlb/]</p>
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		<title>There&#8217;s No Time Like Today &#8211; How breast cancer helped coach Karen Maycey claim her dream</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/self-help-personal-growth-coaching-club-online-community-download/theres-no-time-like-today-how-breast-cancer-helped-coach-karen-maycey-claim-her-dream/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/self-help-personal-growth-coaching-club-online-community-download/theres-no-time-like-today-how-breast-cancer-helped-coach-karen-maycey-claim-her-dream/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 May 2010 16:50:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[If you&#8217;re looking to reclaim your inner space this month, Karen&#8217;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&#8217;s subscribers.
When Karen Maycey (pictured above) changed careers to become [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em><img class="alignleft" style="margin: 0px 10px;" title="Karen Maycey" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/ezine/KarenMaycey.jpg" alt="Karen Maycey" width="158" height="108" /><strong>If you&#8217;re looking to reclaim your inner space this month, Karen&#8217;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&#8217;s subscribers.</strong></em></p>
<p>When Karen Maycey (pictured above) changed careers to become a coach in 2005, she was asked a simple question: &#8220;What is your dream?&#8221; Karen replied quickly, saying, &#8220;My dream is to run a retreat in the mountains!&#8221;</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>But when her coaching trainers asked the question, &#8220;What is your dream?&#8221;, the dream reappeared. And this time, she knew her mountain retreat would also include coaching.</p>
<p>But while the picture of the dream became clearer in Karen&#8217;s mind, life took over, and once again the dream got pushed into the background of her life. She says, &#8220;The dream sort of &#8216;hung around&#8217; but it was semi-forgotten.&#8221;</p>
<p>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 &#8220;Outside Insights&#8221;, where he works as a walking guide taking businesses into the outdoors for team building, problem solving and personal growth. But Karen&#8217;s own dream was still not yet manifesting,</p>
<p>Then, April 2007 she took a course called Awakened Wisdom with Patrick Ryan where one of the tasks was to create a &#8220;mandala&#8221; envisioning her dreams for the future and how she wanted to &#8220;be&#8221; 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&#8217;s light to shine, and that it didn&#8217;t serve anyone for her to hide away. In making this mandala, Karen knew it was time to start being that shining star.</p>
<p>Astonishingly, within weeks of coming to that realisation, she was called by a company called &#8220;The Big Stretch&#8221; for an interview, and was subsequently hired. &#8220;The Big Stretch&#8221; was very close to her dream, as every gave her the opportunity to lead personal development courses for small groups that involved a &#8220;full on&#8221; week of coaching and walking in mountains of Spain. She felt this new job &#8220;semi-satisfied&#8221; 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.</p>
<p>But then, things changed.</p>
<p>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.<br />
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?</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Karen says, &#8220;I think what matters is that you believe in the choices you are making.&#8221;</p>
<p>She spent more than a year on an intense 5-hour a day regime that included detox and supplements, costing her thousands of pounds.</p>
<p>And all through the process, she kept saying to herself, &#8220;When I get better, I&#8217;ll do this or I&#8217;ll do that&#8221; 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, &#8220;Your cancer is gone forever.&#8221; Instead, they would always say, there is more work to do. It seemed like everything in her life was put &#8220;on hold&#8221; while she focussed on her cancer.</p>
<p>But then, over the Christmas holiday in 2009, things changed again.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>In one instant, she shifted from a &#8216;When I get better then I&#8217;ll do&#8230;&#8221; attitude, to a &#8216;Go for it!&#8217; attitude. It was time to do her retreat&#8211;NOW.</p>
<p>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.<br />
Karen&#8217;s entire life has changed since then. She lives life fully and makes the most of every moment. She didn&#8217;t do this last year when she was focussing on her illness. There&#8217;s no more waiting for tomorrow, no matter what the situation might be&#8211;even when you have cancer.</p>
<p>So now, Karen wants to share her dream with the world. She says, &#8220;I&#8217;m really looking forward to showing others that self&#8211;indulgence&#8211;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.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;What I want people to gain from the retreat is to know they matter&#8211;that they are important&#8211;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&#8217;s dreams to being in now. The yoga, coaching, walking, wonderful food and beautiful surroundings will all bring that. It&#8217;s all about being in the present and going for what you want.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;In a way, that&#8217;s the secret to life,&#8221; she adds.</p>
<p>WALKINGSPIRIT RETREAT<br />
Date: June 26-July 3, 2010 (7 days)<br />
Place: La Vacchio Retreat (in valley north of Luca, Tuscany, Italy<br />
Retreat Leaders: Karen Maycey (coaching), Verran Townsend (walking guide), Lisa Jones (yoga)<br />
Agenda: Coaching, Yoga, Walking, organic food, relaxing and fun!<br />
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.<br />
Cost: £995 (including accommodation and food)<br />
You can get £25 off to cost of the retreat if you say  &#8220;Lynn sent me&#8221; when you book!</p>
<p>To get your discount call 0161 928 8179 (UK)<br />
or email karen at: <a href="Karen@walkingspirit.co.uk">Karen@walkingspirit.co.uk </a></p>
<p>There is no deadline to book, BUT there are only a few spaces left.</p>
<p>More information:<br />
Web: <a href="http://walkingspirit.co.uk">http://walkingspirit.co.uk</a><br />
Blog: <a href="http://wallkspirit.wordpress.com">http://wallkspirit.wordpress.com</a><br />
Fan page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walkingspirit/123408144354924">http://www.facebook.com/pages/Walkingspirit/123408144354924</a><br />
Retreat Venue:<a href="http://lavacchio.com"> http://lavacchio.com</a></p>
<hr />
<h5>About Lynn Serafinn</h5>
<p><img class="alignleft" style="margin: 10px;" title="Lynn Serafinn" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/grand_opening/Lynn_Serafinn_150H.jpg" alt="Lynn Serafinn" width="133" height="150" /></p>
<p>Lynn Serafinn is a transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio  host and bestselling author of the book <strong><em>The Garden of the Soul:  lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self.</em></strong> 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 <a href="http://spiritauthors.com">Spirit Authors</a> to offer training, coaching,  business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether  established or aspiring. <em><strong>She&#8217;s also in Round 2 of the Next Top  Spiritual Author contest!</strong></em> To check out Lynn&#8217;s video entry, brand  new book proposal and read <span style="text-decoration: underline;">80 pages</span> from her book <em><strong>The Garden  of the Soul</strong></em>, go to <a href="http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=2016">http://www.NextTopAuthor.com/?aid=2016</a>.  A free gift awaits you when you cast your vote.</p>
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		<title>Bringing a Voice to Children and Adults Who Suffer with OCD</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/bringing-a-voice-to-children-and-adults-who-suffer-with-ocd/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/bringing-a-voice-to-children-and-adults-who-suffer-with-ocd/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 10 May 2010 07:30:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lynnserafinn.com/?p=1256</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 168px"><img title="Vrinda Pendred" src="http://conditionalpublications.com/images/Vrinda-200H.jpg" alt="Vrinda Pendred" width="158" height="200" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Vrinda Pendred</p></div>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<div class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 206px"><img class="  " style="border: 2px solid black;" title="Check Mates - the book" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/Check-Mates-COVER-IMAGE-196x300.jpg" alt="Check Mates Book Cover" width="196" height="300" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Check Mates - out on Tues May 11th</p></div>
<p>Their first book, <strong><em><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD</a></em></strong>, is coming to Amazon <strong>TOMORROW Tuesday, May 11<sup>th</sup></strong></p>
<p>Put together by 20 writers and artists from around the world, all who have OCD, <strong><em><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">Check Mates</a> </em></strong>showcases 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.</p>
<p><strong>If you are wondering why I am so empassioned by Vrinda&#8217;s story  it&#8217;s this: Vrinda is my own daughter, </strong>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.</p>
<p><strong>On  this Day-After-Mothers&#8217;-Day, I could not be more proud of my daughter  than I feel today.</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>And, true to her principles, Vrinda will be donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every copy of <strong><em><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">Check Mates</a> </em></strong>to OCD charities, to encourage research and treatment for the condition.</p>
<p><strong><em><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">Check Mates: A Collection of Fiction, Poetry and Artwork about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, by People with OCD</a></em></strong><em> </em>is coming to Amazon <strong>TOMORROW Tuesday May 11<sup>th</sup></strong>. To show my support of this inspirational new book, I am giving away my mini-eCourse &#8220;Making Friends with the Monsters Under Your Bed&#8221; to everyone who buys <strong><em><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">Check Mates</a> </em></strong>on the day of the launch.</p>
<p>AND&#8230; 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 11<sup>th</sup>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>To find out how you can buy this book on May 11<sup>th</sup><br />
and receive over 30 other gifts, just <a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">click HERE</a></strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Or copy and paste this link in your browser:</strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html</a></strong></p>
<p>I hope you will join me in celebrating the launch of this unique book, <strong><em><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">Check Mates</a></em></strong>, the first ever collection of fiction, poetry and artwork about OCD.</p>
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		<title>Interview with Author, Publisher, Vrinda Pendred on New OCD book &#8216;Check Mates&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/interview-with-author-publisher-vrinda-pendred-on-new-ocd-book-check-mates/</link>
		<comments>http://lynnserafinn.com/books-by-lynn-serafinn-garden-of-the-soul-least-resistance/interview-with-author-publisher-vrinda-pendred-on-new-ocd-book-check-mates/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 May 2010 01:16:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Lynn Serafinn</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://lynnserafinn.com/?p=1224</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 168px"><img class=" " style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;" title="Vrinda Pendred" src="http://conditionalpublications.com/images/Vrinda-200H.jpg" alt="Vrinda Pendred" width="158" height="200" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Vrinda Pendred</p></div>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <em><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">&#8216;Check Mates&#8217;</a></em> comes out on May 11, 2010, and it is nothing short of groundbreaking. What makes <em>Check Mates</em> 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.</p>
<p>It is also the first <em>ever</em> book of fiction written entirely by OCD authors—including Vrinda herself.</p>
<p>This interview is stop number 6 on Vrinda&#8217;s 14-day Virtual Blog Tour to promote the launch of <em>Check Mates</em>. Yesterday Vrinda stopped by the blog of <a href="http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com/">Yvonne Perry from Writers in the Sky</a>. If you happened to miss that stop, just <a href="http://yvonneperry.blogspot.com/">click here</a>.</p>
<p>______</p>
<p><strong>Listen to the interview:</strong><br />
<img style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNzI2Njk*Mzg1NjEmcHQ9MTI3MjY2OTQ*MTcyNyZwPTQ1MDk3MiZkPUhvc3RJRCUzYSUyMDQyMjc5Jmc9MiZvPTg*/NDBmNjNmM2NiMjRkNGZiYmY4NTgxNWRjMGYwNDMwJm9mPTA=.gif" border="0" alt="" width="0" height="0" /><object id="btr" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="210" height="108" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="name" value="btr" /><param name="quality" value="high" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="menu" value="false" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="FlashVars" value="gig_lt=1272669438561&amp;gig_pt=1272669441727&amp;gig_g=2" /><param name="src" value="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BTRPlayer.swf?file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eblogtalkradio%2Ecom%2Fplaylist%2Easpx%3Fshow%5Fid%3D1010073&amp;autostart=false&amp;bufferlength=5&amp;volume=80&amp;borderweight=1&amp;bordercolor=#999999&amp;backgroundcolor=#FFFFFF&amp;dashboardcolor=#0098CB&amp;textcolor=#F0F0F0&amp;detailscolor=#FFFFFF&amp;playlistcolor=#999999&amp;playlisthovercolor=#333333&amp;cornerradius=10&amp;callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx?referrer_url=/show.aspx&amp;C1=7&amp;C2=6042973&amp;C3=31&amp;C4=&amp;C5=&amp;C6=" /><param name="flashvars" value="gig_lt=1272669438561&amp;gig_pt=1272669441727&amp;gig_g=2" /><embed id="btr" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="210" height="108" src="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/BTRPlayer.swf?file=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eblogtalkradio%2Ecom%2Fplaylist%2Easpx%3Fshow%5Fid%3D1010073&amp;autostart=false&amp;bufferlength=5&amp;volume=80&amp;borderweight=1&amp;bordercolor=#999999&amp;backgroundcolor=#FFFFFF&amp;dashboardcolor=#0098CB&amp;textcolor=#F0F0F0&amp;detailscolor=#FFFFFF&amp;playlistcolor=#999999&amp;playlisthovercolor=#333333&amp;cornerradius=10&amp;callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx?referrer_url=/show.aspx&amp;C1=7&amp;C2=6042973&amp;C3=31&amp;C4=&amp;C5=&amp;C6=" flashvars="gig_lt=1272669438561&amp;gig_pt=1272669441727&amp;gig_g=2" allowscriptaccess="always" menu="false" wmode="transparent" quality="high" name="btr"></embed></object><br />
<strong>OR if you cannot view the player, <a href="http://spiritauthors.com/podcasts/radio-archives/BTR62_280410_Truth_about_OCD.mp3">CLICK HERE to download the MP3</a>:</strong></p>
<p>In our interview together on April 28, Vrinda started out by describing the struggles she faced as a child growing up with neurological disorders.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html"><img class="alignright" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 5px;" title="Check Mates Book" src="http://spiritauthors.com/images/Check-Mates-COVER-IMAGE-196x300.jpg" alt="Check Mates Book Cover" width="196" height="300" /></a>Vrinda went on to talk about her book <em>Check Mates</em></strong>. 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” (<a href="http://ocdtribe.com/">http://ocdtribe.com</a>). Vrinda said it was “indescribable” and “life-changing” to find a “tribe” of people who all shared the same condition.</p>
<p>She explained that what makes <em>Check Mates </em>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.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>If you or a family member has OCD, or any neurological condition, you definitely will want to check out <em>Check Mates </em>when it comes out on Tuesday May 11.</p>
<p>You can do this by heading over to: <a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html</a></p>
<p>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.”  <a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">Just click HERE</a> 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).</p>
<p><strong>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.</strong></p>
<p>Being Vrinda’s mom makes me understand what they mean by the term “pride and joy.”</p>
<p>______</p>
<p>Be sure to follow Vrinda to her next Virtual Blog Tour stop on Sunday May 2nd, hosted by Geoff Laughton at <a href="http://geofflaughton.com/gltc/blog/">http://geofflaughton.com/gltc/blog/</a>.</p>
<p>AND&#8230; don&#8217;t forget to sign up for the book launch reminder so you can buy &#8216;Check Mates&#8217; and over 30 free personal development gifts on May 11, 2010. Just go to <a href="http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html">http://conditionalpublications.com/pages/check-mates-launch.html</a></p>
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