At the exact same time I was launching Spirit Authors, I began writing a new book, which originally was intended to be a book for all those sensitive souls who didn’t like marketing, but needed to do it. I thought if I could help create a new paradigm for these kinds of people, it might be useful. But after I started diving deeply into the subject of marketing, I discovered so many revealing (and sometimes shocking) things about its history, intention and practice, and so many serious issues arising from consumer culture, that I knew this book was going to be something altogether different from what I had originally intended.

And now, after 2 years of daily writing, researching and pulling it all together, TODAY–Tuesday December 13th, 2011–is the big Amazon launch for my new book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell. (Click the title to find buy the book and receive some great gifts).

The 7 Graces of Marketing is a bold, holistic and often spiritual examination not merely of the world of advertising, but also of our entire world view. It reveals how our relationships with Self, others, our businesses, our economy and the Earth impact our health, our economy and the delicate ecological balance of our natural world. As much for the conscious consumer as the business owner, this book shows why traditional ways of selling are ultimately doomed to fail, and how both business owners and consumers can begin to heal the world by embracing a new paradigm I call ‘The 7 Graces of Marketing.’

When you buy the book TODAY you can receive the complete set of 7 MP3s (over 10 hours of audio) from last week’s 7 Graces of Marketing Telesummit, with 24 internationally renowned speakers, such as Joe Vitale, Eric Pearl and 22 others, speaking about the ‘7 Deadly Sins’ of marketing and the ‘7 Graces’ of marketing. You’ll also receive dozens of other gifts offered by my friends and colleagues, to express our appreciation for your support. To buy the book, and claim your MP3s from the 7 Graces Telesummit, and receive a fabulous selection of gifts from my friends and colleauges, here’s all you need to do:

1. Sometime TODAY, go to http://the7gracesofmarketing.com/book-launch/pages/launch.html. This is the “launch” page.
2. On that page, you will see links to buy the book on Amazon US, Canada or UK (yes, you may purchase the book from another Amazon site; we just didn’t have room for all the links)
3. Click a link to buy the book on the Amazon of your choice. You may buy the book in either paperback or Kindle version
4. After you have purchased the book, Amazon will give you a purchase code. The purchase code is a 17-digit number, and it looks like this: 123-1234567-1234567. Copy this number to your computer clipboard.
5. Return to the “launch page” and enter your name, email AND your Amazon purchase code in the form.
6. When you hit the button that says “Yes, Please!” you will be taken immediately to the “bonus” page. This page has all the links to take you to the bonus gifts.
7. Just click the links of the gifts you would like to download.

That’s all there is to it! I am extremely passionate about this subject (as you will have heard if you listened to last week’s telesummit), and I am dedicated to getting the dialogue started in the business sector so we can change the way we do marketing, and make a brighter, healthier, happier world for our children and children’s children. I do hope you’ll check out The 7 Graces of Marketing.

Click HERE to get the book, the MP3s and free gifts now

Please PAY NO ATTENTION if Amazon says, “Only 3 left in stock” or “Ships in 1-4 weeks”. We have test ordered the book, and it takes about a 7-10 days to ship, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to “be out of stock” because this is a “print on demand” book, which means the book will be printed and shipped to you whenever you place an order.

If you have any questions or experience any problems, please do not hesitate to contact me via http://spiritauthors.com/contact

AND, I’d love to hear what you have to say about the book after you have read it, so be sure to subscribe to The 7 Graces of Marketing blog . I’m also starting a 7 Graces of Marketing Community for everyone who has bought the book, and who would like to meet others of like mind who want to bring ethics and values back into our business and marketing. So please do stay in touch.

With gratitude and appreciation,

Lynn Serafinn Author, coach, author promotions

http://spiritauthors.com

http://spiritauthorscoach.com

http://the7gracesofmarketing.com

Transformation coach Lynn Serafinn shares life experiences with fear and its impact upon her health, and tells us about Luis Diaz’s new course on releasing fear.

PLEASE share this article with others.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few months ago, I wrote an article for my volunteer Transition Town group in which I shared my thoughts upon the link between oil dependency, disconnection, fear and suffering:

Our dependency upon oil has made us disconnected from the Earth and the ultimate Source of Creation in just so many ways. Most of us in “developed” nations (an irony) don’t grow our own food and have become dependent upon big businesses and mass transport (i.e., supermarkets, trucking, air freight) for the very basics that keep us alive. In the past, all we were dependent upon was the weather for our “daily bread”. But nowadays, we are dependent not only upon the ever-changing weather patterns, but also upon oil, global economies, foreign policy and corporations. What a vulnerable place in which to be! And to me, as someone who works with people and their emotions on a daily basis in my work as a life coach and teacher, I know the emotional and physical impact of long-term vulnerability. People begin to feel helpless. Helplessness leads to fear. Fear leads to depression and even disease. It can also lead to violence and crime.

While these words were originally written to support my observations about the connection between oil dependency and our wellbeing at a societal level, on a very personal level I have witnessed over and over again how feelings of helplessness lead to fear, and how fear ultimately leads to depression, disease and overall unhappiness.

I grew up in a fear-riddled household in which it felt like the roof was going to explode at any given minute. I was educated in a fear-driven parochial school where beating children (and in front of their peers) was still the norm. Later, I went on to enter a violent marriage and stayed there for 22 years, continually walking on eggshells, fearful of the next outbreak of rage. My lifelong relationship with fear had caused me to become so disconnected I didn’t even realise I had suffered multiple cases of whiplash as a result of abuse (I was diagnosed years later), which still case health issues today. It is small wonder that by the age of 40, I was diagnosed with a case of fibromyalgia so severe I felt like I was 80 years old. When my rheumatologist told me there was no cure or treatment, I broke down into a flood of uncontrollable tears at the thought of living for the rest of my life in such extreme, constant pain.

Fear is arguably the most primordial emotion of all living beings, and for human beings, I believe it is at the root of many other emotions such as anger, shame, sadness, uncertainty of self and chronic anxiety. Without a doubt, it has profound effects upon both our physical and spiritual wellbeing.

For me, I discovered the link between fear and health after I left my marriage, and started to notice that my fibromyalgia, by which I had been seriously impaired for 7 or 8 years, was vanishing day by day, until it was completely gone. I also noticed that I no longer suffered from heart palpitations, night-time panic attacks, severe digestive disorders and relentless back problems.

To give a complete comparison, these days my back problems still flare up from time to time, which is understandable after more than 20 decades of physical violence. But while, in the past, these problems were my constant companion every day of the year, nowadays I have a minor flare up once every year or two, and my body is able to heal after a single osteopathic treatment. In the past, when my life was overwhelmed with fear and anger, my body was so resistant to healing I would typically have to go to the chiropractor two or three days every week for years and the spasms and pain never totally stopped.

Looking back upon my experiences, I am 100% convinced that fear, and all the chemical and neurological by-products of it, had been deeply lodged in the very cells of my body for many decades. And I cannot tell you how lucky I feel that I finally woke up one day back in 2002 and started my long process of healing. I fumbled my way through it and discovered these things as I went along. It took me about 6 years to heal from fear fully, and believe me I really WORKED at it very hard, with personal development training (including my coaching training) coming out of my ears.

In other words, I did it the “hard way”: on my own, not sure of where I was headed, and taking years to get there.

That’s why, when I met my client (and now good friend) Luis Angel Diaz, and he told me about the work that he does, I was extremely enthusiastic.

Luis is arguably one of the world’s foremost authorities on emotional healing, and has been a holistic health practitioner since his early 20s with qualifications in dozens of traditional and holistic therapies. Those of you who have followed my work will also recognise him as the author of the international #1 best-seller Memory in the Cells: how to change behavioral patterns and release the pain body. He is also the founder of a technique called “Cellular Memory Release” (CMR). Over the years he has worked with thousands of clients at his three successful practices in Argentina and California, helping them transform their long-term pain and illness into aliveness and joy.

The goal of Luis’s work is basically to take people from where I was back in 1995 to where I am today—without going it on their own, or taking years to get there, like I did. The CMR process is a teachable process where people learn how to identify their emotions, experience them fully and release them, so they can make room for the self-healing their bodies already know how to do naturally.

I’ve done several online events with Luis over the past few months, and I am delighted to be able to invite him back to my radio show this week on Blog Talk Radio:

Transforming Fear with Luis Angel Diaz

On Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul

@BlogTalkRadio
Wednesday December 1st
6pm UK / 1pm EST / 10am Pacific
Listen LIVE or catch the replay at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/lynn-serafinn/2010/12/01/ep88-transforming-fear-with-luis-angel-diaz

I hope you’ll tune in. You can even ask Luis questions live on the air via the chat room, Skype or by calling in on the phone at 646-727-3449 (US Number).

And then, for those of you who want take this process further, I do encourage you to check out Luis’s 2-session course that starts next week:

Releasing Toxic Emotions from Our Bodies

How to Transform FEAR into Inner Peace, Joy and Wellbeing

Tuesday Dec 7 and Tuesday Dec 14
PLUS full forum support

http://tinyurl.com/fear-dec2010
This course normally costs $197
But this December ONLY
Luis is offering it at the discount price of only $157

AND if you tune into the show today (or listen to the audio replay before Friday), you’ll find out how you can apply for one of 20 $100 scholarships he will be giving away to attend this course for only $97. Tune into the show for full details, or check out the registration page above for more info.

Hope you’ll be joining us on the show!

Wishing you a lifetime connection, wellbeing and joy,
Lynn

About Lynn Serafinn, Creator of Spirit Authors

Lynn Serafinn is a transformation coach, book promotion coach, radio host and bestselling author of the book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. She also works as a campaign manager for mind-body-spirit authors and has produced several top-10 book campaigns, including FOUR #1-sellers, in 2010 alone. She created Spirit Authors to offer training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. Contact Lynn about YOUR book project at at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.

Be sure to subscribe to this blog for regular book writing and promotion tips (just fill in form at right of your screen).

Sign up for Lynn’s bi-monthly newsletter Creative Spirit (fill in form below) packed with inspirational articles, online networking tips, broadcast guide to her radio show, and news about upcoming spiritual author book releases.

Throughout the year, Lynn also hosts large-scale telesummits with world-class speakers on a range of mind-body-spirit topics. Your subscription to Creative Spirit will ensure you’ll be the first to know how to attend these free events.

Lynn

The grand prize is a book contract from Hampton Roads Publishing, one of the top Body-Mind-Spirit publishers in the world, along with a promotional package worth over $50,000.

There are 3 rounds of voting. The first round starts MONDAY March 29, 2010, and ends May 3, 2010. I could REALLY use your vote to help me advance to Round 2.

Here’s the video I made for my contest entry. I poured my heart and soul into it! If you cannot see it on your screen, view it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8P92UVYwCQ.

If you think The Garden of the Soul deserves to go to a wider audience, please help me by:

1) Watching this video to help you decide whether you think I deserve the prize AND THEN
2) Voting for me at http://tinyurl.com/TopAuthorLynn between March 29 – May 3rd.
3) Help yourself to a THANK YOU GIFT on that page (it’s a collection of audio excerpts from my book)
4) SHARE the page via Twitter or Facebook (you’ll see the buttons right there on the page).

And there is NO pressure to choose only one author to win this contest! There are hundreds of great authors for you to consider, and you can vote for as many authors as you like (but you can only vote ONCE for each author per round).

I you can help me advance to Round 2 of this exciting competition, I will be EXTREMELY grateful!

My motivation is fuelled by your encouragement and comments. I’d love to hear what you have to say about the video, my book and whatever else, in the comments box below (if you are reading this in your email inbox, click HERE to leave a comment).

Thank you everyone!

[mlb c="creativespirit"]

Presenting an exciting NEW concept on the Internet, combining coaching, learning, community and business-building in a creative, spirit-based environment…

SPIRIT AUTHORS GRAND OPENING

Register for free at: http://spiritauthors.com/pages/grand-opening.html

Spirit Authors (www.spiritauthors.com) is an innovative new membership site where established, new and aspiring authors in the mind-body-spirit genre can find everything and everyone they need to make their publication a success. Founded by bestselling author and award-winner teacher and coach, Lynn Serafinn, Spirit Authors provides learning, support and professional resources to mind-body-spirit authors, whether you are just starting out, or are already successfully published.

Won’t you please join us for our Grand Opening Celebration?

• Monday 22 February through Friday 26 February (one webcast per day), from 3pm Eastern (8pm UK)
• FIVE unique broadcasts on different topics including writing, publishing and marketing your book and beyond
• FREE to attend; FREE to listen (via webcast)
• A superb VIP panel of 18 spirit-based industry professionals, all leaders in their fields
• Panellists include top-selling mind-body-spirit authors, editors, marketing specialists, translators, literary agents, publishers and basically wonderful people.

On the broadcasts, you will…

• Hear the experiences and insights of 18 leading mind-body-spirit publishing professionals
• Learn lots of new things about spirit-based writing, publishing and promotion
• Have the opportunity to direct questions to the VIP panel via our webcast
• Find out how you can “Test Drive” Spirit Authors Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience for only $1
• Receive some great free gifts just for checking it out.

Can’t make it to the live broadcasts?

No problem! Register for the webcasts you want, and you will receive a link to download the MP3 after the event. But don’t leave it too long before you listen to them… we’ll be giving away some freebies that will be available only during the week of the Grand Opening launch.

Who are our VIPs?

• HOST: Lynn Serafinn, bestselling author, book promotion coach
• CO-HOST: Shelagh Jones, Spiritus Spiritual Marketing Directory
• Alan Seale, author, transformation coach
• Allison Maslan, number-1 selling author, homeopath, life strategy coach
• Caron Goode, award-winning author
• Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer
• Daya Devi Doolin, award-winning author, spiritual counsellor
• Laurel Marshfield, editor, ghostwriter, proofreader
• Marion Ross, number-1 selling author and psychologist
• Richard Fitt, Authors Online, publisher for self-publishing authors
• Shannon Arnold Jackson, spirit-based writing coach
• Shelley Lieber, The Wordy Woman, Publishing Maven
• Stephanie Gunning, the Get a Book Deal Coach
• Tony Eldridge, Marketing Tips for Authors
• William Bloom, world-renowned spirituality author and speaker
• William Gladstone, author, top literary agent for leading mind-body-spirit authors
• Yvonne Perry, author, book marketing specialist
• One additional guest to be confirmed

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT THE LINE UP AND REGISTER FOR FREEl

SIDEBAR NOTE: If you haven’t yet gotten your copy of Allison Maslan’s Number-1 seller, check this page out before Friday 29 January: http://myblastoff.com/booklaunch to receive 20 free mind-body-spirit gifts when you buy the book, “Blast Off!”.

This is a true story of how one small thing can change your life.

Back in September 2009, a fellow named Tony Eldridge, whom I had met on Twitter, asked me to write an article for his book marketing blog, talking about the promotional strategies I had used that enabled my book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers to unearth the Self to become a bestselling title. I was a first-time, self-published author. I wasn’t exactly rich, and I had next to nothing to spend on promotion, so I did just about all of it myself. But somehow, by dint of my having spent the previous two years attending dozens of live seminars and teleseminars and reading hundreds of articles and eBooks on the topic of book promotion and Amazon launches, I built my online platform, designed my campaign and found some truly wonderful joint venture partners to assist me. As a result, my book became a bestseller in the UK in spirituality and mind-body-spirit categories, as well as in self-help category in both the US and the UK. I couldn’t have been happier. At age 50-something, it really was the dream of a lifetime.

I knew that the success of my launch had come from building my platform at least a year before my book had come out. So when Tony approached me to write the article, I decided to call the article “Pre-Natal Care for your Book,” with the aim of encouraging authors to start building their platform months before they even finished writing their books. When he published my article on 6 October 2009, Tony announced it on Twitter, and continued to ReTweet the link to it throughout the month.

I was very pleased with the article, and very pleased Tony seemed to like it too. I had no idea, however, that this one small thing was very soon going to be the catalyst that would change my life.

A few days after the article was published, an author from California named Allison Maslan saw one of Tony’s ReTweets (bless your tweet heart, Tony), and clicked the link to read my article. She was intrigued with it and contacted me through my website, asking me if I would “coach” her to create a book promotion campaign, because she had just landed a book deal with Morgan James Publishers for her book Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality.

I asked, “What do you want me to do?”

She replied, “Exactly the same thing you did for your own book. I want to do all of it.”

Without thinking, I heard myself saying to her, “OK. Except it’s not enough. My book made it to Number 18, and that was great at the time. But I want your book to do better than that. I want it to go all the way to Number 1.”

Reaching Number 1 was something I had a difficult time imagining, but I really meant it when I said it. Over the months Allison and I worked together, I found myself saying, “I want your book to be a Number-1 bestseller,” again and again. The desire was so powerful I could feel it in my gut.

I have to admit, though, that somewhere in the back of my mind I could hear a voice chiding me, “Number 1, you say? Uh-huh. Well we’ll just see about that!” But in spite of my occasional self-doubt, my logical mind told me if I simply applied all the learning I had amassed from having completed my own launch several months earlier, I could avoid all the pitfalls I had encountered and easily surpass my previous achievement. It seemed perfectly “do-able”.

And while such logic is a wonderful thing, the greater thing I have learned is that when you set a sincere intention, the Universe conspires to ensure it comes to fruition. So honey, let me warn you—before you open your mouth and speak loudly enough for the Universe to hear, you’d better be sure you are ready for outrageous success. But when you say it, you really have to mean it. Don’t just wish it. Don’t just say to yourself, “That would be really nice.” Feel the desire so powerfully that you will not accept anything less, and then commit to doing the work that will make it come true.

Over the following months, I worked closely with Allison to design, coordinate and deliver her campaign. First we tightened up her platform by building a strong online infrastructure and integrating all her social networks. Then, I showed her how to operate many new software programmes. She got to be a real pro at them in no time and soon she was off and running and gathering new followers every day. She was a natural at it, and because she was such a nice person, people simply WANTED to be connected to her.

Then I introduced her to an excellent communications coordinator, Yvonne Perry from Writers in the Sky, whom I had met on my Garden of the Soul Ning group. Together, we three assembled a truly vibrant team of spirit-based joint venture partners. We then designed all the timetables, promotional copy, strategies, sales pages and so many other things. As the day of the launch approached, we worked out tracking systems and a rota for watching the sales. There were some pretty hair-raising last minute “tweaks” behind the scenes and Ali, Yvonne and I were writing emails to each other so rapidly, it was almost like talking in real time.

The day of the big launch finally came Tuesday 19 January 2010. As I live in the UK, I was up hours before Allison or Yvonne. Soon, Britain woke up and started shopping online. I found my heart pounding when I first saw Allison’s book get into the Top-20 bestseller lists in the UK, alongside and even AHEAD of celebrities from Britain’s show “Dragon’s Den”. I frantically started sending out blogs and newsletters and tweets to tell people about this great news. Then, as North America woke up (Allison amongst them), and I started to see her book climb the US and Canadian charts, I could feel my heart pounding even louder. Heck I think I could even hear Allison’s heart pounding all the way from San Diego! Wow! Suddenly Blast Off! was soaring up the charts into the Top-10. Unbelievable. She had indeed passed my own book’s rank, just as I had said I truly wanted.

Behind the scenes was a FRENZY of emails, Tweets, Skypes and on-the-fly blog posts. We analysed. We strategised. It was total madness! I think if I could pick one thing I am most proud of about the campaign, it would be when Allison got to the Number-4 ranking, just behind Gary Vaynerchuk and Michael Gerber—two monumental names in the charts. We looked at the sales figures and estimated that we were very close to the Number-3 position, and all we needed to get over the “hump” was another 15 book sales. At that point, I sent out an appeal to all our members on Spirit Authors fan page on Facebook, as well as my blogs, and Allison sent out emails to her lists, telling them exactly what was going on. Yvonne started Tweeting like crazy. Within minutes, people responded with messages of support, telling us they had just bought the book.

I watched as an amazing truth became evident—people WANTED Allison reach Number-1. Their desire was just as strong as ours… except now there were hundreds of people all desiring the same thing.

And do you know what? With all that passionate desire being sent into the cosmos, the Universe could not help but fulfil our collective wishes. It was like an ocean of desire flowing into cyberspace.

In less than an hour, the book Blast Off! by my wonderful client (and now dear friend) Allison Maslan not only moved into the Number-3 rank, but within the next couple of hours, it also rose in both US and Canada to become Number-1 bestseller in entrepreneurship and was dubbed Number-1 “Hot New Seller”. It also made the top 5 in several other categories including “motivational” and “self-help”.

As you might imagine, Allison is over the moon and she is getting a lot of media attention. I spoke to her this evening and she has FOURTEEN radio interviews tomorrow! I can’t imagine that many interviews in one day. And I have to say, it couldn’t happen to a nicer person.

As for me, I’ve been living on not much more than adrenaline all week. But I really wanted to come back down to earth to tell you about the exciting things that have been happening in my life since the success as Allison’s campaign.

My first big announcement is that “Lynn the author” is now being represented by Waterside Literary Agency in Los Angeles, who also represent an array of illustrious spirit-based authors such as Eckhart Tolle, Neal Donald Walsch, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and of course my own client, Allison Maslan, amongst many others whose names you would undoubtedly recognise. Together, we are getting ready to approach publishers with a proposal for a NEW book I am writing. I’ll be telling you more about it over the coming months.

The second bit of news (and this will probably come as no surprise) is that, ever since the launch, I have been approached by a steady stream of authors requesting I help them with their book campaigns. Some of these are truly BIG and exciting projects. I’ll be telling you all about these wonderful books over the coming months.

All of this truly takes my breath away and, of course, I am absolutely thrilled so many people are approaching me about managing their spirit-based book campaigns. But there is a flip side to all this that also needs to be considered:

a) There’s only one of me and there are hundreds of authors who need help with their book projects and

b) Private campaign managers are simply not a financial option for everyone.

But here’s the beauty of the situation. The Universe is so incredibly wise and clever, it has been orchestrating a solution to this dilemma for the past two months, long before any of these events had occurred.

What is the solution? My new Spirit Authors site, of course!

For the past two months, I’ve been very excited about my new project Spirit Authors, which is a membership site that allows me to combine my professional experience as a teacher, coach, author, online promotion expert, WordPress “techie” and non-stop talker (!) in one place. I call it a “Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience” for mind-body-spirit authors—including those who simply have a dream to write and be a published author in the future. What Spirit Authors will offer authors is the opportunity to learn from myself and a range of other industry professionals about writing, social network-based promotion, self-publishing, Amazon launch campaigns, and making the most of your success, while always retaining your spirit-based focus, and being true to your personal values. It is also an online community, offering you the opportunity to make close personal and professional connections with others of like mind, for friendship, support, ideas sharing and business partnerships.

I originally set up this project because it resonated with my own values and interests. It also fulfils a long-term dream for me, because I have an MA in adult education and distance learning, and for many years I wanted to create a really fabulous online course, using all the principles I have learned in my many years as an educator.

But what I now understand is that the real importance of the project is that it will be able to help HUNDREDS of authors get the information and support they want and need for their projects. I couldn’t possibly do that as a one-to-one coach.

I have arranged a Grand Opening Webinar Week, Monday 22 through Friday 26 February. I’ve got over a dozen industry professionals from authors, marketing specialists, publishers, editors, etc., coming along to share their wisdom and experience on the air. And, yes, Allison Maslan will be amongst the guest line up to tell us what life has been like since becoming a Number-1 bestselling author. It’s all going to be FREE in celebration of the Grand Opening of the new Spirit Authors site.

The sign-up page for the Grand Opening won’t be available until NEXT week, so for now, if you’d like to make sure you receive a VIP invitation to the FREE Grand Opening Webinar Week, just got to http://spiritauthors.com and enter your email address in the right-hand side of this screen. Then, you’ll receive all updates about the event.

So there you have it. It all started by someone asking me to write a simple little blog article. Less than six months later, so many things I wanted to achieve in life are all joining together. It has truly been a dance of synchronicity, desire and manifestation.

If you follow my work, you know that one of my key messages is that there is great learning to be found in every story of our lives. So for this story, let me offer you these two “thoughts for the day:”

a) Never underestimate the power of an opportunity you are given, even if it seems very small. You simply do not know how far it will take you.

b) The more you desire to fulfil the dreams of others, the more your own dreams become fulfilled.

Thanks for reading. I really needed to share this story with you. Just by reading these words, you have become a part of my journey. Even if we have never spoken in person, I know on a subtle level that your presence in the world is impacting my life in ways I cannot yet measure. Similarly, I truly hope my presence in the world is impacting you in some small but positive way.

Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
Transformation Coach, Book Promotion Coach,
Author, Teacher, Talk Radio Host
Spirit Authors Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience
http://spiritauthors.com

P.S.: If you haven’t already, have a look at http://myblastoff.com/booklaunch. You still have time to receive 20 free mind-body-spirit gifts if you buy Allison Maslan’s (Number-1 selling!) book Blast Off! before the end of Friday 29 January. I’m also offering over 1 hour of audio book excerpts from The Garden of the Soul as a gift, along with other great gifts from coaches, authors, marketing pros and holistic practitioners. Have a look and see what’s on offer.

P.P.S.: I’m celebrating my 55^th birthday this Thursday 28 January. If you are on Facebook, come join my “Virtual Birthday Party” on my Spirit Authors fan page. I’m giving away a gift to all fans on Thursday, so come along and invite your friends. http://facebook.com/SpiritAuthors.

Allison Maslan

By guest blogger Allison Maslan

Note from Lynn: The exciting launch of Allison’s new book, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality is coming THIS Tuesday, January 19. To find out how you can buy the book and receive more than 20 beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts during the launch, go to www.myblastoff.com/booklaunch.

Are you living your life to the fullest at this moment in time? Do you have the life that you have always dreamed of? If so, congratulations! Meditate a few moments each day on the goodness that you have experienced from your great fortune. If your answer is no, it is never too late to start. So many of my coaching clients tell me they don’t reach their goals because they want everything perfect before they move forward.

They are striving for perfection and it is killing them. They want a perfectly clean house, to say the perfect words and to do perfect work at all times. What is the point of “perfect” anyway? Pressure filled expectations are a sure way to turn any goal into a ball and chain. Many people resist attempting new challenges or setting new goals because they are afraid they will not perform to their ridiculous level of expectation.

As a result, they give up before they ever begin. Then the feelings of disappointment and failure set in. I started taking modern dance in my 30s. The room was full of young women and men that had been dancing since childhood. My mind was aghast as the dance instructor got in front of the class and proceeded to dance several eloquent steps that we were supposed to immediately mirror. I knew I was in trouble as the class was spinning one way and I was tripping the other way (Picture I Love Lucy and the Rockettes).

Through this experience, I learned to laugh at myself and let go of the notion of doing it perfectly. It was not possible for me to keep up with these experts; and attempting to do so was way too much pressure. Once the light bulb came on that I could do something for the fun of it, I relaxed about the outcome. And wouldn’t you know it, I was able to perform in several dance presentations and I had a blast.

If you are not putting yourself out there, reaching toward what you really want because you are afraid of not being perfect, you are missing out on the juiciness of your life. It is the non-perfect part that will be most memorable and uniquely you.

~~~~~~~~

Allison Maslan, HHP, CCH is a homeopathic physician and the author of Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality. As a life and business coach, she helps people create a new business and the best chapter of their lives.

The exciting launch of her book, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality is coming Tuesday, January 19. To find out how you can buy the book and receive more than 20 beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts during the launch, go to www.myblastoff.com/booklaunch.

To honour the coming of the new decade, I decided to set some intentions. To keep me focussed and balanced, I decided to use the four principles of “Give, Receive, Become and Be” from my book The Garden of the Soul as a foundation for those intentions. I’d like to share them with you here.

My intention for the Principle of Giving

I have learned that true “Giving” means to listen deeply to people’s hearts and give them what they truly want, rather than imposing what my ego tells me what I think they need. This decade, I make the intention to give to everyone I meet, from my heart to theirs.

My intention for the Principle of Receiving

I have learned that true “Receiving” means to open my eyes and ears to become aware of the boundless gifts being sent to me at every moment of my life. This decade, I make the intention to allow myself to receive, with wonder, joy and gratitude, all the Universe offers me.

My intention for the Principle of Becoming

I have learned that we cannot “Become” or grow unless we let go of old ways of thinking that do not serve us and keep us stuck in a treadmill. This decade, I make the intention to let go of old stories I have about myself and the world, and to become extraordinary in ways I had never before imagined I could.

My intention for the Principle of Being

I have learned that “Being” means to know and love the Self regardless of the multitude of labels we use to describe ourselves, and to be aware of who we are no matter what challenges surround us. This decade, I make the intention to be me, and only me, and to see you as only you.

Thank you for allowing me to share my intentions with you. I had an ulterior motive for doing so. You see, I know that the true power of intentions comes when you share them with others. And I really, really want to be able to be mindful of these intentions, because I know they sometimes might not be so easy to remember. The fact that you have heard them means there is more power behind them, so thank you for reading.

Try it out for yourself. Make your intentions for the new decade, and then share them with special and supportive people in your life. Then see how much this action helps you to be mindful of your promises to yourself. And what’s even more interesting is that we don’t necessarily have to share our intentions with other people (although it’s always good to, because they can hold us accountable). If you prefer, you can go out into Nature and shout your intentions to the moon, the trees, the birds, the ocean or whatever has meaning and energy for you. Or, if you are the kind of person who likes to pray or meditate, state your intentions to Spirit, in whatever form is true for you. No matter how you state your intentions, when others bear witness to our sincere expression of them, it’s as if the Universe has etched our words into our cosmic diaries, and holds us firmly on our true course in life.

And of course, you are MOST welcome to share your intentions with me below in the comments! I’d love to be your “intention buddy.”

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Is one of your intentions in 2010 to start writing a spirit-based book? Maybe you’ve already written it and you are ready to find out how to publish and promote your book. Or maybe, you’ve just started your writing journey by keeping a diary, a blog or other journal of your thoughts, feelings or creative ideas. No matter where you are in your writing journey, I’d like to invite you to visit Spirit Authors, my brand new Virtual Coaching and Learning Experience just for mind-body-spirit writers.

We are having a fantastic Spirit Authors Grand Opening Webinar Week from Monday 22 February through Friday 26 February, where you can hear (for fr*ee) over a dozen top mind-body-spirit industry professionals, from authors, to publishers, to editors, to marketers and more, all talking about spirit-based books, from writing to publishing to promotion. You’ll also find out how you can join the new Spirit Authors membership site, bringing you bespoke courses, business resources, and great opportunities for both personal and professional networking, all aimed at writers in the mind-body-spirit genre.

To make sure you don’t miss our Grand Opening, be sure to come over to www.spiritauthors.com and sign up for our news updates, so you can receive a VIP invitation to this very special Grand Opening Webinar Week.

Allison Maslan, author of Blast off!

Author and Coach Allison Maslan Helps You ‘Blast Off’ in 2010

by Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC

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These days, the market is flooded with self-help books. Unfortunately, all too many of them leave me feeling dull and lifeless, and they don’t really “help” very much. Half of the books I come across hit you over the head with “power talk” that makes you feel guilty for not being rich or for getting the occasional cold (I won’t mention names, but I have indeed tossed more than one self-help book across the room because of this!). The other half usually drown you in lofty “woo woo” language that never quite gets down to practical action. Frustrating! For a new self-help book to stand out from the crowd and become keeper in my library, it would need to be friendly, engaging, fun AND practical. In other words, it would actually have to HELP me help myself. In her new book Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality, author, coach and registered homeopath Allison Maslan, has achieved exactly that. Her book is a step-by-step programme to achieving some of the most challenging and important goals in life: career, relationship, health, fun/adventure, and of course financial security. In my own experience as a coach, I know that when people wish to make positive changes in their lives in any of these areas, they can frequently feel overwhelmed. I know that there are two keys to helping them get started: 1) make the challenge feel light and fun and 2) break the challenge into smaller, and not so daunting, chunks. Maslan uses both of these strategies in her book Blast Off! Her creative and colourful use of language (Daily Launch Tools, Weekly Flight Assessments, etc) and her easy break-downs of tasks and targets (Sun-up Scripts, Mini-Feats, etc) give Blast Off! a quality of lightness that helps readers believe they can and will achieve their goals and aspirations. But most importantly, Maslan keeps the reader focussed on the bigger picture: life purpose and the path of your whole life. Thus, unlike other books that might just focus on one aspect of life, like money, relationships or health, Blast Off! is a holistic handbook for creating the life you want to live. Written with a charm that immediately makes you feel at home, Allison avoids the downfalls of so many other self-help authors (no condescending “power talk”, no airy-fairy stuff). With Blast Off!, Allison Maslan has written an accessible, inviting and honest handbook, with a sweet, down-to-earth charm and practical action steps. The combination results in something that is both believable and useful. In other words, this is one self-help book that actually IS showing you how to help yourself. Blast Off!, along with the excellent organised companion Workbook, is kind of like having a life coach in a book. Certainly worth checking out to enhance your New Year’s resolutions in 2010.

Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality by Allison Maslan is coming to Amazon on 19 January 2010. I have joined up with over 20 other mind-body-spirit professionals to help celebrate the release of this special book. Together, we are giving away an array of very special gifts to everyone who purchases the book during its launch. To find out how you can receive these gifts, go to http://www.myblastoff.com/booklaunch.

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Meditation 28: Aesthetic Awareness
from “Lessons from the Iris: the Principle of Receiving”

Aesthetics are the subtle qualities of beauty, originality, ingenuity and artistry that surround us at every moment in the world. They are not things that can be defined or quantified with any kind of measurement. They speak to us at an intuitive level, and can be found both in nature, as well as in the creations of humankind. After all, humankind is also a vital part of the Natural World, even if we sometimes lose sight of our connection to it.

Aesthetics surround us at every moment. When we feel moved by a sunset or other natural wonder, cry when we hear a particular song, feel a lump in our throat over a work of art of any kind, or find ourselves affected in an inexplicable way by the poignancy, perfection, or uniqueness of anything we witness or experience, we are in touch with the subtle realm of Aesthetics. There is something undeniable about our experience that touches us at the deepest level, but to try to pinpoint what precisely makes it so powerful is as impossible as trying to capture the substance of a rainbow. The magic of an Aesthetic experience lies within its ephemeral nature, and the fact that we are experiencing a unique moment in time and space, and feel connected to it at the heart and soul level. And while many people enjoy the intellectual pursuit of analysing artistic merit, it is important to understand that if we attempt to connect to our aesthetic experiences purely from an intellectual platform, we are apt to lose the essence of their magic, and we deny ourselves the full experience of connection to them.

In The Garden of the Soul, the Iris is the mentor of Aesthetic Awareness. She teaches us how to be inwardly silent, and fill up completely with the moment. Together, we stand with her, appreciating fully the unlikelihood of a triple rainbow, and the fact that we have come together at that particular point in time and space to witness it together. She models for us how to become receptive to the Aesthetics that surround us at any given moment, and thus develop our Aesthetic Awareness, which is an attribute of the Principle of Receiving. In order to Receive, we must first empty ourselves of any intellectual or emotional obstructions. We must become like an empty pitcher ready and waiting to be filled with nectar, or a flower bud that simply allows the rays of the sun to bathe it before it can blossom. If we are full of our own mind-games, judgements or limiting beliefs, very little of the nectar or the sunlight is likely to fill us. When we become empty and ready to receive, we become able to see and taste fully all the subtle qualities of the world around us at any given moment. This is the essence of Aesthetic Awareness.

When we develop this Awareness, a sense of Awe, Gratitude and Appreciation became almost uncontainable inside of us. Aesthetic Awareness, therefore, is the doorway to many other Attributes of the Principle of Receiving. In other words, only when we become truly empty, do we become truly full. When we master the art of true emptiness, we finally become able to taste the nectarean pleasure of Divine Aesthetics.

Enquiries to cultivate this attribute

1. What kinds of things would I love to empty from my heart and mind?

2. What subtle beauty, wonder and uniqueness do I become aware of when I am empty?

3. What would be the best thing about life if I were truly Aesthetically Aware at every moment?

Many thanks to Andrew Mondia, a Canadian actor currently living in London, and a Facebook fan, for selecting the magic number 28 for this week’s meditation. This meditation was read on the air on “Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul Radio Show” on Wed 11 Nov 2009.

Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
“Turning up the volume of the music in your heart!”

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Meditation 4: Love
from “Lessons from the Rose: the Principle of Giving”

Love is the energy that enables us to connect to Self, other and the Universe. Like any energy, Love can propel both motion and action. And also like any energy, it creates heat. It is this heat of Love that attracts us; it is also what generates Life itself. But heat and energy alone do not create Love. For energy to be Love, it must be free-flowing, easy and without force. Consider this: when we release the energy of a deposit of oil and natural gas from the depths of the Earth, it results in a massive quantity heat and of energy. But because these deposits are under so much natural pressure, the process requires an enormous amount of force. The force results in an explosion of pressure so great, that it can easily go out of control and even become dangerous.

Many of us have experienced so-called “love” in much the same way. We might believe we have fallen in love with someone or some idea. But we soon find the object of our love to be difficult to capture, and we resort to some sort of force to acquire it by all means. That force could be as simple as silently wishing for the object of our affections to be something other than it is by nature. Just like the oil well that requires great pressure to release its energy in such an unnatural way, when we similarly try to force Love to come unnaturally, our relationships and personal endeavours can become volatile and even heartbreaking. Thus, the key to mastering the energy of Love is to understanding that it must, at all times, flow freely and unconditionally from the heat of one’s heart. And the secret to knowing how to allow love to flow unconditionally is this—that Love has nothing whatsoever to do with the object of your affections; it only has to do with you.

In The Garden of the Soul, the Rose is the mentor of Love. She teaches us that Love is an attribute of the Principle of Giving, and therefore it is not something that you can “find”, for you already possess it. True Love, she teaches us, is the uncensored expression of who we truly are. To look for Love is futile, for True Love is simply a matter of allowing your true Self to blossom fully, thorns and all. As long as we maintain some judgement about ourselves, and continue to try to force ourselves to be what we are not, we will also set these same kinds of conditions upon others. But when we fall fully and unconditionally in love with Self, we become able to Love the rest of the World, because we know that everything—both Self and other—is Divine. When we see all around us with Divine Eyes, we finally become able to harness the enormous energy of Divine Love, and create Love in all we meet.

Enquiries to cultivate this attribute

1. How have I tried to force Love in my life?
2. What about myself have I yet to learn to love?
3. What will my life be like when I feel Divine Love for everyone, including myself?

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The above excerpt is from my upcoming book The Companion Guide to the Garden of the Soul. Have you picked up your copy of the original book The Garden of the Soul yet? It’s an Amazon bestseller in spirituality, mind-body-spirit and self-help. Check it out on Amazon or on the official book website.

Warm wishes,
Lynn Serafinn
“Turning up the volume of the music in your heart!”