NEW
CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW Summe r, 2015 | N CRE V I EW. CO M
SWITCH ON The New Science & spirit of
BREAKTHROUGH
SLEEP YOUR
FAT AWAY
HUMANITY’S
EVOLUTION
ORIGINAL THINKING Back to Our Roots
REVIEWS | INTERVIEWS | ARTICLES HEALTH - SELF-HELP - METAPHYSICS - CONSCIOUS LIVING - SPIRITUALITY
NEW CONSCIOUSNESS Review
Media for Enlightened Living Cover Personality: Nick Seneca Jankel. SUBSCRIPTIONS New Consciousness Review is a quarterly publication promoting enlightened living and the people and media driving the conscious awakening. Subscribe for free at http://ncreview.com/magazine and view the archives on www.ncreview.com ADVERTISING For all advertising enquiries, call 503-892-3300 or email info@ncreview.com SUBMISSIONS To submit your work for review or interview or to submit articles, email us at info@ncreview.com or visit our website for guidelines. PUBLISHER & EDITOR Miriam Knight CONTRIBUTORS Reviewers Cynthia Sue Larson, Miriam Knight, Diane Holcomb, Tim Sweigert Bryan Voell, Dr. Jonni Gray Feature Writers Aleya Dao, Brent Marchant, Jannai Mestrovich Contributing Writers Joy Martina, Julia Schopick, Michael Simonson, Temple Hayes, Kory Floyd, Colleen Mauro, Jessica Bryan, Marie-Rose Phan-Lê Production Design - Neboysa Dolovacki NewConsciousness Review PO Box 80547, Portland, OR 97280 Tel: 503-892-3300 Web: www.ncreview.com Email: info@ncreview.com
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CONTENTS 11
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5 FROM THE EDITOR INSPIRATION 7 SWITCH ON: Unleash Your Creativity and Thrive with Nick Seneca Jankel 9 PUT YOUR WHOLE SELF IN! Waking up to life with Temple Hayes 11 THE POWER OF THE HEART Finding Your True Purpose in Life by Baptist de Pape 12 THROUGH THE FLAMES Overcoming Disaster Through Compassion, Patience, and Determination by Allan Lokos 12 THE BOOK OF KNOWING AND WORTH A Channeled Text by Paul Selig 13 MAKING PEACE WITH SUICIDE A Book of Hope, Understanding, and Comfort by Adele Ryan McDowell, PhD 14 THE EVERYDAY GENIUS From Spiritual Telepathy by Colleen Mauro MEDITATION: 18 CUPS OF CONSCIOUSNESS HEALTH 19 SLEEPING YOUR FAT AWAY by Joy Martina, PhD 22 BRAIN MAKER: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain by David Perlmutter, MD 23 MEDITATION AND MIND FITNESS with Joel & Michelle Levey 24 HOW TO “TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR” Patient power with Julia Schopick 28 ZY QI GONG – Claire Johnson teaches an ancient practice for Self-Healing and Empowerment
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32 TRAITS OF THE ENERGETICALLY SENSITIVE CHILD by Michael Simonson RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS 34 BULLYING AND LYING CURED WITH 3D LEARNING by Janai ‘Grandma Boom’ Mestrovich 37 WORLD PEACE & OTHER 4TH GRADE ACHIEVEMENTS by John Hunter 38 HOW MINDFULNESS CAN ENHANCE TEACHING by Patricia A. Jennings METAREALITY 42 SPIRITUAL ADVENTURES with Jessica Maxwell 43 CONDUIT: A Love Story Before, During, and After Life by Jonni Gray 46 QUANTUM CHANGE: Epiphanies & Sudden Insights by William Miller and Janet C’de Baca 48 THE EVOLVING SOUL Past Life Exploration by Dr. Linda Backman 49 VEIL BETWEEN THE WORLDS by Jessica Bryan CONSCIOUS CINEMA 52 CINEMATIC PROBABILITIES by Brent Marchant OUR WORLD 56 ORIGINAL THINKING Radical Revisioning with Glenn Aparicio Parry 57 CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY with Barbara Marx Hubbard 58 TALKING STORY: Preserving Ancient Traditions with Marie-Rose Phan-Lê 61 THE ART OF WAGING PEACE with Paul K. Chappell 63 RISING STARS 66 REVIEWERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT 67 GALLERIA
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FROM THE EDITOR
As Adams wryly observed, “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.” What do we need to do so?
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f you have ever read Douglas Adams’ book, “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” you will recognize this admonition delivered just before the Earth was to be destroyed. This time we live in bears certain similarities, although it is we, and not the Vogons, who are threatening our planet’s future.
Panic might be a reasonable response in a world where savagery has been unleashed and people are being killed and brutalized because of their race, gender, religion or ethnicity; where air, land and sea are being pillaged, polluted and laid waste; where wealth is obscenely concentrated in the hands of the few, while multitudes are starving; where people of goodwill do their best to make a difference against odds rigged in favor of financial gain and power. It won’t, however, help. I once had a sign on my desk that read, “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, maybe you just don’t understand the situation.” It seemed very funny at the time, but now, with quite a few more years on the clock, I realize that keeping one’s head is exactly what is called for. In fact, the more chaotic the world around us seems, the more vital it is not only to keep one’s head but to use one’s heart and gut as well. As we head toward the tipping points looming ahead, we need some serious creative thinking and out-of-the-box solutions to keep us from going over the edge. Our educational systems are not, by and large, geared to the task. Conformity and being a team player are considered virtues, while imagination and independence are discouraged or deemed a threat. Our values become confused and distorted as we are taught from childhood to be competitive and try to win no matter what the cost. We stifle the promptings of our heart and our inner knowing because we are told that intuition and mystical events are just imagination or coincidence, and the threat of ridicule keeps us from claiming these gifts and the guidance they could provide.
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• Critical thinking - to give us a broad perspective of the issues we face and an appreciation of the consequences of both action and inaction; it also helps us discern reality from spin and disinformation aimed at maintaining the status quo. • Action based on information and understanding. Essential to this is a free Internet – the nervous system of the planet, accessed and fed by computers and smart phones around the world. The web has exponentially increased our ability to see the bigger picture, and bridge the abyss of ignorance and misunderstanding among people of different races, religions, politics and cultures. • Compassion – triggered by reading and seeing firsthand accounts of injustice, war, disease, and hunger reported by real people in real time. • To use our Intuition – that innate sense of what is right, which is also our personal guidance to what is right for us. As Douglas Adams said in a speech in 2000, “A learning experience is one of those things that say, “You know that thing you just did? Don’t do that.” When we acknowledge what is not working, we can choose to do things differently, instead of doing the same thing with more force, more money, longer, louder, stronger… But it all starts with a definition: Who are we? When we can answer that question in a way that includes the least of us, we are on the way to creating Heaven on this beautiful Earth. We may not be there yet, but with the consciousness of enough people waking up around the world, the probability increases for our future survival in a world worth living in. It is up to each of us. Again, to quote Douglas Adams, “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” So remember, “DON’T PANIC!” But if you’re hitchhiking around the galaxy, maybe take a towel… Miriam Knight Editor & Publisher
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INSPIRATION REVIEW & INTERVIEW
Switch On:
Unleash Your Creativity and Thrive with the New Science & Spirit of Breakthrough by Nick Seneca Jankel “Switch On” provides intelligent tools for understanding and overcoming the barriers to thriving in a climate of rapid change and uncertainty. Nick Jankel synthesizes his formidable knowledge of psychology and philosophy, biology and business, to explain how experiences, especially from early childhood, create habits of thought and behavior that become hard-wired in our brains and bypass our conscious control.
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INSPIRATION
n a breezy style attuned to Gen-Xers and Millennials, he describes the roots of the problems and self-sabotaging reaction patterns that lead to stress and despair. With just enough science to inform but not confuse, he explains the psychological and biochemical mechanisms that literally anchor doubts and fears in our mind-body, that lead us to switch off to avoid pain and unpleasant emotions, and give up on our dreams in the process. Once we can recognize what we’re doing to ourselves, we can reverse the process and start reclaiming our life force and switch on to the full creative essence of our being. The book is simple, without being simplistic, and cleverly illustrated with graphics and typography. For example, the J-shaped curve that describes the 10 stages of the breakdown-breakthrough process drives home the point that things usually have to get pretty painful before we are motivated enough to change. On the downward slope of the J are the problems, patterns and pain that got us to the point of wanting to change. At the bottom we have the point of presence, where we open our minds to the reality of our situation and come to terms with it. Once you come to terms with it you can choose to “metabolize” this problem, as Jankel says, using it to fuel your upward drive to a resolution. You also have the choice not to do anything, which leaves you wallowing in the status quo. The choice to deal with it, to recognize it for what it is, open your mind to the possibility of alternatives, and then to act on it, is what propels you on the upward slope to resolution and power and possibility. If it were easy to make the right choices, the world would be a different place. However, the insights, thoughts for contemplation, and tools Jankel provides help bring clarity and understanding to how our personal defense mechanisms are working; and as they say: the truth will set you free. By recognizing when and why we go into fear and protection mode, and consciously moving towards connection with source, we can stop cringing and get creative. Being a generation or two older, I was surprised to find how much I resonated with this book. (Note to publisher: being nearsighted I was actually able to read the teeny print, but it was a challenge!) The advice, which sounds hip and con-
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Echoing the great wisdom teachers, he calls us to recognize our interconnectedness, and notes that we are innately wired for compassion, not for greed and indifference. temporary, reverberates with the wisdom of millennia. Echoing the great wisdom teachers, he calls us to recognize our interconnectedness, and notes that we are innately wired for compassion, not for greed and indifference. In fact our greatest rush comes from oxytocin, the feel-good hormone that floods in when we feel love and connection, and know that we’re doing good in the world. Yes, it takes effort, but the alternatives are leading us off a cliff. So, whether you’re a Gen-Xer in a soul-destroying job, a millennial who can’t find a job at all, or a boomer who will never be able to retire, you will find inspiration and guidance in this book on how to take your destiny - and the planet’s - into your own hands. This is the time to switch on and Nick Jankel is a wisdom teacher for this time. Reviewed by Miriam Knight
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
INSPIRATION ARTICLE & INTERVIEW
Put Your Whole Self In! By Temple Hayes
(Excerpted and adapted from “When Did You Die? 8 Steps to Stop Dying Every Day and Start Waking Up”)
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Do you remember being a little kid and dancing to the song The Hokey Pokey, putting different parts of yourself into it and then being asked to “put your whole self in?”
Remember how good it felt to shake your body and turn around? You were present, alive, and awake! Isn’t that what life is all about? You put your whole self in! This really is what life is all about, but why do so few of us put our whole selves in? When we are children we innately live in the moment by putting our whole selves in. I remember a number of years ago I visited a friend of mine and a four year old child was there asking me to dance with her. I got on my knees so we could be closer to the same height and we proceeded to dance. We were pretending to be Tom and Sally out for the evening immersed in this beautiful dance. Each time we completed the song, Kayleigh would say, “Let’s do it again.” Without hesitation she was putting her whole self in. By this point, my knees were having thoughts of their own and were longing for this experience to be behind us. The next morning I asked Kayleigh if she would like to play the part of Tom and Sally and dance some more and she didn’t connect at all with what I was saying. To her that experience was yesterday. It was not significant any more nor was it relevant. It was an experience that was behind her.
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She had put her whole self in the day before and no reason to recall it nor relive it again. This is the way we naturally are destined and designed to be in our day-to-day lives. We are literally meant to go from experience to experience and put our whole selves in. Yet what happens is most of us are walking through life disconnected and drained and rarely present for what is occurring NOW. We are toting all of the past on our backs and shoul-
INSPIRATION Put your whole self in. As you get into this practice and it becomes habit three things will occur. ders, recalling all the Toms and Sallys in our lives who have either wronged us, or shamed us, or they didn’t do it right. We are aiming to continue dancing through each day of life with all this weight on our hearts and mind while not being able to be truly impassioned and energized in this day and this moment. So what needs to happen for us to make the shift? Decide now, today, this moment with every encounter you are going to put your whole self in. If you are at a restaurant with friends put your phone away, if you are going on your first date – be you and share who you really are rather than holding back and editing most of the things you share, and if you are facing a fear truly face it rather than replace it and keep walking forward in the direction of your life. Put your whole self in. As you get into this practice and it becomes habit three things will occur. 1) YOU WILL HAVE MORE ENERGY There’s a story of a guy riding a bicycle up hill and he is really struggling. What he doesn’t realize is that he is driving with his brakes on. The energy it is taking for him to move forward while at the same time “being locked in place” is likened to a person who wants to move forward yet is holding on to past sorrow, or the people they perceived have done harm against them or energies of regret and disappointment. 2) YOU WILL BE MORE EMPOWERED Putting your whole self in the moment requires a practice of being able to say who you are and be what you feel. If you are committed to being a person who does not carry around past luggage from yesterday then you will be able to travel lightly as you go from place to place and person to person for you are being true to yourself. Just the simple and profound commitment to speak and live the real you will change your energy level dramatically.
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3) REEDOM IS GIFTED TO YOU AND TO OTHERS You are able to truly put your whole self in first and not wait until you turn yourself around just like the order of the song. When you put your whole self in and allow your energy to change which will change your life, an amazing and incredible thing happens. You feel better, you like the feelings and thoughts you are having, and you have people saying to you all the time, “How do you have so much energy?” The wonder of this is oddly enough you are able to give the same permission to others in your life. You begin to see them as whole rather than broken, possible instead of impossible, and life becomes a new playing field. You wake up one morning and you are truly free from your own self- bondage. This inner dialogue moves from being a thought into a feeling and finally a realization. Your whole self – you begin to measure it daily in your work, with your families and loved ones, with the moments of silence and retreat you gave yourself. Begin this amazing, enlightening practice. Affirm before every event –I am putting my whole self in and reflect at the end of the day, did I do it? Did I put my whole self in? If not, how can I make more of an effort tomorrow? This is your moment – begin now. Put your whole self in! Be Life! Temple Hayes is the author of When Did You Die? 8 Steps to Stop Dying Every Day and Start Waking Up (HCI Books) and spiritual leader of Unity Campus in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is an internationally acclaimed speaker with a global following and is one of the most respected and authentically inspiring leaders in spiritual enrichment today. Temple Hayes also hosts an extremely popular radio show, The Intentional Spirit on Unity Online Radio. For more information, visit www.templehayes.com LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
INSPIRATION REVIEW
The Power of the Heart: Finding Your True Purpose in Life by Baptist de Pape Lawyer-turned-filmmaker, Baptist de Pape, shares uplifting quotes, exercises and thoughts gleaned from conversations with consciousness luminaries he interviewed for this book and his documentary film, “The Power of the Heart.”
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here are deep thoughts and feelings contained in this deceptively small book, such that each chapter ending with meditative exercises has the power to transform readers to experience gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, and gradually trusting the process of feeling, thinking, and living from the heart. I love the way Baptist de Pape includes a short summary of why he set out to create a film documentary and book about the subject of finding peaceful calm through heart-centered awareness that comes through clearly when embracing present moment awareness in a state of silence. From a powerful initial epiphany, de Pape gained the courage to pursue a brand new calling to explore the heart’s many powers, including: intuition, intention, gratitude, forgiveness, resilience and love. The Power of the Heart is written in three sections, beginning with the first part that introduces readers to paths to discovering the language, wisdom, and deep intelligence of the heart. The second section encourages readers to explore the internal awakening of exceptional intuitive wisdom and courage we can feel when learning to listen to our hearts, and the third part takes the reader through a review of how to re-engage with the world of relationships, work, family and friends in the world.
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I especially enjoy the Contemplations included at the end of each chapter, as these experiential meditations and exercises bring key ideas from the reading into meaningful activities that can show readers how it feels to activate the transformative, healing powers of the heart. These Contemplations are short to read, spanning just two pages, and simple to do, usually taking just a few minutes. Readers who savor the sensory delight of reading an actual book in hand will be thoroughly pleased with the look and feel of the hardcover edition of this book, with it’s embossed jacket on the outside and gorgeous portraits of spiritual teachers including: Isabelle Allende, Maya Angelou, Deepak Chopra, Jane Goodall, Howard Martin, Rollin McCraty, Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson and Gary Zukav. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND “THE POWER OF THE HEART” TO ANYONE WHO WONDERS WHETHER THEY ARE LIVING THEIR MOST FULFILLING LIFE, OR WHO WISHES TO DISCOVER JUST HOW GOOD IT CAN FEEL TO LIVE A LIFE OF PURPOSE AND MEANING. Reviewed by Cynthia Sue Larson
INSPIRATION REVIEWS
Through the Flames: Overcoming Disaster Through Compassion, Patience, and Determination
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by Allan Lokos
here is no denying that a good portion of “Through the Flames” makes for difficult reading. Whether describing the horrible plane crash that he barely survived or the subsequent and still-ongoing recovery from the burns that should have killed him, author Allan Lokos’s subject matter is at once horrific and riveting. It is also brutally graphic; there is no room for sentimentality here. Much of the first half of the book reads like a daily journal of pain, surgeries, hope won and lost, fear, relief and redemption -- and all of it without an ounce of self-pity. If Lokos’s account isn’t the epitome of prolonged human suffering, I don’t know what is. But it’s this very suffering that Lokos writes about so eloquently and honestly. The utter lack of self-pity is perhaps one of the most shocking things about this book. Lokos has stated that he probably would not have survived his ordeal if not for his years as a practicing Buddhist and its emphasis on mindfulness meditation. How he actually put these tools to work during the long recovery process is at the heart of this book. If you can stomach the detailed accounts of how he endured the painful onslaught of a burn-ravaged body, the second half describes how he moved through the pain into a wider understanding and compassion for the entire experience. This is where the story blooms from the purely personal to the universal. After all, what more proof does one need that things like meditation, Tai Chi, yoga, as well the exploration of the true nature of pain are beneficial than to bear witness to the positive effects of such practices? Through the Flames is a beautiful book, one that you will likely not easily forget. Reviewed by Bryan Voell
The Book of Knowing and Worth: A Channeled Text
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by Paul Selig have not had the pleasure of reading the first two books in the author’s trilogy, before reading and reviewing The Book of Knowing & Worth. I consider that an advantage. How well does this book stand up without having read the first two? Perfectly. It has solid legs of its own. And according to the publisher, represents the “most significant” of the trilogy.
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INSPIRATION Channeled texts are often a synergy of both the message and the messenger, and this book shares that complement. Channeled over the course of 25 days the reader has the opportunity to read snippets of how the author responded to the messages that came through him. Representing our human side, he questions, interrupts, and misunderstands the message on occasion. A message which profoundly states and reveals in a multitude of ways: “I know who I am, I know what I am, I know how I serve”. The Book of Knowing & Worth is not an easy book to read. It requires the full commitment of the reader’s attention to embody the messages of wisdom, responsibility, truth, and the demonstration of love. If one makes the necessary commitment, one is rewarded richly with an expanded perception integrated within. Reviewed by Dr. Jonni Gray
Making Peace with Suicide: A Book of Hope, Understanding, and Comfort by Adele Ryan McDowell PhD “Making Peace with Suicide” is the best book I’ve ever read at helping readers understand the complex factors involved when people choose to take their own lives. With vast numbers of contributing factors to suicide, and more being announced in the news each year--such as a connection between high altitudes and altitude-induced oxygen depletion--it’s clear we need better ways to talk about and understand why people choose to kill themselves. “Making Peace with Suicide” provides the path toward compassionate understanding, as well as tips about what works best to help the suicidally inclined choose life over death. I particularly love the inclusion in this book of the topic of “soul loss,” since many suicides have sources other than mental illness, substance abuse, and persistent pain. I greatly appreciate the ways that McDowell considers mind-body-spirit interaction, sharing insights, research and personal anecdotes from her decades of experience as a psychotherapist and long hours working as a suicide-hotline responder. Some of my favorite parts of “Making Peace with Suicide” are inclusions of personal insights from those who attempted suicide--sometimes more than once--from people poised at the brink of suicide who are still with us. These first-hand accounts show how moving away from the brink of suicide requires conscious choice and deliberate action. McDowell shares seven steps you can take to tell your story and come to peace with the dark moments--including what you did well in those dark moments--before calling your spirit back. “Making Peace with Suicide” is a book with so much heart and soul that readers can find a sense of peace and forgiveness about experiences they’ve had no previous peace or comfort in before. Reviewed by Cynthia Sue Larson
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INSPIRATION ARTICLE
The Everyday Genius by Colleen Mauro
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Our famous artists, writers, scientists, and entrepreneurs are often seen as rare and special beings endowed with gifts and talents that most of us lack.
have discovered that many of our most celebrated creative thinkers—the people we call geniuses or visionaries—credit their greatest achievements to their contact with the soul. Many spoke of the soul as a portal to a universal source of inspiration and beauty. Once connected to this source, ideas and images simply flowed into their brains. The Ageless Wisdom teachings have long provided the training we need to tap this universal flow of wisdom and knowledge. These teachings, also called the esoteric or mystery teachings, were once taught in the ancient mystery schools and first put into book form by the Hindu sage Patanjali, author of The Yoga Sutras. In this classic book, Patanjali wrote that the mind has two levels—the lower or rational mind and the higher or intuitive mind. The soul, our gateway to the higher worlds, is the link between our higher and lower minds. When we train the lower mind to make contact with the soul, the soul transmits information from the higher mind to our brains. We then have direct access to the subtle worlds where information on all subjects can be found. We see the fruits of this experience all around us, from our most beautiful works of art to the scientific breakthroughs and inventions that have revolutionized our world. Many of our most renowned
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artists, writers, scientists, and business leaders have left a record of this experience.
When we train the lower mind to make contact with the soul, the soul transmits information from the higher mind to our brains.
INSPIRATION brating everywhere.” According to Wagner, “This universal vibrating energy binds the soul of man . . . to the Supreme Force of the universe, of which we are all a part.” Wagner, who also spoke of “appropriating” this force when composing his famous operas, described his creative process to Abell: “I see in my mind’s eye definite visions of the heroes and heroines of my music dramas. I have clear mental pictures of them before they take form in my scores, and while I am holding fast to those mental images, the music . . . the whole musical structure, occurs to me.”
In the late 1800s, Arthur Abell, an American violinist living in Europe, interviewed Puccini, Brahms, Strauss, Wagner, and other well-known composers about the source of their creative genius. As you’ll see below, their experiences are remarkably consistent. Each spoke of the soul as the portal to a universal source of inspiration. Once they were connected to this source, ideas and images simply flowed into their brains. As Puccini explained to Abell, “The great secret of all creative geniuses is that they possess the power to appropriate the beauty, the wealth, the grandeur, and the sublimity within their own souls, which are a part of the Omnipotence, and to communicate those riches to others. The conscious, purposeful appropriation of one’s own soul force is the supreme secret.” Puccini experienced inspiration as a divine force, a “vibration [that passes] from the soul-center, into my consciousness, where the inspired ideas are born.” German composer Richard Wagner, best known for his set of four operas called the Ring, also spoke of inspiration as the ability to become one with the “universal currents of Divine thought [that are] vi-
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Richard Strauss also spoke of inspiration as coming from a higher self: “In my most inspired moods, I have definite compelling visions, involving a higher selfhood. I feel at such moments that I am tapping the source of infinite and eternal energy from which you and I and all things proceed.” Strauss, who called his ability to register inspired ideas a “divine gift,” described a similar experience while writing one of his operas: “The ideas were flowing in upon me—the motives, themes, structure, melodies . . . in fact the entire musical measure by measure. . . . I was definitely conscious of being aided by a more than earthly power.” Johannes Brahms called his method of composing music “communicating with the infinite.” Composing, Brahms said, “cannot be done by will power working through the conscious mind. . . . It can only be accomplished by the soul-powers within.” He described inspiration as “a condition where the conscious mind is in temporary abeyance and the superconscious is in control, for it is through the superconscious mind, which is part of Omnipotence, that the inspiration comes.”
The conscious, purposeful appropriation of one’s own soul force is the supreme secret.
INSPIRATION Writers and visual artists have also reported this experience. As Ralph Waldo Emerson explained in his 1844 essay The Poet, “It is a secret which every intellectual man quickly learns, that beyond the energy of his possessed and conscious intellect, he is capable of a new energy . . . a great public power on which he can draw . . . by unlocking his human doors . . . he is caught up in the life of the Universe.” And Leonardo da Vinci stated that “The painter’s mind is a copy of the Divine Mind,” and “the painter has the Universe in his mind and hands. . . . Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.” We also have examples of this experience in the business and scientific worlds. Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of consumer electronic products, believed his extraordinary success was due to his ability to access kongen, a Japanese term meaning the “the root or origin of universal energy.” Einstein’s famous equation E = mc2 came in a moment of inspiration when, in his words, “a storm broke loose in my mind and with it came the answers.” Einstein, a friend later said, had “tapped into God’s thoughts and tuned into the master plan for the universe.” After his death, pathologists dissected and probed Einstein’s brain, looking for anomalies that would explain the source of his genius. But Einstein— who wrote, “There comes a time when the mind takes a higher plane of knowledge. . . . All great discoveries have involved such a leap” and “The mystical . . . is the source of all true art and science”—made it clear that his inspiration came from a higher source.
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The bridge between the soul and the lower mind is built through the practice of creative meditation. As we project our attention upward day after day, we anchor small threads of energy that will eventually, thread by thread, form a bridge to the subtle worlds. When we have the ability to bring the treasures of the subtle worlds down to earth, we join the ranks of those people we call “geniuses.” Imagine the inspired writing, the beautiful works of art, the groundbreaking inventions, and the new healing techniques we will bring to the world as the soul in each of us unfolds.” This is the future that awaits us, a future where each of us will become an “everyday genius.” This material was reproduced by permission of Quest Books, the imprint of The Theosophical Publishing House (www.questbooks.com) from Spiritual Telepathy by Colleen Mauro. © 2015 by Colleen Mauro. Colleen Mauro was the founder and editor-in-chief of Intuition Magazine. She can be reached at http://www.spiritualtelepathy.net
THE UNIVERSE HAS MANY WAYS OF CALLING... ARE YOU LISTENING?
WHAT WAGS THE WORLD Tales of Conscious Awakening by Miriam Knight & Julie Clayton
Visit our website www.WhatWagstheWorld.com
GET IT TODAY! ONLINE or AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE WHAT WAGS THE WORLD, ISBN 978-1782796053
MEDITATION
CUPS OF CONSCIOUSNESS By Aleya Dao Move into Divine Alignment and Direction with a New Cycle
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here is a fresh new energy coming onto the planet in the months of June, July, and August of 2015. Use this energetic meditation to help you link into this new current and ride the wave into greater empowerment, clarity, and abundance. The first part of 2015 stirred up a lot of energy triggering major changes internally and externally. This clearing has created a space for new beginnings in all areas of your life. There is an energy you can tap into this summer that will help you make the changes you have been yearning for. Start the change by listening to this 12-minute meditation filled with energetic protocols/prayers and sound healing/toning. • Move forward with clarity, empowerment, discernment, wisdom, motivation, joy, and courage.
• As you move forward into a this new cycle it is helpful to be in alignment with your Soul’s mastery, divine direction, inner current, and inner power.
pineal gland, and crown for your Soul’s divine direction. • Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, close your eyes, gently gaze at the top of your head, and tone to assist the cleaning and alignment of your chakras. • Deep toning for divine alignment. (3 minutes of toning) • Clean and clear all of the crystalline structures within and around all of these energy centers for the current of clarity, divine direction, and divine alignment. • May you be gently and powerful propelled in your divine direction as you embrace a new path. This meditation is designed to help your energy fields shift, then the mind. As you listen let yourself feel the words and energy before receiving it at the mind level. There is an energetic aspect of you that has the ability to shift your energy fields, which in turns increases your vibration. Let your energy self/ Higher Self do the heavy lifting. For a free trial week of the Cups of Consciousness by Aleya Dao go to www.cupsofconsciousness.com LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
• Invite the Higher Self of you, your body, and Team to energetically, locate, clean, clear, and align your base chakra, heart chakra, third eye, Aleya shares her daily energetic daily meditations with subscribers all over the world. She is a sound healer, energy practitioner, spiritual guide, and Doctor of Oriental medicine. Aleya has been an alternative practitioner, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives. She has five sound healing albums and over 1,200 meditations on line. Aleya’s first book, 7 Cups of Consciousness, will be released in September of 2015. Connect with the higher realms and transform your life. Aleya’s website is www.aleyadao.com
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HEALTH ARTICLE & INTERVIEW
The Way to Lose Weight is SLEEPING Inside You Joy Martina, The Rapid Change Coach, tells us why we overeat and explains how we can awaken the slim, healthy version of ourselves – effortlessly.
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We are far smarter and stronger than we think. We have every skill and power within us to lose weight effortlessly and painlessly – for good – but we are a society of quick-fix lovers.
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e have little time, are faced with information overload, increased pressure (workload, debts, emotional responsibilities like juggling family life etc.) and this lifestyle takes its toll. We are experiencing an increase of stress-related health issues such as burn out, heart problems and even obesity due to an unhealthy diet, emotional eating patterns plus food addictions. This combination makes us prone to constantly look for quick fixes and painless “solutions”, yet none of them offers us the real lifestyle change required to shed the extra fat for good. The result is that the USA has become the world’s unhealthiest nation. The diet and food industries are multi-billion dollar industries just like the pharmaceutical companies. These are big companies are earning big bucks off the laziness and lack of education of their consumers. Some might say they are serving our needs by offering us quick solutions for common problems, while others would argue that we are becoming their puppets. We are buying into their miraculous pills, hyper-palatable snacks, special diet foods
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that claim to boost our metabolism and burn fat. It’s all out there, and is even brought to our doorstep by clever marketing strategies that lure us into believing that a processed diet product is healthier than natural food. Our brains are being manipulated by processed foods, artificial additives and crafty marketing. The result is that many of us have lost touch with our inborn, natural intelligence. Our children are being exposed to additives, artificial colors, flavors, high sugar and processed industrial foods at an alarmingly early age. These kids cannot help but develop a preferred taste for these industrial products and turn up their noses at simple, natural foods like fruits and vegetables. This generation of children is more addicted, unhealthy and overweight than any generation before. Childhood obesity numbers are sky high and if we don’t act soon, we will lose the battle.
HEALTH as large as a watermelon, when filled. When we eat and our stomach is full, our stomach sends a message to the brain to say ”Enough!” This mechanism let us know when to stop eating. But… If we constantly overeat, we overstretch our stomachs and need more and more food to feel full. THE 4 REASONS WE OVEREAT AND DON’T LISTEN TO OUR BODY 1. We are distracted
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN WE WERE A HEALTHY WEIGHT As babies we are equipped with a natural regulatory system: when we are hungry, we cry and demand to be fed. We drink our milk and when we are full, we stop drinking. Babies will literally turn their heads, spit out the extra milk or fall asleep when they have had enough. Try overfeeding a young baby – it’s virtually impossible. AS SOON AS WE ARE OUT OF THE INFANT STAGE, THE CONDITIONING STARTS: Already, very little children are often force-fed because parents are worried their child is not getting “enough” or will not sleep well if its belly isn’t full. When we show some parents how small a child’s stomach is (the stomach of a 3 week old baby is the size of an egg!) and how much food they are attempting to feed their child, they are shocked. In addition to this over-feeding, we receive powerful conditioning from our parents and peers when they share their, not always healthy, opinions about food. These memories and beliefs are stored deep inside our subconscious mind and make us behave the way we do – especially when it comes to eating! OUR STOMACH SIZE CAN EXPAND TO THREE TIMES ITS SIZE An empty adult stomach is the size of a fist. But it can stretch almost like a balloon to become
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We eat while doing something else: watching TV, reading, texting, telephoning. 2. We eat for “the wrong reasons” We eat because we are emotionally hungry and not out of “real” hunger. We eat because we are stressed, upset or lonely. And so we use food to suppress emotions, to comfort and de-stress us. 3. We eat too quickly It takes around 20 minutes for the brain to receive the “full” message from our stomach. In times of convenient fast food and onthe-go snacks, by the time we get the “full” message from our stomach, we have already finished our far too big meal and even had a dessert on top. If you chew each bite 30 times before swallowing, it will slow you down and allow your stomach time to “get the message”. 4. We eat hyper palatable, sugar laden, processed foods These trick our brains, get us addicted and make us eat far more than we would were we eating natural food. 5 SIMPLE RULES TO AVOID OVER-EATING Here are the 5 simple rules we urge you to follow if you want to lose weight and awaken your slim, healthy self: 1. Eat when you are hungry - but learn the difference between emotional hunger and “real” hunger
HEALTH 2. Eat slowly and consciously 3. Stop eating as soon as you feel full 4. Train your brain 5. Drink lots of water In Sleep Your Fat Away we have developed a complete package to help you lose weight effortlessly by reconnecting you to the inborn intelligence of your body. No diet, no pills and no willpower are needed. As part of this package we have created a 25-minute audio recording to help train your brain (see rule 4 above). The easiest way of training your brain is to use subliminal messaging using audio recordings. All the conscious mind hears in these recordings is the relaxing music, while the subconscious mind (and that’s where the real sabotage is hiding!) is able to pick up all the hidden, valuable information that is lying quietly below the music to help you think and act like a naturally slim person. Click here to download this audio for free. If you prefer something shorter, there is a 5-minute version. To get the maximum effect: Simply put the track on repeat and listen to it every day while you are busy doing something else (please don’t use it while driving!). We have also included a 5 min version, where you can hear the affirmations consciously. Click here to download. OUR SLEEP YOUR FAT AWAY PROGRAM ALSO INCLUDES A NUMBER OF OTHER TECHNIQUES AND TOOLS TO HELP YOU LOSE WEIGHT WHILE YOU SLEEP. Sleep Program - enables you to use your nightly sleeping hours to train your brain and lose weight. The audio bombards the brain with positive, health promoting suggestions that erase sabotage and train the brain for optimal weight loss. SHRINK YOUR STOMACH WITH THE POWER OF YOUR MIND Clinical studies have proven that an imagined operation can be as effective as a real surgery! We use this effect in a guided meditation, which takes the
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listener on a journey through an imagined Gastric Band Operation. And the effects are astonishing! People tell us how much less hungry they are and how easy it is to eat less automatically. We are Joy & Roy Martina, the Rapid Change Coach and the Holistic Medical Doctor and have been training people worldwide in lifestyle changes for years. It is our greatest wish for people all over the world to realize they do not need to diet, take pills or starve to become slim. We are especially passionate about helping obese children and teenagers regain their healthy weight and lead happy, confident lives. Once you realize why you are overeating, you can train your brain to help you lose weight and then, true lifestyle changes can take place. A Virtual Gastric Band Operation, Subliminal Messages and Sleep Programs can assist you in this process (learn more about this at www.sleepyourfatway.com). IF YOU FOLLOW THE 5 GUIDELINES IN THIS ARTICLE AND LISTEN TO THE AUDIOS FOR 10 DAYS YOU CAN ACHIEVE DRAMATIC RESULTS! I’D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT HOW YOU FIND THE EXPERIENCE AND THE CHANGES YOU EXPERIENCE We invite you subscribe to our blog if you enjoyed reading this article. Joy Martina Brain-training expert Joy Martina, known as the Rapid Change Coach, holds a Ph.D. in psychology, is a master hypnotist, trainer of trainers and co-author of six books. Her newest, co-written with her husband Roy Martina, M.D., is Sleep Your Fat Away (Morgan and James, April 2015). Visit www.SleepYourFatAway.com. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
HEALTH REVIEW
Brain Maker:
The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain–for Life By David Perlmutter, MD
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I think it is impossible to overstate the importance of this book, which truly heralds a revolution in how to maintain brain health and treat the disorders that affect it.
t presents compelling research drawing the connection between the state of one’s microbiome, which includes all the bacteria and organisms living in your intestines, and the raging epidemic of brain disorders we are seeing, ranging from autism and ADHD to dementia. He shows how every system in the body is interrelated, and treating individual symptoms is a grossly flawed approach.
“We’re now recognizing from research at our most well-respected institutions from around the globe that the gut bacteria are wielding this very powerful sword of Damocles. They determine whether we’re going to have a healthy brain or not, whether our brain is going to function well or not, and whether our brain is going to become diseased or not,” says Dr. Perlmutter.
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There is an intimate relationship between diet and the microbiome. Gut bacteria manufacture neurochemicals such as dopamine and serotonin, along with vitamins that are important for brain health. Some 80-85 % of serotonin, the feel-good hormone, is manufactured by bacteria in the gut. These beneficial bacteria also work to prevent leaky gut, which is implicated in most autoimmune diseases and neurological disorders. By following the simple recommendations on how to improve the ecology of the gut, you can dramatically improve your overall health, and brain health in particular. Dr. David Perlmutter is a practicing, board-certified neurologist and a fellow of the American College of Nutrition (ACN). His articles have been published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and his earlier book, Grain Brain, topped the New York Times bestseller list for over a year. There is an excellent interview with Dr. Perlmutter on Dr. Mercola’s website - http://articles. mercola.com/sites/articles/ archive/2015/05/17/gut-bacteria-brain-health.aspx - that goes more deeply into the science and implications of these findings, and I strongly recommend to everyone to take the time to read and listen to it. Reviewed by Miriam Knight
HEALTH INTERVIEW
Meditation and Mind Fitness with Joel & Michelle Levey
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Joel & Michelle Levey are lifelong students and teachers of contemplative science, social neurobiology, organizational transformation, and integrative medicine.
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hey have pioneered the application of mindfulness and mind fitness training in mainstream business, medicine, sports, and higher education, working with organizations like Google, NASA, World Bank, and the UK Parliament.
They are the founders of WisdomAtWork.com, and work with organizations and communities around the globe, inspiring people to bring their wisdom, wonder, compassion, resilience, and creativity to life, work, and relationships. They are the authors of “Mindfulness, Meditation, and Mind Fitness,� and their website is WisdomAtWork.com
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
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HEALTH
HOW TO CONVINCE YOUR DOCTOR TO PRESCRIBE A TREATMENT HE (OR SHE) DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT By Julia Schopick, Author, HONEST MEDICINE: Effective, Time-Tested, Inexpensive Treatments for Life-Threatening Diseases My book, HONEST MEDICINE, features four treatments most doctors don’t know about. They don’t know about them for two reasons: first, they are not considered the “standard of care”; and second, the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t promote them. Yet, these four treatments—and others like them—are (as my book’s subtitle states) “effective, time-tested, inexpensive.” They are treatments many patients want to try.
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nd that’s exactly what happens when people read my book or hear me on radio and Internet talk shows. They write and call, telling me: “I don’t think my doctor will prescribe xyz treatment for me. But I really want to try it.” And often, they say: “Please help me convince my doctor to prescribe xyz treatment for me.”
In my book, Dr. Burt Berkson gives us one reason for this when he writes that doctors are TRAINED and NOT EDUCATED. 24 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
HEALTH The treatment they most often ask me about is Low Dose Naltrexone, or LDN, which is a low dose of an off-label medication called naltrexone, approved in a higher dose by the FDA in the mid-1980s for a use entirely different from how patients use it in lower doses today. Since the mid-1980s, thousands of patients with autoimmune diseases have found various levels of relief from LDN. But, in order to try this treatment, a patient needs a prescription. The good news is that it’s a medication ANY doctor can prescribe. But, unfortunately, convincing a doctor to prescribe LDN—or another treatment like it—is difficult. Since so many people were asking me for help, I began by conducting LDN Teleseminars. Then, I began offering personalized LDN Coaching sessions (see my website, HonestMedicine.com. The link is at the top of the page.). With both of these services, I take several hours to teach people the ins and outs of how to convince their doctors to prescribe LDN. I give them lots of tips and some excellent materials. For this article, I’ve put together some salient points about how to get your doctor to prescribe a treatment he hasn’t heard about before—i.e., one that you’re introducing him to. First, there are a few things you need to know. Specifically: why doctors are not more open to prescribing treatments patients tell them about. In my book, Dr. Burt Berkson gives us one reason for this when he writes that doctors are TRAINED and NOT EDUCATED. This is key. He says training is different from education. Training means listening to the teacher, taking notes, and spitting the information back on the test. With this mindset, doctors are only open to prescribing treatments they learned about in medical school, or from their professional publications. That’s training, which is rote learning. It’s not the same as education, which implies open-mindedness and curiosity. This explains a lot about doctors’ attitudes toward any treatment you are trying to tell them about. THERE IS ALSO THE PROBLEM OF HOW DOCTORS VIEW THE DOCTOR-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP. Ask most doctors how treatment decisions should be made and you’ll usually get one of two an-
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Most doctors, especially those from the “old school,” say they expect to tell their patients which treatment(s) they recommend. They expect their patients to go along with their suggestions; no questions asked. swers. Most doctors, especially those from the “old school,” say they expect to tell their patients which treatment(s) they recommend. They expect their patients to go along with their suggestions; no questions asked. Doctors who are more open-minded will say they believe in “doctor-patient collaboration.” However, what this usually means to them is: The doctor gives the patient a few treatment options and together, patient and doctor choose which of the doctor’s options to pursue. Again, no real input from the patient. And, with this mindset, the patient cannot suggest a treatment to the doctor. NOW there is a WHOLE NEW KIND OF PATIENT. A patient like me, and patients like a lot of you who are reading this article. I write about patients like these in HONEST MEDICINE. I talk about these patients on the radio. They’re called EMPOWERED PATIENTS. Empowered patients come to the doctor and say, “I’ve learned about a treatment I want you to look at and evaluate WITH ME.” Unfortunately, most doctors just aren’t used to this. Happily, some are getting more used to it. But we’re not “there” yet.
HEALTH SO, HERE ARE A FEW TIPS ON HOW TO APPROACH DOCTORS ABOUT A TREATMENT THEY MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF. First—and very important—DON’T say, “I found this treatment on the INTERNET.” Doctors hate that. It reminds me of my Dad, a general practitioner in the 1960s and ‘70s. Patients used to bring him articles about treatments they learned about in the Readers Digest. He hated that. He found the idea that his patients might believe the Readers Digest knew more than he did very upsetting. Doctors today view the information you find on the Internet the same way. When people call me and say “I told my doctor I found a treatment on the Internet that I want to try,” I tell them, “I wish you had spoken with me before you did that.” HERE’S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO. First, learn a lot about the treatment you want to try. Go online; research. Before you ask your doctor to prescribe a treatment for you, know what you’re talking about. Gather a LOT of information, but don’t share all of it with your doctor. Put together a FEW articles you think will be convincing and put them neatly in a folder designed to make a convincing presentation. I help my clients figure out which articles to share with their doctors. I tell them to choose the articles that are CLOSEST to the kinds of scholarly articles doctors like to see. With Low Dose Naltrexone, I share an article that was published in Alternative Therapies Magazine: an interview with Dr. Bernard Bihari, the doctor who pioneered the use of LDN for autoimmune diseases. This interview is impressive: Your doctor will learn that Dr. Bihari was Harvard-educated, and double-board certified in neurology and psychiatry, and that he ran several New York City programs for heroin addicts. Your doctor will also learn about how Dr. Bihari became knowledgeable about naltrexone, a drug originally approved by the FDA at high doses for treating heroin addicts, and how he discovered that lower doses helped many people with autoimmune diseases. It’s an impressive arti-
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cle that happens to be published in an alternative medical publication. But still, it would influence any doctor who is at all open to learning about something new from a patient. So if you can, find an article like this that is equally impressive about the treatment YOU want to try. Second, a lot of these treatments have had studies performed on them. Small studies, but studies nonetheless. And often these studies have been performed at prestigious institutions and published in equally prestigious publications. It will really help your cause if you share studies like these with your doctor. If possible, bring the WHOLE studies as originally published, rather than abstracts. For instance, if you happen to have Crohn’s disease and want to try Low Dose Naltrexone, three studies performed at Penn State show LDN to be effective for Crohn’s. The studies were published, respectively, in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, Digestive Diseases and Sciences, and the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. You may have to pay to get the full articles, but you usually won’t have to pay much. Similarly, if you want to try Low Dose Naltrexone for fibromyalgia, three studies were performed at Stanford University, published respectively in Pain Medicine, Arthritis & Rheumatology and Clinical Rheumatology, all showing LDN to be effective.
Before you ask your doctor to prescribe a treatment for you, know what you’re talking about. Gather a LOT of information, but don’t share all of it with your doctor.
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When talking to your doctor about the studies (or abstracts) you are providing, be sure to point out the respectability of both the institutions where the studies were performed and the journals in which they’ve been published. I also put together abstracts of all the small studies done on LDN for various diseases. These abstracts all appear in the government-run PubMed, which doctors respect. You can find abstracts for similar studies for different treatments by going to PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed) and typing the name of the treatment in the search bar. In the case of LDN remember to use the whole name of the drug, and to put quotation marks around it: “Low Dose Naltrexone.” This way, all your “hits” will be about LDN. If you don’t put quotation marks around the three-word term, you will get lots of extraneous information about treatments containing the words “low” or “dose” or “naltrexone,” but not all three words together. Only by putting quotes around the entire term will you get the information you want. If you want to find abstracts for studies about low dose naltrexone for Crohn’s disease or fibromyalgia, simply add the word “Crohn’s” or “fibromyalgia,” without quotation marks. When talking to your doctor about the studies (or abstracts) you are providing, be sure to point out the respectability of both the institutions where the studies were performed and the journals in which they’ve been published. Note, too, the promising conclusions, if there are some—conclusions like “significantly improved,” “appears effective,” “improves clinical and inflammatory activity,” “an effective, highly tolerable treatment,” etc. If you want to have a better chance of convincing your doctor to be your partner in this effort, bring
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the articles to your appointment neatly in a folder. Say, “Doctor, I’ve put together some information about a treatment I’ve been studying for my condition. I’d like to leave it with you and make another appointment to come back and talk to you. When do you think would be an adequate amount of time for me to make another appointment?” Your doctor will either say, “I’m not interested,” or he’ll tell you to make another appointment to discuss the treatment in two weeks—or three weeks, or even four weeks. Either way, you’ve been successful. When you return, be sure to bring an identical packet with you. Make sure you’ve studied the information in the packet thoroughly, so you can have an INTELLIGENT conversation. Several of my clients have been able to convince their doctors this way. Others have not. When this happens, I have my clients say, “If I find another doctor to prescribe xyz treatment, will you still be my doctor and will you still follow me?” Hardly any doctor has refused to follow a patient when this method is used. In fact, one of my clients calls this sentence/question “Julia’s magic words.” Then, if necessary, I help these patients find a doctor who will prescribe the treatment. AS YOU CAN SEE, PRESENTING INFORMATION TO YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT A TREATMENT HE OR SHE DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT CAN BE COMPLICATED. BUT, IF YOU HAVE BEEN TAKING THE MEDICATIONS YOUR DOCTOR HAS BEEN PRESCRIBING, WITH LITTLE OR NO SUCCESS, YOU SHOULD BE READY TO FOLLOW YOUR GUT— YOUR INTUITION—AND START LOOKING FOR TREATMENTS THAT MIGHT BRING YOU GREATER RELIEF. THAT’S HOW MOST PEOPLE BECOME EMPOWERED PATIENTS!
Julia Schopick is a patient advocate, health writer, and creator of the award-winning blog Honest Medicine. Her columns and articles have appeared widely in the national press. Her mission is to inform people about little-known but promising treatments, and to empower them in making health care choices. Contact Julia through her website, HonestMedicine.com.
HEALTH
Self-Healing and Empowerment
with ZY Qi Gong Janai Mestrovich interviews Claire Johnson
Claire Guyu Johnson grew up in Beijing and the US in a family of taichi, herbal medicine, acupuncture and qigong practitioners. Through her parents’ Qigong Association of America, she met and studied with a number of masters including ZY Qigong Grandmaster Xu Mingtang. In 1999, She traveled and studied with Mingtang as he taught and practiced healing worldwide. In 2000, she set up America’s first ZY Qigong School and Healing Center in Seattle. Claire met Jerigtu Borjigin in Inner Mongolia, and they married in 2010. They teach Qigong and Image Medicine internationally.
Janai: Claire, please define what ZY Qi Gong is and how you and Jerigtu benefit from its practice in maintaining a higher consciousness. Claire: “ZY Qigong (Zhong Yuan Qigong) is one of the oldest practices of human kind. It uses simple forms in service of meditations in order to increase one’s life force. As life force increases, the busy mind slows down. Eventually, we connect with our soul and with the universe.
As our life force naturally rises up to the upper energy center (upper dan tian – collar bone upwards including neck and head), it literally starts to light up the inside of the head. 28 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
In this process as we are strengthening our lower energy center in the abdominal region under the belly button (dan tian in Chinese). Our physical health is improved and our energy level is increased. The areas of trust, sense of security, and the ability to persevere are strengthened, enabling us to be more grounded in the earth. As there is enough energy, or life force, accumulated in the lower dan tian , there is an energetic explosion that sends this life force down to the perineum and then up the spine. This strong energy expels all stagnations and blockages, be it
HEALTH physical energy, emotional or spiritual, and it rises up to open our heart center. Then we start to sense the strong flow that is life. As our life force naturally rises up to the upper energy center (upper dan tian – collar bone upwards including neck and head), it literally starts to light up the inside of the head. It begins to activate our ability to see beyond this physical world, and beyond time and space. We begin to see a greater perspective of what life is and start to understand the cause and effects in life, our karma. When our life energy continues to go upward, opening our connection to the universe, we see where we’ve come from and where we’re going. That is when we are no longer afraid of death. Often when there is enough life force accumulated, one is ready for a great shift. This is when everything changes in our life to a new level. We flow in it with ease, and things appear to be manifested out of thin air as if by our imagination, but it is part of that energy flow. This is what is said, that from within we manifest the without. It becomes easier to let go of internal knots or struggles. In general, life becomes simpler instead of appearing complicated. It is a practice that uses our physical body as our greatest gift and as a guardrail for self-empowerment and deep transformation. It is not about transcending from the daily life on earth but rather earth being one of our greatest supports and allies in this transformation, together with the sky. There’s a reason why human beings stand between earth and sky. Many ancient teachings say that with an incarnated body we can reach enlightenment in this lifetime. When disincarnated it may take a soul eons. This is a practice through the body, not leaving the body or disregarding the body. “ Janai: What were the conditions of your cave retreats and what were some of your experiences that taught you about yourself? Claire: “People experience spiritual crisis or emergencies. I had an episode of this when all that I was concerned about was discovering the meaning of life and knowing why am I here. We have crisis when our soul is ready for a big change and
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it knows it is the right time. It was a time to try to shift to a new level of perspective, and live life from a different level of awareness. I did three months of be gu shi qi (no food and eight days of no water) followed by twenty eight days of solitary meditation on top of the Song Shan Mountain. I also did twenty eight days of solitary practice in a Tibetan cave at an earlier time.” Janai: How do you see ZY Qi Gong having impact on the new consciousness the earth is evolving into at this time? Claire: “We are coming into a faster time on the planet. Energies are strong. The energies spiral in two directions, with both directions traveling stronger and faster. As we do our own work shedding our own blockages, stagnations and dark energies, we manifest that outward into our life and into the lives closest to us. And when there are enough of us doing that, it affects a whole community, a whole population and the whole earth. There have always been Buddhist teachings about how the earth is one living thing, and when a large group of people is fearful and slipping into the dark energies of greed, the earth will experience water related calamities. When large populations of people continue to be angry, resentful, judgmental, and critical, there will be fire related calamities on earth. Ignorance, which could mean living in ignorance without finding ourselves, and doing the inner work to enlighten ourselves, (which means to literally bring light into ourselves), and also living in ignorance without understanding other living beings on earth, there will be wind-related calamities. And excessive pride brings earthquakes.
When large populations of people continue to be angry, resentful, judgmental, and critical, there will be fire related calamities on earth.
HEALTH And each one of us may have these qualities sitting in our bodies as stagnations, as dark clouds of energy sitting in our liver as anger or resentment, or stagnate energies sitting in our kidneys as fear and insecurities. When each one of us can bring light, bring awareness within ourselves to release these old stagnations, the earth as a whole becomes lighter and brighter. We are all in this together, as a union. What is within each of us, the internal landscapes, is a small universe that mirrors the outer universe. The Taoist practitioners have always known that. And when we have stayed in our mind for too long, we are only manifesting peripheral creations that can serve either energies, going up or going down. The real change must come from the body, which is connected to nature through energies. The body does not lie.” Janai: Can you explain two different practices for readers to have a sampling of the power and potential of practicing this discipline such as Big Tree and perhaps one of the breathing techniques? Claire: Big tree is one of the fundamental practices in ZY Qigong. Ten movement forms cannot equal one standing form. There is a place for the movement forms. They are to resolve the courser blockages on the physical level and enable energy to start to flow in the body. Standing meditation is where once the energy is flowing, then we can accumulate cosmic energy and continue to open up finer blockages energetically. And as we move from standing meditation into sitting meditation, once we have accumulated a lot of energy, then the mind is easier to calm. We can go into deeper
Big tree is one of the fundamental practices in ZY Qigong. Ten movement forms cannot equal one standing form. 30 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
calm and even a finer reality until there’s nothing more to open and release. That is when the mind is sustained in a deep calm. This is when the original soul begins to stir. Only when the mind is deeply calm can the soul begin to let itself be known. When the mind is busy, the soul is dormant. In level two, there is a breathing exercise called body breathing or embryonic breathing. It is an ancient practice that was kept very secret. A practitioner who has been practicing for at least a few years of standing and sitting meditation would only be taught this practice if they are ready. It is an exercise that can be used for self healing, healing others, accumulating energy and distant healing. It is an exercise for longevity and also an effective exercise for cancer patients.” Janai: Why do you emphasize the importance of yawning in your workshops? Claire: “In our daily lives many of us operate from the mind alone and ignore the body, for example tightening the jaws is a habitual way of composure. The mind takes us into the past and future,
HEALTH but when it’s quiet, our awareness comes into the body, and we enter into the now. Yawning is one way of relaxing the mind, relaxing the jaws, relaxing all the muscles in our face and head so we can start to release our awareness into the body. It triggers a relaxing mechanism, and begins to bring oxygen into previously tight areas in the body. So enough yawning can wake up blind spots where we hold chronic problems and start the internal healing process.” Janai: Can you and Jerigtu speak about your view of the common illness we call cancer and how to best deal with it? Claire: “Cancer is an informational illness. It is also something the Mongolians call a guest, so I’m receiving a guest and when the guest is ready to leave, it will. This comes from a place of the heart at peace and a strong sense of trust. So again it’s the lower and middle dan tian s opening and balancing. When they’re in a state of balance, we simply let illness run its course with its own timing without fear, without attachment.” Janai: What are your insights about children in today’s world? Claire: “Nowadays so many children have allergies, ADD and ADHD, even depression. There are natural ways to heal this. Children need to run in packs and need to explore in nature. The energy in their kidneys is strong and manifests in their legs. This is why babies like to kick their legs and children need to run. This natural mechanism of running can clear out the liver and gall bladder systems very well, which all the above conditions stem from. With our modern life styles, pollution and chemicals, the liver system is the first to suffer. These conditions in children can improve quickly in an open natural environment encouraging the energy flow in their bodies, while giving them space to have heart to heart connections with nature and animals. This process can be accelerated when combined with energy and spiritual healing. In fact, children and animals respond to energy faster than adults because their hearts are open and their minds are more easily calmed.”
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We cannot change anybody else, but we can change ourselves.
Janai: You mentioned a healer in the workshop who does not do anything except sit while people are in his classroom, many of whom are healed because of their contact with him. Please share this story. Claire: “He simply talks. He lectures in Mongolian. People just come and listen. Their aliments will be brought up, a lot of times from chronic into acute right in that classroom. Somebody may vomit, others burp up air....a lot of different manifestations. He would have maximum five hundred people to a classroom, twice daily, healing many “incurable” conditions by western medicine. At first hospitals were threatened. They sued him and won. He was put in jail for some years. But people kept going to jail to visit him, getting healed, including some hospital employees. Eventually, the hospitals decided to work with him. They built a center that accommodates a thousand people living there from three to twenty one days. He heals just by his positive energy that pushes out all of the negative energies, clearing them.” Janai: Is there anything else you can share pertaining to the time we are living in today on the planet and how we can help shift the consciousness to bring about a healthier future? Claire: “We cannot change anybody else, but we can change ourselves. We live in a crucial time. Great changes are happening. Depending on our own internal work, the future of this realm can be changed, and is changing.” For more information or contact Claire, you can email her at claire.g.j@gmail.com or go to www.zyqigong.org.
HEALTH
Traits of the
Energetically Sensitive Child by Michael Simonson
E
Energetically Sensitive children share many common traits that when viewed from a conventional psychological or behavioral perspective may seem confusing and dissimilar.
T
hese same traits when viewed from an Energy perspective can better be understood and developed in the child in a positive direction. Because of these children’s strong sensitivity to their environment, their ability to learn effectively on a practical level can be affected greatly due to the intense amount of negative energy in this world. A child who is dealing with a lot of negative thoughts and energies will have a difficult time focusing and as a consequence is often labeled with OCD, ADD, ADHD, etc.
• A strong-willed independent thinker who prefer to follow their own intuition as opposed to the dictates of others
THE FOLLOWING ARE COMMON TRAITS OF ES CHILDREN:
• A desire or awareness to help others
• Exhibiting an awareness and understanding of situations that is beyond their years • Possessing wisdom and independence beyond their years
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• Having a tendency to get into power struggles with authority figures when things do not go their way • Very gifted in many areas of endeavor but having a tendency to shut down to their abilities if they are in a negative or non supportive environment • Strong artistic ability and a desire to draw symbols and pictures they receive in their minds • Strong empathic ability; extremely perceptive and intuitive around the emotional states of others and as a result can be affected in powerful ways by the emotional state of others in their experience
HEALTH • Awareness of the actions of others who are not in their space; strong telepathic ability • Awareness of future events • Ability to see nonphysical beings, auras or energy fields • “Zones out” at times and does not seem to be present in their body • Fear of the darkness • Strong connection to plants and animals • Extreme sensitivity to other energetic vibrational sources such as other people or electrically powered devices • Affected in powerful ways by the thought forms they open up to through other people and those that come their way through movies, music, video games and other media QUESTIONS TO DETERMINE IF A CHILD IS ENERGETICALLY SENSITIVE: • Does the child see themselves as your equal and act beyond their years? • Does the child have an intuitive awareness around how to do things? • Does the child question discipline and authority? • Does the child walk their own path instead of conforming to others around them?
• Is the child affected by the emotions of others around them? • Does the child live in their own world at times especially when things are negative? • Is the child easily distracted at times? • Can the child focus at times with great intensity?
• Is the child extremely creative?
• Does the child have information around things they have not experienced or been taught about?
• Is the child sensitive or allergic to certain foods?
• Is the child interested in the nonphysical world or spiritual truths?
Michael Simonson has been working as an Energy Practitioner and Teacher for over 25 years. He works with parents, children, educators and health practitioners in understanding how to help Energetically Sensitive Children awaken to the truth of who they are. Michael teaches that it is important for parents, educators and health practitioners to be coming from the same place that they desire their children to come from. Through his one-on-one counseling sessions and workshops people are given all the tools necessary to live empowered loving lives. Michael was the facilitator of the Energy Program (energetic mindfulness) at the Hunter School in Rumney, New Hampshire. He is now expanding and is offering to facilitate these energy programs to other educational institutions throughout the country. You can learn more on his website: https://energeticallysensitivechild.com If you are a parent, teacher or counselor and would like your school to consider an energy program please email: programs@energeticallysensitivechild.com
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RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS
BULLYING AND LYING CURED WITH 3D LEARNING: Solid Ways to Grow Savvy Superkids by Janai ‘Grandma Boom’ Mestrovich
“Who has a success story from last week’s lesson on saying “NO!” to negative peer pressure’?” I asked the question not knowing if any children would respond in front of their peers. To my sheer delight, a boy’s hand shot up into the air immediately. “Janai, my friends and I were going to beat up Bret after school. But I remembered how it felt to make a bad choice with negative peer pressure when you taught us about it. My friends and I want to make Bret feel bad. This time I said, “NO!” to the boys who wanted me to go with them to beat him up. We left Bret alone when I said, “NO!” I felt better last night than when we beat somebody up. I don’t want to bully kids anymore. It doesn’t feel good in my body. And when I said I didn’t want to do it anymore, my friends decided not to do it anymore, too.” I applauded Greg’s accomplishment and his willingness to share such a profound turn of events. Greg was a third grade ring-leader of a bullying group. At the time I was funded in a rural Oregon area for several years by U.S. Bank, Cow Creek Seven Feathers Foundation, philanthropists and other community groups. My program consisted of an approach I developed 40 years ago: 3D learning. I use visual aids to create experiences for children. 3D learning means taking objects from the external world to get the attention of the children to relate to their internal world. The Self-Help Program encompassed grades K-3, 113 children learning a weekly theme with a holistic, experiential approach such as anger, stress, self-calming, negative peer pressure, lying, communication skills, setting goals, how the mind/body/emotions work together, and much more.
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For bullying and negative peer pressure I got a jute rope that was scratchy and 12 feet long, wrapping it around each student’s back, one at a time, as the student faced me in a role-play. It was positioned under the armpits. I pulled it toward me, which caused the student to come closer as I chanted things like, “Come on. Let’s go play. Your homework is boring. You don’t need to do it. Come with me or else I won’t be your friend anymore.” Tugging all the while I was saying these things to provide negative peer pressure, the student FELT physically with her/his whole body what happens psychologically with negative peer pressure. It could be SEEN AND FELT internally AND externally. The way the student released and escaped the pressure was to take a slow deep breath to create inner calm, not struggle with the tugging (and bullying/negative peer pressure) and simply duck under the rope to step out of the pressure and struggle, releasing it. AMAZING results! Eyes opened like lights were going on inside each student when going through the role-play. The dynamics of negative peer pressure were grasped in a new way that made sense to them. The solution to find another way to empower themselves and not be subjected to it was very clear. They learned for themselves how bad it felt to succumb to that pressure and how good it felt to be empowered in acting, not reacting. Having the experience with 3D learning
RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS accelerated the absorption of the concept beyond solely having cognitive information or a new rule to follow for someone else. These students loved knowing for themselves. We enjoyed practicing positive peer pressure, encouraging each other to do well. “You can do it.” “You’re getting better all the time with your artwork. You’re good at figuring out problems!” “You are really fun to be around.” Tell us more of your funny stories.” The children even felt empowered being able to help others feel empowered and encouraged! I also asked for students to share success stories they witnessed other students doing when out of the classroom. When a peer calls out a person in class and acknowledges that person in front of everyone else, it is very powerful! It is the opposite of being a tattletale and the dynamics that occur with the tattletale approach. Cassie, a second grader, shared that one of the boys who was usually pushy and grumpy at recess started to get upset when someone accidentally bumped into him. Instead of his fighting gear he would normally jump into, she saw him take a deep breath and not react negatively. Deep breathing was a core in every week’s lesson, as well as how the mind, body and emotions worked together. From the inside out, feeling successful making a major life change is empowering for children. Greg changed not only his destiny, but influenced positive impact for several other children directly, as well as being a living testimony for other students in his class. He experienced internally the impact of feeling, seeing and knowing this subject matter for himself. Greg gained insight about how it felt to pressure someone else because he felt the pressure that he normally caused others. The aggressive student that Cassie complimented blushed in class when she mentioned his skill on the playground. After that, he displayed much more gentle behavior in and out of the classroom. He had something to live up to that gave him confidence without having to be defensive. Empowerment with self-help skills is high-octane fuel for children to feel like Superkids. Teaching children what they are doing to themselves with inappropriate tension levels, ill inten-
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tions and unhappy hearts is essential in helping them to be in control of their own inner world resources. Too many knots tied up in the body means increased negative thoughts, emotional feelings and body discomfort. Viewing my television pilot, RAINBOW MAGIC, on the home page of my website www.grandmaboom.com (scroll all the way down) is free for viewing and demonstrates clearly with children how to use 3D learning with knots, sox and bubbles. Deep belly button breathing is a prime tool in this work. A basic rule of thumb is that warm hands are relaxed, tense hands are cool or cold. Doing ‘hand checks’ with each other to see if you are tense or relaxed can be fun while serving as a self-help internal awareness skill practice. Remembering to breathe deeply makes a dramatic change in one’s quality of life experiences.
Nuts and Bolts of Lie Prevention Another graphic way to explain 3D learning is with the topic of lying. Face it. Everyone has done or does it from little white ones to big hairy dark ones. The point to teach children: what a lie does to one’s own body. Here is a photo of a lie ball. Imagine holding it, noticing how prickly and uncomfortable it feels. Again, using something in the external world can bridge a child’s awareness to her/his internal world.
What a lie looks like inside us
RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS Instead of telling children that it isn’t nice to lie and forbidding it as a rule for them to follow, I show them what a lie looks and feels like. The responses are fantastic. When one little four year old boy held the lie ball after denying he had eaten some chocolate pudding (and it was all over his face), he immediately shared, “Oh, I feel that in my stomach when I lie. Like the other day when my Mom cooked something and asked me if I liked it when she gave me a bite. It was in my mouth and I said, “yes” that I did like it. But I went to the bathroom and spit it in the toilet.” He then proceeded to share several other lies he had told. It was an inspirational experience, learning about lying. He learned for himself, knew where he felt it in his body and what it was doing to himself. Yes, reinforcement is essential with lessons for children, but he got the foundation of what lying is really about immediately. Accelerated absorption through 3D learning can’t be beat! Keeping a lie ball around as a visual reminder is a great idea, too.
For a fun story vignette, go to my website link where you can find a 3 minute story with me in costume for children to watch entitled, “The Lying Pirate.” http://grandmaboom.com/the-lying-pirate/ With preschool children I dress up in costume, become a story such as the lying pirate, and have them all hold a lie ball to figure out where they feel the lie inside. Instructions on making a Lie Ball: Wad up aluminum foil (can be recycled as long as it does not smell and is not gooey). Make it approximately the size of a baseball. Get round toothpicks, break them in half. Stick the sharp end into the lie ball far enough that it will stay. Do this all around the aluminum ball so that it looks like a sputnik, similar to the photo provided. 3D learning can be used with just about anything. Find things in the environment and make analogies that can take children into their own inner world. Make that bridge and help them use all their senses. Help them to empower themselves. All kids want to FEEL like a Superkid. Giving them tools with 3D learning to know themselves with greater awareness gives them more options in making choices that build confidence instead of promoting self-destruction. 3D learning is an accelerated way to teach and learn. And it’s fun to be creative while creating more opportunities for savvy Superkids to inhabit our precious planet! The Superkid Power Guidebook is filled to the brim with activities on 52 subjects to use with children in teaching inner awareness and self-help skills in FUN ways to empower them in grounded ways for building their confidence and living more consciously. This book is 40 years in the making and tested with many children. A true gift to children, it also enhances relationships of those who use these techniques with the children being shared with. Win-Win! Link: http://grandmaboom.com/books/superkid-power-guidebook/
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RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS REVIEW & INTERVIEW
World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements
I
by John Hunter t’s difficult to write about this book without getting a bit emotional. It is a joy to discover an individual with such deep compassion for the world and most especially for its children that he has dedicated his life to teaching. John Hunter has been nurturing young minds for over 35 years - leading them down the path of discovery not only of what the world is made of, but more importantly what they are made of. Through the medium of the World Peace Game that he developed, he invites children to discover the real complexity and intertwining relationships among the problems besetting humanity. By having them play through a multitude of different scenarios and problems he has put them on their mettle, not only to solve the world’s crises but to make sure that the solution provides a benefit for all participants. John’s story as a young peace activist in the 60s turned elementary school teacher is a very human one. What lifts it to another plane is the humility with which he undertakes his responsibility of molding character and teaching critical thinking. Never coming from the position of power or arrogance, he creates the space within which the children are able to discover the win-win solutions that will have a lasting influence on the person they become. It is a delight to read the stories of the individual children as they experience different facets of the game and of themselves. There is shy, stuttering
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Pablo, who suddenly rises to new heights as he “gets” it all, understands it all. There is the bully whose reign of arrogance is interrupted by a determined succession of tiny and timid defenders of truth and justice. While this is a story of pedagogy at its highest, most enlightened form, it is also a series of life lessons and re-affirmations of what is truly important in life that will hit home for every reader. It is only mildly astonishing that John Hunter and his children were invited several times to the Pentagon to meet with generals who questioned them in detail about how they would deal with various issues confronting the military. I’m not surprised that the book was turned into a movie nor that the movie and the book have catapulted John Hunter into the national limelight. I am so pleased that others have recognized the importance of what he is doing to exemplify the best in education, and have been sponsoring his evangelical talks and master classes across the country. He has so much wisdom, and shares it with such grace. Reviewed by Miriam Knight LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS
How MINDFULNESS Can Enhance Teaching An excerpt from MINDFULNESS FOR TEACHERS: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom by Patricia A. Jennings and published by WW Norton
A
A Catalyst for Transformation Be the change you wish to see in the world.
T
Gandhi
ransformation begins with the individual. By regularly practicing mindful awareness and applying mindful awareness it to our life and work, we begin to recognize that we are not victims of circumstances and that we have the power to change ourselves, our classrooms, and our schools for the better. Gandhi’s words remind us that we are the agents of change. Mindfulness can provide the insight we need to envision a completely new model of education that we can begin to realize now, in our own lives and classrooms. As teachers, we are important role models for our students and their parents. We are in a unique position to “be the change.” We can base our vision for this new educational model on the hopes and dreams we have for our children. Recently I heard Congressman Ryan give a talk at the Contemplative Sciences Center at the University of Virginia. He said that we all want two things
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for our children: We want them to care about others and we want them to pay attention. He pointed out that parents and teachers are always telling children, “Pay attention” and “Be nice.” But he went on to ask, “How often do they teach them how to do those things?” He pointed out that mindfulness may be the simplest, safest, and most effective way to promote the attention and kindness we want for our children. As William James noted, “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will” (James, 1950, p. 424). This is mindfulness, and, as James continued, “an education
RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence.” Rather than simply training our children’s minds to absorb and regurgitate facts so that they can do well on standardized tests, mindfulness has the potential to promote other valuable cognitive skills, such as creative thinking, perspective-taking, and innovative problem solving. These skills are critical to our collective capability for addressing the challenging problems we face today. Practicing mindful awareness also supports the social and emotional dimensions of development by promoting an ethos of caring and compassion. Furthermore, it provides us with the tools to become more aware of our emotional experiences and to better regulate our emotions, skills that are critical to building successful social relationships with others.
Mindful Listening An important dimension of care involves the way we listen. In order to respond with care, we need to be attentive, listen with an open mind, and be receptive to our students and their families so we can understand and empathize with their experience and recognize their needs. This involves bringing mindful awareness to the act of listening. The listening process helps us attune to another. As we listen, we gather our full attention and notice both the internal and external dimensions of our experience. We notice the sound of the other person’s voice—the tone, the volume, and so forth. We notice the other’s facial expressions, and we listen to her or his words without automatically judging them and reacting to them. At the same time we notice our internal experience—our thoughts and feelings—without judgment. We can practice mindful listening throughout the day. We can do simple things, such as taking a brief moment to give a student our full attention. We can get down to her or his level and make eye contact when the student is speaking. This communicates that we care about our students and that what they have to say is important. When we give our students our full, openhearted, nonjudgmen-
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tal attention, we are more likely to hear the needs they are expressing, rather than unconsciously imposing our own ideas (or the institution’s ideas) of what the student should need. I used to assume that caring for others required solving their problems and fixing things for them. However, this tendency disconnected me from the present moment. Rather than truly listening and giving the other person my full attention, my thoughts would wander to the cause of their problem and how to fix it. I also noticed that this tendency to figure out and fix others’ problems arose from my deep discomfort with simply being with a person who was suffering. Being deeply and mindfully listened to is an incredibly powerful experience and is often all that another requires. When I invited Derek to speak with me during recess, I focused my intention on listening to him mindfully. When Derek told me that his parents were getting a divorce, I noticed the sadness in his
RAISING CONSCIOUS KIDS voice and posture. As I empathized with him, I began to feel very sad too. I observed my tendency to want to tell him that everything would be okay and to distract us both from this sadness. But when I realized that that would be dismissive, I sat mindfully with the sadness until it dissolved and then brought my full attention to him, silently offering him my care and concern. Remember, we can’t always meet our students’ needs, but we can respond in a way that supports the relationship, and practicing mindful listening is key. This simple act of deeply listening is critical to building a caring relationship with our students. We can’t meet all their needs, but we can listen to them with an open mind and an open heart. We can really hear the needs they are expressing, rather than assuming that we know what they need. With time, we may find that we can deeply attune to others and recognize ways to help them that we had never considered before. I had the great fortune of doing my student teaching with a teacher who had a side practice as a marriage and family counselor. She really knew how to listen, and she taught me a great deal about the power of listening. Her training in counseling gave her skills that made her teacher-parent conferences truly unique. Once a parent came to a conference very upset about an ongoing conflict her daughter was having with another girl. From this parent’s perspective, her daughter could do no wrong and the root of the problem was the other child’s bad behavior. She came to the conference visibly angry and ready to do battle with us. Donna was aware of this and opened the conference with a question: “Is there anything in particular you would like to discuss at this meeting?” This gave the mother an opening to blast us. She said the other girl was getting her friends to gang up on her daughter and asked why weren’t we doing anything to stop it. She made some very derogatory statements about the other girl, her parents, and her friends. While she expressed these strong feelings, Donna gave the mother her full attention and listened quietly. Donna’s facial expression conveyed concern, and every once in a while she would nod her head and say, “I see,” or, “I hear you.”
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We can really hear the needs they are expressing, rather than assuming that we know what they need. After a few minutes, the mother cooled off and stopped her tirade. For one moment, there was a pregnant silence. This gave Donna an opening. She took a deep breath and calmly said, “As parents, we all worry about our kids and want them to be happy. It’s understandable that you’re upset.” The mother nodded and Donna asked, “Would you like to hear about what we’re observing at school?” After the mother nodded again, Donna explained the social dynamic between the two girls and how they were equally responsible for their conflicts. The group of girls that they were both part of was taking sides with each of them on different occasions. Then Donna outlined some strategies that we had been using to improve their communication and cooperation skills and explained to the mother how she might help us reinforce these activities at home. The mother left the conference smiling and visibly relieved. From this experience, I learned how mindful listening has the power to shift a conversation in a more positive direction. Donna gave this mother her full, caring, undivided attention, and it paid off. She maintained a positive relationship with the family and engaged the mother in contributing to problem-solving strategies. About Patricia Jennings: An internationally recognized leader in the field of mindfulness in education, Patricia Jennings is a teacher, scientist, mindfulness researcher/ practitioner, and an Associate Professor of Education in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Her first book, Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom, draws upon research in neuroscience, psychology and education and is part of the Norton Series on the Social Neuroscience of Education. www.tishjennings. com.
METAREALITY INTERVIEW
The Spiritual Adventures
of Jessica
Maxwell
H
ow far does the Universe have to go to get your attention? Jessica Maxwell found out that the sky’s the limit. Join us as we learn about the amazing experiences that shifted Jessica from lifelong non-religious global adventure writer to cosmic explorer and powerful healer.
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW Jessica is the author of many books, including Roll Around Heaven. You can connect with her on jessicamaxwell.com
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METAREALITY REVIEW
Conduit:
A Love Story Before, During, and After Life by Jonni Gray
Past life regressionist Jonni Gray writes with heartfelt honesty about the powerful soul connection she felt with her only son, Connor before, during, and after his death in “Conduit.”
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he idea of outliving one’s child borders on unthinkable, yet many parents face such shocking realities. What made Connor’s death especially hard for Jonni was that he provided irreplaceable inspiration, enthusiasm, creativity, love, and zest for life everywhere they went—and they had shared so much in the 22 years of Connor’s life.
What I love most about “Conduit” is how Jonni’s ability to tune in to energetic conscious vibrations 43 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
What I love most about “Conduit” is how Jonni’s ability to tune in to energetic conscious vibrations and sense and feel the signature and essence of her son, Connor, provides her with remarkable in-
METAREALITY sights that transform her view of love, relationships, and life purpose. Jonni asks herself “Why?” regarding Connor’s death from being hit by a car. Through tuning into and channeling answers from spirit, Jonni recognizes the tremendous significance Connor had in her life, and the many ways his spirit has accompanied her through every stage in her life. With 20:20 hindsight, Jonni sees that she gained a new kind of courage and confidence in herself after giving birth to Connor, feeling a kind of twin soul connection with him. Theirs was a relationship of trust and respect that did not fit neatly into expected roles of mothers and sons, as both took turns encouraging and inspiring the other to set and achieve goals harmoniously attuned to their life purpose. Connor expressed a rare old-soul sense of attuned awareness of subtle energies and deeper truth, to the point that he was recognized by many as being an “old soul.” Thanks to Connor’s insights, Jonni made choices about where and when to move, how to do the kind of work she truly loves, and how to take vacations. Connor created meditation music used for Jonni’s work, and regularly said and did things demonstrating wisdom far beyond his years. There is a way to view the significance of anyone’s life far beyond the mere physicality of it, and this way invites us to see ourselves as much more than physical selves with human names and aging bodies. From such a spiritual vantage point, love is eternal, and connections of love provide us with all sense
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of meaning, love and purpose in our lives. As Jonni describes how Connor’s transition from life into expansive being-ness was so painful for her human self to feel, she also describes the immeasurable joy of knowing for sure that her love with Connor is ever-present and eternal. From this viewpoint, Connor can still be felt as an encouraging, loving presence, and in that very real sense, he is still here. I cried tears of expansive love by the time I read the last few pages of this book, remembering how much I love and miss people who’ve been soul family to me. There is a feeling one gets from the presence of some people in our lives. This sense of presence is something almost tangible, with the ability to confer a sense of joyfulness, clarity, confidence, inspiration, hope and love at times when such feelings would otherwise not be present. I’ve been blessed in my life to have known and loved people who so embodied love in their thoughts, words, and actions that I still consider them in present tense in my life, due to my need for and awareness of their continuing connection with me. Conduit contains priceless insights for anyone who’s lost a loved one they can’t live without, providing us with a clear sense of the way such irreplaceable members of our soul family expand into fuller, bigger 2.0 versions of themselves. Highly recommended! Reviewed by Cynthia Sue Larson
I cried tears of expansive love by the time I read the last few pages of this book, remembering how much I love and miss people who’ve been soul family to me. There is a feeling one gets from the presence of some people in our lives.
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METAREALITY REVIEW
Quantum Change:
When Epiphanies and Sudden Insights Transform Ordinary Lives by William R. Miller Phd and Janet C’de Baca Phd
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I’m delighted to have discovered this insightful book on the topic of sudden transformations some people experience of an insightful or mystical nature, that often lead to lasting, positive changes in their lives.
W
hile the types of insights and epiphanies experienced can vary greatly, the authors share observations of patterns that become apparent when reviewing peoples’ experiences.
Remarkably, men who’d previously valued wealth, adventure, achievement and pleasure began valuing spirituality, personal peace, family, and God’s will. 46 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
METAREALITY American Psychologists William Miller and Janet C’deBaca were inspired to investigate the phenomenon they call ‘quantum change,’ since they had noted with fascination the way some people experienced sudden changes in values, outlook, and personality--rather than making the kind of gradual improvement predicted by classical western psychological theories. Miller and C’deBaca interviewed fifty-five men and women from all different walks of life who reported having experienced “bolts from the blue” when they suddenly “saw the light”--sometimes literally. The type of changes evident in people’s personalities were clear both to experiencers and those around them. Remarkably, men who’d previously valued wealth, adventure, achievement and pleasure began valuing spirituality, personal peace, family, and God’s will. Women’s values changed from: family, independence, career, and fitting in to: growth, self-esteem, spirituality and happiness. Most people reporting quantum change experiences noted they now feel a great deal more peace, and worry a lot less about ‘the little things’ they had fretted and sweated about before. I am especially appreciative of reading the firsthand descriptions of people’s experiences, in which many men and women reported experiencing such states of unconditional love of a spiritual nature at specific times that they still clearly recognize as representing a moment when their life would never be the same again. One of the most memorable first-hand accounts is a transcription of a quantum change experience at the very time it was happening, when a voice recording was be-
ing made. I loved reading the transcript that shows in-the-moment exhilaration of experiencing what had moments earlier been boring expanses of dusty scenery into great beauty everywhere, and the summary of the experience as recalled some time later. While Quantum Change is not a ‘how to’ book with exercises designed to help readers learn how to find profound personal truth and deep meaning, it can provide tremendous comfort to those who’ve had remarkable experiences. Such experiences are not commonly discussed in social chit-chat, nor even amongst most friends and family members, so this book can provide validation for people who discover that what happened to them happens to lots of other people, too, and can mark the beginning of living a life of greater meaning, joy, and love. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND QUANTUM CHANGE FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE PHENOMENON OF INSTANTANEOUS TRANSFORMATION IN GENERAL, AND EVERYONE INVOLVED IN COACHING, COUNSELING, PSYCHOLOGY, AND THERAPY FOR ITS MARVELOUS INSIGHTS AND INSPIRATIONAL FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF QUANTUM CHANGE. Reviewed by Cynthia Sue Larson
While Quantum Change is not a ‘how to’ book with exercises designed to help readers learn how to find profound personal truth and deep meaning, it can provide tremendous comfort to those who’ve had remarkable experiences.
METAREALITY REVIEW
The Evolving Soul:
Spiritual Healing Through Past Life Exploration
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by Dr. Linda Backman
ife is a journey intertwined with “divine intelligence, divine intent and the ability to discover the details of our life plan and the free will to carry it out.” Dr. Linda Backman’s , The Evolving Soul: Spiritual Healing Through Past Life Exploration takes us on a journey of discovery through didactic instruction, and reflective exploration to uncover our potential spiritual healing. This spiritual healing then enables us to live with greater assurance and vibrancy. The journey begins with our incarnation preparation, filled with all the wonders and choices that are presented to us, including our selected gender, body-type, purpose, relationships and more. The feeling generated is like being a child in a candy store, giddy with all the choices before us, and realizing that all we have to do is make our selections in order to start enjoying the all these experiences designed for our soul’s evolution. There is a wonderful realization that life has a purpose and direction and we are capable of conscious awareness of what our purpose is. Fittingly, the book ends with a reflective appreciation of the close of life and the reality of death as an opportunity to comprehend our soul’s accomplishments and appreciate their worth. Dr. Backman completes the circle of life, moving us from the anticipations of incarnation to the peaceful appreciation of a life free to move on with destiny. There are abundant opportunities for discovery and mind-expanding challenges to our current under-
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standing, as well as spiritual resources to help us unravel the mysteries and difficulties that we experience in life. The encouragement from our spiritual guides and council is but one source available for support and insight, enabling the evolution of our soul. She reveals a fascinating enlightenment about our choice of soul energy archetype that we carry throughout our incarnations that is the bedrock of who we are and our purposeful intent, along with particular soul ray chosen for a certain incarnation. Whatever you might think happens in our current incarnation, this book is a rich source of discovery and thought expansion that will challenge your current understanding. Dr. Backman introduces us to the spiritual resources available to us to help unravel the mysteries and difficulties that we experience in life. The encouragement and insight from our spiritual guides and council is but one source of support for the evolution of our soul. She reveals fascinating insights regarding our choice of soul energy archetypes, which we carry throughout our incarnations. This, along with particular soul ray chosen for a given incarnation, are the bedrock of who we are and our purpose in this life. Through reading this book, I have gained greater insight into my personal journey and soul evolution. It has enabled me to evaluate my behavior and experiences with greater clarity. I believe that soul regression therapy will enable me to heal the surface and deeper mind and find a better intentional direction in life. Reviewed by Tim Sweigert
METAREALITY
ELEANOR’S DOG AND THE VEIL BETWEEN THE WORLDS Jessica Bryan In September 2014, I was invited to give a demonstration of mediumship for a class of seniors at a local college. The coordinators of the class were particularly interested in someone who could help people in the class communicate with their deceased loved ones.
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here were twenty-three people in the class. We sat in a circle and I spoke for about thirty minutes. Then I entered into a light trance. There was only time for three readings. The first was for a man whose wife had died. Evidentially, he had never grieved her completely, because the moment I began describing my vision of a woman with curly blond hair and sparkling blue eyes he began to sob. The energy in the room changed quickly. Spirit had our full attention now! This was followed by two more readings, involving messages from the deceased husbands of two of the women in the class. Afterwards, several people called me to ask for private readings. The first was Eleanor, a retired psychologist. As she settled into the chair in my healing room, she said she was hoping for a message from her dog, who was in spirit. Going into a light trance, I immediately had a vision of a large, reddish dog. The dog told me she had pain in her hip and was quite unhappy before she died. She loved to run and jump, but her sore hip held her back. She said she was relieved when death came, because in “dog heaven” there are no physical limitations. As I communicated with the dog, I began to feel a slight pain in my right hip, and I held my hand there to demonstrate to Eleanor what I was feeling. The dog stared lovingly into my eyes for a few minutes, having finished relaying her message. At
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this point, Eleanor said, “She was a beautiful and gentle Golden Retriever. Her name was Sarah, and she helped me comfort people who were sick and unhappy. She died from a cancerous tumor on her right hip.” As I continued to focus on Sarah, she began to fade gently backwards into a thick, grey mist. It looked like a soft curtain. Actually, it seemed to vibrate as if it was alive. As the image of Sarah became faint-
METAREALITY
er and fainter, simultaneously a woman emerged from the fog-like substance and moved towards us. Without realizing it, I had spontaneously seen the “veil between the worlds” for the first time, although I had heard and read about it many times. “There is a woman moving towards us, just as Sarah is leaving,” I said. “She’s wearing a pink sweater with pearl buttons, like they wore in the 1950s.” “OH!” said Eleanor, surprised. “That must be my former mother-in-law, Doris. She wore that kind of sweater. I didn’t have any idea that she’d show up, but I’m glad she did.” Then the image of Doris changed, and she showed me a “picture” of herself in the kitchen. She was wearing a brightly colored apron and there was flour dust floating in the air around her. I asked Eleanor if Doris liked to cook when she was alive. “Doris was a fantastic cook. She was my favorite relative,” said Eleanor. “We used to spend hours in the kitchen cooking together.” I handed Eleanor a box of tissues, and we shared a quiet moment of reflection as she dried her tears. She seemed sad, but also content. These two visions confirmed for Eleanor that her deceased loved ones are living happily on the other side of the veil and have not forgotten her. This
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type of experience brings great peace. Actually, it is the primary purpose of Spiritualism and mediumship, because it offers proof to the living that when the body dies we continue to live in spirit. It reminds us that we are never totally separated from each other. * * * The veil between the worlds refers to the etheric veil that separates our material world from the spiritual dimensions. It is not a solid object, but rather an energy field, a crossing over point in the journey between life and death. When someone describes physical death as “crossing over,” he or she is referring to leaving the physical body and passing through the veil and into a higher dimension, often referred to as “heaven.” The veil between the worlds is also called the Veil of Paroketh in Qabalah (Jewish Mysticism). Fortunately, usually only clairvoyant mediums are able to see “beyond the veil,” because without some sort of boundary the combining of different realities would be quite confusing! Mediums receive messages and impressions telepathically from the spirit world. They also form a bridge between living human beings and people who have died. I am referring here only to positive spirits, not the negative ones you might have heard about, such as ghosts and poltergeists.
METAREALITY Some mediums have the ability to channel spirits from beyond the veil. The terms channel and medium mean essentially the same thing, although some people believe channels give their bodies and consciousness over completely in order to allow spirit beings to speak through them. Mediumship usually involves receiving and transmitting messages from spirit, while retaining some essence of human personality. Both channels and mediums enter into a trance state, which might be deep, light, or anywhere in between. They might see a vision (clairvoyance), listen to a spirit talk (clairaudience), feel something (clairsentience), know the truth (claircognizance), smell (clairalience), or taste something (clairgustance). JOE PASSES THROUGH THE VEIL WITH ANGELS One of my neighbors was a seriously suicidal alcoholic, and it seemed that no matter what anyone did to try and help him, he was intent on leaving this world. One day, I noticed Joe was turning yellow. The next day, I heard he was in a coma at the intensive care unit. I visited the hospital several times to pray for him. I had never spent time around a dying person, and I wanted to see if I could use my abilities as a medium to help him recover or, if not, make his transition into spirit. The first time I saw Joe, no one else was there, so I sat quietly in the corner to observe and meditate. He was lying quietly on the bed, hooked up to various machines, and I didn’t want to disturb him. His breath was shallow and somewhat labored. After going into a light trance, energy healing began to occur spontaneously, in the same way it does with clients in my healing room. Beginning at his feet, spiritual light began to flow gently into his body. When the light reached his chest, he sighed audibly and his breath relaxed. Then his spirit popped right out of his body through the top of his head! Standing next to the bed where his body lay, Joe looked at me and said, “I don’t think I can operate it.” This seemed mean he was worried about whether he could keep his body alive and functioning properly.
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As Joe’s spirit contemplated the condition of his physical body, I observed a line of angels standing at the foot of the bed. They seemed to be waiting for resolution, or perhaps for Joe to come to a decision. The second time I visited, Joe’s mom and another neighbor were there. It was his birthday, and his mom had brought chocolate cake for the nursing staff. She was upset and crying as she held on tightly to one of his inert arms. Without knowing why, or with any forethought, I began to sing loudly, “We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine….” Soon we were all singing, and as the energy in the room began to shift and get lighter I could feel Joe’s spirit dancing around us. After the others left, I began to pray again. Going into trance, I saw that his spirit had moved away from the side of the bed, and that he was standing within the circle of angels. They seemed supportive, not pressuring him in any way. They were simply waiting. The third and final time I visited Joe at the ICU, he was still standing at the foot of the bed surrounded by the angels. Then, much to my surprise, Jesus arrived. His countenance was more brilliant than the light of the sun, and for a moment I had to cast my glance away. When I looked again, he had his arms raised in a blessing over Joe’s dying body. Then he turned his back to the hospital room and began to move away, with Joe and the angels following him—through the gentle, grey mist, through the mysterious veil between the worlds. Joe’s body died the next day, but I knew he was already gone. Joe was safe and cared for in the company of angels. Jessica Bryan is an author, book editor, and spiritual medium. She does clairvoyant readings and a type of energy healing from the Philippines called “Magnetic Healing.” Jessica lives in Ashland, Oregon and can be reached by e-mail: medium@mind.net. Read her blog: www.psychicsurgery.wordpress.com
CONSCIOUS CINEMA
Cinematic Probabilities By Brent Marchant
The philosophy of conscious creation (also known as the law of attraction) truly makes all probabilities for existence possible. In fact, the only real limitation is the beliefs we hold, for they determine what we ultimately manifest. Indeed, at any given moment, we’re each capable of using our beliefs to materialize virtually anything we can imagine.
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hat puts a tremendous palette of creativity at our disposal, and we can use it for everything from solving problems to producing stunning works of art to finding a parking space in a crowded city. But, no matter how we employ the process, it’s always up to us and what we do with those beliefs.
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CONSCIOUS CINEMA film clips, filmmakers Renee Slade and Ri Stewart provide viewers with a revelatory look at this topic. Given that we always have an infinite range of probabilities available to us at any moment, we can take the creation of our reality in virtually any direction from any point in time. This idea has been employed in an array of films over the years, such as the romantic comedy “Sliding Doors” (1998). Who would believe that something as simple as catching or missing the subway could have profound effects in changing the course of one’s life? But that’s precisely the scenario that plays out in the life of a young London career woman (Gwyneth Paltrow). Two versions of her life unfold on screen, running parallel to one another, all based on whether or not she catches that fateful tube—and what she creates for herself in the wake of each event.
A number of films illustrate this idea quite effectively. Perhaps the best known among them is the intriguing cinematic treatise “What the #$*! Do We (K)now!?” (2004) (perhaps better known as “What the Bleep Do We Know?”). While difficult to categorize, this engaging picture provides a detailed look at conscious creation philosophy through commentary with a variety of experts in metaphysics, science and spirituality accompanied by a fictional narrative for illustration. The result is a film that successfully weaves theory and practice into a finished product that both enlightens and entertains. In a similar vein, those well-versed in the subject of quantum physics will no doubt recognize the similarities between that scientific discipline and the conscious creation process, and a movie that capably explores these two notions is the documentary “The Quantum Activist” (2009). The film focuses on the insights of Physics Professor Amit Goswami, who eloquently discusses the parallels between these two disciplines and how we might make use of their core principles for creating a better world for us all. By using an intriguing combination of interview sequences, clever animation and vintage
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A film that takes the foregoing idea a big step further is the often-raucous, sometimes-touching comedy “Groundhog Day” (1993) in which multiple probabilities are raised and explored. A snarly Pittsburgh weatherman (Bill Murray) begrudgingly sent to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania for a live remote broadcast of the town’s Groundhog Day celebration has his life turned upside down when he unexpectedly finds himself living the same day over and over again. But experiencing the same day repeatedly gives the protagonist an opportu-
Probabilities make anything possible; it’s up to us with what we do with that capability, and movies can persuasively shed light on our options. All we need do is sit back and watch and soak up the inspiration.
CONSCIOUS CINEMA conjured up for themselves. What they ultimately choose reveals much about who they are—and what they believe. Like the range of potential probabilities, the range of films depicting this notion is broad as well, with far too many titles to detail here. But, in addition to those noted above, some other fine choices include the action adventure “Source Code” (2011), the popular science fiction reboot of “Star Trek” (2009) and the charming Woody Allen comedy “Midnight in Paris” (2011). All are worth a look. Probabilities make anything possible; it’s up to us with what we do with that capability, and movies can persuasively shed light on our options. All we need do is sit back and watch and soak up the inspiration. The results we achieve as a result can be truly remarkable. Copyright © 2015, by Brent Marchant. All rights reserved.
nity to change his perspective and to try out new possibilities for his life—and all for the better, too. Sometimes we each see the same circumstances of a situation differently, depending on what beliefs we hold about them. Such is the case in the blackand-white masterpiece “Rashômon” (1950). Director Akiro Kurosawa’s cinematic classic tells the same story from multiple perspectives, with each recounting revealing the beliefs of each player in the unfolding drama. But which probability is “right”? Or are they all correct? See for yourself. Road trip films lend themselves well to the subject of probability exploration, and such is the case in the heartwarming saga “Away We Go” (2009). Believing that they need a fresh start, a young married couple (John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph) tours the country visiting family and friends, as well as investigating new job opportunities, to see if there’s a better fit for them than their current circumstances afford. But their exploration of these different probabilities reveals they need to create something that’s best for them, not necessarily an existence that simply mimics what others have
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A lifelong movie fan and longtime student of metaphysics, Brent Marchant is the author of Get the Picture?!: Conscious Creation Goes to the Movies (http://booklaunch.io/brent%20marchant/ get-the-picture) and Consciously Created Cinema: The Movie Lover’s Guide to the Law of Attraction (http://booklaunch.io/brent%20marchant/ consciously-created-cinema), books that provide a reader-friendly look at how the practice of “conscious creation” (also known as “the law of attraction”) is illustrated through film. Brent maintains an ongoing blog about metaphysical cinema and other self-empowerment topics at http://brentmarchantsblog.blogspot.com. He is also Featured Contributor, Arts & Entertainment, for VividLife magazine (www.VividLife.me) and Featured Contributor for Smart Women’s Empowerment (www.smartwomensempowerment.org). His additional writing credits include contributions to Library Journal, BeliefNet, New Age News and Master Heart Magazine. He’s a frequent guest on various Internet and broadcast radio shows, as well as a regular presenter at conscious creation conferences. Brent holds a B.A. in magazine journalism and history from Syracuse University. His web site is www.BrentMarchant.com.
Luminary Voices Premier Showcase for Transformational Speakers & Performers presented by
Conscious Media Relations Awakened Voices Can Transform the World Conscious Media Relations offers Inexpensive Way to promote Yourself to Event Bookers in the Conscious and Transformational Marketplace
By Jackie Lapin
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here is nothing more rewarding as a speaker, teacher or spiritual messenger than knowing you have connected with your audience – to see them take in your words, connect to your music, and transform before your eyes.
I experienced this extraordinary feeling when I began speaking on my specific brand of wisdom and promoting my book, Practical Conscious Creation. But as a publicist for the past 35 years, the last eight specifically in the conscious and transformational sector, I’ve had the pleasure of helping other people deliver their messages to a wider audience. Our company Conscious Media Relations works with everyone from luminaries such as Don Miguel Ruiz, James Twyman and Dr. Joe Vitale to first time authors and emerging experts. Over the past couple of years, however, the question I kept getting asked was, “Can you help me get booked with speaking engagements?” We realized that there was a real demand for affordable vehicles to get people booked, so we feel fortunate to be able to bring to the community an inexpensive
way for people to connect with audiences across the country. LuminaryVoices.com is a website dedicated to showcasing performers and speakers that align with spiritual and positive values for the kinds of organizations that are hungry for meaningful and moving performances. My team and I are committed to supporting you in delivering your transformative offerings to the largest possible audience. Luminary Voices presents you where speaking coordinators will easily find you, and we will be actively promoting the site through Conscious Media Relations, our publicity company specializing in the mind/body/spirit marketplace. We will be doing several dedicated outreaches each year to speaking bookers at spiritual centers across the country, encouraging them to find their next speakers and performers at LuminaryVoices.com. I invite you to explore www.LuminaryVoices.com, which has a membership of only $250 a year. One or more bookings will cover your cost! Let us help spread the word about you! We would welcome you to join us! To speak to a live person, call Sabrina Fritts at (818) 584-6720 or email Sabrina@consciousandtransformationalspeakers.com.
OUR WORLD REVIEW & INTERVIEW
Original Thinking:
A Radical Revisioning of Time, Humanity, and Nature
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by Glenn Aparicio Parry
his book is modest and intimate in tone, but vast and lofty in ambition. History and folk tales weave through the narrative like warp and weft, while nature provides the ancient patterns that we have forgotten. Parry explores the devolution of our relationship with nature from regarding her as mother and teacher to becoming a source of riches to be plundered or an adversary to be mastered. Original thinking perceives life as an integral whole, fed by knowledge and inspiration from the natural environment. There was a turning point in art history when the ability to depict perspective took us outside of the frame where we became the observer rather than an integral part of the picture. This illustrated both a conceptual and spiritual separation from what was observed that culminated in the age of reason, and the dominance of rational thought over feeling and intuition. While we gained the ability to develop science, mathematics and technology, it came at the cost of our estrangement from nature and from ourselves as spirit. Not seeing ourselves as a part of the flow of creation and kin to all life cuts us off from the source of love that sustains our balance and vitality. Parry urges us to reconnect to the ground of our being with our roots firmly planted in the soil of compassion and love for ourselves and for all of nature.
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Parry is very passionate about rethinking our system of education. When we look at the process of education as a way to learn from but not be bound by the past, we encourage curiosity and exploration of ideas, unshackled by academic conventions and received wisdom. Higher education is not serving us well because of the division of academia into more and more specialized disciplines; this encourages myopic thinking and leads people to lose sight of the interconnections among all subjects and the cross-fertilization that would leave all minds enriched. Parry urges us to see education not just as a path to earning a living, but as an initiation into one’s life purpose. It should be a system that maximizes our creativity and encourages the use all of our human aspects – our spiritual, intuitive, mental and physical selves – as an integrated whole. This book is a clarion call to nourish our roots before they wither. It has the air of ancient tales told around the fire, drawing us into the beauty that is our birthright, and a sense of relationship and community with all of life. Aho. Reviewed by Miriam Knight LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
OUR WORLD INTERVIEW
Conscious Evolution for the 21st Century with Barbara Marx Hubbard
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Barbara Marx Hubbard is a prolific educator, futurist and visionary pioneer in the field of conscious evolution and is one of the great elders of this time.
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he has authored seven books, including Conscious Evolution – her seminal work, Emergence, and The Evolutionary Journey. She founded leading-edge organizations like the World Future Society and the Association for Global New Thought. She has co-produced many conferences aimed at inspiring whole-society evolution. An evolutionary thinker, she believes that global change happens when we work collectively and selflessly for the greater good. This vision is communicated with urgency and passion in her revised and updated edition of Conscious Evolution- Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential. Her websites are barbaramarxhubbard.com and evolve.org.
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LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
OUR WORLD
Talking Story: Preserving Ancient Traditions In light of the recent devastating earthquakes in Nepal, I’d like to honor the traditions, sacred places, and spirit of the Nepalese people, by sharing an excerpt from the Nepal chapters of my book Talking Story: One Woman’s Quest to Preserve Ancient Spiritual and Healing Traditions (North Atlantic Books). It is my hope that as we hold the truth of the tragedy and loss of loved ones, homes, and ways of life, we also remember to hold our brothers and sisters in the light of love, compassion, and hope. May these words and stories allow the reader to feel a deep heart connection to those who are on the long road toward healing and renewal. ~Marie-Rose Phan-Lê
Talking Story Excerpt From Chapter 6 - Mindfold Joseph travels with a sleeping mask called Mindfold. It is designed to shut out the light and keep you in total darkness, even with your eyes open, to aid with sleeping and dreaming. Mindfold is the best way to describe our experiences in Nepal—a shutting out of routine thinking; a displacement of ordinary reality so that the extraordinary can be perceived; a state where all reference points have been redrawn—mind bending over on itself. Since my return from that odyssey, I have spent these past fourteen years vacillating between working to get my mind back to where it was before I embarked on the journey and grasping the meaning of the creases Nepal left behind. Perhaps some things are not meant to be immediately understood. Perhaps when experiences are too dense for the psyche to process, they need to stew awhile until they are broken down into bite-size digestible morsels. v After thirty-six hours of travel and crossing several time zones, we landed in Kathmandu, the starting
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place of our quest to seek out some of the healers of Nepal. Despite the jet lag, I felt surprisingly well—centered, grounded, not excited, but “insighted” with a feeling that all was right. There is a thirteen-hour and forty-five-minute time difference between Nepal and Seattle. Nepal is one of two places whose time is always fifteen minutes off from the rest of the world. It seems a place moving to its own rhythm.
OUR WORLD bet. Day 1 would consist of shooting at a nearby Buddhist monastery at 5 a.m., moving to the sacred Boudhanath Stupa, visiting a Himalayan herb company, and purchasing gifts for those we would be visiting. Day 2 would entail touring the holy Hindu site of Pashupatinath and picking up the last of our trekking supplies prior to catching an afternoon flight to Nepalgung, the jumping-off point for our later flight to Simikot, Humla. I wondered what his idea of a heavy day would be.
For this leg of the journey, Cora had done an amazing job of getting us here with only four weeks of prep time. She, Joseph, and I were joined by Karel, a strong director of photography in his own right, who agreed to shoot second camera and take over sound duties, since Matt had to stay home to tend to family matters. We were met at Tribhuvan Airport by our local producer and guide, Thomas Kelly, a photo activist who had lived in the Himalayas for over two decades. It was at Thomas’s invitation that we were in Nepal. He had access to the sacred sites in and around Kathmandu, and was a gatekeeper to many of the shamans and healers in this part of Asia. Thomas’s personal interest in healing and spirituality had led him to sittings with saddhus (Hindu holy men), rituals with lamas (Tibetan Buddhist monks), and sacred pilgrimages with dhamis (Nepali shamans). In addition, he’d roamed the world to shed light on human rights issues such as the challenges facing indigenous cultures, the effects of wars on women and children, and the proliferation of human sex-slave trafficking. When Thomas rattled off his itinerary for us, this lanky, six-foot-one, blond-haired, blue-eyed American man spoke with an accent and timbre shaped by years of the Nepali language rolling off his tongue. Having no experience in this part of the world, we had to put all our trust in his expertise. Thomas had scheduled what he called “two light shoot days”in Kathmandu, which would be followed by a weeklong trek to Humla, a remote area in the northwest corner of Nepal that borders Ti-
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We were lucky to be staying at Happy Valley Guesthouse in the Boudhaarea of town. This guesthouse boasted the rare amenities in Kathmandu of large clean rooms, private showers, and glorious views of the Great Stupa of Boudhanath—a sacred place of worship. Before first light, we were greeted by the sounds of devotion—chanting, drumming, and the radong (telescopic horn) calling all to prayer. During breakfast on the terrace, we witnessed the stream of worshipers below, circumambulating the 118-foottall domed stupa (domed Buddhist shrine) and growing from a devout few to a massive crowd all moving in an uninterrupted flow. Draped with long streams of colorful prayer flags, the stupa’s tower was adorned with the Buddha’s eyes of equanimity painted on each of its walls, looking out in the four directions, and when seen from above, the stupa and its surrounding grounds form a sacred mandala. Spiritual practice and celebration of multiple faiths were evident as Hindus, Buddhists, and others worshiped alongside one another. Despite the poverty and challenges of survival, these devotees rise early each day with the diligence of faith. When I later walked along the edge of the stupa, I was moved by the inertia of all those who circumambulate this sacred place with fierce intention to pray and offer this practice not only for themselves but for the sake of all sentient beings. It was comforting to think that my prayers and steps around the stupa that day could ripple out to help others and that after I left, there would be a continuous stream of people praying for my sake and that of so many others.
OUR WORLD v
Talking Story Excerpt From Chapter 7 – Keys To Shangri-La
Lama was animated, his voice expressive and melodious. “It is believed that many keys to the beyul (hidden valleys, secret paradises) are hidden here,” he said. “What do you mean by the keys?” I asked eagerly. Agu Lama pointed to his flat hand and said, “They are texts that explain the hidden valley, where it is, how it is— and the keys will indicate when it is the time to reveal the secret paradise.”
On our way to Limitang later that morn-ing, Agu Lama led us to a sacred cave, of which he is the guardian and to which he had never given photographic access. He had not mentioned it when we had discussed our travel plans, so the cave was a wonderful surprise. The bephuk (hidden cave) was initiated as a power spot in the eighteenth century by Agu Lama’s grandfather, Lama Kushog Lunbo. Since then, the responsibility of caring for the cave, maintaining the knowledge of its significance, and protecting its contents has fallen to his descendants. Agu Lama unlocked the padlock on the wooden door that sealed the cave entrance with a key that hung by a string around his neck. Before we entered, he pointed to the outline of an imprint above the door, which he said was the figure of Padmasambhava wearing a hat— evidence of the great saint’s presence and a symbol of the sacred nature of the cave. Legendary imprints like this are found in many places considered holy by Tibetan Buddhists, and reveal an enlightened being’s mastery over the material world— the ability to alter the density of stone into malleable matter. Inside the cave was a statue of Padmasambhava surrounded by eight miniature conical towers containing religious relics. Agu Lama began to speak with a passion and urgency we hadn’t yet witnessed from him, and Tsewang, who was translating for his father, had difficulty keeping up. Agu
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Tsewang clarified his father’s message: in the eighth century, Padmasambhava and his consort, Yeshe Tsogyal, placed keys to heavenly realms, or magical kingdoms, in caves throughout the Himalayas. They did so with the hope that they could be accessed here on earth at a later time. These keys were to be discovered by highly evolved sages in a future time of rampant famine, disease, and war. The sages, or tertons (treasure dis-coverers, revealers), are the chosen ones who can decode and reveal the meaning of the keys. Within the hidden treasure teachings are instructions on how to reach the beyul, where the blessed would be led to a paradisiacal existence. In essence, these keys, or treasure teachings, could be likened to a time capsule of sacred information set aside for future generations to discover. “So these days, are there any treasure discoverers to reveal the hidden valleys?” Tsewang asked his father. “When the time is not yet ripe, it’s not beneficial to open the hidden treasure. When the right time and the need to reveal the hidden valley coincide, then it will be beneficial,” Agu Lama replied. As we left the cave, he added, “These days, people just go around seeing and taking photographs of the external landscape only. They don’t know the inner meaning that exists.” I asked Agu Lama if these hidden valleys, secret paradises, or magical kingdoms are actual physical places or meta-phors for a metaphysical state of being. His answer was, “Yes.” Talking Story is a book and an award-winning film available on http://talkingstorybook. com/ and http://talkingstorymovie.com/
OUR WORLD REVIEW & INTERVIEW
The Art of Waging Peace: A Strategic Approach to Improving Our Lives and the World by Paul K. Chappell
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When a seasoned warrior like Paul Chappell calls upon us to take a hard look at the very high cost and very dubious benefits of war, we should really pay attention.
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hurchill once said, “Those who don’t study history are doomed to repeat it.” Chappell has studied and contemplated all aspects of conflict, studying military history, different nonviolent movements like civil and women’s rights, and the recent Occupy Movement. He has delved deeply into the psychology of conflict and studied the writings of leaders like Gandhi, King, and Frederick Douglass. He shares many illuminating excerpts from speeches and writings of some of the most influential players on the stage of human history.
Today’s wars are ostensibly waged to bring about peace, or to pacify a population; they are, however, having little success and are creating more enemies and bankrupting our economies in the process. 61 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
OUR WORLD
This book is about how to wage peace and eliminate the profit-driven and power-driven state of perpetual war that our weary world cannot sustain.
This book should appeal to both liberals and conservatives. It is written not to demonize any particular view, but to provide a road map to finding the common ground. It is not a collection of dewey-eyed platitudes, but rather a reasoned and logical plea to focus on our common needs and aspirations and to build upon what binds us rather than magnifying what divides us. This book is about how to wage peace and eliminate the profit-driven and power-driven state of perpetual war that our weary world cannot sustain. AN IMPRESSIVE BOOK BY AN IMPRESSIVE YOUNG MAN. I URGE YOU TO READ IT AND JOIN THE PEACEFUL REVOLUTION. OUR FUTURE JUST MIGHT DEPEND UPON IT. Reviewed by Miriam Knight
Today’s wars are ostensibly waged to bring about peace, or to pacify a population; they are, however, having little success and are creating more enemies and bankrupting our economies in the process. The only ones who seem to benefit from war are the big military contractors. Chappell suggests leaving the “war on terror” to those better able to find the terrorists – namely the police and intelligence organizations. If we used our armies to support countries and help their populations in times of disaster – truly turning swords into plowshares – we would gain friends and allies rather than creating terrorists and enemies. If we were to use our resources to provide health, education and infrastructure at home and aid and disaster relief abroad, we would improve the security and welfare of our people for a fraction of the cost of war, which only destroys countries and leaves no one better off. In the process of dealing with his own rage stemming from the traumas of war and childhood bullying and abuse, Paul has developed an understanding of the psychology of conflict and how to defuse it. In “The Art Of Waging Peace” he presents a methodology that is applicable at every level of human interaction. It begins with listening with respect and empathy to opposing views. One has only to listen to news pundits and politicians to appreciate how little of that is practiced.
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About Paul Paul K. Chappell grew up in Alabama, the son of a Korean mother and a half-black and half-white father, who fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. After Paul graduated from West Point he was deployed to Baghdad. He rose to the rank of captain and left active duty in November 2009. The author of four books, he lectures throughout the country and internationally, and teaches college courses and workshops on Peace Leadership. He serves as the peace leadership director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation whose mission is to educate and advocate for peace in a world free of nuclear weapons, and to empower peace leaders. Paul he sees himself as living proof that nonviolent struggles such as the civil rights movement can create positive change, and he has dedicated his life to unlocking the full potential of strategic nonviolence. LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW
Rising Stars Profiles of Conscious Creatives you may not yet have met ... Lisa Warner is an Author, Self-Healing Facilitator and Teacher of Higher Consciousness. Lisa grew up as an elite figure skater with a healthy, fit, athletic body, which she knew was meant to stay healthy and fit for life. The moment she realized that she was facing the prospect of cancer, she immediately knew that she had to un-create it from its source: her consciousness. She healed her body by transforming her limiting beLIEfs. During the course of her journey, she effectively erased disease from her body…and from her reality. She is passionate about inspiring others to do the same. ‘The Simplicity of Self-Healing’ is available on Amazon. Website URL: http://connectingyoutoyou.com
Itzhak Beery is an internationally recognized shamanic healer and teacher, and the author of The Gift of Shamanism – Visionary Power, Ayahuasca Dreams, and Journeys to Other Realms. He was initiated into the Circle of 24 Yachaks by his Quechua teacher in Ecuador and by Amazonian Kanamari Pagè. He has also trained intensively with other elders from South and North America. The founder of ShamanPortal.org and cofounder of the New York Shamanic Circle, he is on the faculty of New York Open Center. His work has been featured in the New York Times, films, TV, and webinars. An accomplished visual artist and owner of an award-winning advertising agency, he grew up on Kibbutz Beit Alfa in Israel and lives in New York. His website is http://www.itzhakbeery.com/
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Rising Stars Profiles of Conscious Creatives you may not yet have met ... CINNABAR are a “Hunglish” 2-piece band consisting of Jaiv (Australia ) & Szilvia (Hungary.) Formerly known as KEYMAKER & the REDHEAD, they have a signature sound and visual style that blends organic & electronic instruments with matching film footage. Cinnabar will soon release their atmospheric live music & film show, “Magic Lives Here,” on DVD. It features Jaiv on piano (solo & with programming) and Szilvi on voice and flute, all playing to synchronised short films. The show is an entertaining Aural & Visual journey, inviting expansion & immersion, and emphasising our connection to everyone and everything as shared experience made personal. Most of all, it reminds us that the MAGIC lives inside us all . . . More on http://tuneteams.com/cinnabar
through this ordeal.
Lea Yekutiel is a breast cancer VICTOR, metaphysics and spirituality teacher and the author of the book “Making the Breast of It.” Her goal is to empower women with breast cancer, helping them overcome fear of intimacy after breast cancer or mastectomy by reconnecting with their soul, and to educate men on dealing with women in their lives who have gone
After Healing from breast cancer, Lea considers her mastectomy experience to be a gift from God. Today, she helps cancer patients in Southern California and beyond on their journeys toward recovery, peace, and happiness. Lea’s mission is to educate YOU women about the many ways YOU can be proactive about keeping your breast healthy. On her website www.ilovemybreastcancer.com, she shares her 25 Breast Health Tips that can prevent breast cancer.
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Rising Stars Profiles of Conscious Creatives you may not yet have met ... David Rivinus began a decades-long fascination with dreams while working as an educational therapist at a mental health clinic in the 1970s. During this time he studied with Gestalt therapists who were dream experts. And over the course of this study, David was startled to discover that there is far less difference between the dreams we have at night and the events of our daytime hours, especially events that are unexpected or upsetting. Since then, he has lectured and facilitated workshops in multiple countries across Western Europe and the Americas, and he has now documented his findings in the book Always Dreaming—Gaining Insights from the Metaphors of our Sleeping and Waking Lives. Website URL www.teacherofdreams.com Book link https://ozarkmt.com/index.php/authors/david-l-rivinus.html
Dave Markowitz is a medical intuitive who has helped thousands on their journey toward wholeness. He specializes in working with clients who’ve done lots of healing and spiritual growth but haven’t yet seen tangible, long-lasting improvements. Dave can intuit if your pains and illness aren’t your own; rather, if they’re an end result of untrained intuitive and empathic sensitivities. His 5-step process helps Highly Sensitive Persons prevent, identify, and release Empathic Illness so that you can thrive in a world that typically doesn’t understand you. He’s shared the lecture bill with Deepak Chopra, and several NYT bestselling authors have endorsed his work. He is the author of Healing with Source, and Self-Care for the Self-Aware: Healing for Highly Sensitive People. His website is: www.DaveMarkowitz.Com Link for book cover, www.DaveMarkowitz.Com
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Reviewers in the Spotlight Cynthia Sue Larson, a best-selling author, life coach, and inspirational speaker who is known as “The Quantum Optimist” for helping people discover their many possible selves and jump into their favorite lives as they focus on the question “How good can it get?” Cynthia has been featured on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, Coast-to-Coast AM, and BBC. (You can watch her videos and subscribe to her free ezine at: www.realityshifters.com) Bryan Voell is a librarian living in Shawnee, Kansas, where he lives with his wife, daughter and cat. Diane Holcomb - Diane admits that she collects books like some women collect shoes. An avid reader, Diane is currently one of the top ten reviewers for The New Consciousness Review. She is the book buyer for East West Bookstore in California, a fiction writer and a humor blogger. Her website is www.squirrelsinthedoohickey.com Tim Sweigart was raised in eastern PA and currently resides near Pittsburgh, PA. He attained a Bachelors degree in Metaphysical Theology along with a Masters of Divinity from Winebrenner Seminary. Tim is also certified in Pastoral Thanatology and Spiritual Counseling, and is employed as a Hospice Chaplain and Quality Assurance Bereavement Coordinator. Jonni Gray is a doctor of transpersonal psychology, a past life regression therapist, meditation channeller, and author. For more than two decades her work has focused on building authentic relationships with the soul. In 2012, her son suddenly transitioned, expanding her connection and soul work beyond anything she had ever known. Her book, “Conduit” is the true story of life, death, the afterlife, and soul-to-soul love. Her website is http://www.drjonnigray.com
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Galleria Products & Services Showcase
PUBLICISTS WITH HEART Eileen Duhné Eileen Duhné is a public relations and publishing consultant based in northern California. For the past 22 years she has offered a variety of customized services to authors, publishers and other clients, including national publicity and marketing campaigns. Eileen started her career as a radio announcer in San Francisco, before joining the staff of a major advertising agency. She moved to Hollywood in 1986, where she worked in entertainment PR designing and directing campaigns for film/television personalities, filmmakers, non-profit and corporate accounts. A creatively charged, diplomatic communicator, Eileen enjoys taking her clients to the next level through a variety of services including publicity, marketing, author tours, advertising, media training, as well as editorial and web development. She specializes in mind/body/spirit, new sciences, and alternative healing titles. For more info please call 415.459.2573 or email her at eduhne@comcast.net.
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Galleria Products & Services Showcase THE AUTHOR TRAINING MANUAL:
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