Carolyn Vinup

This is one of her many taglines: “Creating sacred space where your soul can dance.” Carolyn is passionate about cultivating conscious spaces and her work is powerful and transforming. She integrates Feng Shui, sound healing, qigong, space clearing and blessing techniques in her work with individuals, businesses, events, integrative health and wellness centers. She is a seasoned event producer with over 25 years of success. Host of the audio program “Edge Learning Well” on Edge Talk Radio (first Tuesday of each month), Carolyn coordinates learning opportunities in integrative healing and wellness for Normandale Community College.

How does she define herself?

“I am a creator, a collaborator, a visionary, a developer and a maximizer,” she says, “who makes great things happen. I am a big picture person who can also dive deep into the details to turn ideas into a reality. I am action-oriented, focused, clear and productive. I explore the possibilities for developing and growing businesses, specific business areas, programs, ideas, and events. I attract partners who want to be the best they can be and share their talents, gifts and strengths with the world. I create opportunities for everyone to win.”

People like Carolyn Vinup create an environment for the holistic community in the Twin Cities to thrive. The following is an interview The Edge conducted with her, so that you know more about someone who is making a difference.

Carolyn, your business resume is impressive and you are to be commended for the work you are doing to motivate, inspire and expand awareness for businesses and individuals. I’m curious, as a young girl, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Carolyn Vinup: As a young girl, I always valued having freedom, being independent, creative and curious. I valued having the freedom to choose, think, and have my own ideas. If people tried to force me to do things their way or squash my spirit, I would fight to get “out of their box.”

My parents were entrepreneurial. They demonstrated the versatility and benefit of having multiple income streams. They were farmers when I was young, so they had to be resilient, independent, creative and problem solvers. Then they owned an Our Own Hardware store where I watched them run a business while my younger sister and I rode tricycles down the store aisles as they did inventory, book keeping, merchandising and marketing on the weekends. Then my father went to work for a plastics firm where he rose from warehouse to VP and became a designer for many product prototypes.

My mother worked, as well, in the plastics factory and then as a bookkeeper for a jewelry firm, and then worked for years in the hospitality and catering business for Leeann Chin and D’Amico & Partners. She retired at 78 from the catering business but still works with my nephew Antonio and cares for the plants at Parma. Toward the end of my father’s life, he ran a hearing aide business and then was a courier. My parents loved to remodel homes and made the inside of their homes beautiful, and the outside gardens were their pride and joy. Both parents were active, willing to try new things while providing for our family. It wasn’t always easy, but they were strong, resilient, independent, get-it-done sort of people.

I started working in the hospitality business when I was 18 and quickly rose to manager for LeeAnn Chin while attending college at the University of Minnesota. I graduated with a Political Science Degree, wanting to defend the underdog, but my true love expanded when I started in the catering business, managing parties for Leeann Chin, becoming the operations chair for a benefit for the hungry and the homeless called Taste of the Nation, and then my true love really exploded when I worked for Apres’ Party & Tent Rental, where I became the Sales & Marketing director and was involved in some of the larger events in the Twin Cities — Super Bowl 1992, opening of the Target Center, and the U.S. Open. I managed thousands of parties in my seven years there. Being in sales allowed me to control my own destiny again and I experienced freedom to create, connect, develop and grow.

I started my own business in 1998. I wanted even more freedom. I was tired, exhausted and not very happy. Mike and I were both working so hard, we didn’t have much time together and our little girls were growing up. We wanted more flexibility, time to be a family and have some fun.

My first business was called Vinup, Unlimited, Inc. I named it Unlimited because I wanted a name that would expand and grow with me. In 2001, I started another business called Creating Sacred Space, my holistic practice. In 2005, I created HPSS Global, Inc. and combined my other two businesses, events and wellness into one. I still run HPSS Global but became aware in 2008 that I needed to shift again and started working with my own name as a brand.

In 2010 I was hired to take on a new project for Normandale Community College for WorkForce Partnership & Development. This gave me an idea: I would create a website that communicated the work I was doing for the project I was working on. It became my current resume of work. Now I was creating something brand new again, working with dislocated workers, career changers and job seekers. I utilized my abilities to network, connect people, places and things and produced large events called “Join a Different Herd – Rebrand Your Career” with 600+ attendees and created a new program called the New World of Work. Currently the Carolyn Vinup website is about ready to launch, combining my three areas of focus, business consulting for: Integrative Health, Events, and WorkForce Partnership & Development.

I am grateful that my businesses, websites and marketing have morphed with me as I have changed and developed. They are a clear reflection of my vision and mission and who I am in the world right now. It’s important to stay flexible, fluid and open to the gentle nudges that lead us on our journey in life. I know that the universe is conspiring to co-create with me. As one project finishes, another will open. We are always growing, changing and becoming something.

What or who were the major inspirations for you in your life that led you to become this spark of creativity for others?
CV: First, my family – my husband Mike, who loves me unconditionally and just allows Carolyn to be Carolyn, and my daughters Elise and Haley, who love seeing me happy. Cyndi Dale co-created Vinup Unlimited in a business development session in May 1998. After that session, I felt like a large metal hook with a heavy chain attached to my heart yanked me forward, and that’s when my life really shifted. It’s like I was yanked out of one life path onto the path I am currently on. Since that time, I have trusted and known that my life is guided and supported. It was my job to learn how to communicate, act on and expand into what I was going to become. I honor Carole Hyder, with whom I studied in 1999 and 2002 to become a certified Feng Shui consultant, and I honor Jonathan Goldman, with whom I studied in 2001 and really expanded my understanding of vibrational energy, the power of sound and the impact I could have by consciously working with sound formulas.

You have quoted spiritual author and speaker Alan Cohen, who wrote: “Your entire world could open up with one expansive thought!” Did this happen to you?
CV: Dare to be you…Wake Up…What are you waiting for…Illuminate your brilliance…Dance in the magic of the universe…this life is your playground…have some fun! These are my internal mantras.

These were all examples of expansive thoughts that had a huge impact on my life. I recognized that when I was in the energy of these thoughts, my life flowed better and I was magnetizing opportunities to me. I began to play more thoughtfully with the principles of the law of attraction, the power of intention, listening and paying attention to the nudges and signals from the universe, taking more classes and expanding my knowledge of holistic practices, trusting and honoring my intuition, playing games to manifest my wishes and desires, and recognizing when I needed to reach out and do some more internal work when I would bump up against limiting beliefs and negative inner-self talk.

When I created HPSS Global, this quote was on the website and my intention for all who worked with me was to “Illuminate Brilliance for All.”

What is your intention and what is your goal when coordinating events and classes at Normandale Community College, and through the monthly program “Edge Learning Well” on Edge Talk Radio?
CV: I feel so lucky to be part of the Health, Wellness and Integrative Health Education team at Normandale Community College. Brenda Dickinson, dean of Continuing Education and Customized Training, is a champion for health and wellness. She is entrepreneurial, visionary and strategic. Sunny Ainley, associate dean for Health & Wellness, is strategic, business savvy and a marketing expert. Terry Clegg, the Health & Wellness Coordinator, is a holistic professional and instructor cheerleader. And I am a business developer, brand expander, program specialist, talent spotter and event producer. Combining all of our talents together creates an amazing opportunity to expand the Integrative Health Education Center and become known as the go-to place for classes, programs, workshops, training, certificates and special events.

“Edge Learning Well” on Edge Talk Radio gives us a voice to expand awareness, cultivate consciousness, developing community and partnership, sharing insight and knowledge and making the world a better place.

If people were to ask me what my vision for Integrative Health Education and Businesses in the Twin Cities is, I would say: to expand awareness, cultivate consciousness, developing community and partnerships, sharing insight and wisdom, and ultimately making the world a better place.

The big question for you is this: in this downturn of the economy, which is particularly hard on small, holistic businesses, what advice do you have for small business owners to not only survive, but thrive, in 2012? To what extent is the internal work just as vital or more so compared to the external things that need to be done?
CV: Here’s what I do. First of all, I focus on what I can create and control. I tell myself, people are still doing business with other people and organizations and I ought to be one of those people they are doing business with. So, I am the one in a million who is thriving and growing and expanding.

A local restaurant group says that in a downturned economy, they open up a new restaurant. Their thought is, people still go out to eat and they want to see what’s new. I do the same thing. I open to the new possibilities and set an intention that says, “Allow my talents and strengths to be noticed, seen and utilized and allow my business to expand and grow during these times.”

Small businesses also try to do it all themselves. That takes them away from doing what they love to do and make money doing it. Be willing to hire other professionals to do the things in your business that drain your energy. By sharing abundance with others, it will be shared back to you. It’s impossible to be good at everything.

What are the most important things for businesses to consider when branding themselves?
CV: You are only as good as the last project, client or experience you create. Make everything you do a home run. If there are issues, make it right. Become part of winning teams. Today’s world is about collaborating, teaming, partnering. Teams come and go as needed. It’s active, fun, creative and fluid. Stay current with technology. Know who you are. Position your business for your areas of expertise. Don’t try to be something you’re not.

What are the most common approaches to business that no longer apply now in 2012 — and why do they no longer work?
CV: Lack mentality — holistic businesses have a terrible time with this thought form. It needs to be shattered. This pattern never did work — ever! If you are clear about the type of business you are, the kinds of clients you want to attract, then be open with who you are, share your talents, gifts and strengths with the world. Get rid of what you don’t want so you can make room for more of what you do want!

Carolyn, what I’d really love is for you to give us an overview of the holistic community. How would you describe the holistic climate in the Twin Cities?
CV: In my world, it’s alive and growing. We could all combine our efforts and create a morphic field that spreads the thought form, “All is well in the Twin Cities. The holistic community is alive and well, sharing its talents with the world. People from all over the world flock to the Twin Cities to work with the holistic community here, because of the talent, inspired and healing work that is taking place here.” That’s how I view it.

You collaborate with a lot of businesses and individuals. What is the recipe for success when collaborating with others?
CV: The recipe for success…is that everyone wins. I am a developer. I generate hundreds of ideas and like to be part of teams that are willing to grow, and create something new. I love to hear other people’s ideas and weave the ideas/concepts together. I like to be part of projects where something has to be figured out and we get to be creative in how we provide solutions.

Brenda Dickinson, Dean of Continuing Education & Customized Training gave this quote to me, and she said, “Carolyn this is who you are”:

“The best collabornauts are good at making connections, both human and intellectual. They are constantly on the lookout for new ways to benefit from combining forces with partners. They venture into unfamiliar territory, make deals, and return with knowledge that transforms their home world. They bring organizations closer together, introduce people, and build relationships among groups that can initially seem like aliens to one another…they convince their colleagues to forget the old rules and try something new, something that comes from having partners.” — Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of Evolve

What do you do, personally, to maintain your sense of hope and optimism, especially when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel?
CV: I am in touch with my energy and body signals. When I am in a place of flow, information, people, places and things show up very quickly. To me, the secret is determined by how much fun I am having. I know I am in a place of flow when I am laughing, being playful and creative. I have to create something almost daily in order to feel alive. When I am not creating, laughing or having fun, I know I have fallen off my stream of energy where all things are possible. When this happens to me, I sometimes just get into the car and drive. Driving and moving seems to jump start my creative thoughts and information and solutions start to show up again. I also take this time as a signal for me to pay attention to me. I will get a massage, get my hair cut, clear clutter in my house or office, do a blessing ceremony, play music really loud so I can chant and sing to shift the vibration in me, the house, where ever I am. I focus on the inner talk that’s going on inside my head and remind myself that I need a new story, a new message. I surround myself with people who love me. I forgive myself. I go out to eat with my husband Mike, I play with my dogs and I go to movies, theater or get outside.

I am creating another business website right now called ManifestingMamas — a place where I can be playful, creative and share thoughts, ideas and create a community where we can join forces together to make wishes come true.

For more information on Carolyn Vinup, visit CarolynVinup.com and www.HPSSGlobal.com. Email CarolynVinup@yahoo.com. For more information on Integrative Health Education through Continuing Education at Normandale Community College, call 952.358.8133 and visit www.normandale.augusoft.net.

Read: the announcement for the GATE2 event on February 4

John Raatz

Called a modern-day Renaissance man, John Raatz seemingly does it all. He’s an experienced communicator, strategist, administrator, musician, teacher and entrepreneur. He has been a personal manager in the entertainment industry, representing both high-profile celebrity actors and musicians. He’s been a successful stockbroker, a major executive at a public relations agency, a professional blues/rock guitarist, a pilot, a publisher of a leading-edge newsletter and the administrator of one of Southern California’s most forward-looking holistic health clinics.

Founder and CEO of The Visioneering Group, a marketing and public relations firm, Raatz’s company has represented many of the foremost authors, books, films and musical projects in the alternative/transformational movement, including What the Bleep Do We Know!?, The 11th Hour, Youth Without Youth, Peaceful Warrior, Baraka, Mindwalk, A Brief History of Time, Fritjof Capra, Peter Russell, Chellis Glendinning, Dead Can Dance, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Madonna and Donovan.

He’s also the man behind GATE — the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment — an effort that began two years ago to bring together people who are committed to a new level of ethical and spiritual expression.

Raatz spoke with The Edge by phone from his office in Los Angeles about GATE and the challenges of transforming the entertainment and media industry.

What originally inspired this idea?
John Raatz: I don’t know if there was a particular moment, or a particular circumstance, that inspired it. My life’s work has revolved around entertainment, around media. So I think it was a natural outgrowth of my interests. But I think it was the universe that planted the seed idea that came to me. When I started looking at, I realized, “Yeah, the time is ripe, the time is now, for this.” I don’t recall when the idea came to me, but it was many, many years ago.

In 2008 I was talking with Eckhart Tolle, with whom I was working at the time. I mentioned the idea to him, and asked if I should do it. He said, “Yes.” And I asked if he would host an event with me, and he said, “Yes.” Then I went to Jim Carrey, and I asked him if he would co-host the event with me, and he said, “Yes.” So I knew we had a show.”

But I want to mention that probably back in 1979, I was working with actor Ned Beatty. Ned and I had started an organization with some others called the Council for the Enlightenment of the Entertainment Industry. The purpose of it was to teach meditation to people in entertainment and media businesses, which we did. It was 30 years later, to the date, when we had our inaugural meeting on the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE) in 2009.

The letter “T” in GATE stands for Transformational. From what, and to what, are you seeking transformation?
JR: I think probably everybody, lay people and professionals, understand that the entertainment and media businesses have a major impact on, and in, our lives. I think everybody would also agree that the news and entertainment content cater to a rather narrow band of topics and considerations. I think many people would also concur that entertainment and media have a role — and a responsibility — to help facilitate personal, social and global transformation.

We’re not asking the industry to change, to become something that it’s not. Rather, we’re asking them to begin giving people options and alternatives, to give them a type of content, which we call transformational, that speaks to who we are, who we’ve become, and perhaps more importantly, to who we want to become in the world. That type of transformation is already taking place. Many people refer to it as “The Shift.” We know that there is a shift occurring, and we know there are certain universal, archetypal, holistic, humanistic values that are coming more into the foreground to help guide many people’s lives and even businesses and institutions. Look at the spirituality in business movement. There’s a much greater emphasis on environmental and ecological concerns now. More and more people are meditating and are pursuing healthy lifestyles and diets. I believe all of this is indicative of a shift in values.

I was blown away when I saw Tom Shadyac’s film, I Am, but almost every national review I read panned it.
JR: There was national media that loved it, also. Tom was on Oprah’s show and she really loved the film. The thing about this kind of content is, if it’s not a part of who you are now, if it’s not a part of your life experience, you don’t understand it and you don’t properly know how to evaluate it. If that’s the case, you’re actually better off not commenting on it, because you don’t know what you’re talking about if you try to review a film when you’re simply not familiar with the subject matter.

With all of the films I have ever been involved with, certainly there are critics who panned them. The way I’ve learned to understand it is that, unfortunately, when critics review something that they truly do not understand, they’re really displaying their ignorance more than their critical abilities.

Let’s talk about what GATE hopes to do within the film industry. What do you hope to do initially to promote this transformation?
JR: First I’d like to say that GATE is a non-profit, membership trade association. It is an association for professionals in entertainment and media businesses who themselves are transformationally oriented or resonant.

We have three missions with GATE: education, connection and collaboration, and advocacy. For people who already are transformationally oriented, we want to continue to introduce them to ideas and thought leaders who can help them deepen into their experience. We also want to provide education for those people who are transformationally oriented, but may not be as adept creatively and technically. We want to help them improve those skills to become better filmmakers, better storytellers, etc. We want to bring these people together to foster connections and collaboration. We want these folks to come together and develop projects that are of a transformational character. Ultimately, what we want is more content that is transformational in nature.

With the third mission, advocacy, we are advocating a genre called transformation. Just like you have drama, romantic comedy, etc., we would like to see a category called transformation, or transformational. To that end, we’ve created a seal — like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval — but in our case, the GATE Seal will be awarded to transformational content, the best in various categories. We’ve also created an award — the GATE Imaginal Award — similar to an Oscar Award or Grammy Award. It will be awarded to the best transformational content.

When we talk about entertainment and media, we’re not referring only to film or television programming. It could be a website. It could be a book. It could be fine art. It could be dance. It could be poetry. It could be music. Any arts and entertainment products.

That certainly expands the scope of GATE.
JR: Absolutely. One of the things I want to mention is that one of GATE’s initiatives is to help the “Hollywood” entertainment media community understand that there is an audience for this type of content. One of the names that has been given to this audience is the Cultural Creative. At one point, the number of Cultural Creatives was approximately 50 million in the United States, representing 26 percent of the adult population. In 2008, the person who conducted that research, Paul Ray, revisited the study and determined that the number had risen from 26 percent to 35 percent. I think we sense this, in terms of “The Shift” that I referred to earlier.

One of our jobs at GATE is to help the entertainment and business communities understand that there truly is an audience and that this audience is economically viable. There is business here for them if they would simply pay more attention to it. Part of our job is to mobilize that audience, and in that regard, we’ve undertaken a campaign called, “The Audience is Ready.” We hope to develop a database of one million signatures of people who resonate with, and support the idea of, transformational entertainment and media. When we achieve our one million signatures, we’re going to show those signatures and a bunch of other goodies to people in Hollywood who develop and produce content. We will be saying, “Look, there is an audience that wants this kind of content, and they will pay for it. Please free up some more dollars so that we can create more content like this so we can share it with that audience. You will see that it works.”

How willing do you think the people who have money to create films in Hollywood are to follow your lead?
JR: Well, I think there are some who won’t, for sure, but I think there are some who could. I think what will make it compelling is if we can demonstrate to them that there is money here to be made, first and foremost. But, so as to not brand them exclusively as being only interested in money, no doubt they do have a social conscience. I’m sure a great many of them practice personal philanthropy. What’s important here is to appeal to their sense of philanthropy in terms of where we are in the world today and what the world needs. It’s important to let them know that there’s an opportunity here for them to make money, and at the same time, fulfill a social mission.

We’re not asking them to change. We’re not asking them to support exclusively a social mission. We want them to make money. We want them to prosper. But we also want the category to be seen and experienced as an economically viable one. We’re not blind to the fact that what drives Hollywood is money. But we also believe that the entertainment and media business does have a role — and, indeed, a responsibility — to help foster personal, social and global transformation — especially in this moment in time.

I don’t think the situations around the world are lost on anybody right now. We’re exposed to them on a daily basis. This is why, when we talk about this, we talk in terms of entertainment and media. Right now we believe the definition of news by the print media, electronic media, etc., is very narrow. It tends to center around conflict, controversy, celebrity, novelty and so forth — not values that really define who we are as humans. We’re suggesting that it’s important to expand the definition of news to universal, archetypal, holistic, humanistic values. There is so much of a positive nature happening in the world right now that simply goes unreported, because the media believes nobody is interested in that. That’s not true. There are some good stories reported, sure. But by and large, the media spoonfeeds our culture with stories that cater to the lowest-common denominator. As a result, we miss out on so much that is beautiful, so much that is sacred, in life because of this rather limited definition of what constitutes a news story. Part of GATE’s mission is the renovation of that definition, too.

That could be the most challenging part of your mission.
JR: It could be, but there is a saving grace — you! The Edge and others like it around the country, who publish print media and run websites, are already doing what we are advocating. There are 200 or 300 such publications as yours around the country. You are a pioneer, you have been a pioneer, and we can point to this. You’ve been around for quite a long time, and you’ve been sustaining yourself for a long time economically. But we believe there’s more to be done in that regard.

Tell me about actor Jim Carrey and the role he will plan with his peers in promoting transformation?
JR: Jim naturally lives in this space now. Whomever he talks with, this is a topic of conversation. He’s not an evangelist, but he cannot help but express who he is. This is who he is.

I met Jim when he came to a screening of Peaceful Warrior when we were promoting it in 2006. I met Jim at that time and ever since then, we’ve been friends. Jim’s influence is palpable and powerful when people hear his ideas and learn about his experiences with spirituality. It moves people. When he spoke at our inaugural event for GATE in June 2009, people were floored. They had no idea that Jim was interested in this space. They also were so impressed with how eloquently he spoke of it. How he moved and touched people. His experience is deep. He’s working on a book that I think will surprise people with the depth of his wisdom. Everyone can certainly attest to the depth of his creativity, but soon they’re going to experience the wisdom side of Jim Carrey.

Share with me a few words about those who will receive the debut GATE Imaginal Awards on February 4.
JR: First we have the creators of the film Mindwalk, Bernt and Fritjof Capra. Many people know of Fritjof for his book, The Tao of Physics, which was the first book to really explore the relationship between science and spirituality, and his subsequent books The Turning Point, The Web of Life, and others. Bernt Capra is a prominent production artist for the film business. He directed the film, Mindwalk.

The next recipient is David Lynch. I think almost everybody knows of his extensive body of work, but David will be receiving the GATE Imaginal Award for his humanitarian efforts. Not as many people are aware of the work he has been doing in that arena. The David Lynch Foundation has enabled more than 150,000 children to learn meditation, to get off drugs, to get off the street. He has facilitated this remarkable work.

Michael and Justine Toms will receive the GATE Imaginal Award for their pioneering effort in media and communication. Their radio program, New Dimensions Radio, is heard around the country on hundreds of stations, as well as online. Over the course of 30 or 40 years, they have interviewed everybody. You can use their interviews as a graph to chart the growth of the human potential movement.

Do you find the GATE project to be a part of your personal mission in this lifetime.
JR: It seems to be. I certainly love doing this work. I must confess that I have a dark night of the soul periodically, wondering if it’s having any kind of impact, if it’s actually doing anything. I occasionally doubt that. But I would say 95 percent of the time, I am thrilled to be able to work with the people that I am working with, to be pursuing this vision and mission in the world, and it integrates very well with what we do at the Visioneering Group, our marketing and public relations firm.

I can see how, if you focus on the people who want to be a part of this and don’t worry about the naysayers, you’re going to do great things.
JR: Absolutely. That’s a good insight, Tim. I’m 56 years old this month and, looking back now, I can say that no matter what you do in this life, there are going to be naysayers. You just decide, “Do I want to put my attention there? No. Do I want to interact with that particular energy. No.” I’m just going to keep it where it is, because that’s where it thrives. That’s where there is incredible growth and joy and don’t worry about what other people have to say about it. Just follow your vision. Follow your mission. I think it brings tremendous success in every way possible.

How can the GATE project change the world that we know now?
JR: My personal belief — and I emphasize the word, personal — is that the answers to the vast majority of the world’s problems already exist. They don’t have to be created or thought of. What we are lacking, though, is awareness of those solutions. Visibility for those solutions. Channels through which those solutions can flow. The will on the part of existing gatekeepers – and the openness on the part of existing gatekeepers – to engage with those solutions because of self-interest. What we want to do is call more and more attention to the fact that there are solutions out there – solutions based on universal, holistic wisdom. We need to find the will to pursue those solutions. We need to get out of our own way, because we are in our own way. We need to drop the ego play and come into alignment and start functioning more as a collective whole.

My sister Shawn loves Mickey Mouse, cats and shopping at Wal-Mart.

This year, I want to share with you a love of my life who seeks nothing in return for the love she freely shares with anyone…and anything. For you see, my youngest sister, Shawn, never learned that strings are attached to love. She never learned that love could be used as a tool to get what you want. And she never learned that the heart is anything but open.

When I was 10, Shawn came into this world and immediately faced more challenges than most of us can imagine. Cerebral palsy. Grand mal seizures. Intellectual challenges. We say people like Shawn have “special needs,” but people like Shawn are models for the rest of us who become trapped in our minds and led by our egos.

Any parent or family member of a “special needs” child will tell you this. They are fully aware that their child is love incarnate, and just as aware that they have so far to go just to measure up to this guide who has come into the world with such a pure heart.

Shawn doesn’t expect anything in return for the love she shares. She is present with those who are with her. And in her presence, it feels good just being, whether that means holding her hand while looking at watches in Wal-Mart, sitting next to her as she colors a picture of a cat, or sharing a bowl of popcorn as we watch a video.

I’ve always believed that the people who suffer the most prejudice, the most ridicule, are the souls who are the bravest among us – for choosing what appear to be the most difficult roles to play in this lifetime.

But now, I see it differently. They didn’t choose the toughest path, but the easiest. All they have to do is be themselves, and be love, while the rest of us stumble over our insecurities and struggle on our eternal quest to be happy — just to be like them.

Two decades ago, before the human potential movement morphed into Oprah and Buddhist principles paved the way for Presence studies, The Edge was created in the Upper Midwest to share insights on the essence of spirituality and the integration of alternative healing and conventional medicine.

It was a time of great expansion. Holistic business was booming as new centers opened far and wide to offer treatments and classes on complementary therapies. New shops opened to share books and gifts to support body, mind and soul.

Every month, and every year, revealed more. The Edge continued to evolve in concert with the holistic community, ever mindful of the need to offer support in an era filled with uncertainty. Contributors wrote articles that uplifted our spirits, all the while knowing that transformation is not an easy business.

Now it is 2012. We’ve witnessed incredible upheaval on this planet in recent years. It has taken a toll. Climate change has taken many lives; the collapse of the stock market has erased many life savings. And many of the people who opened small businesses to support body, mind and soul have had to shut their doors.

The Edge, which turns 20 in 2012, remains here to offer its support. Each month in 2012, we will celebrate the legacy of this publication [Explore The Edge's legacy here].

Chinese astrology proclaims 2012 as the Year of the Dragon, the mightiest of all signs, regarded in China as a divine beast, not one we should seek and destroy. The dragon symbolizes ambition, dominance, bravery and success. Dragons are free spirits with great passion.

It is fitting that 2012 is a dragon year, not because it will take dragon powers to overcome all of the doomsday hype attached to the end of this year, but because the transformation every one of us is going through requires dragon-like resiliency and determination.

Your experience — with spirituality, with healing, with magic and inspiration — has prepared you for this moment. Be strong and be bold!

An interview with Insiah Beckman, Chanda Parkinson and Sunny Dawn Johnston on their upcoming seminar at Minneapolis Edge Life Expo

With the dawning of the Age of Aquarius and a greater focus on the evolution of human consciousness, children have always been a part of the conversation. The next generation. The ones who lead humanity forward. The ones who are born with innate gifts that synchronize perfectly with the challenges that lie in front of us.

Three highly intuitive teachers — Insiah Beckman, Chanda Parkinson and Sunny Dawn Johnston — will address the children of today, young people they consider “the most powerful beings on the planet,” during a special workshop intended for parents at the Minneapolis Edge Life Holistic Expo [www.edgelife.net] on November 19-20 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 1300 Nicollet Mall.

The expo also will feature keynote speakers (tickets include expo admission), more than 100 exhibitors, a bookstore, intuitive and psychic readings, free workshops and expert seminars — on health, wellness and spirituality. The event is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20. Admission to expo hall (includes free workshops) is $7, or $5 each for groups of two or more.

“A Powerful Spiritual Workshop for Parents of Today’s Children” will share what we need to know about children who are spiritually conscious and how to support them as they grow up. Participants will learn how to support the healthy development of these young souls and how to invoke spiritual protection for them from the angels and archangels. The public also will learn what the angels have to say about these children, who often are called “indigos” or “crystals,” based on qualities perceived in their auras.

The following is a conversation about the children of today, with the three spiritual teachers presenting this workshop:

Chanda Parkinson

What signs tell you that the children of today are the most powerful beings on the planet?
Chanda Parkinson: The intensity to their personalities is the first thing you can notice. They appear wise and often have a look in their eyes that tells you they understand more than they are able to let on. Often children of today are hyper-sensitive and empathic, so they have a difficult time keeping the world and what’s going on in it out. This affects their moods and behaviors tremendously.

Insiah Beckman: Most of the children of today, especially born in the last decade, are more conscious and aware, with special gifts of intelligence, insight, intuitiveness and psychic abilities. I am grateful for having had the opportunity to meet some of these bright shining stars of humanity in the work that I do. They come from all backgrounds – some from older parents, young parents, single households and different belief systems. These “Children of the New Dawn” are the way-showers, bringing in all the positive changes of love, harmony and balance to a system that has forgotten its origins of love and compassion.

Sunny Dawn Johnston: The energy that they are coming in with is much more clear. You can feel it in their energy. If you are a visual person, you can see it in their aura. For someone who is not sensitive, it feels like someone who knows their purpose here and is clear about that.

What I see in them is a knowingness of their journey — sometimes that is conscious, but it is absolutely clear energetically.

They are coming en masse to help shift our planet, to shift the energy, to shift the models that no longer work, whether that’s in government, education or health care. These kids are coming in with a really clear intention of being here on their journey and knowing what they need to do, but not necessarily being able to express it.

Sunny Dawn Johnston

How can parents better support these children as they interact in a culture that does not recognize their gifts?
Sunny Dawn Johnston: I think one of the best ways the parents can support them is by acknowledging it with them: You are gifted, you are special, you have talents, and you may not be like everyone else, but we’re not supposed to be. We’re supposed to be different. We’re supposed to be dynamic in our own ways, and your gifts and talents manifested differently than other people’s.

Too often kids get into that comparison game at a very young age, and so the parents can support them by walking that talk, by not getting wrapped up in the “keeping up with the Joneses” or focusing only on physical or material attributes — and really be that change that we want to see for our children.

Affirm for those children who they really are. “You know what? You are a very evolved soul and you might not have chosen an easy path, maybe you don’t feel like you fit in, but as you step into who you really are, you will attract those to you who are in alignment with your energy and your truth.”

It just so happens that a lot of people are unaware right now, but they are coming into awareness.

Insiah Beckman

Insiah Beckman: Fortunately, it is much easier now than about 20 years ago when gifted children were frowned upon or thought to be weird or strange. People are more accepting. Many people believe in guides, angels and past lives.

Of primary importance is to ensure that children are in an environment of love and harmony. Because of their sensitive nature, parents should keep away from disruptive behavior in their presence. Everything is energy. Words and sounds affect all around you, be it animals, plants or even just the environment.

I would strongly recommend lots of hugs and words of love and support at all times. Encourage them to be in nature as often as possible, for nature carries its own soothing and expansive energy, renewing and rejuvenating the soul. Listen to the sounds of nature, observe nature with joy and wonder, breathe in, exchange and integrate that which is part of all life — and also part of you.

Chanda Parkinson: It’s not so much about spending a lot of time and energy trying to convince our culture to recognize the gifts as it is more important that the children have space in their family life to be exactly who they are without judgment or editing.

Create a safe, nurturing and protective sanctuary for those little beings at home. Consistency in their daily rhythms is so important, as is having a strong spiritual presence in at least one of the parents who are there to support them and answer any questions that come up.

Children need time to allow their minds and inner eye to grow in a healthy way, unhindered by so much information that, with our technological age, it seems more and more difficult to get away from. Restricting the influence of the information world is crucial to the spiritual development of all children, but especially children who are psychically gifted. Shut off the TV, monitor all media intake and get children connecting with nature. They need so much space to allow their full creativity to develop and their intuition to strengthen.

If only parents really knew that less information, a quiet serene disposition and a consistent and steady presence allow children’s true genius to shine. We have overloaded our senses with toys, games and places to play that are noisy and disruptive to a sense of peace and well-being. None of that is necessary. Children play just as well with dirt, rocks, sticks and what they can gather in the backyard.

What are your guides or angels telling you about these children and the role they are to play in the future of the planet?
Chanda Parkinson: Right now, structures are crumbling…these children come in with an enhanced creativity and wisdom that will allow them to rebuild what has fallen.

Insiah Beckman: These magnificent children are our future and have contracted to bring in the positive changes of love, peace and harmony to our beautiful planet. They also carry a vibration frequency of transformation with their light, love and expansive positive energy.

Your planet is going through a massive transition from The Love of Power to the Power of Love. Changes are evident everywhere. People want justice and equality, and they want to get away from being self-serving to service for all in an equitable, fair manner.

Mother Earth also is doing a lot of releasing as she transits to a higher level of consciousness to accommodate the new earth. These beautiful Children of the New Dawn are ushering in a new golden age of love, peace and harmony for all in our beautiful planet. Humanity has abused and disrespected her for several thousands of years, saturating her with all the destructive toxins, chemicals and warfare, when we were heading for self-destruction. We are now getting to a time of balance and harmony.

Sunny Dawn Johnston: They are telling me that these children are the ones that are going to break down the system that no longer works for us, to help us to expand to a vision that is of oneness instead of individualness. That might not be the right word, but you know what I mean. They’re teaching us to come together. They are teaching us to look beyond what is seen physically, to look inside instead of outside, look within instead of without. They are offering us an opportunity to heal by challenging the paradigms that we have been living and that we continue to associate ourselves with. So many people say, “You know what, I don’t like this and it doesn’t work, but I don’t know what else to do.” So they’re causing us to shift that.

I’ve walked this journey myself and with my son, and it’s challenging — and at the same time there’s so much relief and so much peace when you can get to that place.

Please share an experience you’ve had with a young person that represents what we are sharing about their abilities and gifts.
Sunny Dawn Johnston: My son is 21 now. I think he was kind of a way-shower. And like him, a lot of the kids who are coming in have challenges — physical, mental, emotional issues that most people want to medicate or have them conform in particular ways.

My son came in with a bunch of diagnoses — attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, bipolar tendencies — and the medical world wanted to medicate him because that would make him conform. I tried that, because I didn’t know any better at the beginning.

Then, I started discovering that this response was actually stifling his spirit. It was holding him back, so we started expanding and looking into alternative ways that I likely never would have done had I not had him. I had to look at alternative options in education; I pulled him out of the regular school system and put him into an alternative school system. I had to look at alternative health care, including chiropractic, biofeedback, energy healing.

Everything shifted from traditional to alternative because of my son’s energy. It came in in a way that doesn’t necessarily look like, “Oh, I’m a spiritual teacher who knows my journey.” And in the process, he learned about himself, and the experience was a ripple effect that led to teaching for my whole family, and teaching for my students and clients. Everyone has learned from this one little being.

These new children are coming into body with autism and other challenges because we need to learn from these experiences. These children are coming to parents who can support them on some level, whether we’re conscious of it or not. I was much more conscious of my second child than I was with my first, because my first broke down all those barriers and that “this is the way you do it” mode. He opened me up to a new way of seeing and thinking, and so he has been that Child of the New Dawn. He has taught so many of those things, and then in my teachings I’ve been able to share them.

We don’t always teach through phenomenal, positive experiences. Sometimes the teaching is through the challenge and through the strength that you gain within yourself and your knowingness as you walk through those challenges.

Chanda Parkinson: I remember a time recently when we were driving to a doctor’s appointment and my daughter Addi kept looking at the seat next to her and saying “Hi Martin,” over and over again. Crystal clear as a bell. Once she got all of our attention, she then said, “bye bye see you soon.” Well, Martin happens to be my deceased grandfather and he has been known to visit the grandchildren in our family. I have cousins whose children have seen him, as well. He loved kids, and it’s no wonder Addi is seeing him.

My son Jacob corrects my parenting occasionally. He will challenge me when I am making a decision that he feels is not for our highest good. He is so perceptive and highly intuitive. I did not listen in the beginning and found that if I had, we would have been in better shape because of it. He is so kind-hearted, and he defends his sister Addi when she gets into trouble. It is marvelous to watch his leadership and intuition shine forth constantly.

On your personal journey in this lifetime, why do you feel called to speak about the Children of the New Dawn?
Chanda Parkinson: I have two precious and adorable children, one an indigo and one a crystal. I have learned so much from them, but it has taken a tremendous act of discipline to slow down and pay attention to what is going on with my children. We now find ourselves tuning in to each other’s rhythms, and we now know the moment something is off with someone in our family. We are a tight psychic unit.

I am so passionate about working with families, because I have been there…in moments of total frustration confused by messages our society sends us to move faster, grow bigger, want more, more, more…knowing it was going against my very being and my intuition.

I stopped myself in my tracks. I have done two years of studying and research and have made phenomenal changes in my own family that have promoted more connection and peace. It’s still a work in progress, but I feel as if we have created a solid foundation for the spiritual and psychic development of our children. I am so passionate about the results I am experiencing and want to share it with the world!

The formula is different for every family, but there are such simple things you can do immediately to eliminate the chaos in your life and bring so much more peace and joy to everyday living. It has not been an easy path to this awareness, but I have to believe that this message will resonate with the hearts of parents, and hopefully stir them into action.

Insiah Beckman: I strongly felt that it was important for me to share some of my experiences for parents with children who are out of the norm. As a child, I always felt lost. I could not understand most of the behavioral patterns of people: hungry people, the lame, the sick, fighting, anger and a host of other human frailties. I could not resonate with what I was seeing or feeling. I would go outside at night and look at the stars and beg them to take me home. “I don’t understand what is going on, I don’t like it here!”

Fortunately for me, my mother was a beautiful soul, very loving and caring. She was religious then, and she became very spiritual in her later years. She explained to me some of my concerns to the best of her ability without the tools of all the spiritual knowledge and terms that present-day lightworkers use.

Sunny Dawn Johnston: I have personally experienced it as a transformational, life-changing, life-altering event in my life through having my son. Not only just the process of having to speak up and to hold space for him as a child who is different, but also to learn as a parent that I could not force him to be the way that I thought he was supposed to be either. I was functioning off of old paradigms, and I was also working off the belief system that you have to be a certain way. I didn’t know or understand how to do that differently until he taught me.

I think a lot of parents get stuck in the “I’m the parent, you’re the child” mentality. In my experience — and from what I’ve witnessed in a lot of my students and clients — they’re the teacher and we’re the students. That’s sometimes hard for those of us that who were raised with the “I’m the boss” attitude.

I’ve lived it and I know what it’s like to be in the not-so-healthy space with it, and then I know what it’s like to make that transition and really embrace it. It’s really so heart-opening for everyone when we can just honor who they are and why they’re really here.

What will be the key message you want to leave Expo attendees with during the Children of the New Dawn presentation?
Sunny Dawn Johnston: The words that come for me are, “It’s time for a change,” and so I want to leave them not only with knowing that, but also with steps to be able to make that change in a more loving and honoring way than maybe what people are creating now. It is time for change, and our children are the ones to bring it. We’re the supporters of it.

Chanda Parkinson: I want to leave with the message that our children are not alone. We are all moving through this intense time together. The discipline and action steps to tighten the psychic family unit are worth it. Sometimes this may mean sacrificing sometimes selfish desires in favor of creating a space that nurtures spiritual and creative growth. We are only caregivers for our children such a short time before they are out in the world expressing their potential. It is worth the sacrifices of personal interest in favor of creating a den of love, protection and constant support. That does not mean hovering as parents, but it does require a tremendous presence to hold the space for a family’s spiritual success.

It’s not about achieving perfection. It’s about striving to reach an ideal and all the magic that is experienced and created along the way. It’s the process.

For more information on the Minneapolis Edge Life Expo, visit www.edgelife.net. Advance discount tickets available online, or by contacting Gary Beckman at gary@edgelife.net or 763.427.7979.

The first time it happened was in the early 1990s. I had been a daily newspaper writer in Missouri for about ten years, and I was toying with the idea of making a career change. I set up an interview at a school of traditional Chinese medicine in Santa Fe and, before I knew it, I was throwing my bags in the backseat of my VW and heading down the road to New Mexico.

As the miles passed behind me, I thought about how I needed a change in scenery, about how rewarding it would be to help people with a natural system of healing that dates back thousands of years.

The outskirts of Santa Fe were on the horizon, and suddenly the engine light went on, the temperature gauge suddenly pegged to hot, the car sputtered to a stop and I was sitting still on the shoulder of the freeway. I was shocked. The car was in good mechanical shape before I left home, and now, seemingly dead on the highway. Before I could decide what to do next, I heard a voice in my mind as clear as day: “When you cool down, the car will cool down.”

And at that moment, I realized that I had been totally unaware of my body and what it was telling me. Inwardly, I was freaking out about making such a dramatic change in my life. I was boiling over with anxiety. I didn’t really know if this trip was just me grabbing for something…anything…that represented change.

I took the voice’s statement as fact. I worked to calm my inner being. I told myself that no decisions were going to be made today, and that all I needed to do was relax, breathe, and know that everything was okay. And then the car started. The temperature gauge read normal and I was driving into Santa Fe as if nothing had happened. But it did.

Fast-forward to February 2011 when my wife and I were headed east on Interstate 94 from the Twin Cities to Madison to look for a home to rent. I had spent the past month searching on craigslist, but I was unsure if anything would pan out. And beyond that, I was anxious whether the move to Wisconsin was right for us, that my wife truly supported my need for change.

Then the engine light went on. Our hybrid Civic kept running, but we didn’t know if it would die at any moment. I was a bundle of nerves sitting next to my wife, as she drove the wintry highway. We had a blizzard the week before, and the whole trip seemed to be full of doubt.

And then I remembered Santa Fe. I tried to calm myself down. I told myself things would work out — and they did. One of my craigslist leads turned out to be the perfect choice, and the car ran normally all the way home. And all the way home I sat in gratitude to my body for helping me to awaken — and to my car, for communicating to me, in the only way it could.

The critically acclaimed and Academy Award-nominated film Food Inc. – filmmaker Robert Kenner’s exposé of corporate farming in America – also is one of the top-grossing theatrical documentaries of all time. In the three years since its release, Food Inc. remains part of the conversation as America wrestles with obesity, diabetes and other health conditions that are linked to the poor quality of food consumed by Americans and produced by only a handful of multi-national corporations.

Director Robert Kenner will appear in Duluth to speak about the making of Food Inc.

Until seeing the film, many Americans did not know that food production has changed more in the past 50 years than it had in the last 10,000 years. They didn’t know the extent that food corporations force growers to stay in debt, that animals are not the only species being mistreated by the food industry. And they didn’t know how often corporations put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our environment.

Kenner will speak on Food Inc. at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, in Romano Gym at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, brought to campus by Access For All. A question-and-answer session will follow the lecture. It is free to the public and will be interpreted in ASL.

The event is co-sponsored by: Duluth Whole Foods Co-op; Wellness Renaissance; Essentia Health; Duluth Grill; Slow Food Lake Superior; The Edge Magazine; UMD Office of Sustainability; UMD College of Liberal Arts; UMD College of Education and Human Service Professions; UMD Swenson College of Science and Engineering; Medical School Duluth; UMD School of Fine Arts; College of Pharmacy Duluth; UMD Labovitz School of Business and Economics; UMD Office of Civic Engagement; UMD Food and Vending Services; UMD Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation; and Minnesota Public Interest Research Group.

“I will be talking about making of Food, Inc. and the surprises I had along the way and where I’m going from there,” Kenner said in a phone interview with The Edge.

The filmmaker remains devoted to public education. He’s currently creating a campaign of short videos called “Fixed Food” to help drive a consumer-led change toward more natural and organic food that is sustainable and in balance with the environment.

Kenner’s video campaign is expected to launch in November, but in the meantime he said the food industry — through the Alliance to Feed the Future, and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association — is preparing to launch multi-million-dollar campaigns of its own to convince Americans that the food it creates is healthy.

“On one hand the consumers are ready to make these great changes,” Kenner said, “and on the other hand, some of industry wants to change and some of it wants to go on the offensive and talk about why they are serving the healthiest food, why this processed food is the healthiest and best food we can get.”

What was your intention in making Food Inc. and did that intention change by the time the film was completed?
Robert Kenner: My original intention was to have a conversation about how to feed the world and is our food sustainable, our food system, and by the end I realized that so much of the industrial food world was not ready to talk to me. It was very hard to have that kind of a conversation. So much of our present day food system is off limits to the consumer. They don’t want us peeking behind the curtain to see how this food is made – “they” being the industrial system. It really does not want to engage in a conversation about how this food is made.

You’ve said in an interview that you weren’t wanting to preach to the converted, but to enlighten people who were not aware of what is going on.
RK: I am hoping really to expand the circle to let people know. I guess I started to make this film because I was curious to know where our food came from, how it’s grown, what’s on our plate and what it does to us. I had no idea how difficult it would be to make that film. I wanted to make a film for people who had not thought about their food, people who are just eating this stuff and just presuming it is not a problem and that nothing’s changed, when in reality, our food system has changed dramatically in the last 40 to 50 years.

What challenge did you face in tackling the role of the multi-national corporation in our food system? Did any of them speak to you for the film?
RK: Well, they spoke to me off the record, constantly. I tend to think if I had made the film a few years earlier they would have spoken on camera, because no one thought that the food system presented any danger. I had a friend who made a film on Frito-Lay and they were able to talk about getting to the heavy users. By the time I was making Food Inc., they realized they can’t be seen talking about such things.

Makers of the small documentary King Corn had a hard time talking about high fructose corn syrup.
RK: Industrial food makers don’t want you thinking about where your food comes from and what’s in it.

Do you think the public’s desire to know that is growing?
RK: Absolutely. People are becoming more and more concerned and people are becoming more and more aware that this system presents dangers. I also think the industrial food makers are about to engage in a campaign — spending close to $100 million, different groups are spending $30-40 million dollars — to tell the public that this processed food is good for you, that we should be eating more meat, all the things that we might have questioned. But ultimately, people are becoming more aware and more conscious that we have to put better things in our stomach and this system is making us sick.

I listened to a recent interview about nutrition, specifically the amount of education doctors get in nutrition. It was said doctors only get 30 hours of study in nutrition during medical school, and if there was a greater emphasis on nutrition, it would make the country a lot healthier overall.
RK: What is the saying, “Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.” That used to be how we lived, and today, we have companies that are plying us with massive amounts of sugars and salts. Now we have to come out with new diabetes drugs. So they are on the one hand making us sick and on the other hand providing us our cure.

How did the making of Food Inc. make you feel personally? Did it change your life?
RK: Well, it makes me much more conscious, both about what I’m putting in my stomach, as well as to the role of corporations in our society. Some are trying to change things, but there are many others that are willing to sell you food that is making you sick — and they are ready to put pressure on the government not to be regulated in any form or fashion, even though they are getting massive amounts of subsidies from the government.

While watching your film I was struck by how it epitomizes the whole discussion of corporations’ role in our everyday lives.
RK: I think on some levels that Food Inc. became about more than just food. I had no idea that was going to happen when I started to make it.

What has been the result of the film overall? Has it made a difference?
RK: I think it’s made a huge difference. I have been very pleasantly surprised what kind of reception it has had. We were one of the most successful selling DVDs of the year. And more people saw it on the internet than they did on DVD and/or in theaters.

It became part of a conversation, which was very exciting. I think it fed into what is a growing movement out there. People are concerned. Organic is the fastest growing segment of the food business. Ultimately this movement is being led by moms, who might not have thought about where their food comes from, or dads, or parents buying food for their children, and parents want their children to eat healthy food. It’s not democrats or republicans, it’s parents.

People felt their lives were changed on some levels. This is a growing movement, and Food Inc. was one of the many things that played into this movement, along with Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation, Michael Pollan’s book The Omnivore’s Dilemma, films like King Corn and all that’s out there. It’s really helping to change. People are being affected by it.

I even take encouragement by people like Jamie Oliver and his “Food Revolution.”
RK: Oh, of course! Listen, when I travel around, the food that you saw going to the school system was frightening. You would not want to feed it to dogs.

For those who have not seen Food Inc., what positives can people take from the film?
RK: First of all, I know a lot of people were scared to watch the film thinking it would be filled with upsetting images. We really tried to go out of our way to make a film that you didn’t have to keep your eyes shut to watch, but could open your mind instead. We tried to add as much humor as possible.

I think the ultimate positive, if you look at this in a historical context, is that things change. Tobacco is a great example. People lied about what the effect of cigarettes on our health was. They stood up and said things that were absolute lies — lies that they were fully aware of — and testified in front of Congress. But as people started to understand what those lies were and people understood how unhealthy those cigarettes were for us and how much they were costing us as a society, we eventually put taxes on those cigarettes and were able to change patterns in this country and save lots of money and lives.

Industry will fight any form of regulation and they don’t want to pay for the externalities that they are creating. But at the same time when we start to understand what those externalities are, I think we will, as consumers, want to start to become healthier and change our own habits.

I think I am much more optimistic about consumer-driven change than I am governmental change. Anything can happen in government, but I do think we consumers can drive true change. Look at how people complained to Wal-Mart about the growth hormone in the milk. Wal-Mart changed its policy. That was a surprise for me, too, by the way. I had no idea that Wal-Mart would end up being a good guy in our film.

For more information on Food Inc., visit www.foodincmovie.com

An interview with Carole Hyder and Cyndi Dale

The public yearns to not only find jobs that put money on the table, but also satisfy their souls. In response to that, two Twin Cities businesswomen — Cyndi Dale, president of Essential Energy, a successful corporation that offers intuitive-based consulting and healing, and corporate consulting, and Carole J. Hyder, an internationally known Feng Shui consultant and speaker — will present a program to help others cultivate a richer life.

“Your Abundance Mindset” will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at Normandale Community College. Admission is $99. Registration is at 952.358.8343 or http://normandale.augusoft.net.

The two presenters, both best-selling authors and world-renowned teachers, will help participants uncover the blocks that keep them from accepting both worldly and spiritual blessings and help them construct a new “money blueprint,” an energetic and practical plan for creating financial flow.

The Edge asked Cyndi Dale and Carole J. Hyder to share their personal experiences and offer more insight on abundance.

Carole J. Hyder

How does one know if he or she is in an Abundance Mindset or not?
Carole J. Hyder: I know when someone has an Abundance Mindset by looking at the space in which they live and work. Coming from a Feng Shui perspective, I know if a person regards their possessions with respect and delight. Obviously, this has nothing to do with how much money an item costs nor does it have to do with how many items someone owns. It has to do with appreciation of their surroundings. Some of the richest people I know live in modest homes with few possessions; some of the poorest people I’ve worked with live in mansions.

Cyndi Dale: There are two main ways to know if you have adopted an Abundance Mindset or if you are mired in lack, limitation and scarcity. The first measurement is external. To some extent, we assess our prosperity by examining what or who is in our lives. Quality wins over quantity every time. Abundance is about what nourishes us. Do you have a comfortable home, one that supports your lifestyle? Are your friendships nourishing, loving, and dependable? These are the types of questions we should reflect upon.

The second criterion is internal. The Abundance Mindset begins and ends with integrity, our ability to match our values with our deeds and our hearts with our activities. We cannot be abundant if we do not know who we really are. What makes us tick, what creates internal peace, and what propels us toward joy?

Cyndi Dale

What is the number one thing all of us can do today to have an Abundance Mindset?
Cyndi Dale: Begin by appreciating who you are. This is even more important than being grateful for what you have, because externals come and go. Today we might be joyously situated in our dream house and tomorrow it’s all swept away by a tornado.

To appreciate our real self, the being we know ourselves to be, we can meet every situation and person with calm and openness. Even the most challenging of circumstances can be transformed into opportunities for connection and growth.

Carole J. Hyder: Wealth comes directly from gratitude, not the other way around. In my Feng Shui world, if someone is grateful for their circumstances, whatever they may be, it will be reflected in how they live and move through their space. I will see whether gratitude is coming through anything and everything, from the color on the walls to the angle of the sofa to the amount of unwanted items that clutter up their space. Someone who’s grateful takes care of what they have.

What are the most common blocks that keep us from cultivating a richer life?
Carole J. Hyder: I have seen four blocks that keep people from embracing their abundance: fear, guilt, being a pleaser and being irresponsible. I call these the Four Faces of Money, which we will be talking about in The Abundance Mindset workshop. These challenges are usually learned — from what the family said about money, how they treated money, or from a specific experience that caused someone to look negatively on being abundant.

Cyndi Dale: The most potent blocks are held in our soul, which carries in misperceptions and fears from other lifetimes, and our family, which creates negative mindsets that affect us energetically, or practically and spiritually. We don’t want to limit our abundance. It’s just that at some point we adopted limiting beliefs in order to adapt to our external circumstances. The good news is that we can always exchange a dysfunctional set of beliefs for functional ones.

What do you do personally to stay in the flow of abundance?
Cyndi Dale: Every day I wake up in gratefulness. I ask the Divine to bless and run my day (alone, I don’t always do such a great job.) I also continually work on my limiting beliefs. For instance, I currently work with a Sufi therapist who helps me excavate my negative thought processes and open to divine flow.

Carole J. Hyder: Gratitude goes a long ways to making me feel like I may be one of the richest people on the planet. Besides starting the day with a heart full of appreciation, one of my rituals is to make the bed each morning. I love the act of straightening out the sheets, plumping the pillows, bringing order to the room. It has become a mini-meditation and I feel out-of-sorts when I didn’t get around to doing it. I particularly love the experience when I walk in the bedroom at the end of the day. I’m reminded about being grateful all over again.

Please explain the Enrichment™ process from your perspective.
Carole J. Hyder: The Enrichment process is all about how to discover the blocks that may be preventing someone from opening up to their abundance, how to heal those blocks, and how to set up a specific action plan to move forward with a new system in place. Having money isn’t about being lucky, but instead it’s about strategizing, planning and preparing for a wealthy life. Getting their space in order to facilitate that wealth is a big part of the Enrichment process.

Cyndi Dale: This process is about how to have a life that rocks! We all want to wake up excited, eager to dance with life. We want to lie down to sleep feeling satisfied with what’s occurred and who we’ve been. To help participants get there, we discuss the elements that prevent the prosperous life and provide healing support to clear these issues and blocks. We then guide participants in accessing the spiritual powers available internally and externally to supercharge their manifestation abilities.

What is a “Money Blueprint” and what does it do for us?
Cyndi Dale: A money blueprint is a template that enables participants to transform negatives into positives and insert their spiritual purpose center in their lives. The key idea is that we are promised all the support we need to fulfill our spiritual destiny. This includes money, love, and guidance. If we make decisions from our purpose, we’ll naturally attract nourishment and abundance. The remainder of the plan includes action steps that will fulfill our destiny.

Carole J. Hyder: Participants will go home with their own specific blueprint for opening up to a new abundance mindset. This will be a literal blueprint with reminders, actions steps, and their money purpose clearly delineated so they can begin their Enrichment process to creating a richer life. Similar to a treasure map, the money blueprint can be hung or positioned prominently to remind them every day of their abundance steps.

What can participants expect at “Your Abundance Mindset” event at Normandale?
Carole J. Hyder: The Abundance Mindset event will offer opportunities for everyone to examine their blocks, experience what happens because of those blocks, how to start unraveling their effects, and (the best part) how to move forward with a new and richer life. Furthermore, there will be fun, surprises, and probably some laughing — true abundance expects nothing less!

Cyndi Dale: How about fun, healing and inspiration? The Enrichment™ process is designed to free you from the limitations and impositions keeping you stuck in the muck, unlock your manifesting abilities, and establish the mindset necessary to continually attract the support needed to fulfill your destiny. We’ll have fun so you can move into a more fun life.

To register or for more information, call 952.358.8343 or visit normandale.augusoft.net.

Every week, talk show host Jimmy Fallon does a regular segment on his “Late Night” program in which he scribbles brief thank you notes to random things and people. When I first saw the sequence, it was Christmas time and I assumed the host was showing his gratitude in the spirit of the holidays. Over time, I realized the show’s writers were just having fun…for example, “Thank you, tanning beds, for looking like human Panini makers.” Jimmy’s crew has inspired me to offer some Thank You notes of my own:

THANK YOU, ASTROLOGY, for giving us a cosmological explanation for the challenges we go through each month, and particular thanks goes out to Mercury Retrograde, for taking most of the blame for almost everything that goes wrong.

THANK YOU, ORGANIC FOOD, for giving holistic types something they can talk to average people about without appearing too strange.

THANK YOU, EXTRATERRESTRIALS, for giving us humans ideas for incredible scientific discoveries without taking any credit, and for your light shows in the sky that demonstrate that people really are no different than cats who chase flashlight beams up the wall.

THANK YOU, DEEPAK CHOPRA, for being able to say anything at all and make it sound so inspiring.

THANK YOU, FENG SHUI, for encouraging us to clean our house and for giving us more mirrors on the walls to show us when the stuff is piling up again.

THANK YOU, BUDDHA, for not only inspiring a major religion, but being able to show others with pot bellies that it’s okay to laugh at yourself and not take yourself too seriously.

AND THANK YOU, MAYAN CALENDAR, for having the courage to admit you’re tired and finally have to quit after counting down every day for 5,126 years.

Center for Conscious Living: The renewed vision of LHSC with Theresa Rose

Theresa Rose offers an inspiring Sunday message at Lake Harriet Spiritual Community | Photo by Wendy Houser Blomseth

MINNEAPOLIS — The names have changed, but the energy beneath the dome at Lake Harriet Spiritual Community remains just as refreshing and awakening as ever. It inspires people to reconnect with their true nature, go beyond what they thought was possible and embody the soul that yearns to be expressed.

The energy here inspires change — perhaps the only constant in the community’s 23-year history in the landmark church building at 44th and Upton Avenue South in Linden Hills. Sitting high in the neighborhood, towering over the shopping district to the north and the tree-lined homes leading down to the banks of Lake Harriet to the east, the silver-domed structure is home to one of the nation’s most vibrant spiritual communities. And while many inspiring speakers, worship leaders and members have come and gone since 1988, every transition has inspired the community to evolve into a new expression of what is now.

One senses when speaking to current leaders that Lake Harriet Spiritual Community (LHSC) is in a completely new space, one that it has never been in before. It as if this collection of eclectic souls is coming out of the closet to its city, fully accepting of itself for who it is and no longer afraid to be judged for being different by its neighborhood.

New spiritual director Theresa Rose – an ordained minister, national motivational humorist, award-winning author of Opening the Kimono: A Woman’s Intimate Journey Through Life’s Biggest Challenges, wife and mother — acknowledges that the LHSC is relaxed as it embarks upon a new path of integrating with its more mainstream neighbors by recognizing their shared values of seeking a balance of body, mind and spirit.

“We’ve changed our tagline to A Center for Conscious Living,” she says, “and we really want to create Lake Harriet Spiritual Community as a center for Minneapolis and St. Paul to come for not only Sunday services, but for classes and workshops and concerts and movies and other performance art.”

It sounds like it may be an opportunity for Lake Harriet more than ever before to announce itself and really step out into the Twin Cities community as a whole.
Theresa Rose: That’s exactly right, and that is our intention. We not only want to introduce ourselves to the larger communities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, but we also especially want to extend our hands out to our community in Linden Hills. Those are the people who hear the concerts coming out of the sanctuary, and they’re the ones who come to yoga classes, and they’re the ones who walk to our Sunday services.

We really want to be more integrated with our neighbors in the Lake Harriet area. Connection to our community is good. We want to support members of our community who can walk to where we are and whose businesses we support locally. So, it’s a real synergistic relationship we’re trying to create with our local neighbors.

Recording artist Michael Monroe performs | Photo by Wendy Houser Blomseth

What is your vision of what a Center for Conscious Living is?
TR: It is a gathering place where we offer services, classes and special events that support one’s personal spiritual growth. Anything related to consciousness, anything about increasing our own awareness of our power and developing a spiritual relationship with the Divine – walking on this Earth with a light footprint.

We don’t want people to just merely see us as a church. Sunday service is just a small portion of what we’re offering, and we’re continuing to expand. For example, we are having Gina Citoli come in September for a fundraiser for LHSC and present her Cabaret of Consciousness, a concert that we’re going to be sponsoring with her.

And we’re very excited about Allison Scott, who is going to be here on October 13 to do a fundraiser for us. Allison is a phenomenal singer who is starting to really make a name for herself in the Twin Cities music scene. She has been identified as one of the up-and-coming musical artists and has a really large following. She is a soulful singer who plays at the Dakota and at festivals. She has been a musical guest at one of my Sunday services, and we’re fortunate to be able to have her come for an entire concert. We hope that new people can come see LHSC as the result of their connection to Allison. I encourage everyone to check her out. She is really, really wonderful.

Our goal is to build our presence in the community by bringing in events and offerings like this to appeal to wider audiences.

Is there a reorganization of what’s already existed at Lake Harriet or are there new ideas that are being implemented into this vision?
TR: Both. First of all, there is a reorganization of what we’ve already done, but we have also endeavored to include a lot more offerings than we previously have in the past. We want to not only offer classes and services for people who are well down the path of spiritual development, but also for those who may be just beginning, opening our doors to them, as well.

We’re looking at things that we haven’t looked at before, like fitness classes, nutrition classes, parenting classes, relationship classes, different things that really haven’t been happening at LHSC. I want to even bring in a hula hoop class, because that’s a great way to get in the body.

We want to support the body-mind-spirit triad by looking at things we hadn’t brought in previously because we were focusing solely on metaphysical studies, whereas now we’re really expanding our vision.

What sparked this change?
TR: The universe started pushing us in different directions with some people departing the community and new people coming into the community — and different inspirations developed. One of our motivations is to maintain a thriving community, and to do that we really want to offer what people want.

This is not an exclusive club. We want it to be an open community, a really thriving center. And so, change was something that was being called for.

What is changing at Lake Harriet from a leadership perspective?
TR: We have restructured the spiritual leadership at LHSC. Previously, as you and your readers may be aware, we had ministerial guides. Those ministerial guides were elected for a period of two years and they led one Sunday service a month. There were anywhere from three to five MGs, as we called them, and then we occasionally had guest speakers.

As the community has evolved and morphed, what the community decided was that it would be more effective, and ultimately more of a representation of who we are, to have one spiritual director and a group of resident speakers. Resident speakers are leaders in the spiritual community nationally who were not able to commit to once-a-month services as a typical ministerial guide and did not want to be too terribly involved in the day-to-day operations of the community.

We have selected four of our six resident speakers so far, and they are going to be doing services on a quarterly basis. They include: noted jazz vocalist and radio personality Patty Peterson; spiritual teacher, healer and Pleiadian channel Christine Day; intuitive, author and “Michael” channel Linda Elwell; and intuitive counselor Cindi Claypatch. All of these people come from a different perspective, from their own unique perspective, from a spiritual development perspective, and from a consciousness perspective, but they all are in such harmony with the energy of LHSC and they all bring a unique voice. That’s what we’re really excited about, that they’re going to be here on a regular basis and be able to provide that sort of leadership to us.

And then, we’re going to continue to have guest speakers once every month. We’ve had such notable guest speakers as Leonard Jacobson and Kathryn Harwig, and all sorts of different people from different realms have shared their expertise with us, and we encourage differences. We want to see lots of different voices and we want to hear from these amazing teachers who can share with us their own guidance, their own messaging.

What is the value for somebody to become part of this spiritual community?
TR: I think the value lies in the welcoming, nurturing community that we offer. It’s more than just a beautiful building and more than just a calendar of events. We are really creating a spiritual family, a spiritual community that can provide all of those tools that we need to traverse this world and to get through the challenges that we face. The value is helping you move into a greater place of joy and health and connectivity to the Divine. That’s what we offer.

Maybe for some it is just about entertainment. So if you want to see wonderful music being played through joyful hearts, that’s what we offer, too. Everyone is looking for something different, but our goal is to provide that sense of home — a spiritual home for people.

What will a first-time visitor experience at a Sunday service at Lake Harriet?
TR: They will experience a morning full of inspiration and music, meditation, fellowship, community and lightness. That’s the through line of every single Sunday service, whether it’s me who is delivering the service or one of our resident or guest speakers. Each week will be completely different, but visitors will get some nugget of what they can do to move in this world with more grace and more connection and more power. They’ll hear from lots of different sources on how to do that.

The community is building and it’s very loving, and I’m really excited about how we are all becoming the best of who we are as individuals and as a community. We’re really rising above a lot of fear and really stepping into our power more fully, both as individuals and as a community.

It’s a really beautiful thing to be witnessing, and I’m really just privileged to be a part of this.

For more information, please visit www.lakeharrietspiritualcommunity.org or search for Lake Harriet Spiritual Community on Facebook.

Annette Bruchu was gifted early in life with an opportunity to explore two of the Earth’s most basic elements: water and stone. The Minnesota native grew up in a home built near a rock quarry. A stream ran through the property, and as a young girl, Annette spent time playing with the stones, with the water, and in the process she discovered a connection with herself.

She now is an intuitive healer who, in concert with a group of other healers, assists people in connecting with their true selves, their intuition and wellness. At the Helping YOU Heal Center in Stillwater, MN, she and others offer their healing touch and intuitive gifts, and in doing so, they bring balance to themselves.

Annette says her upbringing was a spark that inspired the woman she would become.

“My entire childhood was indirectly guided towards the metaphysical world because of where I grew up,” she says. “I believe that stones and water are two of the earth’s elements that are simple, but yet powerful, sources of energy that aid in our awakening and inner understanding. Because of this environment, I was fortunate to discover the gift of metaphysics at an early age. I was able to actually liberate the gift in the early stages of my life.”

Her path toward healing was not unique, for many holistic practitioners are raised believing that traditional careers are the only option.

“I once thought that I had to be successful in a traditional career to serve a purpose,” she says, “but I soon learned that helping others to achieve their success — whether it be through physical or emotional healing, success in their relationships or guiding them in awakening their gifts — was my purpose.”

She felt an inner desire to connect with and help others. The healing came easy, and soon her clients responded to it and began to heal. “I felt good as a result. This feeling not only inspired me to continue to help people, but it also helped me to realize that this was the work I was supposed to be doing.”

The result is the wide array of services, classes and events she now offers at the Helping YOU Heal Center at 1775 Industrial Blvd. in Stillwater. Private healing sessions. Personal intuitive readings. Healing and intuition blended in a single session to promote balance. Foot ionizations to promote healing. Energy massage. Aura photos to show the energy coming from you. Other healing – Reiki, Qigong, Healing Touch, Craniosacral and Myofascial Unwinding, and much more – is offered by a collective group of energy healers who collaborate with her.

And she offers a variety of classes:

• Intuition Tuesday — Going strong now for more than four years, this class is from 7-9 p.m. and is open to the general public with no registration required. The fee is $15.
• Interactive Thursday – Offering more of a hands-on approach, the public is invited to drop in to take part in mind exercises, meditation and activities to promote more insight from 7-9 p.m. The fee is $15.

“Everyone has inner knowing, but not everyone listens to it or trusts it,” Annette says. “When your inner knowing awakens, you begin to see and hear the energies around you. And when you talk to them, they hear you. It’s exhilarating when you finally get it. For those who don’t hear or feel it, it can be an inner annoyance, because the knowledge arrives in bits and pieces or messages that don’t make sense. That’s when people call me.”

Annette also offers classes on ghosts, workshops on crystal healing and gallery reading evenings where everyone’s questions get answered.

She says these challenging times require us to be gentle with ourselves and to follow our intuition related to what we do and the people with whom we spend our time.

“The way we start our day often determines the tone for that day,” she says, “so it is important to allow yourself to wake gracefully. You may want to wake to a gentle meditation CD, some favorite music or the sounds of nature. Do your best to enter the day on your terms. It may not always be possible, but make it happen when you can.

“Let your body live. Your body has normal, everyday functions like breathing. Take time to breathe. Fill those lungs with air and do it often. It’s free! When possible, surround yourself with people who make you feel good. There will always be people who are on this planet to ruin the moments in your day. After they are gone, it’s your day again.”

Contact Annette Bruchu at 612.247.9719, email helpingyouheal@msn.com and visit www.UnemployedAngelForHigher.com.

One can only admire Lake Harriet Spiritual Community’s effort to rebrand itself as the “Center for Conscious Living” for the Twin Cities. Of course, it always was so, but who really knew? This move will not only focus LHSC internally to create events that attract a conscious-seeking, mainstream public, but it will help remove whatever mystique may have prevented people from visiting the community before now.

As much as they may pride themselves for being open and accepting, holistic groups tend to speak a language that is not always understood by new arrivals, and newcomers may feel intimidated by the tight-knit clan already in place.

And individually, many holistic types don’t like to make waves. They are sensitive to criticism and judgment, so they tend to keep to themselves and avoid setting themselves up to be burned at the stake. The fear of reaction is what stops many of us from stepping out of the closet and allowing the full expression of our souls to be seen.

The key is knowing that the public is seeking a more holistic way of life – through spirituality, healing, natural products, and a natural perspective in this all-too processed world.

The key is collaboration, exactly what Lake Harriet and other groups are doing. By partnering with more mainstream neighbors, it allows groups to embrace values they share in common. Seek ways for everyone to come out a winner. Collaboration  is the key to the evolution of consciousness in the 21st century.

from the editor

I have to admit that it was a trip getting through Dolores Cannon’s new book, The Three Waves of Volunteers and The New Earth [read interview online]. I did so on the advice of longtime friend Ralph Wolf of Mason City, IA, who emailed me that he had already read half the book and considered it a significant piece of work.

I have read several of the many books in which Dolores has reported on actual case studies of hypnotherapy sessions. She uses a unique technique to delve deeply into the “Superconscious” and retrieve information beyond this reality. And if that weren’t enough, her technique includes a healing component, an immediate restoration of the body to health, even for those who suffer from life-threatening conditions.

During sessions, some of her clients describe themselves as light beings before they came into human form. They describe crystal cities and holodecks. They talk of space travel and what we would call alien abductions…but what they call our willing participation in scientific research.

And while under hypnosis, speaking from past lifetimes off of this planet, clients express the concern of members of interstellar councils about the monumental transformation now underway on Earth. They say extraterrestrial beings are jumping at the chance to be born into a human body…now…at this very time in Earth’s history, to witness the vibrational shift taking place on this planet firsthand.

I’m aware that for many casual readers of The Edge, it may be too far out there to suggest that ETs are being born into human bodies in order to save the planet, and that people are being cured of cancer by their own “Superconscious” selves.

But what is science fiction for some people is reality for others. Some find it comforting to read books or attend lectures and receive confirmation that they indeed are multi-dimensional beings living a human existence. Some people find that information reported by Dolores Cannon and others helps to answer questions and explain feelings that are surfacing from the depths of their being.

The beauty of life on Earth is that each of us, a fragment of God, creates an experience of life that is so profoundly personal – and yet, one that is always connected to All That Is. While we don’t all believe in the same things, we share more than we know in common.

An eternal optimist, I hope that what Dolores is writing about, essentially, is an awakening of humanity. After a deep sleep, a self-induced coma perhaps, humankind is opening its eyes and is beginning to recognize the love that connects its parts.

When tornados destroy homes and floods swallow cities, people respond with love and generosity. They pull together and share their resources to help the disenfranchised to rebuild their lives. On 9/11, an entire nation came together as one.

I believe that’s what Earth needs now from us. Oneness. A shared commitment to assist those in harm’s way. Open hearts.

In the end, I sit in my body and you sit in yours. Together, we ride this planet as it revolves, and in this moment, we can choose how we want to proceed.

With fear? With hope? In love.

An Edge Interview

By any stretch of the imagination, people who randomly pick up her books and browse through them would declare them to be science fiction. But author and lecturer Dolores Cannon, a regressive hypnotherapist and psychic researcher, says the truth can be much stranger than fiction.

Her many books focus on such topics as Nostradamus, Jesus and the Essenes, the Afterlife, the original birthing of humanity on Earth, Past Lives – and everything from the birth of the planet to extraterrestrials and abductions shared in an ongoing series of books entitled “The Convoluted Universe.” They arise from Cannon’s unique technique of regression using hypnotherapy that taps into the “Superconscious” of the client, revealing not only past-life issues that affect the client in this life but information related to mysteries of the universe. That’s not all. Cannon’s hypnotherapy clients also are being healed spontaneously of diseases and conditions as serious as life-threatening cancer.

Her latest book, The Three Waves of Volunteers and The New Earth (Ozark Mountain Publishing), reveals that since the two atomic bomb explosions in Japan in 1945, three distinct groups of souls representing beings from across the universe have been volunteering to be birthed as humans so they can uplift the frequencies of Earth and help prevent a global catastrophe.

• The First Wave: Now in their late 40s to early 60s , these volunteers are disturbed by the violence, anger and hate that they experience on Earth. They have had the hardest time adjusting to life as humans, and many of them try to commit suicide.
• The Second Wave: Now in their late 20s and 30s, these volunteers are more comfortable in bodies and are said to be beacons or channels of energy who can affect others just by being near them. Their mission of just sharing their energy with others means they don’t have to do anything but just be.
• The Third Wave: The new children, many of whom are now teenagers, have all the knowledge needed to exist on the planet after the dimensional shift and transformation takes place. Their DNA is more advanced, and the greatest challenge they face is being misunderstood by humans as having a condition (ADHD) that needs to be medicated.

The challenge for these souls, Cannon said, is that when they are born they lose all conscious memory of who they once were and why they volunteered to be born here in the first place. She shared more about these volunteers during a phone interview with The Edge from California while on a national tour to lecture and teach her hypnotherapy technique to others.

For those who have not heard of you or are not familiar with the vast amount of information you have gleaned from your willing hypnosis clients, how would you describe the thread that ties all your work together and what does this new book add to what you have already done?
Dolores Cannon: Well, I’ve been doing hypnosis for over 40 years. I developed my own technique down through the years. It’s not like any other hypnosis technique out there. We are able to contact what I call the greatest force there is, and it’s a source of all knowledge. I found the way to have it come through every single person that I work with, and I’ve worked with thousands of people.

In my classes, I teach others how to do what I do, and we have found we can have instantaneous healing in just one session working with this power, because it can come through anybody. This is what I am teaching now all over the world.

When you see thousands and thousands of clients, as I do as a therapist and a counselor, you begin to see a common thread going through many of the cases. Earlier on, it used to be that everybody would go back to a past life and I’d find some of the answers there, and then I’d explore the source of all knowledge to answer all of their questions and do the healing.

Just in the last five years or so, I began to see clients who weren’t all going into a past life on Earth. I began to find they had never been on Earth before and that they had come here directly from God, from the Source, from other planets, other dimensions, where they were light beings.

That’s the common thread that I have been finding, and that’s where I came up with the theory of the three waves of volunteers. When I began talking about this on my radio show and on “Coast to Coast” and at all of my events, people began contacting me from all over the world saying, “Finally, it made sense.” They said, “I thought I was the only person in the world that felt like that.” Like they didn’t belong here and they wanted to go home. They did not understand Earth. They just knew this wasn’t home. They didn’t know where home was, but they knew it wasn’t here, and they all wanted to leave because Earth is such a strange place. And they began to find out, “Well, I’m not the only one out there.”

That makes them feel a whole lot better, that there are thousands of people who feel the same way. Well, we found out why – because they have not been on Earth before. They are part of this special group that have come to help us through these times we are going through right now.

What are the volunteers here to do and why should we, as citizens of the planet, be interested in their presence here.
DC: They’re here to save the Earth, because the ones who are caught on the wheel of karma cannot do it. They are so ingrained in their own karma and repeating their same mistakes over and over again that there is no way they can keep us from blowing up the world. But souls coming in that are pure and have never had any lives on Earth can do the most good.

But now in body, these people don’t have any memory of why they came. They come in and an amnesia descends on the person and they don’t remember why they are here. But this group has an energy that they have to project. It is a loving energy that will change the mindset here on Earth. It will change history, just them being here. They don’t realize they are doing it, but they are generating positive energy to offset the negativity of the world.

But they don’t want to be here. They don’t like it here. They don’t understand Earth: “What am I doing here. I want to go home.” They just know this is not where they’re supposed to be, but they’re here to generate positive energy that will benefit everyone. They are here to raise the vibration of Earth.

Some of these people, especially the second wave of volunteers, said they can walk through a crowded mall and their energy will affect everybody they walk past. They don’t have to do anything. This energy is just projecting out of them, and it influences everyone in positive, beautiful way. So the average person should be grateful for that, because it is changing the vibration of the world and getting it away from negativity.

Toward the end of the book you even talk about a fourth group of volunteers, the Keepers of the Grid. Can you tell us about them?
DC: That was something I discovered as the book was being put together. I have written about Atlantis many, many times in my other books, in the Convoluted Universe series, and I thought that I had found all of the information on Atlantis, on why it went down, but I learned that Atlantis wasn’t the only civilization that was destroyed. There were many, many others before that.

Each time when people got to the point when they were using energy in the wrong way and couldn’t control it, they had to be stopped. And every time, everything would be reset on this planet. The civilization would go back to the primitive stages and start all over again.

That’s why they don’t want to have it happen this time. They don’t want to start over with the planet and begin life for humanity one more time.

Then I learned about the Keepers of the Grid. During a hypnotherapy session, a woman went back to Atlantis and was telling me the prime reason for Atlantis being destroyed. It was not what I’d heard before, and I told them, “I’ve never heard this theory.” And they said, “That’s because we’ve never told it to anyone before, so it’s new theory.”

I was told that there were scientists at the time of Atlantis. I thought they were fooling around with crystal power, and they were, but there were others who were fooling around with what they called Dark Matter. I was told that this is the same thing scientists are doing now when they are fooling around with what we call Anti-Matter. In those days, they were trying to do the same thing, out of curiosity, to create their own universe and wormholes and things like that by experimenting. They said we have to know this, because the scientists are doing the same thing now. The Large Hadron Collider experiment in Switzerland is the same thing. They are messing around with Anti-Matter. The scientists who are now fooling around with the Collider experiment don’t have any idea what they are really doing, and it’s very highly dangerous.

In the days of Atlantis, this experimenting got out of hand. The Dark Matter began to collapse the grids of the Earth, so outside observers from the universe had to step in and stop it at that point.

Many of these people are coming back into body now, and their job is to energetically rebuild the grids of the Earth. But none of these people, the waves of volunteers or the Keepers of the Grid, know this consciously. But their presence here is extremely important.

If those experiments had continued at that time in Atlantis, it would have broken down the grid of the planet, causing an implosion of the Earth, and it would have reverberated to the point where it would have broken the grids down of the entire Universe. But they stopped it before it got to that point, but destruction took place.

Do you find that there are spiritual seekers out there who are curious if they are volunteers?
DC: Oh, yeah, a lot of them ask me that. Many people, who go back to past lives still have karma to be repaid, have written and e-mailed me saying, “I think I’m first wave” or “I think I’m second wave.” Because they resonate with the description of what they are. But, we never know until we do the session if they are or not. There’s always those people who want to be these things, and then you’ll find after you do a session there’s nothing there at all.

I’ve done hundreds and hundreds of these cases, and that is when I began to put the whole story together and it began to make a theory that I’d never heard before.

Perhaps it doesn’t really matter if we know that information, if we’re volunteers or not, and we should maybe just focus on living our lives the best that we can.
DC: That’s what I tell everyone. That’s why the memories were taken away, so we can just live and do what we’re supposed to do. The job is to help everybody, to help people. That’s the purpose of everyone who comes to Earth, even though they don’t realize it.

You’re not here to get rich and drink and party and all of that. You’re here to help each other, so if they’re doing that, at least they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing in some way or another. There’s a lot of different ways to help each other. But, it’s better off if you don’t know why you’re here and then you can just fulfill your mission.

From the surface, it seems to me that the average Joe who picks up your book for the first time might look at it and say that what you have here is science fiction.
DC: I have some people at my lectures who say, “You’ve got to be the best fiction writer in the world!” There’s no way on Earth I could make this stuff up.

I have 16 books out there now, and all of it has come through the cases I have worked on with the average person just walking in off the street. I did not know these people until they came through the door of my office, from every walk of life you can imagine: CEOs of companies, professors of colleges, priests, shamans, and many ordinary people. I have not found anyone who has not had a past life. So, that should be one answer to the skeptics out there. It’s never what they were looking for to be the answer to their problems, but it’s definitely not fiction.

To me, this is real because I’ve worked on it for so many years, and it makes perfect sense to the client because it explains their problems and they can understand where it’s coming from. They put it into place and they can go on having a normal life. But even the average Joe who picks up my book is fascinated by it. They say they may not understand these concepts, but it makes them think, and that’s the important thing. They’ll know it’s not fiction once they get started into it.

Something inside of them will resonate with them when they start reading it?
DC: Yes. When I began writing The Convoluted Universe series, I wondered if anybody out there would be able to understand it, because I said that book is for people who want their minds bent like pretzels. Readers said the same thing: “It makes us think.” We go into all kinds of concepts and theories that even people who have studied metaphysics for years have never come up with, so it’s interesting.

My job is just to produce lost information and bring it back to our time. But, yeah, people when they read it say, “I know this and I don’t know how I know it, but I know it and I know it’s true.”

For more information on Dolores Cannon, visit www.ozarkmt.com.

An Edge interview

Dolores Cannon’s latest book, The Three Waves of Volunteers and The New Earth (Ozark Mountain Publishing), reveals that since the two atomic bomb explosions in Japan in 1945, three distinct groups of souls representing beings from across the universe have been volunteering to be birthed as humans so they can uplift the frequencies of Earth and help prevent a global catastrophe.

• The First Wave: Now in their late 40s to early 60s , these volunteers are disturbed by the violence, anger and hate that they experience on Earth. They have had the hardest time adjusting to life as humans, and many of them try to commit suicide.
• The Second Wave: Now in their late 20s and 30s, these volunteers are more comfortable in bodies and are said to be beacons or channels of energy who can affect others just by being near them. Their mission of just sharing their energy with others means they don’t have to do anything but just be.
• The Third Wave: The new children, many of whom are now teenagers, have all the knowledge needed to exist on the planet after the dimensional shift and transformation takes place. Their DNA is more advanced, and the greatest challenge they face is being misunderstood by humans as having a condition (ADHD) that needs to be medicated.

In this concluding Part 2 of her interview with The Edge, Dolores continues the discussion of how the Universe is responding to an ailing planet Earth.

This new book and many of your other books talk about the fact that humanity on planet Earth was seeded from more advanced civilizations in the Universe, just like we would seed plants and watch them grow, but it seems like something has gone wrong with the growing project here on Earth.
Dolores Cannon: That’s just people creating problems. There’s nothing gone wrong with the seeding. Because when they seeded the Earth, they said, “Let’s give this beautiful planet a creature with intelligence and knowledge and free will and see what he does with it.”

We’re the only planet in the Universe that has free will, and along with that is the Star Trek directive that is not fiction: the Law of Non-Interference. Once you have created a civilization, and have given it free will, you cannot interfere with the development of the civilization. So they have to just sit back and watch what we’re going to do with free will and how we run our world. Everything we do is our own doing, and there’s nothing wrong with it.

I like the discussions in your new book about the Prime Directive, because on one hand it seems like even the small step of sending volunteers onto the planet could be some mild form of interference.
DC: I explain that very carefully: It is them giving us an advancement. Every time Earth has needed another advancement, it has arrived.

Down through history, when the creators were living among the people as they were developing the planet, they lived for so long that the people considered them to be gods. That’s where the gods of theories and legends came from. Every culture in the world has a legend of the culture-bringer, such as the Corn Woman of the Indians, the different ones who bring them the next advancement in their civilization, and this has been down through time.

Now that we have so many people on the Earth, they can’t live among us, so they put the idea out into the atmosphere. They don’t care who invents it, as long as it’s invented in the timeline.

I asked them, “Isn’t that interference, to give us these advancements that we need?”

They said, “No, it’s a gift we give you one time, and then what you do with it is free will.” And they said, “Most of the time what you do with it is not what we intended for you to do with it. You turn it around, turn it into a weapon or something.”

And I said, “Well then, can’t you come and tell them they are not doing it correctly?”

They said, “No, that is interference.”

That’s the difference. And that’s why they had to step in with these volunteers, because at the end of World War II they saw that we had discovered atomic power and we invented the atomic bomb.

I said, “Well, we do use it for positive. We use it for electrical power.”

And they said, “No, it was not as it was intended to be because it was invented as a weapon. That way it will always have this aura of negativity.”

We were not supposed to get it at that time. They knew we couldn’t handle it, that we could destroy the world with it.

There are councils that oversee everything in the universe, using rules and regulations. Nothing is by chance. They went back to the councils and they said, “What are we going to do? We can’t interfere.” They came up with this brilliant plan. “Well, we can’t interfere from the outside, but maybe we can influence from the inside.” This is when they asked for the volunteers to come in to help Earth. Earth is in trouble – who wants to come and help? So all these new, pure souls that have never been caught on the wheel of karma have come into body. Hundreds of thousands of them have come in since the end of World War II.

They told me, “Now we have tipped the balance,” and they think we are going to be able to save the Earth. It’s not interference.

A comment was made by the superconscious aspect of a client in the new book that said, “I would say God be with you, but we are all God, and we are all One, so we are all together all the time.” What have you learned over the years about the concept of God and the concept that we are all One.
DC: That’s what I lecture on. The basis of all my work is that we are all God, that we all came from God in the beginning and we can never be separate from Him. We think we’re alone, but we’re never, ever alone. We are all part of God and we are Him. We are God. People don’t realize the power they have. They can do anything. Nothing is impossible. They said many, many times that there are no limitations. You just have to know what you want to do and set out and do it. Once you realize how powerful you are, because if you’re all God, then you can do anything.

You have written extensively about the transformation of the planet, that as its vibration rises, a New Earth will emerge. Is there a general guideline that you can point to to tell somebody whether or not they are on the right path to being part of the New Earth?
DC: I tell people at the lectures that if they are interested in these kinds of things, then they are on the right path. There are a lot of people who are so deep into negativity that they don’t want to change. They like the negativity. They like the drama and all the things that are going on. They are the ones that are not going to go. But that’s okay, we’ll all get there eventually anyway.

The key is that you cannot change the frequency and the vibration of the body too quickly, because it would destroy the body. It has to be done gradually.

But the ones who are into negativity, they will stay with what they created. They can’t change that quickly. But, it’s all right. They are where they are supposed to be. You’re not supposed to worry about them. You’re supposed to think about yourself now and moving into the future and doing the very best you can. If someone else is into negativity, that’s their thing to work out. We can’t work out anybody else’s problems for them.

What have you learned lately about the New Earth that you didn’t know before?
DC: It’s an ongoing process of questioning, because people at my lectures are always asking so many questions. When I ask about that during sessions, they’ll say, “We can’t tell you everything, because we don’t know what’s going to happen. We can’t answer all your questions because we don’t know. This is the first time it’s ever happened in the history of a universe that an entire planet is going to change vibration and frequency and move into another dimension.”

So, they’re not really sure what’s going to happen, but it’s the greatest show on Earth. All of the ETs and all the beings from the other planets are all watching us from out there. They all want to see if we are going to be able to pull this off. It’s so important and it’s never been done before.

In my new book I’m working on now, The Convoluted Universe: Book Four, I include more information since The Three Waves was written. I keep coming with more information, little bits and pieces. The New Earth is a concept we don’t really know because it’s an amazing process that has never happened before. It’s extremely important.

What information are you personally interested in learning more about at this time?
DC: I just head directly to whatever comes as I am working. I have so much information, enough for three books. I decided to pull out the information about the three waves because that was what I was lecturing on, what everybody was interested in, but there’s tons of other information that I have to figure out where to put it. Every time I do a session, we get some more information on some of this, but that’s my job. I’m the reporter, the researcher, the investigator of lost knowledge. It is my job to get it back and bring it forth in our time. So, I’m interested in whatever comes from the next client.

I’m curious about the people you are teaching to do what you do. Are they learning to be reporters just like you are?
DC: I am teaching this all over the world. I have trained more than 2,000 people. On this trip I’m on right now we’ve already taught 150 people, and we’re teaching more and more and more. I had 91 students at a class in Perth in Australia.

We set up a support group for my students so they can contact us and let us know if they’re having any problems, so we’re following their progress. They are experiencing the same miracles that I am experiencing. They are able to have the instantaneous healing. They are learning how to do it, and I’m really proud of all these students all over the world. Not everyone who takes the class is going to go and do it, but the ones we hear from are having dramatic results. So I found out that my technique IS teachable, and others can do the same things that I do.

You describe in your book healings that take place related to particular issues that the client has asked about. The superconscious apparently responds that there is a healing that can be done to help remedy a situation. Do you know more about how that process works?
DC: It’s amazing, and this is done with everybody we see.

First we have to find out the cause, because clients make themselves sick. Everybody does. You’re not supposed to ever be sick. You’re not supposed to have any aches or pains. If you have any symptoms at all, the body is trying to give you a message, and you have to figure out what the message is. Once we do that in the session, you learn whether it came from a past life or this life, why you made yourself sick, and it goes away instantly.

I’ve had people come to my office in Arkansas from all over the world with all kinds of illnesses. I see lots of cancer patients. A lot of people come who are scheduled for surgery. If we can get them before they have the surgery, they don’t need it. That’s the beauty of this. It is instant, and to me it’s very gratifying to see the person walk out completely cured.

I see when the superconscious is working on them, because it works with white light energy, shooting it through the body to the affected places. I can see the body jumping and jerking as the current goes through them. It is miraculous, because it heals instantly.

That’s the main reason that I’m teaching people how to do this, and I’m working all over the world. That’s why I travel so much, to go to these countries to teach more and more people. The healing aspect is the greatest part of my work, I think. I like to write about the information, but I really like to do the healing. Remember, I am not doing it, the client’s superconscious is doing it. I’m just the facilitator. I found how to allow it to come through so the person can heal themselves. So, it’s a very fascinating process.

Do you think in time that there will be a way for a person to do this whole process of healing through the superconscious without the need to visit someone like you?
DC: I used to say this is the therapy of the future, but now they’re telling me that it’s a therapy of now. People don’t understand the power of their minds. That’s why you can have anything you want. You can create anything you want. There is no limitation, so this also relates to illness.

So, yes, there will be a time, and people are already learning how to do it on themselves, but right now, because I work in the deepest possible level of trance, they need someone to ask the questions because they can’t do it themselves or they would fall asleep if they go that deep. For now, it’s better to have someone to ask them the questions and work with them to go through the process.

Of all the information that you present in the new book, what would you love to share with every single person on the planet right now?
DC: I think we’ve been talking about it. We are moving into a new frequency, a new dimension where it is going to be the New Earth, and it’s going to be extremely beautiful. They have described it in the books – the beautiful colors, that everything is total love.

We’re moving away from the negativity of the Old Earth, and it’s going to be a complete turnaround, beyond belief, and we’re all going there now. The New Earth is where it’s at. The Bible in the Book of Revelations talks about the New Heaven and the New Earth. That’s the same thing we’re having now. It’s just that St. John, when he had the vision on the Isle of Pathos, didn’t realize it was going to take another couple of thousand years before it was going to happen.

The most important thing is that we are living in the most important time in the history of the universe, and it’s very important to be here now. There are thousands of souls who want to be here to experience this – even if they can just be here for a few hours. They say even if they’re born and die right away, they can say, “I was there when this occurred.” This is how important this is to the entire Universe. So, you’re living in a very wonderful time that will never be repeated again.

Are there any specific directives for people to make the most of this experience living here now, in terms of meditation or diet or mindfulness?
DC: Meditation is very good because it relaxes the body and it helps the body a great deal, and they have told us many times about the diet. If you’re going to move into this other dimension, the body has to become lighter, so you stay away from the heavy meats that pull you down, especially beef and pork.

They say the best diet is live foods – fresh fruits and vegetables, organic if possible. You can have some chicken or fish, because they are lighter. But, stay away from sugar and to drink lots and lots of water. They said the value of water is beyond belief.

They said we are going to find more and more people who are going to be drinking liquid diets. When I mention that on my radio show, people will say, “I wondered why I’ve been wanting to have more smoothies.”

After we’ve been on the New Earth quite a while, we won’t need to eat anything at all, so we’re going that direction. Lots of people at the lectures ask, “Do I have to die to go to the New Earth?” No. You’ll take your physical body with you. This is a gradual process. You won’t even realize when it happens. It’s not just going to be bam and then you’re there. It’s a gradual process – and then way, way, way down the road, we will turn into beings of light.

What are the most common questions you get at your lectures?
DC: They always want to know, “What about my family, my husband, my children, are they going to go, too? How can I be sure they’re going to go?” You can’t. You never know another person, no matter how much you think you know them. You don’t know what their plan was when they came into this world. I tell people that each of us has to make up our own mind if we’re going to go or if we’re going to stay. We can’t do it for someone else.

For more information on Dolores Cannon, visit www.ozarkmt.com.

The year 2012 is only five months away, and the date of Dec. 21, 2012 – which is either the most magical day ever in the history of the world or just another day like any other day there’s ever been, depending on who you ask – will be upon us sooner than we realize. To which I respond: In my opinion, there is no special date to prepare for and no predetermined time when the world will end. I’ve come to consider now as the most vital moment worthy of consideration – and there’s no waiting or preparing required for that.

Having said that, I support the suggestion that this is a pivotal moment in the evolution of human consciousness. Despite the hype and misinterpretations related to 2012, my bones tell me that the entire natural world is undergoing a metamorphosis, a vast shift that is transforming life as we know it. People are experiencing physical symptoms that cannot be explained by medical science. People are being healed of physical ailments spontaneously. And many people are experiencing an altered perception of time (slowing down, speeding up, disappearing) that cannot be put into words.

Some call this the Shift of the Ages. Some suggest that we are entering a New Age, a Golden Age of peace. The following are a just a few of the many comments that have been made about this time in which we now live:

• “Many believe that the dawning Age of Light or Age of Consciousness defines itself in relation to our capacity for unconditional love, our ability to transcend enemy patterning and victim consciousness while adopting unity consciousness that sees divinity in all things. From this standpoint, it might be said humans are evolving into a ‘biologically conscious’ species capable of holding and sharing the full light of unconditional love.” – Sol Luckman, author
• “From what the indigenous people (are saying), from all over the world are in agreement…we have entered into a unique and a special time in the history of the world. It is a time where we are about to move from one way of being into a completely different way of being. It is a time of great hope we are entering into.” – Drunvalo Melchizedek, author and speaker
• “What we are expecting, after 2012, is a one hundred more times, more harmonious, Utopian world, where things like, time travel, levitation, instant telepathy, instant healing, telekinesis are as common and as everyday as breathing. And I look forward to that time…. I see a very, very positive future coming.” – David Wilcock, researcher, author and speaker

Reading such statements reminds me of one of my favorite movie quotes of all time. The film is Easy Rider, and the campfire scene shows “Captain America” and Billy sharing a joint with hitchhiker George Hanson, an ACLU lawyer, who looks up at the stars and begins speaking of Venusians:

“Well, they are people, just like us – from within our own solar system. Except that their society is more highly evolved. I mean, they don’t have no wars, they got no monetary system, they don’t have any leaders, because, I mean, each man is a leader. I mean, each man – because of their technology, they are able to feed, clothe, house and transport themselves equally – and with no effort…. For once man will have a god-like control over his own destiny, he will have a chance to transcend and to evolve with some equality for all.”

I’d like to believe that humanity is moving that direction. Whether we get there, and when, is up to us. How we get there is by making that journey the greatest priority in our lives.

Native Australian Christine Day, a spiritual teacher, healer and author, has channeled information from extraterrestrials known as Pleiadians for the past 20 years, seeking to assist and awaken humanity during this acknowledged time of great transformation on planet Earth. Through a channeled healing modality, Frequencies of Brilliance, and book, Pleiadian Initiations of Light, she has offered people tools to awaken consciously to their true nature, and a new online teaching program that is being introduced – the Pleiadian Enlightenment Academy – will allow people worldwide to access information now only offered during select seminars.

Christine Day

Speaking through Christine Day, the Pleiadians said this about the new online program:

“This ‘Language of Light’ work has been brought forth at this time to enable those of you who feel called to do so to take giant steps toward your own enlightenment process. We have crafted energies that will support you in being able to move back into a place of re-alignment to the Self, and remembrance of your place within the Universal Consciousness.

“The time has come for many of you to reconnect to this aspect of your Self, so that you can navigate your place within the Collective. As you make your way back towards Self, you undergo a transformation that enables you to hold an “energetic platform” – an energetic mirror, as it were – for others to meet that aspect of themselves. In this manner, you enable many other humans to follow in your footsteps. This is part of your mission here, it is what you came here to do, and now is the time for this unfoldment.”

Christine Day spoke with The Edge from her home office in Minneapolis about the Pleiadians in general and the expanded teaching in particular, as well as her upcoming three-day Pleiadian Seminar on July 22-24 at the Ramada Mall of America in Bloomington, MN.

For those new to the Pleiadians, can you briefly explain who they are and why we should take note of their presence?
Christine Day: The Pleiadians are here at the moment on our Earth plane and they are bringing their energies here to support us in these changing times, in this new dawning that is taking place on our Earth plane. We are going through a birthing of a new dimensional consciousness on the planet. The Pleiadians are here to work with not only the Earth’s energy, but with each one of us if we are willing to open up for the support that they bring. Part of that is just holding space around us to birth ourselves.

They are not bringing anything to us. They are assisting us in birthing ourselves. They call this time the New Dawning, and they say we are the New Dawning, that every human being is a New Dawning and is part of the birthing of consciousness that is going on. So that is their commitment, to work with individuals and the collective energy on the Earth.

Let me ask you something that came from a channeling I heard a number of years back. It related to the fact that the people on Earth are doing something that maybe no other beings on any planet have ever done, and that is to consciously evolve themselves and their planet. Would you have anything to say about that?
CD: Well, I totally agree. The principle message the Pleiadians are bringing to everybody is the importance of the role that we are playing here in this experience of having a human experience and awakening consciously to our awakened states. They emphasize how important it is for us to embrace our humanness and to honor ourselves for the courage it has taken to come here and have this experience of being human – and birthing consciously into our enlightenment.

They say one of the most important things for human beings to understand right now is the journey of loving ourselves as human beings and understanding we’re going through a deep, changing relationship with our humanness. They say that we are helping human beings to understand their humanness, and that what we need to do is turn back towards ourselves with much love and compassion for everything we’ve experienced here on our journey so far in this lifetime. So, absolutely, I totally resonate with that.

For people who may be new to the spiritual path, explain what it actually means to “awaken.”
CD: It is a remembrance process. Awakening is the gradual opening up and understanding of ourselves as being more than this limited human aspect living on this third dimensional illusion.

There is this shift in consciousness taking place on the planet, birthing from the third dimensional planet to a fourth- and fifth-dimensional planet. It is bringing us slowly awake into remembering that we are interconnected with other human beings, that we are interconnected to the natural forces, to the Earth, to the Sun, to the trees and the plants. We have this interconnected consciousness, this Goddess, within us. It’s about slowly waking up and having direct experiences, suddenly feeling a deep loving connection with Nature, with another human being and understanding they’re not alone.

Part of that waking up is understanding that we actually have incredible, unlimited abilities to create and be magical creatures. The third dimensional mind, the ego-mind, is not who we are. As we connect to our heart, we start to connect and remember our magical aspect of ourselves. That is what is taking place.

Birthing back to our heart actually is a very simple process. It’s not complicated. In the process of feeling your heart and connecting to the Spirit of yourself you remember and wake up to your magic.

Fear doesn’t exist in that magic. That’s really a very third-dimensional thing, the fear, the struggle, the tiredness, the belief that we don’t have enough. All of that is connected to the ego-mind.

There is a lot of fear out there, especially a lot of fear being put out about these changing times. And the fact is, there is nothing to be afraid of, because when we connect to that part of ourselves that is magical, then we are able to relax and rest in this changing place, in the birthing that’s going on.

There is a lot of suggestion by religion and by the media and by movies and entertainment that these times that we’re in are the End Times and the world is going to end. But aren’t we actually just moving from one level of consciousness up to a higher level?
CD: Exactly, and the Pleiadians say this is your next step. They remind us that we have said yes to being here at this time. Each one of us has made a pre-agreement to be here on this Earth plane at this time to be in this change. It’s been a great gift, and it was an honor for us all to be received here.

The Pleiadians say we’re all making just another step, and it’s a beautiful step and a glorious step as we start connecting into the magic of ourselves. Part of my work is bringing these energies through. That’s what the Pleiadian seminar is about. It’s actually an awakening seminar for people to take another step towards the magic of themselves so they begin to take another step into the remembrance of themselves.

There is change coming, it’s true, and the human ego-mind does not like change. But the heart knows the truth of that change and the beauty of it, and it’s really very much a Divine time for us, very exciting.

What takes place for an individual who attends the three-day Pleiadian event?
CD: A tremendous transformation takes place. There is an accelerated awakening of the individual, and any person who comes begins to align and awaken during those three days. They go through a very deep awakening process that maintains after they leave the seminar, so it’s a huge step forward for whoever wants to come in.

Physical healings take place in these events, and for many people there’s some very, very deep reconnections to their own aspect of their light, so they start awakening and remembering who they are in that fourth- and fifth-dimensional state.

There’s also a very strong interconnection between the people who come, a unique bonding and expansion within the group itself. It is a group dynamic, and there is a unique dynamic for each individual. There’s a group initiation, and then there’s an individual initiation with the light, and it seems to call in soul groups.

I see groups of people connecting and meeting, and then after the seminar, networking with each other in a very strong way, so that’s very nice, too. They also get to form a deeper relationship with the Pleiadians at the seminar, so that when they leave they are connected to a Pleiadian team that will go on working with them after the seminar. This is part of the support that people agree to at the seminar. If they don’t want that connection with the Pleaidians, they don’t have to have it, but there is a moment in the workshop when they put up their hand and the Pleiadians read the energy through the palm of their hand and a Pleiadian team is given to each person who says yes to it.

We also work with the spiritual realms there at the Pleiadian seminar. They enter in force because the Pleiadians set an energetic grid in the whole room. Angels and light beings can walk one-on-one with the people, as well.

Participants also learn how to work in the dimensional crystal vortex. The Pleiadians guide me to dial these huge crystals, and as they’re moved, a dimensional energy opens up. It’s like a womb is created that births each person back into that remembering place, and they have that experience of coming back to themselves and remembering and being able to anchor and maintain that connection with themselves.

We have a teaching dialogue from the Pleiadians and a space for channeled answers for questions that are asked. We also work with the energetic matrix, which is a geometrical process. The Pleiadians design sacred designs and everyone sits within that matrix and goes through a very deep process of union with consciousness.

So at these events, there are a lot of different processes that go on. People are really going through rapid transformation, but it’s very gentle. Each person is uniquely working within themselves at their own pace, so it’s not like there’s too much energy for people to digest. They take what they can handle, so there’s integrating processes throughout the workshop. It’s very special.

As a result of what you’ve built up through these events, do you sense it is now time to expand the teachings outward to more people? I understand you’re beginning to do that through online teachings now called the Pleiadian Enlightenment Academy.
CD: Yes, the first online program is called “Language of Light.” The Pleiadians have created eight video classes – two classes a month for four months. Students are given homework through channeled audio files that they receive. They work with sacred symbols and sounds that birth them deeply into their remembering, awakening process. It’s very powerful and empowering.

There are going to be three modules of the Language of Light. It will end up being a 12-month program, 24 classes, two classes a month. The first module is now available, and others will be coming in August.

What I love about how the Pleiadians have designed this first module is that it’s designed to assist people in coming back and embracing their humanness as they birth their spiritual nature. The Pleiadians are saying that we need to turn back to our human selves and start loving our human journey and honoring our human journey and the courage we have had to be here, that we need to bring the human content of ourselves into the awakening process.

We can’t leave the human self behind. We have to bring ourselves with us into the fourth and fifth dimensional energy. Otherwise, we’re in separation. Some people think we have to be enlightened and leave our human egos behind, but that’s not the case. We do need to bring our human selves with us. This program is designed to work with the human aspects of ourselves as we awaken, as we start to evolve and forgive ourselves and move into a state of love and self-devotion, as we birth and remember.

So, the overall idea is to expand this information out to more people throughout the world?
CD: Absolutely it is. The Pleiadian Enlightenment Academy is at a new site, ChristineDayOnline.com. There are free downloads where you can click and explore the Enlightenment Academy. And on YouTube we offer some little experiences of what the class would be like, so people can go and explore it and feel if it’s right for them.

Please continue with Part Two of this interview.

For more information on Christine Day and the Pleiadian Enlightenment Academy, visit frequenciesofbrilliance.com and ChristineDayonline.com.

Christine Day, a spiritual teacher, healer and author, has channeled information from extraterrestrials known as Pleiadians for the past 20 years, seeking to assist and awaken humanity during this acknowledged time of great transformation on planet Earth. Through a channeled healing modality, Frequencies of Brilliance, and book, Pleiadian Initiations of Light, she has offered people tools to awaken consciously to their true nature, and a new online teaching program that is being introduced – the Pleiadian Enlightenment Academy – will allow people worldwide to access information now only offered during select seminars.

The following is the conclusion of the interview conducted with Christine Day from her home office in Minneapolis about the Pleiadians in general and the expanded teaching in particular, as well as her upcoming three-day Pleiadian Seminar on July 22-24 at the Ramada Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. She shares what this transformational shift will look like and how we can support ourselves as we move through it.

Christine Day

What is your role with the Pleiadians? Are you Pleiadian yourself?
Christine Day: Yes, I have a Pleiadian aspect. I have absolutely come here to have a human experience, but on top of that I have a very strong Pleiadian aspect and connection. The Pleiadians see me as an ambassador for them on this planet at this time, representing them and acting as a bridge between, educating humans that the Pleiadians exist and they are here to support and making human beings aware that that support is available.

But also I act as a bridge another way. Through my experiences in this body, the Pleiadians have learned more about human beings and how they can design these energies, what they call light initiations, to support the human being; how it can be user-friendly for the human being to be able to utilize what they have to bring us. So, that has been part of my contract here.

Are there other ambassadors for Pleiadians here on Earth?
CD: I’m sure there are, Tim, but I don’t know of any. I haven’t connected to them, but it makes sense that I haven’t because I think we’re all pretty busy. There’s a lot of work going on and I know I’m not the only one. I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Would you say the same response to the question about other star brethren who may be in contact with humans providing other assistance, aside from what the Pleiadians are offering?
CD: Oh, yes. The Pleiadians are working in alignment with a lot of other star system energy people who are coming in, too. You see, the whole universe has focused its attention on planet Earth right now because of this incredible shift we are going through. The Pleiadians see themselves as part of a collective team of extraterrestrial energies that are here to support what we are going through here.

Would you say that the awakening process in general is an unending process where we just deepen into our souls and our hearts and who we are?
CD: It’s always an ongoing journey. We’ve always got more to unfold into. That’s the beauty of it. It’s not ever a destination that we’re getting to. Some people want a destination, an end of the journey, “I just want to get there!” Actually the true joy is in the journey itself, and the journey is never ending. We just move and evolve into more and more understanding and growth and birth of ourselves, and to me that is really beautiful.

You’ve said that the Pleiadians call this time the New Dawning, and on your video from March 27 you indicate that “as we experience Earth changes outwardly, simultaneous changes are taking place inwardly ourselves.” Can you elaborate on what’s actually going on?
CD: Yes, this is really an important point because what’s happening relates to every earthquake anywhere on the Earth plane or any volcanic activity that takes place.

The Pleiadians give me a picture, almost like a door opening and a beam of light hits the Earth, and the Earth in that moment moves a little bit more out of third dimension and births the fourth- and fifth-dimensional energy. This is what’s gradually happening at a very slow rate. As that energy opens, it also affects our energetic field and the cells in our body. You see, our cells also are going through a new dawning process. As the Pleiadians say, we have a transmitter in ourselves that actually is birthing, waking up. It’s actually beginning to have a pulse or a heartbeat with the birthing of this new dimensional energy.

Every time there’s an earthquake or volcanic activity, the transmitter within every cell begins to pulse – and it’s sending out an energy of light, light that is of our own, unique frequency, because every one of us has a unique frequency of light that is recognized by the universe. We don’t know about it, but it is unique. And that little pulse in every cell begins to pulse out like a heartbeat pulsing out our true frequency of light. As that’s happening, it affects the energetic field and the physical nature of the body. Our bodies are going through both a physical transformation and an energetic transformation. For some people, that is creating some really strange feelings inside.

Now, if you are consciously aware of this volcano or this earthquake that’s happened, you know there’s been a birthing and there’s been a shift in your own body. What you need to do is lie down on the Earth, open up to the Sun or the wind, and breathe and allow a conscious integration of this birthing process. The more conscious you are about it, the more you allow yourself to birth more quickly. But you need a conscious integration.

The Pleiadians have channeled an energy through to me that I transmitted out and recorded – an audio channeling available free on my website for people to download and listen to – that also integrates the body. You can do it that way, or you can do it with the Earth itself and with the energy of the natural forces. But it’s imperative right now that we start to consciously birth ourselves in alignment with the Earth as this is happening. If you do that, it’s really going to be a much more smoother process to navigate through these Earth changes.

Will life during this transformational time be more difficult for somebody who doesn’t take any conscious steps to birth this process?
CD: I don’t believe so. The Pleiadians say there are a lot of spiritually awakened people who are working consciously. But, there’s also a tremendous number of people out there who have beautiful hearts. They aren’t consciously spiritually awake, but their hearts are ready for this birthing. They are just as ready as anyone else. So if they can open up and just allow themselves to even integrate with nature on a regular basis, they also can just move into this naturally, because it’s a natural process.

There are no secrets or mysteries here. It’s really a natural process, and that’s what the Pleiadians are trying to tell people. This is a natural birth that we are going through, and every one of us on this Earth plane is ready for it if we’re willing to open up, and so I love that. I love that it’s so natural, that it’s just a remembering that each one of us is slowly going to move into, whether we’re consciously doing it or unconsciously doing it.

Those of us who are spiritually awake right now are going to be anchors for those who are going to be coming in another way. We’re doing our work so that we can guide other people through these times. We’re ahead of the pack because we need to be. There is a need for people who are truly awake to assist others.

Many people compare this process to the natural evolution of the caterpillar to the butterfly.
CD: I totally agree. I think it’s a very good analogy. I also know that we need to understand that there are uncomfortable stages that take place. We need to remember that we are birthing, and birth is never a comfortable process. There are going to be intense moments, but it does not mean that we have to be afraid. It just means we need to breathe and be conscious and understand that the natural forces right now are actually becoming more aligned to us as human beings.

It’s like the veil has lifted between us and the natural forces – and it’s going to continue to lift. Energies are coming toward us to support us in some of this birthing energy that we’re going to be going through. That’s actually going to support us in integrating new light aspects of ourselves as we awaken.

For people who are going through the process consciously, what are the signs that they may be moving out of the third dimension, moving into fourth- and fifth-dimensional consciousness?
CD: There are a number of things that can be happening, and one of them may be a sense that time seems to be changing. One moment things seem to be moving really fast, and at other times it feels like time has stopped, so the illusion of time is changing. It’s becomes apparent when you get up in the morning that time is going to go fast or slow. You look at the clock and half an hour has gone by and it feels like a couple of minutes. Or, you can look at the clock and it’s almost like it doesn’t seem to be moving at all. That’s part of the new dawning energy, this third dimensional breakdown. Time isn’t something we can depend on anymore.

You also may feel lightheaded or disorientated on some level. Because the third dimension is almost melting away, you can’t hang on to the ego-mind stories quite as easily. Your memory of your past may become kind of blurry, because as the third dimension leaves, our stories leave. We hang onto notions that this is who I am, but it’s really not who we are. The third dimension is starting to blur, and our stories may be blurring, as well.

There are other things. You may have a very strong connection to the natural forces. You’ll be outside and all of a sudden it feels like you’re just part of something, that it’s like you’ve moved into nature and you can feel how the natural energy is coming into you, that there’s no separation, like a wall has dissolved between you and the natural forces, perhaps just for a moment of time.

Physical changes are taking place in the body. Your body might shake at times, or you might feel really like vulnerable at times, and that is because we’re moving back into a fluid state. Our natural state is more fluid, more fourth and fifth dimensional where we’re not solid objects. We know we’re not, but we start to experience our fluidity, and feel a little more vulnerable in that, and that may happen just for a moment and then more often. You may sit in a room and suddenly everything seems to be fluid around you. That’s that fourth- and fifth-dimensional energy birthing, but it’s you moving towards it. The veils are lifting and you’re starting to become more of that fourth- and fifth-dimensional energy of yourself.

It’s important that we drink a lot of water. We may not feel like eating as much. A lot of people say to me that they feel like they are going a little crazy, that things just don’t seem like they have in the past. That’s just the shift of dimensional energy. The electrical circuits in our brains are changing and our electrical energy is changing right through the cells. That transmitter activating through our cells with this change is creating a new electrical energy through our bodies.

A lot of people are experiencing physical symptoms. They go to the doctor and nothing can be diagnosed. Many people are just feeling strange. There are a lot of different experiences in our physical body, in the way we can think, the way we see things. Just take a conscious breath and breathe and just let go and open up consciously to the birthing, for that creates a really much smoother navigation through this time.

Do you get questions about how long this is going to take place, this feeling of disorientation? Will it take place for years?
CD: Yes, I get that question a lot because some people want it to go away. A lot of people do not want this to happen. They just want to go along in life like they always have, and that’s just not going to happen. That time is over.

I encourage people to breathe into their hearts. Drink water and just open up consciously to the change. It’s about getting used to feeling differently, rather than going back to the old. There’s no going back. We’re already going through a tunnel and the doors are closing behind us. We may as well just go forward as quickly as we can, as far as I’m concerned. It’s about just accepting where we are and knowing we are on a really grand adventure.

It’s just the time to breathe and let go. The more you fight against it, the more difficult it appears. It’s like swimming upstream in a current.

My feeling is that it’s going to get more intense before it starts to get better, and I feel like the next two years are going to be very extreme. The rest of 2011 and 2012 is going to be an intensifying process. It’s coming in very gradually right now, except it’s not that subtle. I don’t see it that subtle, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m really tuned in. The people I’m working with right now worldwide are all experiencing this intensity, but they’re all working with it very consciously, too, and that helps a lot.

I think we’re looking over a period of four to five years of it coming in, peaking, and going out. And, it will get easier as we go, because once you’re in the middle of it and you start to open consciously, then you begin to be able to really flow with it and be much more relaxed in it. I think the beginning stages are more difficult than the middle and the end stages.

Aside from breathing, drinking water and connecting with the energies of nature, are there other things we can do in our lives to make this a more fun and creative process? Perhaps by getting together in groups of like-minded people?
CD: I think groups are really supportive because you can witness each other’s birthing and you can support each other. You can remind someone, “Remember, this is what you were doing one month ago and look who you are now.” Group is very good.

The Pleiadians emphasize that the spiritual forces, the angels and the light beings and the Masters, are here to support all of us right now in this transition. They work very closely with the Pleiadians and the other alien forces. All we have to do is call them in and ask for their support. They can’t come in without permission, because we have free will. They cannot enter our energetic field without our permission. But if you call them in, the energetic and practical support you can receive from the spiritual energies is amazing. That is a really key piece.

You see, as we transform, as we awaken, we are naturally aligned to the spiritual energies. We are spiritual beings. That is part of our nature. That’s actually what we’re birthing back into. So why not utilize the spiritual energies? The human ego-mind thinks you don’t deserve this, that you’re not good enough or that nobody will want to be there to help us, but the fact is that we have access to the Spiritual realms.

The veils have lifted, allowing the Spiritual realms to come in even more completely and work with us on a physical level, on an emotional level, and also on a spiritual level. They can help us with our missions, with our projects, in support of our physical bodies going through this transformation. Call in that energy and support. It’s there for every person. Not one person is left out of that.

In July you’ll be launching another three-day Pleiadian event in Minneapolis. How many have you done so far?
CD: We’ve done three in the United States and this will be our fourth one in the last 12 months. We are building one in September in Brazil and one in Germany in September 2012. The Pleiadians told me I had to move here five years ago, and they wanted this to be where the energy anchored. They said that Minneapolis/St. Paul is one of the vortex energies within America and the most important one to really assist us in these changes.

Do any transformations take place collectively, radiating out from these events?
CD: Yes, absolutely they do. People who attend learn how to build the energy. They are given sacred sounds in the workshop. Every person who makes that sound has a unique frequency of their own sound that births and opens, and so as they chant with this sound, each person brings in his or her unique frequency to the whole. Waves of energy are built through that and then those waves of energy go out onto the planet. It’s a very beautiful energy and very touching. Very sacred. And there’s a lot of love present in the process.

What else is coming up for you personally in the next year?
CD: Brazil is a very big place for me. I am doing a lot of work there. My book will be published in Brazil in August. The numbers are very large there. We are doing big transmissions there from 1,000 to 2,000 people at a time. The Pleiadian seminars are going very strongly there. Czechoslovakia and Spain have just bought the book, so it is going out into other areas of the world.

I’m just committed to the work. I’m working very hard, traveling eight or nine months during the year. I’m away for eight weeks and home for two days and then back on the road for eight weeks. I’m committed to working with the Pleiadians and supporting humanity in these changing times. I get a lot of joy out of bringing the energies forward from the Pleiadians and making this work available.

We’re doing an expo in Los Angeles in February, so I’m starting to build my profile up here in America. I do a live TV broadcast every second month out of Vegas, and I’m on WorldPuja twice a month [2:30 and 9:30 p.m. Central on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday each month at www.worldpuja.org] and that’s going very well. I’m going to be doing my own radio show in the next few months.

The Pleiadians want me in a higher profile here in America, so that’s what I’m moving towards. And I’m committed to my own unfolding, to my own birthing process. It’s a very humbling process, as far as I’m concerned.

For more information on Christine Day and the Pleiadian Enlightenment Academy, visit frequenciesofbrilliance.com and ChristineDayonline.com.

“If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.” — William Arthur Ward

A friend — Giselle Massi, author of We are Here for a Purpose: How to Find Yours — last month emailed me about an encounter she had with her grandfather. What she wrote has stuck in my mind ever since, and I want to share it with you:

“I had a stunning vision yesterday. My dad’s dad, Victor showed up. He’s been dead nearly 30 years and this was the first time. The message Victor spoke is essentially this: It’s all about kindness. The whole earth journey. Kindness. That’s it. Kindness.

“It was tremendously emotionally rich for me to see and hear him give me his wisdom and to know he is one of my spirit guides working with me.

“So I’m passing on his beautiful wisdom today to you too.”

Can you imagine a society, even a world, based on kindness?

What would happen if politicians and lawmakers were no longer beholden to corporate donors, but to kindness itself? If corporate leaders were no longer beholden to shareholders, but to kindness itself? What would happen if people began to listen to each other with respect, and they began to respond with compassion, and from a sense of compromise?

Perhaps longstanding disputes over land and between religions would be resolved. Perhaps fewer wars would be waged, and less blood would be shed. Perhaps the growing stress carried in our bodies would lessen. Perhaps longstanding disputes over land and between religions would be resolved. Perhaps fewer wars would be waged, and less blood would be shed. Perhaps the growing stress carried in our bodies would lessen. And perhaps more people would be happy and well.

Those in control — financially — undoubtedly would respond that the cost of living from kindness would be prohibitive. Kindness would eliminate the need for so many companies competing over the same products. Kindness would reduce executive salaries.

But in this dollars-and-sense mentality we find ourselves in now, I urge you to add it up. And then tell me kindness is not the solution we seek.

Integrated Energy Therapy® — as its founder Stevan J. Thayer explains — is a next generation, hands-on-power energy therapy system that gets the “issues out of your tissues” for good. IET, developed by Thayer at the Center of Being in Woodstock, NY, uses the violet angelic energy ray to work directly with an individual’s 12-strand Spiritual DNA.

IET gently releases limiting energy patterns of your past, empowering and balancing your life in the present, and helps you to reach for the stars as you evolve into your future. Thayer says that the term “Integrated” was chosen to convey the healing vision of “integrating the pain of the past, into the power of the present, to bring about the joy of the future.”

Since it was first taught in New York in 1994, IET now is being taught worldwide by more than 3,250 master instructors. More than 36,000 people have taken certified classes in IET.

Bonny Kraus — a Usui Reiki Master, a Spiritual Counselor and a Channel of the Angels — is a master instructor of IET who teaches in Arizona, Minnesota and Wisconsin. She was inducted in the IET Hall of Fame in January 2011. Bonny returns to the Upper Midwest from June to September to offer IET training. She recently took the time to share information on this energy therapy system with The Edge.

Bonny Kraus

Bonny, briefly explain why Integrated Energy Therapy was created? For whom is it intended and what conditions or situations does it help heal?
Bonny Kraus: Integrated Energy Therapy was created by Stevan Thayer in the late 1980s. He is the founder of The Center of Being, Inc., which is dedicated to the support of IET education. Angel Ariel is the overseer of IET.

In the beginning stages of IET, Stevan discovered some of the IET integration points through repeat healing experiences, which came about when he touched certain acupressure points on the bodies of his clients. He later began channeling Angel Ariel, who brought in the remainder of the integration points, the cellular memory areas, the energies of the imprints and the attuning process. Angel Ariel also channeled the Advanced Level IET through Stevan, which includes many techniques for discovering and enacting your soul’s mission, as well as the Master-Instructor Level IET, which includes techniques to optimize the 12-Strand DNA.

IET was created to help those clients and students drawn to complementary alternative therapy modalities for the purpose of releasing the energy of suppressed trauma stored within all layers and levels of the four bodies — physical, emotional, mental and spiritual — which includes karmic, genetic and past life. IET uses the violet angelic energy ray, as brought through the nine Healing Angels of the Energy Field to transmute these suppressed energies and release them through what in IET is called the Heartlink.

I feel that Integrated Energy Therapy is most effective at transmuting negative emotions and thought constructs from our cellular memory, which are contained within the physical body as well as the mental/emotional body. This modality is most effective at getting the “issues out of the tissues” permanently.

IET has been described as “Healing with the Energy of Angels®.” What angels are involved and what role do they serve during the healing process?
BK: There are nine healing angels of the energy field: Raphael, Gabriel, Celestina, Faith, Cassiel, Daniel, Sarah, Michael and Ariel. Each angel provides a gift of healing that works with a different area of the cellular memory map, along with the nine integration points. For example, Raphael is associated with the first IET Cellular Memory area, which is the crown chakra. This is where we release guilt and imprint innocence. This effective transfer of energy is created through the Heartlink, which is established between the practitioner’s heart and the heart of Angel Raphael.

As we proceed through all nine cellular memory areas, we work with these healing angels to release guilt, distrust, shame, threat, shoulds, heartache and betrayal, anger, resentment, stress and disempowerment, and lastly fear. In it’s place, we put an empowerment imprint. Each of the nine angels specializes in a release and imprint of energies.

I like to describe this exchange of energies as “letting go of that which we are not and reclaiming the truth of who we really are” — our pure divine childlike innocence and our unconditional love nature.

What do those who receive IET healing experience? Briefly describe a typical healing session.
BK: An IET healing session begins with the client lying on his or her back on a massage table, fully clothed. The practitioner moves around the body to systematically work with the nine IET cellular memory areas, and the client remains stationary.

I inform my clients before a session that there is nothing they need do other than relax, let go and allow the angels to do all the work. I also remind the client that the soul is in charge and that they do not need to remember, relive or feel anything during an IET session to benefit from it. It is best for a client to merely surrender and trust in the process. It is while we are in the parasympathetic state that the body most effectively heals itself. All that is required to get into this state is to shut down the mind and our doingness nature and relax into our inner beingness. In this state the body heals itself.

I also let my clients know that there will be light touch throughout the session and that he or she may experience some emotions, visions, memories, colors or sensations. During my session I offer words of encouragement to assist maximum release, which is facilitated through the sound of my voice and the trigger words which are spoken during a session.

I find every session to be unique. Remember that what is released in a session is released permanently and transmuted through the angels. No negative energy is released into the atmosphere to be picked up by another, as it is all transmuted by the angels into the truth of who we really are.

Please share an experience, without naming names, of how IET has made a positive difference in someone’s life.
BK: One powerful example, which was shared with me by Stevan, was a man who was on disability leave from his work due to his severe depression. During IET sessions with this individual, it was found that he harbored a great deal of suppressed rage, of which he was completely unaware. During a series of IET sessions, layer after layer of his suppressed rage was released and replaced with an empowerment imprint of forgiveness. Gradually his depression began to lessen, and in time he was able to return to his work duties once again.

Why were you drawn to Integrated Energy Therapy personally?
BK: That story starts about 20 years ago, when I was a participant in a number of hands-on healing groups in the Twin Cities. At that time, I was also participating as a healer at the monthly Lake Harriet healing services. I just knew I had the abilities and the energies coming through my hands, and at the time believed that I did not need formal training.

After moving to Sedona in 2002, I began working with many gifted and well-trained healers in many different modalities. It seemed, however, that most of the friends I gravitated towards were IET practitioners. In the Fall 2006, I decided to attend a Basic Level Class here in Sedona. My intention was to test the waters, as well as to learn to heal myself.

At the time, my self-confidence and self-worth were suffering a bit and my physical health was not as stable as I would have liked it to be, so I ventured in and ended up staying for the second day which was the intermediate level. I returned two months later for the advanced level. I intuited that this would one day lead to helping clients, but I did not have an inkling that the angels had much more in mind for me until April 2008 when I began my IET teaching career in Avon, MN, at a friend’s retreat center. I had taken the Master Instructor course twice prior to that — the first time to receive my 6th pair Spiritual DNA attunement and the second time with the inner knowingness that the angels were calling me to teach.

What overall message would you share with the public about IET and the benefits it offers humanity?
BK: What I most love about IET are the connections to the angels, the 12 strand Spiritual DNA attunements at each level of study, and the simplicity — and yet, the incredible power and effectiveness — of this energy healing process.

Last year, I became one of the top 30 Master Instructors of IET. I share that with you now as a testimony to the power of following your heart’s desires, your inner knowingness and your passion — without the doubts and fears of the mind holding you back. The places you may find yourself — inwardly as well as outwardly– are certainly beyond your wildest dreams. I advise you not to stop dreaming, as it is all contained within you and it is all part of what makes your heart sing. My confidence, self-worth, self-esteem and intuitive abilities have expanded way beyond my wildest dreams after having stepped into this venture with no real expectations, merely an open mind and an open heart.

Contact Bonny Kraus at bonny1111@aol.com and view her web page at www.learniet.com/bonny_kraus.asp. Learn more about Integrated Energy Therapy at LearnIET.com.

Serenity Hypnosis Massage Therapy & Essential Oils — combining:

• Hypnosis to eliminate emotional pain and break bad habits
• Massage for Stress Reduction, passive exercise
• Essential Oils, for your mind, body, spiritual healing.

Also with Acuscope/ myopulse to eliminate chronic pain. We have both Male and Female Therapists. Call for more information or appointment.

Mary Jo Feely, a certified Healing Touch Practitioner and Usui Reiki Master/Teacher, utilizes Healing Touch and Reiki techniques to clear, balance and energize her client’s energy field, thus promoting healing for the mind, body and spirit. She uses therapeutic grade essential oils, prayer and music in her practice. Se habla español.

An Edge Interview with Kristen Scanlon, Duncan Metzger and Dr. Katie Fahnel

The Healing Loft does what medical clinics have done for decades. Practitioners who offer a variety of healing skills work side-by-side and, when conditions merit it, they quickly confer with each other, and refer outside of the practice to others who can benefit their patients. The only difference is that this is not a traditional clinic.

The three owners — a network chiropractor, a BodyTalk/AnimalTalk practitioner, and a gifted intuitive soul coach — have come together to create what they view as a model for future holistic clinics in America. Between them, they have the ability to care for body, mind and soul, and between them, they have hundreds of networked resources they can call on to help those in need. They offer their unique care under the same roof, during every business day, just like a clinic should — at the lofts at 2112 Broadway St. NE, just north of downtown Minneapolis.

“We were looking to create something that I’m not sure has been done in the Twin Cities area before,” says Duncan Metzger, an intuitive medium and soul coach who offers Energetic Empathy Chakra Balancing. “We are a holistic clinic, and we keep regular hours. It’s warm, yet structured.”

Kristen Scanlon, an animal communicator and certified BodyTalk/AnimalTalk practitioner, says the group has been told that there is not another center like this anywhere in the United States. “We had someone come in from Oregon who said, ‘You are creating a new parking spot in someone’s mind, because this has not been done before.’ We really wanted to raise the integrity in integrated health care — alternative health care. We also wanted a referral program where, if one of us couldn’t help a client right there in the office, we know someone who can.”

“It’s a doctor’s clinic,” she said, “but with integrative health care instead of Western medicine.”

The third partner, network chiropractor Dr. Katie Fahnel, said the initial plan was just for the three healers to share office space, but then they realized a shared dream of creating community. “We enjoyed having the opportunity for other people to rent space from us, to have a big open area where others could host different classes, whether it was dance or just people teaching different workshops. We are open to a lot of people coming together to create a conversion of energies.”

The three partners of The Healing Loft share a desire to help others in a very practical way, using modalities that have been proven beneficial.

Dr. Katie Fahnel (© Frank Mazzocco Photography)

Dr. Fahnel, a native of Mondovi, WI, was first exposed to alternative healing modalities while taking a nursing course in BodyMind Therapies, “just for fun.” She eventually turned her attention to chiropractic care, and then refined her studies to Network Spinal Analysis Chiropractic. Now a Doctor of Chiropractic, she is committed to staying on top of the latest innovative practices within Network and attends seminars on a regular basis, enabling her to provide her clients with the most cutting-edge techniques and the highest quality care.

Duncan Metzger (© Frank Mazzocco Photography)

Duncan Metzger’s former life was in information technology in the corporate world. A graduate with an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, he awakened to the role of intuition in his life and began taking classes with noted psychic, teacher and author Echo Bodine that allowed him to develop his skills and become a profession intuitive, empath and medium. Since then, he has been a student of Bel Marshall and became certified in energetic empathy, a healing technique that works with chakra energy fields. During a session, Duncan incorporates a variety of techniques and modalities and tailors his sessions to fulfill the needs of each client, a practice that has established his excellent track record.

Kristen Scanlon (© Frank Mazzocco Photography)

Kristen Scanlon, a former music teacher, was a true skeptic when it came to animal communication. But over time, she has been revealed as an accomplished animal intuitive, a graduate of Animal University in Colorado and student of Mary Getten, Lena Swanson and Joyce Leake. After five successful years of practicing animal communication, Kristen began her study of BodyTalk and AnimalTalk, two non-invasive energy healing modalities that work by reconnecting the links within the body’s system of intracellular communication to obtain a faster, more efficient healing process. Now a certified BodyTalk and AnimalTalk practitioner after completing rigorous training with Jennifer Stelly, Karen Atkins and Loesja Jacobs, she has had great success in healing both animals and people.

The staff of The Healing Loft will launch a monthly program on Edge Talk Radio — a live podcast at 6 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of each month — on May 24. Listen by calling 1.714.364.4750 or listen online at BlogTalkRadio.com/edgemagazine.

On your website at TheHealingLoftMpls.com, you indicate that you want to dispel certain myths about integrative healing modalities. What are they?
Katie: With the structure and business model that we have, we are trying to connect more to mainstream people. We know and support the existing community here of people into metaphysical and spiritual and New Age type of practices, but what about the people who haven’t been exposed to integrative healing, or are scared of it or are really put off by the “woo-woo-ness” of it? We want to show that we are grounded, down-to-earth people and we all have very solid backgrounds in education and business. We are pretty well grounded in our bearings.

Kristen: We also want to dispel beliefs that some people have that alternative health care has to be separate from mainstream medical care. That’s why we embrace the term “integrative.” We integrate care that we offer into what the person is already doing. What we do slides in very well with surgery or seeing your psychiatrist, or whatever the case may be. It works very well with Western medicine, as well as the “New Age” stuff, the Eastern, the more metaphysical world.

And the intuitive arts, which Duncan is a part of.
Duncan: Yes, I have a very pragmatic approach with each client. I spend time trying to take the mystery out of it. I tell a client that we all have these abilities — and you do, too. I tell my client that only reason I’m sitting across from you is that I do this every day and practice. It’s not that I am any more or less gifted than anyone else.

Kristen: That is really key, because in my animal communication class, people ask, “Well, isn’t that a gift?” Well, yes and no. Everybody has it. And everybody can do it — everybody. It’s not magical. It’s just that some people, like Duncan especially because of what he does, have taken the time to practice this gift that we all share.

Duncan: I attract a lot of first-time clients who have never been exposed to it before with the atmosphere of the Healing Loft. With what we’re trying to do here, they are not intimidated.

For those who have not been to the Healing Loft, provide an overview of what the Healing Loft offers to the community.
Duncan: For practitioners, it’s a great place to work and we are careful who we allow to work here. We want people who have very much the same approach. It’s not a matter of what you do, but it’s more about what kind of person are you and what kind of integrity you bring to your craft. As for clients, it’s a very welcoming atmosphere, whether you’re a neophyte or more experienced with spiritual or metaphysical practices. You’re going to feel comfortable and we have a high level of integrity in the service we are going to provide.

Kristen: For the community, we’re a one-stop place. We service both people and animals, and we’re a pet-friendly environment. We’re also very careful about people who are allergic or who are afraid. And if I can’t help them, then perhaps Katie or Duncan can. We really have immersed ourselves in the community of practitioners and we have people that we are comfortable referring our clients to. We also rent space to people who are massage therapists, hypnotherapists, Akashic records readers, those who offer cranio-sacral therapy. We have access to anything you can imagine. If we can’t help you, someone can. We’re pretty approachable and we’re honest about being able to help, or not help.

Duncan: We continue to connect with people. We are very big with networking and finding out what you do and how we might work together. We’ve just taken a real concerted effort to reach out to other people.

Let’s talk a little bit about each one of you separately, if you don’t mind. Katie, why did you choose chiropractic as your path?
Katie: Well, in my other graduate training I was set to do lab work and be stuck in a lab all day. I did my internship and, although it had its fun points, I really did not like being closed up all day doing the same thing over and over again. So, on a fluke, I wound up taking a nursing class in Body Mind Therapy where we did a lot of massage and energy work. Something really profoundly touched me about the power of touch and putting your hands on someone, and being able to feel energy and heat moving through my hands and through someone’s body. So it was a natural marriage between my science background and this aspect of touch to go into chiropractic.

About halfway through chiropractic school, I discovered a technique called network spinal analysis. I shadowed a chiropractor in a small town in Wisconsin and just saw incredible things happen with people — really monumental changes. This guy was hardly touching people, not the cracking and popping that I was trained in. I thought, “Wow, there’s really something going on here because there’s not much input into the body, and yet the body is responding in such an incredible way.” So, I was sold.

Can you give the average person an idea of what takes place during network spinal analysis.
Katie: Sure. It’s gentle taps and touches to either end of the spine. It unwinds a lot of spinal cord tension. Initially when people come they feel more relaxed and are able to breathe deeper. Some feel like falling asleep. A lot of people describe like a melting sensation into the table. Then, the more you progress through care, the more you’re accessing your body’s own pathways to be able to connect to the greater spiritual aspect of yourself, developing a lot of connective and wellness strategies throughout the nervous system.

The end result is the same or different than traditional chiropractic?
Katie: Initially it’s probably the same, because a lot of people do report less tension and pain reduction, but you’re able to get more out of it because you can connect better to your own rhythms. You are able to get out of that place of victimhood into a very empowered state. This probably doesn’t sound very chiropractic, but it’s all about what’s innately there in your nervous system. We all have this power to tap into and find that transformative energy — a really beautiful, expansive, awakening energy — just by having a better connected body and a better connected brain.

Duncan, what led you here to what you’re doing now after a career in information technology in the corporate world.
Duncan: I had a kind of a spiritual awakening while going through a couple things. One was recovering from alcoholism and I’ve been sober for seven years. Also, my mom passed away in 2007, and I remember taking a leave of absence from work. I was having a hard time grieving. I remember a friend of mine showing me the Tarot cards and it was very interesting. I’ve always been kind of a skeptic, but I was amazed and was getting sold on it. So I went to buy a Tarot book and ended up with a book on the small still voice within, A Psychic’s Guide To Using Your Intuition.

Echo Bodine’s book.
Duncan: I was fascinated. It’s like I’ve always felt like I had intuition. I’ve known things, and I didn’t know quite what to do with that. I didn’t know who Echo was. I had no clue. But I learned that she taught classes in Minneapolis, and I couldn’t wait to take her class. I started getting accurate readings with people, and I was like, “This is a way I could really help people.” I’ve had friends tell me that, “You always seem to know the right thing to say when they are going through a tough time.” That’s part of what I do. I call it Soul Coaching.

I’m still a healthy skeptic, because I think you have to be, otherwise you’re an untethered balloon. So, I bring that pragmatic personality to working with clients. I’ve always been a spiritual person, I’ve always been a helper, giver type personality, and I was not getting that in the corporate world. I wasn’t feeling, and I felt very disconnected. I’m very much a people person. I ended up being mentored in energetic empathy, a chakra healing technique developed by Bel Marshall.

Can you give us a little more description of what energetic empathy is about?
Duncan: Energetic empathy is using your empathic abilities to tap into the different chakras, literally feeling what the person is feeling or getting through visual. I tend to be clairaudient, so the chakras literally speak to me. So the process is part reading and part healing. A lot of information is stored in our chakra centers. I work with energy, light, guides and angels to bring that healing, but most of the healing comes from the client themselves. It is a cooperative process. My emphasis is that you get help with your physical while dealing with your psychological and spiritual.

So, Kristen, what led you to where you are after originally studying music education?
Kristen: Well, my sister had a cat that got lost. He didn’t come home. Ten days had gone by and she called and said, “Oh, I talked to this animal communicator and they told me that he is fine, he is not in pain, he is safe, he is in Spirit, it didn’t hurt.”

And I’m thinking, “You could have called me and paid me the same amount of money to say the same thing.” That seemed so generic. “Yeah, he feels fine and he’s happy.” You know, whatever. I thought it was a bunch of hooey.

You thought anyone could have made that up.
Kristen: Yeah, I could make that up, too. You can pay me that $30 or whatever she was charged. So she said, “Fine.” We have this little competition going on between us, and she said, “Fine, I’ll prove it to you.” When my cat died, it was a very traumatic, and I went through it by myself. My mom called me to tell me what the communicator said. I was driving, and I was thinking, “Yeah, whatever.”

I ended up having to pull over in my car because I was crying. The communicator gave me information that nobody else would have known. My sister lives in Seattle. I live in Minneapolis. My mom’s in Bismarck, ND, so we are not even in the same cities, let alone knowing how I interacted and what exactly went down in that emergency room. The cat was very specific.

So I thought, “Hmmm. Well, it’s kind of cool that the animals can talk, but can they really?” I was still really skeptical. Then, Mary Getten of Seattle, who had written several books, came to Minneapolis and was teaching a two-day class on animal communication. My sister said, “You’ve got to take this. Mary is awesome. You’ve got to take it.” So, I took it.

The first day I was horrible. I didn’t get anything. I thought, “Whatever. Don’t you even go back the second day, because this is so not even real.” I went back and the second day the process was instantaneous for me. My connection to the animal world was so instant and so accurate. I thought, “Hmmm, there must be more to this.”

So over the years I just kept studying and practicing. Until a couple years ago, I was in the music education field. I really did love teaching kids music, but I found that I was really drawn to the animals a lot more. I started animal communication as a business versus just doing it for my own benefit.

At the same time, I was seeing a kinesiologist and chiropractor, and I always thought what he did was really cool because he uses the muscle checking and kinesiology to get answers from my body. At the same time, my mom kept saying, “Kris, you’ve got to check out this Body Talk.” I didn’t even know anything about, but learned that you can do it on people and animals. I signed up for a seminar right outside of Milwaukee and by the second day, it was like a fish to water. It was just easy, simple, I was flying through all this information. It came just naturally to me. I became certified, and I did Body Talk on anyone and everyone who would let me do it on them, and I even did it on animals. Tali, our office manager, had a cat with a hip issue. She would fall over every couple of steps. So I did a quick 30 seconds of Body Talk, and within 10 minutes, the cat was walking normally. She could lie down. Her leg didn’t stick out. She jumped up on the bed. It was only 30 seconds of tapping and I knew there was something there. And that’s how I got into it.

What happens during Body Talk session?
Kristen: A client lies down on the table and doesn’t even have to be awake. I do muscle checking and follow a chart involving the organs, glands, body parts, chakras and meridians, and environmental factors and allergies. I ask the body yes and no questions to find out where the communication in the body has broken down. I had a client who had emotion release of anxiety held in her ankle and once I tapped that out and balanced it, she does not have any walking issues anymore. We call it linking. I say, “Okay body, the liver now needs to talk to the right kidney and the right kidney now needs to talk to the neck and the neck now needs to talk to the thymus,” and I tap over the head and silently say, “Okay, brain wake up, pay attention, connect these things.” Then I tap over the heart and say, “Store this in the body and fix yourself. Remember what the brain did. Now you’re going to tell the rest of the cells to do that.” And the body literally fixes itself. So, the most famous quote in Body Talk is “When the body talks to itself, it heals itself.”

Body Talk was developed about 15 years ago. It combines all of the Eastern medicine as well as the Western medicine. John Veltheim, a chiropractor, acupuncturist in Australia, had Epstein-Barr virus. It was getting to the point where he could hardly work anymore, and he ended up in New Zealand. A colleague, knowing this, said, “There’s an aboriginal tribe here that they are willing to do this funky thing on you if you are willing to let it happen.” And he said, “Yeah, I’ll do anything at this point.” And he had what is now known as the Body Chemistry Technique. He had a fever of about 104 for about three or four days and then he woke up and it was gone. It was completely gone. He went back to the aboriginal people and asked to learn more, and they agreed to let him develop the technique and teach it to others.

What are your intentions for the center now and moving forward?
Kristen: We want to create a space for practitioners and clients to come in and create a community, and bring awareness and our high integrity to integrative healing. We also have products here on consignment. We sell different things from people within the community, including artists who make things by hand. We have jewelry, dog beds from Northeast that are eco-friendly because they are made with recycled material.

Duncan: We’re concentrating on the Twin Cities now, but that’s going to expand, especially with our ability to do some of our work over the phone. We’d also like to take some of our workshops and make them available for people on the internet. Right now, we want to work mainly with our home base right now in the Twin Cities.

Is there anything that we haven’t talked about the Healing Loft that you would like to add or let people know about?
Kristen: We’re here!

Katie: Stop in and say hello. You don’t need an appointment to come and talk to us. Just come and say hello and find out what we do. We’re open.

From the editor

Minnesotans have pride in their state, and a new statistical index backs up their instinctual love for the place they call home.

The inaugural U.S. Peace Index, created by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), ranks the Gopher State the fourth most peaceful in the nation. Did you know Minnesota leads the nation in the percentage of its population engaged in the workforce and having access to basic services? It has the lowest percentage of the population with diabetes and boasts the highest life expectancy, at 80 years. It also scores notably high in percentage of people with at least a high school diploma and in high school graduation rate.

North Dakota is the fifth most peaceful state, though it is now ranked lower than it would have been at any time since 1991. Data used for the U.S. Peace Index shows that North Dakota would have ranked the most peaceful state from 1991-1999.

The aim of the U.S. Peace Index is “to further the understanding of the types of environments that are associated with peace and to help quantify the economic benefits that could result from increases in peace.”

“Peace translates into dollars and cents,” says IEP founder Steve Killelea.

The most peaceful state in the nation is Maine, and the Northeast is the most peaceful region. The least peaceful state is Louisiana, and the South is the least peaceful region, according to the index. The nation as a whole has become 8% more peaceful from 1995 to 2009 due to fewer homicides and less violent crime.

Visit VisionofHumanity.org to read more about the new study.

We all want peace, if the truth be told. Every one of us. What would it take? Perhaps being more kind to each other. Perhaps being willing to compromise with each other. Perhaps realizing that the most important things in life have everything to do our connection to each other.

Exploring how sound can improve Health and Wellness with Jonathan and Andi Goldman, Cyndi Dale and Kay Grace

The first-ever “Soundsation Conference” featuring nationally recognized authors and speakers who will focus on how sound can improve physical, emotional and psychological health will be on May 20- 21 in the Fine Arts Auditorium at Normandale Community College in Bloomington.

This two-day sound extravaganza – sponsored by Normandale’s Integrative Health Education Center — features internationally-known sound and healing experts Jonathan and Andi Goldman, Cyndi Dale and Kay Grace. They will provide insight and powerful tips and techniques on how sound can influence individuals on a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual level to help people lead happier, healthier lives.

Registration is $195, and the fee includes lunch on Saturday. Visit normandale.augusoft.net or call 952.358.8343.

“Our speakers tell us that anyone can learn these techniques — it is not necessary to have a background in music or singing to effectively use sound to enhance energy and mental clarity, reduce stress, heighten consciousness and create a greater sense of well-being in our body, mind and spirit,” said Sunny Ainley, director of the Integrative Health Education Center at Normandale Community College, one of the largest centers of its kind in the U.S.

The Goldmans will share their research, wisdom and insight on enhancing one’s life through sound at the “Principles of Sound Multi-Media Presentation” from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 20. An internationally renowned writer, musician and teacher, Jonathan Goldman is a sound healing expert and a pioneer in the field of Harmonics. Recently he was named one of the “100 Top Spiritually Influential Living People” by the prestigious British magazine Watkins Review. His wife, Andi Goldman, M.A., L.P.C., is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in holistic counseling and sound therapy.

The “Sound Healers Seminar” will be from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 21. Led by the Goldmans and Cyndi Dale, this session will be packed with rich, experiential sound. Attendees will learn about sound tools that can help to heal and empower them, so they can make positive changes in their lives. As an international speaker, educator and business consultant, she is the author of more than a dozen bestselling books. Dale — a natural intuitive since she was young — will explore the Quantum Diamond, a model for healing, transformation and manifesting.

Kay Grace, CAEH, will be presenting Taste of Sound, an experience of various forms of healing with sound (at seven different stations): drums and didgeridoo, to Tibetan singing bowls, tuning fork treatments, sound & color washes, voice & harmonic (overtone) singing, gems & crystals and crystal singing bowls. Each of the stations, loosely related to the seven chakras or energy centers, will be manned by various teachers and healers experienced in Sound Healing and related complementary and holistic integrative wellness modalities.

“Participants will learn about the power of sound to create change in order to lead happier, healthier lives,” said Jonathan Goldman. “Sound affects us on a cellular level and has the ability to rearrange molecular structure and return what is out of balance into a state of health. Sound goes into our brain and affects our heart rate, respiration and nervous system.”

Scientific data on the physiological benefits of sound shows that it can: increase oxygen in the cells; lower blood pressure and heart rate; increase lymphatic circulation; increase levels of melatonin; reduce levels of stress-related hormones; release endorphins — self-created opiates that work as “natural pain relievers”; and much more.

Interview with Jonathan & Andi Goldman

Jonathan, you’ve been a well-known pioneer in the field of sound healing for over 30 years, and you and your wife Andi have been working together in this field for over fifteen years. This is your first trip to Minneapolis. What can we expect?
Jonathan: We’ve very excited to be coming to the Twin Cities. I’ve been here personally to teach over 15 years ago. Back then, the awareness of sound and music for healing was restricted to a very small segment of the population, but over the years I’ve seen it grow and grow. Last summer, I was interviewed by Woman’s World. Later, I was in my local grocery store check out line and saw the magazine and opened it up to their article on sound healing. I was so very pleased to see mainstream awareness of this powerful subject opening up.

People are beginning to understand about the power of sound — how sound can literally create healing and transformational shifts and changes for us on so many different levels — from creating resonance and affecting us on a molecular level to being able to work with us energetically, creating balance and wellness. Sound also goes into our ears and our brain, affecting our heart rate, respiration and entire nervous system.

Andi: It’s amazing all the shifts and changes that can occur through using sound as a healing modality. I’m trained as a holistic psychotherapist. Before I began working with Jonathan, I was using sound with my clients as an experiential modality to help enhance the therapy. When we come to Minneapolis, we’ll be focusing on what we consider to be the most powerful aspect of sound that we’ve encountered — the human voice. We’ll also be focusing on utilizing tuning forks, which were developed specifically to create balance and alignment. We have specially designed aluminum tuning forks that generate precise frequencies that are extremely calming and healing — they’re really excellent at reducing stress. And with regard to the human voice — it just may just be the most powerful healing instrument on the planet.

How is that possible? How can sound and particularly our own voice be used to heal?
Jonathan: The actual principles of sound healing are easy to understand. Scientists are now in agreement with what the ancient mystics had been telling us for eons — that everything is in a state of resonance — a state of vibration. From the electrons moving around the nucleus of an atom to planets moving around stars in distant galaxies — everything is in a state of vibration and, therefore, putting out a sound. This includes, of course, our bodies. Every organ, bone, tissue and part of the body is in a state of vibration.

When we are in a state of health — sound health, if you like — our bodies are like this incredible orchestra that is playing this wonderful “suite of the self” and putting out this harmonic of health. However, what happens if the 2nd violin player loses his or her sheet music? They begin to play out of tune, out of harmony. Pretty soon the entire string sections sounds off, and soon enough, the entire orchestra sounds off. Keeping with this metaphor, when a particular part of the body is out of ease or out of harmony with the rest of the body, we call it disease. A counter frequency has somehow encoded itself upon the body and that part vibrates out of tune, out of harmony, out of ease.

Now, going along with this concept of the body being an orchestra, most allopathic, traditional medicine would either give this violin player enough drugs so they pass out, or perhaps more effectively, cut their head off with a broad sword (analogous to surgery, of course). And this does take care of the situation: The string player is no longer playing the wrong notes. But also, the orchestra is now without this particular musician. What if it were possible to give this string player back their sheet music? What if it were possible to restore the correct resonant frequency to that part of the body that was vibrating out of tune and create a condition of health?

This, on a very simple level, is the basis principle of sound healing.

Does someone need to have a background in music or be a trained singer in order to understand and work with sound healing?
Jonathan: Absolutely not. The sound exercises we’ll be sharing at the Soundsation Conference are techniques that anyone can do. Here, we’re talking about using sound for entrainment (the ability to synchronize our nervous system and energy fields) — not for entertainment (singing songs for the enjoyment of others). The difference is huge.

We all have an extraordinary, divinely given gift within ourselves of manifesting the healing power of sound through using our own voice. It’s not about getting up to sing “Strangers in the Night” or whatever in a nightclub, but learning to use your voice to resonate your physical body and your chakras. We’re not concerned with performance, but rather, learning to use our own self-created vocal sounds to change our vibrational rates and put ourselves into states of health and harmony.

Andi: This is not a workshop on learning to sing, but rather learning to use self-created sound for healing. Many of us are “wounded singers” who may have had some unfortunate experience in our younger years, such as a well-meaning choir teacher telling us to “sing softer,” “mouth the words” or even “try out for a sport instead,” or we’ve been told that we can’t “carry a tune in a bucket!”

Neither the tune nor the proverbial bucket is necessary to experience the benefit from learning to work with self-created sound. The information and exercises that we’ll be sharing have nothing to do with making “pleasing” sounds for others and everything to do with making “frequency shifting” sounds for ourselves.

For more information: www.healingsounds.com | info@healingsounds.com

Interview with Cyndi Dale

Cyndi, what is quantum physics saying now about sound and how we create our reality?
Cyndi: Sound is at the center of one of today’s most interesting scientific discussions. In fact, it’s in the middle of a feud between what I call the “orange world,” which is the subterranean, often-wacky world of quantum physics, and the “apple world,” the universe described by the Newtonian classical physics we learned about in school.

Here’s the basic question: Is sound or light the creative inspiration of reality? We think that reality is only that which we can see, sense, feel, touch and taste. The physical world is real, but it’s only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. Under everything we are or want, is sound and light. Or is that sound or light?

Considerable research has determined that the world is made of light. In fact, a great field of light surrounds us. This field, composed of electromagnetic energies, emerged at the beginning of time. Our relationship to this field determines the health of our bodies, relationships, and daily life, even the performance of our DNA, which is considered a light machine. If the basic unit of life is light, we can change our physical reality by working with light — or, as it’s said in “the field,” “bending light.”

Other research insists that sound is the progenitor, or mother of us all. According to certain scientists, the universe began with the sound of countless cosmic bells. DNA is not only responsive to sound, but also is made of sound waves. One particular scientist, Daniel Eisenstein, from the University of Arizona, explains that the primordial soup, which trapped light, would still have transmitted sound. After the “fog lifted” and matter began to expand, sound carried the universe forward, in ripples and waves.

Perhaps it still does. If sound is the primary source, then we have only to shift sound and we can change reality.

In the Newtonian apple world, sound and light are different. Both can be measured by frequency and wavelength, but they are distinct. Sound needs a medium for traveling and light doesn’t. In the quantum orange world, however, frequencies mix and match. You can see sounds — light and sound coincide. The main primary colors can also be identified as the major chords. A sound blown across sand produces shapes; every shape emanates tones; and every tone forms an array of colors.

Because of quantum craziness, we can work with both sound and light to perform near-miracles. Royal Rife, a famous scientist, was able to find two cancer viruses and kill them, focusing invisible spectrums of light on them and using the laws of sound mechanics. He could even transform bacteria into viruses with the same process. In fact, he demonstrated that every organism could be transformed into another organism.

Sound is the basis of life. In the quantum world, so is light. This means we can use sound, light, and both, to alter our beliefs, emotions, perspectives, behaviors, and even physicality, to become more than we’ve ever been.

What is the quantum diamond you speak of?
Cyndi: At one level, everything is this universe is made of photons, which are the wave-particles of light, and sounds, mechanical waves. Both can be arranged in different shapes and move at different speeds, physically and psychically. The ancients figured out the main shapes or symbols that underlie all of reality. These are formed from light and sound but also determine the affects of the same. These symbols are consistent from culture to culture, and when stimulated with sound, produce real effects.

For instance, Dr. Ibrahim Karim in Egypt, the founder of Biogeometry, employs specific shapes to heal every major disease, but also to grow food, eliminate pests, enhance learning, and more. A new branch of quantum physics has determined that the walls of the dimensions are arranged in specific hexagonal and triangulated shapes, through which sound and light vibrate reality into being.

The quantum diamond is a shape that reflects all major ideas about how sound and light create reality. During the workshop, I’ll explain the different capabilities of these shapes and correlated sounds and lights or colors, but most important, lead us in a participatory healing journey so people can receive the related benefits for themselves.

What will participants experience during your presentation at the Soundsation Conference?
Cyndi: They will experience the healing effects of the quantum diamond — the blend of shape, sound, and light that formed the universe and can even now, transform what exists into something even better.

After explaining the concepts behind each shape and correlated sound and light, I’ll lead the entire group in a quantum diamond experience, or a group healing. Each person will be given a chance to stand in the center of this diamond structure and receive a healing.

This center is the place of what is called the “zero point,” the core of the great field of light and sound that surrounds us all. I’ve watched in amazement at the results of this process and would love to see everyone at the conference experience the same.

How can the average person get more benefit from sound in their lives?
Cyndi: Remember that all thoughts, words, tones, sentences and sounds are sound! If we surround ourselves with life-giving, happy sounds, we’ll be more productive and joyous. Surround yourself with sounds of nature. There are studies that show that certain natural sounds enhance the health of our heart, and if pumped into nature, can grow plants up to five times the normal size. Listen to television shows that are upbeat. Hum happy tunes in your head. Employ your intuition, so you can receive guidance through dreams, direct messages from the Divine, or insights from others, that enter as verbal sounds.

Then think good thoughts. We have about 60,000 thoughts a day. Of these, about 90 percent were the same thoughts we had yesterday and of these, 90 percent are negative. Negative produces negative. That’s pretty logical.

Don’t worry about controlling every thought in your head, however. What counts is what you concentrate on, what you actually say, and how you say it. We’ve all shifted our own demeanor and therefore, our effect on others, by being kind.

Sound is most loving and produces the highest outcomes when it comes from our heart. As research at the Institute of HeartMath and other research organizations reveals, when we hold higher emotions, including joy, hope, faith, truth, and love in our hearts, our energetic fields reflect this goodness. Our organs “entrain” or start to talk with and work with each other. They become “coherent” or unified. Every single organic system flourishes.

Just as important, the energy fields around our bodies become more conducive to joy and love. We attract people and events that best suit our better selves and, without even thinking about it, deflect those situations that can cause pain and grief. All that, from deciding to think kind thoughts during the day!

For more information: Cyndidale.com | cyndidalebiz@gmail.com | 952.915.9501

Interview with Kay Grace

What inspired you to become a sound healer?
Kay: I’ve been a singer and songwriter since I was 15, so I know how powerful music and sound can be. I’ve been aware of energy healing in some form since I was 7. When I attended an energy healing school for a four-year certification in advanced energy healing, there was a module on sound healing. It was love at first sight, combining my love of sound and music with energy healing.

I studied with Jonathan Goldman, which was life-changing, and then studied an additional two years with Sound Accord, whose teachers also studied with Jonathan, among others. Sound healing, is extremely powerful, and accessible to everyone, which continues to inspire me as I see the effect it has on people who are able to shift out of old patterns and find their own voices.

How do your clients benefit from a sound healing session?
Kay: Sound healing effectively induces a state of calm, slows and regulates breathing, lowers blood pressure, alleviates pain, and reduces stress, all of which boost the function of the immune system. Sound can take your brain waves from active to alpha, as if you were meditating, or even into a theta brain wave state, where very deep healing often occurs, just below the surface of your conscious awareness.

We are whole systems, like an orchestra playing a symphony. Instead of cellos, violins and trumpets, we have our physical bodies, our emotions, our thoughts and our spiritual selves. What happens in one area affects all the others, just like a wrong note throws the whole orchestra out of harmony.

Sound healing brings the entire system back toward more order and harmony, using sound tools, technique and intention in order to release and shift whatever is causing the issue.

Fun Facts: A Baltimore hospital coronary unit found that 30 minutes of classical music produced the same effect as 10 milligrams of Valium. And a leading New York oncologist uses Crystal and Tibetan singing bowls and Hindu Sanskrit chanting to help cancer patients; in his book, The Healing Power of Sound, Dr. Mitchell Gaynor discusses the amazing results seen by integrating music, vocalization and meditation into patient care.

In your experience as a sound healer, and teacher of the art and science of Sound Healing, how can the average person use sound to improve their everyday lives?
Kay: Don’t bite your lip or hold your breath if you’re in pain. Groan and make sounds to release it.

Speak the truth with kindness and awareness, however it lines up with your core values.

Sing often, whether you can carry a tune or not.

Use your voice for self-healing and wellness: Tone a simple vowel sound like AH, OH, EE, add your intention (like peaceful, capable, confident, gracious) and sing for three minutes, to shift your energy quickly and easily.

Play music often, at least an hour a day, which feels good — calming, energizing, peaceful.

Pay attention to your sound environment, changing what you can, and harmonizing with those sounds you cannot change, by singing that same tone which is unpleasant, or another tone which is in harmony with it.

Your thoughts are inaudible sounds and have a very powerful affect on you physically, emotionally and spiritually, so pay attention to them, and weed out the thoughts that don’t support you.

What have you discovered about sound healing that you would like everyone on the planet to know?
Kay: Voice is the most powerful sound healing instrument of all. It’s yours alone, and it’s free. Shifting your energy and state of being can be done very quickly, in just a few minutes a day, and anyone with a voice can do this. For those who don’t have a voice, or who cannot hear, sound healing is still accessible through vibration and feeling.

Sound is at the heart of every creation myth, bringing spirit and intention into physical form, an incredible tool for manifestation, so I would encourage everyone to explore the world of sound healing to manifest total well-being and your heart’s desires.

For more information: www.energyexpress.com | www.energyexpress.com/resources-tools/ for free PDF of Sound Healing Resources | kay@energyexpress.com | 952.292.0480

Alexandra Solnado’s path as a spiritual healer began in a moment, when her daughter stopped breathing. Alexandra thought she had died. In that fleeting second, Alexandra met with something she had never encountered before to this magnitude — powerlessness. A woman who had previously maintained maximum control over her life, Alexandra looked up to heaven and said: “I give in.” Meaning, “I cannot save my daughter. I deliver this to heaven.” With those words, Alexandra knew that her life had radically changed.

She discovered that her daughter had a “spiritual” illness, not a medical one (based on a past life trauma). She saved her daughter by applying spiritual therapies that she learned from Jesus.

Shortly after the incident, Alexandra began living the spiritual path. Then, on March 28, 2002, Jesus appeared to her for the first time. Jesus immediately began to dictate to Alexandra messages for 11 books, for spiritual therapies and 1,000 meditations. He became and continues to be a constant presence in her life and consultations.

Alexandra’s latest book, a bestseller in her native Portugal and now receiving praise in America, is The Book of Light. Like the ancient I Ching, readers come to The Book of Light with a question. They select two letters from the ancient Aramaic language used by Jesus, and the combination of the letters points the reader to a select message from Jesus, transcribed by Alexandra.

The following is an email interview conducted with the author from her home in Portugal.

Alexandra, thank you for making yourself available to our readers Let’s begin with a little information about yourself. Were you raised Catholic like many in Portugal, and what was instrumental in your spiritual growth as a young woman?
Alexandra Solnado: My parents were not religious. They thought we had to grow up without following any religion so that we could choose when we grew up. My mother is quite mystical and my father was really skeptical, so I could see things from both sides. I have always been really interested in spirituality, but I did not know where to turn to. I had no direction. I just liked it, and I was curious about it, but that was it.

There was nothing particularly instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young woman. I was a workaholic. I just thought about work. I had no spiritual life. It took my daughter becoming really ill — being declared dead in front of me — for me to start realizing that there was something that could take my daughter away in an instant. When she was already sick, seriously ill, I heard a voice say “this has to do with you, this has to do with you….” It was then that I realized that I was also part of that drama, in other words, that I also had to do something. The idea was, “If my choices brought me here, to this hospital bed, then they were not very good choices. Maybe I have to relearn how to choose.”

So I went to relearn how to choose. A woman astrologer read my karmic astral chart and I fell in love with karmic astrology. It was from here onwards, through astrology, that I began to understand. Then I started to meditate, I started to find the Higher Self and many other beings of light.

Prior to March 2002, please describe the personal relationship you had with Jesus.
AS: I had always thought of Jesus as a great revolutionary, a master of freedom. Every time I saw people fighting for freedom, I remembered Him. I believed Jesus had been the first person to fight for freedom and to be a real revolutionary. But that was it. I had almost a political admiration for Him, for the way He fought, without violence. That was all. Mysticism? Zero, absolutely zero.

What happened in March 2002 that opened the channel in you to messages from Jesus?
AS: I was showing a friend something that I had discovered, a meditation where we would find our Higher Self, our divine half, that had remained up there, in heaven. Up until now, this has been one of the pillars of my work — to introduce people to their divine half, to whom they may ask questions, may ask for advice, may improve their lives by way of these precise guidelines for their evolution.

In the middle of the meditation, my friend asked me, “Are you up here?”

I replied “No, I am down here.”

He said, “Oh, so you are, His hand is so long. It is touching your head. He is thanking you.”

I thought it was my friend’s Higher Self that was thanking me, so I asked, “Thanking me for what?”

He replied, “For bringing people to this side, to the side of the light.”

And when my friend finished the meditation, he said it was Jesus. We set another day for me to take him up there again. I thought that was all really strange, but I had long ago opened myself up to things that appeared strange. So on the eve of the set day, I was doing my meditation at night when a giant being appeared to me. It was Jesus, an extraordinarily clear image of Jesus. He took my hand, put me in His heart, a giant heart, and said, “From now on, whenever you want to talk to me, just look up.”

And from then on, every time I looked up, I saw Jesus’ face, a huge, giant face. He emanated absolute peace. A sense of tranquility I did not know. It was like this that it all started and it continues even today.

How has Jesus appeared to you? Do you hear His voice?
AS: I have seen Jesus in all forms, as a person, with regular clothing, as a being of light. I have seen Him gigantic, I have seen Him small, I have seen Him in every kind of way. But the most important thing He has taught me is how to perceive His energy.

In almost 10 years that I have been seeing Him, I have clearly learned what is His energy and what is not. I know exactly when it is Him up there and when it is not. The presence of Jesus is unmistakable. A very powerful energy of love, tenderness, calmness, lightness, transcendence…and I could stay here all day….

Of course, there is a voice, for in order to write my books I hear a voice that dictates these messages to me, and He dictates with an absolute precision. Sometimes he dictates a word which I do not understand very well and do not know the meaning of. He remains there repeating the word until I discover which one it is. After He has dictated words that I didn’t even know the meaning of, I would then go to the dictionary and found that it made complete sense in the context of that sentence. He is really very precise.

How did you feel when you began receiving the messages? What effect did they have on you personally?
AS: I felt really confused, because it was something that was not part of my life. I was never Catholic, so it did not make sense…but I soon realized that that Jesus was not the Jesus of the Catholic Church. I soon realized — and He mentions this very early on in the first book — that it is Jesus who is responsible for humanity in the coming Age of Aquarius and that one of His tasks is to make humanity progress. Because He is the highest archangel in heaven, He is the highest energy there is in heaven before God, who is All. Up until this day, one of the words Jesus most often uses is: “Trust.”

Sometimes He asks for something that is difficult and then He says: “Trust. Trust.” And He has never let me down. Never once has He asked for something which I have then done — and sometimes He asks without explaining anything, He just asks — that has not been highly significant.

The messages have changed my life completely. They have completely changed the way I see the world, see myself and see other people. They have changed everything. I believe that no stone has gone unturned, nothing has remained the same. Nowadays, I have a clear notion that I see the world and life much more through the logic of heaven than through the logic of the earth. Each time I see things less through the logic of down here. Up in heaven, there is a logic and when we start following that logic we understand that everything — absolutely everything — is perfectly orchestrated, everything in matter is part of an energetic choreography. The thing is, those who are down here cannot see it.

Please give our readers a brief idea of how the book is to be used to help them in their lives.
AS: Someone has a doubt, any type of doubt — what shall I do with my career, how do I resolve a problem to do with love, how do I deal with this issue, how do I handle that issue, I have a problem concerning my child, what shall I do, whatever the problem is… — pick up the book, think of the light, think of Jesus, elevate yourself in any way possible and focus on the problem.

The deeper you concentrate the more at one you will be with the Universe, and as a result, the greater your communication with these messages.

Then, pick out two of the symbols that are included in the book. Then go to the chart that comes with the book and look for the picture of the first symbol on the vertical column and of the second symbol on the horizontal column. You will find a number where these two symbols intersect, which is the number of your answer. Try to read the answer with your soul, not with your mind or with your ego. There are also those people who prefer not to use the symbols, but simply open up a page by chance, that is up to you.

One of the biggest feedbacks we have had is concerning the accuracy of these answers.

Alexandra Solnado, a bestselling author in Portugal, is receiving worldwide praise for her new book, The Book of Light. Like the ancient I Ching, readers come to The Book of Light with a question. They select two letters from the ancient Aramaic language used by Jesus, and the combination of the letters points the reader to a select message from Jesus, transcribed by Alexandra.

On March 28, 2002, Jesus appeared to Alexandra for the first time. Jesus immediately began to dictate to Alexandra messages for 11 books, for spiritual therapies and 1,000 meditations. He became and continues to be a constant presence in her life and consultations.

Was there an initial message directed to you personally that changed your perspective on everything? What was it?
AS: All His messages are extremely beautiful. They are all very inspiring. Throughout these 10 years that I have been writing, I have received all types and forms of messages. I received messages I was writing for the books but which I also felt were meant for me, which made a lot of sense in my life. But I have to admit that the messages from Jesus, which I like the most, are the messages in which He shows the love He feels for Humanity, where He shows that in spite of sometimes being far from the light, of people being far from the light and having a lot of inner violence and being extremely intolerant, He continues to love us with open arms, waiting for us to look towards Him.

42: Unconditional Love

Today we are going to talk about unconditional love.
It is the forbidden love. It is the love that everyone yearns for, that everyone wishes to touch.
It is the love that is neither interested in what you believe in or the way you behave, nor in your status, religion, circumstances, or surroundings.
It is an unmitigated love, a love without fear and without judgment. It has no memory or feelings of revenge.
It is absolute love.
It simply loves and that is all. It loves for no other reason than to love. It loves without reservations.
No matter whom you are, no matter what you do, or what consequences you attract, or how you live your life, I will always be here.
Always ready, always whole, loving you as you are.
For the way you chose to be in this lifetime.
My love is not conditional, there are no restrictions. I only love.
This is my way of protecting you, guiding you, understanding you, and enlightening you.
Life teaches you lessons, and I love you. Together life and I work side by side in guiding you through your passage on earth.
Open up your heart. Let my love enter. Only when you have received my unconditional love and feel protected by heaven can you emanate love. Emanate self-love, which will inevitably allow you to forgive yourself and accept yourself as you really are – emanate love towards others, which in its turn will bring more love – emanate love towards the earth and animals, which will prolong human beings’ stay on earth.
Open up your heart. Reconnect with your feelings.
Just for a while, stop thinking, running, and flying without any sense of direction or meaning.
Stop. Look into your heart and open it up.
Let me inside, slowly, one step at a time. Let me enter and remain there.
And you will see how everything becomes clearer. How everything transforms into light.
And I will have one more reason for being here. And that reason is you.
JESUS

How did the book, The Book of Light, come together? Did Jesus give you the complete vision for how the book would be arranged and used by readers?
AS: Yes, absolutely. All the details are dictated. The first time He spoke to me about this book, I was at the launching of one of my other books, also with messages from Jesus, and He said the following: “We have written many books, intended only to be read, people read the books from start to finish, but then they don’t know how to integrate any of these concepts into their lives. Imagine: a person has a specific problem and taking into account all the books that we have already written, which concept is this person going to apply to this specific problem in his or her life? Let’s write a book with questions and answers, a book where if someone has a problem, all they need do is ask the question and then read the answer. They only read that message and then they have a direct reply to their problem. It will be a way of giving people spiritual concepts that they can apply more directly in their everyday lives.”

I refused. I said, “No, no, no. It is one thing to hear messages and to write them down, that I can accept — and I was already hesitant about accepting it, it was difficult but I did it — but to have the audacity to answer these questions, I don’t think I can do that.” I fought against this concept, against this request, because I didn’t think I was capable of doing it.

And He said, “All right, then there are to be no more books.” And we left it at that. Approximately a month went by without Him dictating anything, for He only wanted to dictate this book. I realized that I had to make a choice — either I trusted Him once again or there would be no more books. So I decided to trust Him. And it has been a tremendous experience.

Yes, He explained everything, how the “chart” works, that the questions would be asked using symbols from the Aramaic alphabet, which was the language that He spoke, and that one would remove two pieces and then go to one column and then the other to join the two pieces and receive the answer. He explained everything, absolutely everything. In fact, my work is to “remove” Alexandra during this time in order to receive only what He wants me to receive.

What reaction to The Book of Light have you received from the public in Portugal? Can you share any stories you have received about how the book has helped people?
AS: This book is very magical.

The Book of Light has had — and it is still having — a tremendous impact on the Portuguese public. The book became an instant bestseller, reaching No. 1 on the national top sales list, where it stayed for several weeks. But the most important thing about this book is how it has led people to look deep within themselves and actually helped them change their lives, as you can see from one of many stories I received….

One morning, while I was consulting a book about the wisdom of life, I got a message saying I would receive a gift. As I got to work, I met a friend who had just bought The Book of Light. As soon as I took the first two symbols, I realized I had much more than a simple book in my hand. I spent the whole afternoon asking questions and receiving answers. After a few days, almost all of my colleagues at work wanted to take the symbols, too. I bought the book, as well, and I started carrying it with me all the time. Such a precious treasure can´t be guarded, it has to — and should be — shared by everyone. All my colleagues who chose to follow the Light, have radically changed their lives, including myself. The Book of Light is my daily guide. There are days when the pain is so much that I get on my knees and cry…and others that I reach up so high in Heaven that I don’t even want to get down. It is not easy, but it is REALLY worth it…. The Book of Light has taken me to so many places inside me, and outside, too. The messages have such a transforming power. Vital messages for all humankind and of such an exceptional love. I have been waiting for you for a very long time…. Cláudia

The book makes use of 17 symbols in the Aramaic language used by Jesus when he walked the Earth. How would you describe the symbols and how they could be translated into English?
AS: The symbols are letters of the alphabet. Jesus did not wish to give a meaning to each symbol; He simply wished to use the alphabet so that the Aramaic energy, the energy that existed when He was here, would be present. That is all. The Aramaic energy is the connection; none of the symbols have a special meaning, they are just part of the alphabet. On picking out two of these symbols I am making the connection with Jesus, precisely through the language that He once spoke.

Why is Jesus offering this information to us now, at this time? What messages, if any, has Jesus given you that describe his feelings toward humanity at this time or describe how he interprets what humanity is going through now?
AS: There is an esoteric saying that goes, “Everything that reaches its limit, turns to its opposite,” and humanity is clearly reaching its limit, a limit of violence, of intolerance, of a lack of respect for others. There is a lack of emotion of a higher energy, a lack of feelings and an excess of mental activity. The Earth cannot take much more; its resources will not last much longer. It is as if Humanity is walking towards the edge of the precipice.

And the task Jesus has, as a Being of Light and for actually being responsible for humanity itself, is to help us make that spiritual leap, a qualitative leap in our energy, to prevent it from extinguishing. The Era of Pisces which is now coming to an end was also the era of the intermediaries, of judgment, of guilt, of fear and resentment. The Era of Aquarius, which is now arriving, is the era of the healing of the soul, of the healing of karma and of interaction between worlds.

The idea is to no longer have intermediaries. The idea is for people themselves to start meditating and learning how to go up to heaven to get information. The information that is useful for one person may be of no use for another. Each person has to go in search of their own information, without intermediaries. There is actually an esoteric saying that says, “Each and every spiritual guide can only help me as far as his own conscience goes.” If someone that is trying to help me has a low level of awareness, he won’t be of much help. The idea is to learn how to go up there, to heaven, to get exactly what my consciousness can reach.

Here are some of Jesus messages about humanity…

250: To Be Reborn

You are being reborn.
In all senses, in all forms, in the most trivial of day-to-day activities, you are being born again to a new life.
You are gradually becoming closer to me.
You are gradually becoming higher, purer and more subtle. You are gradually reaching the dimension of the sky where fairies can fly.
This is the time of rebirth. It is the time for men to understand their mission.
To recognize that man’s true mission, the only mission possible for human beings within humanity, is to be capable of being unique, distinct, and inviolable.
It is to be able to stand out from the seven thousand million people that exist.
Be authentic.
Be organic.
Be special.
JESUS

72: My Love

Give them my love.
That is all. Give them my love.
Give them the love that you receive from me.
Do whatever you need to do so that my love reigns in your heart.
Do your best to remove density and the negative and destructive memories, and emotions that exist.
Try to avoid having rage, hate, envy, and bitterness in your emotional system.
Reach into your pain as much as you need to, deactivate your memory and then ascend. When you arrive here, make sure that you are light, fresh and crystalline, so that my love can be blessed, so that my love can embrace the world through your vibrations.
And when you are out on the streets, when you talk to people, when you are where you need to be in your daily life, the enormous amount of love that I feel for humanity will burst forth from you and invade the whole planet.
And you will know that it is me.
You will know that it is I that has invaded the streets, and people’s souls.
And everything will become clearer.
And everything will become cleaner.
And everything will take on the vibrations of heaven, because this is the only way that man has of returning home.
JESUS

240: Feel the Love

…Summon the energy of those people you have loved and continue to love in this life.
Even those who were not always good to you but whom you loved.
Even those that hurt you but whom you continued to love.
Summon the energy of all those people. And feel the love.
Feel the love you have for them.
Acknowledge that regardless of what has happened between you, they are here in your life to teach you how to love.
And to honor the love that is inside you.
They are in your life to show you that you have all that love there inside you to draw on.
So that you may love without expecting anything in return.
Rather than being something you use to barter, love is a blessing for those who feel it. For those that can feel it. Simply feel it.
Hold on to the energy of those people that are before you. And love.
That is all. Love, love, love.
And regardless of their response to your love, you will feel your energy changing vibration and ascending.
And when your chest is on the brink of bursting open because of all the love that it emanates, raise your conscience and come and show me your love.
For you can only love me if you love other men – or their souls – if you are able to love life.
Therefore, when your chest is almost bursting with the love you feel towards humanity, irrespective of the many flaws it has, you will immediately be loving me.
And loving yourself, for you are part of that immensely imperfect, yet magical race called humanity.
JESUS

How has The Book of Light affected your life personally?
AS: It affected my life a great deal, because even though I had written many books before The Book of Light, this book revealed not only that the channel is open, but just how strong the channel is and how those people who are willing to receive information from heaven will receive it. It is remarkable.

Do you intend to share more messages from Jesus in the form of books or written communication now that this book has been published?
AS: I would love to publish all the books that I have already written and continue to write. Let’s see how the public in the U.S. reacts to The Book of Light, how the public in the U.S. reacts to the messages from Jesus.

Roger Kirschbaum | Photo © Eric Keith

I remember his easy smile, the sway as he walked, the lean of his body, fingers twirling the red ponytail behind his ball cap, stained with the sweat of summer and the challenge of life itself.

On this day, Saturday, March 19, I join many others who gather to say goodbye — his mom, his brother, and his greater family of friends who have never forgotten despite the passing of time. And his son. Jhett, a boy of 4 when I last saw him, is now twentysomething and about to graduate from college. Philosophy, he said, when I asked about his major. When his Dad and I hung out, Edie Brickell sang that philosophy is the talk on a cereal box.

What I am…here — standing before Roger’s son, a young man with the same present eyes, the same easy smile and the same lean of the body — is empty. I want to sit down and learn everything there is to know about the past 15-plus years since I last saw him and his dad, since those of us here all buried his mom and I moved up north away from Missouri, away from the sadness that lingered in the muggy air.

But no words come.

I listen with tears in my eyes as friends read Roger’s poems. Here in this small F.O.P. Lodge, on this dark, rainy night of the supermoon, I hear Roger’s voice in my head, and I see him in my memory, reading to us once again. It is now, in this moment, when I feel the sting of pain and allow the sadness to rise from the depths where I stuffed it away so many years ago.

Many of us sit here wearing white baseball caps in his honor, not Detroit Tigers caps, but ones emblazoned with a blue Old English “R,” the back of the cap reading: The Poet Roger Kirschbaum, 1962-2011.

It still hurts as I read one of my favorite poems of his, “Cycles — for the Buddha,” in which Roger writes:

“…When the earth has watched the labor of seasons
roll our deeds up against
the weight of consequence
we’ll once again accept the pain,
step gracefully
into another lifetime
thankful for a chance
to love our sisters and brothers
as we should have loved them
too many lives ago.”

That love, between him and all of his friends, was too fleeting. I understand the reflex to walk away when the emotions get too strained, so as to not disrupt the status quo. I walked away silently from most of the people in this room long before Roger sensed the end, spending his final days in Oregon, his liver no longer able to cope with the iron that once kept him strong.

Walking away, and staying silent, are carved in my family tree, as well. I sit here now, about to move away from Minnesota, wondering how it feels to live in one place all of your life.

An Edge Interview with Debbie Johnson, one of the documentary’s teachers

We have all heard the statistics, about how America’s children are dramatically overweight. We’ve seen British chef Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution” campaign against the use of processed foods in schools. And we continue to be flooded with diet plans, diet pills and even testimonials on how you can lose that unwanted weight.

Enter Dr. David Smiley, a clinical psychologist who arrived in Hollywood with $200 in his pocket and a desire to create a film that reveals not only why dieting does not work, but exposes the true secret about how to lose weight. After experiencing an epiphany, that our lives are created by our thoughts and beliefs, he brought together holistic and spiritual teachers and experts who could shed more light on the subject and teach him more. The result was the loss of 55 pounds and the creation of the documentary, The Inner Weigh™.

Debbie Johnson is one of many authors and experts profiled in The Inner Weigh.

“His dream was to make this film for love, just for love,” says Debbie Johnson, author of Think Yourself Thin and one of the many expert contributors to The Inner Weigh, a film about changing the way that you think about yourself. It is about tapping into the power of your subconscious mind to create the body and the life that you want.

Johnson wrote her book after losing 40 pounds without special diets or exercise regimens. She has kept the weight off for over 25 years, strictly using “thinking thin” techniques that are at the heart of The Inner Weigh methods. She will be at the Minnesota premiere of The Inner Weigh at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 at Lake Harriet Spiritual Community, 4401 Upton Ave., Minneapolis. She will answer questions, lead a brief discussion and offer a short writing exercise after the film to help people get started on The Inner Weigh.

A former Twin Cities resident, Johnson recently relocated back to Hot Springs, SD, where she enjoys hiking, dancing, cooking, swimming and exploring. She spoke with The Edge about her participation with The Inner Weigh.

Debbie, thanks for sharing The Inner Weigh with the Twin Cities and the world. How did you become a part of this film and why did you want to participate in it?
Debbie Johnson: Dr. Dave Smiley, the creator and producer of the film, called me when I was just leaving Santa Barbara, CA, to move back to South Dakota. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was leaving California and I was being asked to fly to L.A., just south of Santa Barbara, to be a part of this amazing project!

Dr. Dave had a truly sincere, caring voice. He believed so much in this project and I could tell it was all about love. So of course I said, “Yes!”  I knew it would be the next level of consciousness for bringing compassion and hope to people who hate their bodies, but who realize diets don’t work and beating themselves up doesn’t work.

What is the message of  The Inner Weigh?
DJ: Love yourself. You are Divine Spirit. You have an inner compass that will steer you through the morass of dieting hype and whisper the truth to you. It will tell you what you need to eat, how you need to exercise and even more precious, how beautiful you really are, just as you are right now. You don’t need to think, you just need to be yourself and listen to your own precious intuition.

What did you — as one of many authors, spiritual leaders and experts who were brought together in the creation of this film — specifically want to say to viewers?
DJ: I wanted to tell people that they are truly Soul. That they don’t have a soul, like owning it, but they are Soul, divine spirit, in a body and that they can better control their lives from that viewpoint through imagination. Of course films get edited, so what came out was more about how to do that. But what’s so wonderful about the magic of this film is that we were all saying what each of us believed, sometimes in almost the same words, so someone else actually said it!

Reports have documented the tremendous increase in the overall weight of Americans, especially our children. Is there a bigger issue at play here, or is it just that we are eating too much food that is unhealthy and are not exercising enough?
DJ: That’s such a great question, Tim! I want to say, all of the above. However, it doesn’t help to try to restrict ourselves, force or push ourselves, because then we just want more of what we can’t have. Have you ever noticed that willpower only works for a very short time? That’s because it’s coming from the conscious mind and ego. However, if we tap into the subconscious via our divine gift of imagination, we can then begin the journey, our own individual journey, to success in anything. And that includes weight-release.

If parents would tell their kids, or spouses would tell each other every day, “You look a little thinner today,” or “You look fantastic! You must be doing something right,” then you’d see a huge (no pun intended) change in people. And of course, people can do this for themselves, as well. My favorite is: “I feel a little bit thinner today.” That got rid of a lot of my weight!

How does The Inner Weigh relate to The Secret?
DJ: In several ways. First of all, Bob Proctor, the main teacher in The Secret, is also in The Inner Weigh, along with some other very visual people in the self-help field, such as Mary Morrissey and Gay Hendricks. Also, The Inner Weigh is based on the law of attraction, which we know of as visualization, basically. The format is similar. Interviews are done looking at an actual person, though the audience doesn’t see Dr. Dave doing the interviews.

Because of this, the audience feels the connection. We’re not just talking to a camera, but a real, live, receptive and very interested human!

Is The Inner Weigh just rehashing old ideas or is it a new revolutionary way of looking at dieting, exercise and weight loss?
DJ: Well, Tim, it’s old and new and very revolutionary. The old part is the love, the very essence of what makes everything work better in life and the trust in intuition and our spiritual connection with God, the universe, whatever you believe. The revolution is that this film reveals, through several studies shown, that this idea works and that restrictive diets don’t. I don’t know if anyone has gone to that kind of extreme…to show that diets may actually be harmful.

Many of us are old enough to remember when people started rising up against smoking. Studies were showing many illnesses related to smoking, but most people didn’t pay much attention. This all began at the turn of the 20th century. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, the diet industry is finally getting examined more closely.

One of the studies on The Inner Weigh shows that a six-month starvation diet (what most calorie-counting diets are like for the body) made people horde food, binge and gain weight afterward. Also, some very restrictive diets can cause many health problems.

You are the author of Think Yourself Thin. How does your book relate to the ideas in The Inner Weigh?
DJ: Think Yourself Thin is completely aligned with The Inner Weigh. It’s why Dr. Dave asked me to be in it. In fact, he lost 55 pounds using my methods, as well as others, relating to the law of attraction.

The idea in Think Yourself Thin is to imagine your ideal self (can be used for weight or any issue, challenge or goal) using all of your senses and positive emotion. It’s now been proven that positive emotion felt with positive thoughts or images creates things in life faster than just thought. I’ve been teaching that and using it myself (when I remember!) for years.

What lasting impressions did you have after seeing the finished film?
DJ: I cried when I first saw it, as did many of the teachers in the film. The love and compassion just jump off the screen. It reaches people at a heart level. Even though we’re called teachers, not stars, I feel like we should be called, “the lovers on the film,” because that’s what we all wanted to share with our fellow humans who suffer as many of us have.

Many of the teachers on the film either had a weight problem (who knew Gay Hendricks was once 300 pounds?) or an eating disorder. My story was that I gained 40 pounds dieting over a ten-year period from teens on. I finally gave up on dieting, tried the methods I’d learned in my spiritual studies and reading. I lost it all thinking thin, using a technique I developed that I call “focused imagination” and I’ve kept the weight off over 25 years, even through my change of life! And as you’ll see on the film, the other teachers have maintained their weight loss, as well — it’s so amazing — without any diets!

I truly believe that this is the way people who are suffering from carrying too much weight can find a spiritual solution. Whatever they believe will be ignited through watching the struggles others have gone through. The light of God comes through many of the teachers on the film and I know it will touch people in a way they’ve never experienced before with such a down-to-earth topic. The Inner Weigh already has rave reviews on Amazon and is endorsed now by Rev. Michael Beckwith of the Agape Movement, as well as Neale Donald Walsh.

For more information about The Inner Weigh, visit TheInnerWeigh.com.

An Edge Interview with Michael Ortiz Hill

Life has taught Michael Ortiz Hill compassion, and in return, he is teaching us.

A registered nurse, Buddhist practitioner and initiated medicine man with the tribal people of Zimbabwe, Michael experienced much grief as a young man. For three years, he lived as a homeless teenager in Santa Cruz, CA. As he writes in the preface of his new book, Conspiracies of Kindness: The Craft of Compassion at the Bedside of the Ill, “my life was gathering garbage to eat, sleeping under the freeway bridge if it rained, solitude, dysentery, lice, scabies, and an extreme psyche.” His father was an alcoholic whose slow suicide played out in front of him. Michael was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago.

And yet, he not only survives, but thrives.

At the age of 16, he learned to meditate. His father, a Buddhist, won a statue of Kwan Yin in a card game in Korea during the war. He told Michael, “Some are taken by miracles like walking on water, but the real miracle is compassion and it’s available to everybody. Live by that, Michael.”

The core of Michael’s spiritual practice has been compassion. He teaches others about the four steps of the craft: self-compassion, compassion for others, radical empathy, seeing through another’s eyes and the mysterium, living compassion. And through his teaching, we all are blessed with that much more kindness flowing in our midst.

He spoke with The Edge from his home in Topanga, CA.

Michael Ortiz Hill

Why did you title your book, Conspiracies of Kindness?
Michael Ortiz Hill: Conspiracies is an interesting word. It comes from the Latin con, meaning “with,” and spiros, “to breathe.” To breathe together is the meaning of conspiracies. As a practicing Buddhist, I was thinking about sitting and meditation, as one does, what they call zazen in Zen Buddhism, to sit and breathe with a group of people, recognizing that there are those of us who are part of what one can call the machinery of Western medicine — or the empire or the salt mines, as I have called it — who know that compassion is what we are there for, and we quietly conspire among ourselves on behalf of people who are suffering.

I like that. For whom is your book intended?
MOH: This book is for a general audience. The next edition, which will come out shortly, is targeted to health care providers, doctors and nurses and chaplains — people who are, in fact, doing that kind of work.

Why did you write this book?
MOH: For years I had been telling my wife, Deena Metzger, the stories of what I do in the hospital, and for years she has said, “You’ve got to write them down.”

I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few years ago, and the day I was diagnosed she sent me to be alone for a few days and to reflect on what everything was about. She said I must write this book, and the offering of the book is the offering up of the multiple sclerosis. My healing is involved with writing it. It is the fruit of the healing of multiple sclerosis. I no longer have MS.

How do you define compassion?
MOH: I work from the Buddhist definition, which is sympathetic joy, sympathetic sorrow, which is to say, joy over another’s joy and sorrow over another’s sorrow. So one connects with others sympathetically from the place of your joy and the place of your sorrow.

Early in your book when you described your early life as a teenager and your relationship with your dad, you write, “Circumstances in this life are a school for learning compassion.” I really like that. A friend of mine whom I hadn’t seen for more than 15 years just passed away, and I’ve been reflecting on that relationship. I look back on it now and it truly was all about learning compassion.
MOH: Yeah, you got it. That’s precisely right. I do open the book speaking of him drinking himself to death. I came of age as a teenager with my father suiciding by way of alcohol and cigarettes. One recognizes the preciousness of another human being often after they have passed, and one learns what one learned about compassion through the passing.

What are the unique challenges for compassion among those who care for the ill?
MOH: Aldous Huxley wrote that the modern world is made up of organized lovelessness. I think that says it in a nutshell. We are forever distracted from the simple activity of love, which is to say, we are distracted away from our heart.

In Buddha dharma, the tradition I practice, the understanding is that the compassionate mind is one’s true nature. It is who you are, down into the marrow bone and the cells. But we get distracted from our true nature.

Organized lovelessness for anybody who has worked in a health care facility — and I’ve spent 20 years in the salt mines of Western medicine — is dealing with all the endless obstacles. Being very much in a hurry, one can certainly complain about understaffing, which is a reality wherever you go.

What is it that gets in the way of simply being present? Buddha dharma, presentness, is compassion. To be present is to be compassionate.

What do you see in modern medicine today that indicates there is a paradigm shift toward relationship-based caring?
MOH: I know, in fact, that now people are speaking specifically of relationship-based caring. They are looking at it.

In the second edition of this book targeted for health care workers, I interview Dr. Bill Manahan of Minneapolis. Bill used to be the head of the American Holistic Medical Association. And in the chapter on self-compassion as a healing modality, Bill reminds us that for the last 50 years we have had incredible technological advances in medicine — miraculous, really — and he believes the next 50 years will be about the craft of compassion, what they call the soft side of the healing profession. I took that very seriously. He sees this as a real shift. And bless his soul, he said, “I think your book is on the cutting edge of that.”

You describe compassion as a learnable craft. I don’t think most people think about compassion in that way.
MOH: Exactly. What makes it a learnable craft? I can only look at the way I framed it in the book, the four steps of the learnable craft:

• Self-compassion — This is fundamental, the initial step, about what it is to be kind toward one’s self, not only do unto others as you would have them do unto you, but do unto yourself as you would have others do unto you. That’s fundamental in the healing professions, but not only the healing professions. It is where people are so profoundly wounded. When he came to North America, The Dali Lama was astonished because he doesn’t see this among Tibetans, the mental blocks to simply being kind to oneself.
• Compassion for others — Again, this is sympathetic joy and sympathetic sorrow. One’s joy becomes a way of meeting another’s joy, one’s sorrow becomes a way of meeting another’s sorrow.
• Radical empathy — Seeing through another’s eyes. What is it to see through another’s eyes? The radical perception of the other.
• Living compassion — Getting out of the way. That is when compassion is recognized as selfless, a pure gift. One is gifted with compassion, which is to say one is given the gift of compassion. One has not earned it, and one extends that gift to another.

What do you offer when you teach The Craft of Compassion?
MOH: We go through the four steps. People get very self-conscious, saying, “I am not compassionate enough,” which is an issue because it ends up that compassion becomes a possession that one has or does not have or does not have enough of, and then compassion becomes fuel for narcissism, a total distraction. What is it to think of compassion as one’s actual, profound, original nature, and how to make a life around that original nature?

In this new edition of the book, one of the last chapters is going to be called, “Two sides of the same coin.” Self-compassion and compassion for others are two sides of the same coin. Often people think of them as totally different worlds, but they’re not at all. So we explore the foundation of self-compassion for the work with compassion for others.

And then there is the paradigm shift, where you get out of the way and become living compassion. You realize compassion is not a personal quality. It is a gift. The paradigm shift is about stepping out of the personalization of it. When one speaks of self-compassion and compassion for others, one can get tangled up in personalizing it instead of saying the spirit of compassion is so much wiser, and so much larger, than you or I. How do we put the self to the side so the spirit can come through? In the book, I call this the mysterium, because it is profoundly the mystery of what compassionate activity is.

You describe these four steps in the book as a circle and write about how during a single day you may move in and out of all four of those steps. To move into that circle, does it take intention, willingness, courage?
MOH: Exactly. Beautifully put. Thank you.

And I would add mindfulness.
MOH: Yes, definitely mindfulness. Mindfulness is absolutely fundamental.

To consciously move into this space, are some people just naturally there and other people need to work on it?
MOH: Definitely, there is no question about that, and it is life’s work. And it is, in fact, as you say, mindfulness. It is about returning to simply the present moment and being available to it.

At one point in the book I said, “We cannot own the quality of compassion, but we can be available to it.” One pays attention to being available to the spirit of compassion.

I was raised Catholic. I want to say Sephardic Catholic, because I found out when I was 32 that my Catholic ancestors were, in fact, Jews. And my father was Buddhist. And I was trained as a medicine man in Zimbabwe in Africa. I have moved between different spiritual traditions, and different spiritual traditions have different ways of understanding the spirit of compassion. If you are a Christian, Christ and Mary are spirits of compassion. If you are a Buddhist, Kwan Yin and the Shakyamuni Buddha are spirits of compassion.

How do you get out of the way so the spirit of compassion can come through? That’s the bottom line. It returns to mindfulness, because if you are not mindful you will not get out of the way, often quite preoccupied with nonsense.

With respect to compassion for yourself, you talk about being cracked open. I like that chapter of examples that you provide. What do you mean by that?
MOH: Beginning with my relationship with my father, I was cracked open. I was a homeless teenager for three years, and then when I came off the street he died, literally. I had been living in a house for all of three or four months and then, right after he died, my girlfriend — who rather swiftly became my wife — got pregnant. So, this is being cracked open (laughs).

Circumstances that cause you to awaken?
MOH: Yes. While my wife was pregnant, I realized at age 20 that I was going to be a father soon and I did not want to pass my woundedness or my ancestral woundedness on to my child, and so I had to pay attention. I used to keep a gratitude journal. At the end of the day I would write 10 things I was grateful for. It would be simple, like a beautiful sunset or my daughter’s smile, and I learned the habit of being grateful. That is the ground of self-compassion.

But the point about being cracked open is that in the story of any given soul, everybody has their equivalent. Sooner or later, you will be cracked open — and what is it to find gratitude in the midst of that? What is it to be open? In the chapter on self-compassion, I quote Leonard Cohen’s song: “Forget about your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” That’s about being cracked open.

How does compassion express itself to those who are not open to receiving it? It’s just the act of being, right? In presence with this soul?
MOH: Exactly. One carries the gift of it. The compassion activity is with you and you express it, and whether it is visibly received or not, nonetheless, one carries it. I tell the story about dear Kelsey Ramage. When I was homeless, when I was really at the bottom of being homeless, I had just come through a schizophrenic episode and was in utter despair. I would pass this woman on the street, and for months she would simply say, “Good morning.” And when I look at that time, that “Good morning” — that exchange of me saying “Good morning” back to her — that was the thread that kept me from falling into the abyss.

It showed me that no act of compassion, however small, is insignificant. And there was no way that I would presume that Kelsey would know how hugely significant that was for me. One could say I made a life of it, actually.

One carries the simple, sweet dignity of the compassionate presence, and whether you see the results or not, it’s not relevant.

How does compassion work with hospice care?
MOH: A few years ago my wife and I were with a friend who was dying of liver cancer. It was an extraordinary time, because Los Angeles was burning, as it turned out. The Los Angeles riots took place the night that she died. We were around her bed and it was, how do you say, it was a good death. It was as good as it gets.

I was with her lover, talking to her lover about what to expect. Her lover was a young woman who had never been at the bedside of someone who was dying. And I said, “Well, this is the way it is: There’s kind of a slipknot, and the person who’s dying is pulling on one end and the community around the bed is pulling on the other end. And then, sooner or later, the slipknot unravels and then the person passes.

You cannot hurry it. You just are present, that’s all. You just are present.” That’s what I have seen. That’s the wisest I could come up with.

For more information, please visit MichaelOrtizHill.com.

From the editor

On this day, as I sit and write to you, it is February 18 and protesters in Egypt celebrated “Victory Day” in Cairo’s Tahrir Square during the 18th day of the populist uprising, which has led to the exile of President Hosni Mubarak and has spread to neighboring countries where similar anti-government campaigns are underway.

Closer to home, at the Wisconsin state capitol in Madison, a throng of people carry on during the seventh day of protests against a proposed bill that would curtail the right of state workers to negotiate for benefits above base salaries.

Protest, it seems, has gone viral. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that transformation is in the air — manifesting personally and collectively.

It’s been long suggested that this is the age in which paradigms would be busted and rebuilt to reflect the will of the human spirit. The rise of Democracy in the Middle East seems to be a perfect example of that.

A change just as profound is underway here. The outsourcing of American jobs overseas, combined with the rapid collapse of the U.S. housing market — and simultaneous escalation of personal fortune for the wealthiest among us — have resulted in a perfect storm that already has hit our shores. People have lost their jobs and their homes, and states are beginning to cut lifelines to the least among us.

The end result is still ours to determine.

The first step toward the rest of our lives is our commitment to listening to our soul.

Mine tells me to begin to express myself more creatively and become more involved in helping others. By picking up my old brushes and paint with acrylics like I used to years ago. By writing those novels that have been gestating within me. By volunteering regularly.

I hear within that there is nothing to wait for, that there is only now. As a result, my wife and I are close to selling our home in the suburbs. We will be downsizing next month to a townhome on the eastern edge of this magazine’s region, in Madison, where I will paint, write and begin to volunteer regularly.

And I look forward to hearing how your soul’s whispers are leading you through this time of transformation. Submit your story to The Edge so I can share it with our readers. I can’t wait to read it.

Four noted speakers — a philosopher and coach, feng shui expert, professor emeritus, and architect and artist — will share their unique perspectives on how to realize the potential that your home holds to positively influence your life during the four-hour seminar, “From House to Home,” beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, March 26, in the Fine Arts Auditorium of Normandale Community College, 9700 France Ave., Bloomington.

The event is perfect for those who may feel out of balance in their home, or for those who wish their home was more satisfying. Is your home a source of comfort, joy, and harmony? Is your home contributing to your emotional and physical health? Does your home feel meaningful to you? How does money and meaning clarify your direction and focus?

Registration by March 22 is $49, and $10 more after that date. Parking is free. Seating is limited. For registration information, call 952.487.8343.

We gathered viewpoints from the following four speakers to gain a better perspective about what they will present at this event, how understanding of their own homes has improved their lives, and what we can do to know our homes better:

• Carole Hyder, M.A., is a Feng Shui expert, having studied Feng Shui since 1992. She is the author of three books on the topic, the founder and lead faculty of the Wind & Water School of Feng Shui, and has a monthly Feng Shui segment on the NBC affiliate’s Showcase Minnesota (KARE-11 TV). Visit www.conversationswithyourhome.com, or www.carolehyder.com.
• Margaret Lulic, M.A., is a consulting philosopher, award-winning author, speaker and coach. She is passionate about guiding people to experience their deeper wisdom and achieve their greatest potential. Her latest book, Home – Inspired by Love and Beauty, explores how your home can be an inspiring friend and partner in creating a meaningful good life. Visit www.lulicbooks.com.
• Dr. Bill Manahan is Assistant Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is a Past-President of the American Holistic Medical Association, author of a 1988 nutrition book titled Eat for Health, and co-founder of Minnesota’s first integrative medical clinic in 1982, the Wellness Center of Minnesota. He worked at the Center for Spirituality and Healing from 1997 to 2002. Presently, Bill is a consultant for physicians and clinics interested in expanding into holistic and integrative medicine programs.
• Michaela Mahady, A.I.A.,C.I.D. is an architect and an artist. She is a principal in the firm SALA Architects Inc. She has designed homes and art for public spaces throughout the United States. Her recent book, Welcoming Home, focuses on the relationship between our homes, our bodies, and our spirits. Her architecture and artwork have been featured on PBS and HGTV, and published in books including The Not So Big House and The New Family Home, and magazines such as Fine Homebuilding, Life Magazine, Cottage Living, and American Craft. Visit www.salaarc.com, and www.pegasusstudioinc.com.

What overall idea or message do you want to offer to those who participate in “From House to Home”?

Carole Hyder: The overall message of this event, from a Feng Shui standpoint, is to awaken people to the idea that their home has a conscious energy and that they can connect to it. Subscribing to the belief that “everything is energy,” it follows that a created structure would hold energy, as well. I propose that not only is there energy within the walls, but it is also interactive. Many people already reach out to their home by naming it, writing to it, being aware of its presence, but often miss the possibilities of their home acknowledging and responding to their efforts in a reciprocal way.

My recent book Conversations with Your Home addresses ways to have a conversation with your home, as well as ways to identify their home’s unique character. By opening up to these possibilities, anyone can access inspiration, guidance and support coming from the place called “home.”

Margaret Lulic: As a consulting philosopher I see that a home, as opposed to a house, invites an I-Thou relationship, rather than an I-It relationship. Then you experience your home as a companion and mirror of you spirit, and that inspires all aspects of your life and sense of meaning. I-Thou moves the relationship into the sacred and has a mutuality about it. I-It sees the other, in this case a house, as only a tool to be used for my end goals.

Dr. Bill Manahan: Our homes are the places most of us spend a majority of our time. It is wise for us to be consciously aware that we can have a relationship with our homes that creates feelings of well-being, and that those feelings can affect our health. Most of us are aware that having a good relationship with friends, family and our job can affect our health. I believe that it is similar with our homes — whether that place is an apartment, a house or a dormitory room.

We now live in a complex and interrelated world. I believe it is important that we move toward and put more emphasis on having a world of more collaboration and partnership, rather than one of competition and individual achievement. This workshop is a model — an example — of how people from four different disciplines can work together in a collaborative model. We are attempting to integrate our individual knowledge and expertise to help people move beyond the idea that a house and a home are the same thing.

Michaela Mahady: Some homes seem to reach out to us, almost to speak to us. Once inside, they exude a sense of welcome, comfort and security. A home like that has an actual persona. It can draw you to it just like a very good friend would. That kind of house that not only provides functional shelter, but it evokes an emotional response. I hope that participants in the course will be able to identify the kinds of homes, architectural forms and spatial relationships that speak to them.

How has focusing on your own relationship with home transformed your life?

Carole Hyder: Every year on New Year’s Day, we write a formal letter to our home outlining what our plans are for the upcoming year — not just plans affecting the house (like a remodel somewhere, painting something, fixing something), but also plans about our travels, work and financials. Including our home in these dreams feels like we’re including a close personal friend whose validation seems important.

Whenever I walk in my front door, I experience gratitude — mine, for living in such a wonderful place, and my home’s, for being glad to see me. I also love getting advice about physical placement — where to hang a picture, where to put a misplaced chair, etc. I asked for a lot of advice about where I should write my new book, as well as guidance about its content.

Margaret Lulic: Two major examples come to mind. In 2008, I had a sudden very severe onset of rheumatoid arthritis. I was in great pain and very disabled — couldn’t dress myself, cook, work, drive or even open the front door. My home helped me heal as I spent many hours alone with her while my family was at work and school. She was soothing to my spirits, peaceful, encouraging, and kept my vision alive as to who I really could return to being. I learned to work with her in new ways to take care of myself. My rheumatologist can’t believe my recovery. He says the medications alone could not have gotten me to where I am now.

My home was a great co-parent for our child. My husband and I created rites of passages with our home for the development and growth of our daughter. That led to her getting into the school of her choice. We used our home to teach responsibility and to help our daughter see her power to create her dreams. We were very touched when she and her fiancée wanted to get married in our backyard, because that was more meaningful than anywhere else.

Dr. Bill Manahan: I might be exaggerating, but I think making changes in my home has improved my ability to concentrate when I am reading or working in my home. The other thing is that just being conscious that my home — my living space — has a personality that reflects who I am helps me be more aware of who I am. I think that kind of self-awareness is a really good and important thing for me.

Michaela Mahady: My family and I live in a lovely old Craftsman-style foursquare in Stillwater. We spent over a year looking for a home there, and every time we drove down a particular street, we would exclaim about how beautiful a certain home on it was…it was a home that clearly spoke to us. In retrospect, maybe it was looking for us, too! Unbelievably, the house became available for sale, and we’ve lived there now for 15 years. Every time I turn into the driveway, the house brings a smile to my face.

What practical things can we do in our daily life to enhance our relationship with our home, and why are these steps vital?

Carole Hyder: One powerful way is to give it a name. Whenever I suggest this idea, I’m surprised by how many people tell me they’ve already named their home and find it a wonderfully personal way to connect.

Another more touching way to connect and enhance your relationship is to write a thank-you note to your home. We overlook how important they are in our lives, so a simple thank you can open up a channel of reciprocal gratitude — from you to your home and from your home to you.

Margaret Lulic: As Carole said, a simple starting point is to go through a naming exercise with your home. Names carry meaning and shift the relationship. Then you can use various approaches to “communicate” with your companion. Carole describes many ways to do that.

Second, curl up and stay home more. Churchill said, “We shape our buildings; thereafter, they shape us.” Our homes have the ability to heal us, but we need to spend time in them.

Third, self-awareness is critical to personal and spiritual growth, and your home can be a mirror to you of who you are or aspire to be. So take the time to look through the eyes of the home — as if you are a stranger to the home — and see new insights. Ask yourself new questions like, “What does it mean that I don’t live in my living room or dine in my dining room? Is there an aspect of myself that I don’t live in? What does it mean that my family room is mainly an electronics center focused on the television? What is my home longing to tell me?”

Fourth, conscious creation of the beliefs and energy of your home are absorbed by you, your family, and even the neighborhood; your home becomes a lever for personal and global impact affecting health, peace and well-being. What are you putting into global consciousness?

Dr. Bill Manahan: One thing is to attend this workshop and become more aware of how your house can become your friend. Your house can become a reflection back to you of your values, your goals, and of what is going on with you in your life — both consciously and unconsciously.  Being a pretty typical male, the words that I just wrote would have made no sense to me at a younger age. I believed that a house was just a place to contain my body while it (my body) ate, slept, played with the kids and enjoyed a relationship with my wife. My house was a container in which to live my life.

I now believe that idea is quite limited and basically not very conscious. There is a spirit and a heart within our homes that can create good energy and well-being that I now believe affect our physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Michaela Mahady: The patterns of one’s daily life and experience, both past and the present, can reveal what kinds of environments each of us prefers. Ask yourself, “What places in your current home do you most use and enjoy?” Try to figure out why. If you love being in your formal dining room because it’s heavenly sunny, don’t just entertain there. Try to mold it into a place that you can enjoy every day. Surround yourself with favorite objects, listen to your favorite music. Use the table for writing, drawing, making stuff, or paying bills…or push the table to one side, so you can dance there!

From the Editor

Decades from now, textbooks describe the early 21st century as a time of unparalleled earth changes, widespread collapse of global financial markets, as well as incredible technological innovations in social networking and medical science. The texts inform students that there were mass casualties due to war and natural disaster, and topics of the day ranged from terrorism to safe food and drinking water.

But teachers, knowing full well that history books only tell part of the story, turn to the oracles, the intuitives, to relay the true history of our time. They tap into the consciousness of the past and translate it for the present moment.

One such intuitive, dressed in a black bodysuit, touches the oracle disc in front of her, and she begins speaking, in a hushed tone, with eyes closed:

“I touch upon 2011, fifty years past, and reflect this from that time. Incredible change and hardship faces this woman. Loss of job. Home flooded two years prior. Two children to support. She is applying for work via the global network. Now she is sitting still, in meditation. She opens her eyes and picks up a cellular phone. She speaks with her sister, saying this:

‘Sis, I know times are tough. Half of the homes on my block are in foreclosure. But I know things will work out. What I received in meditation is that the less we resist, the easier things will be. We need to be like the water in the stream and flow. Flow is the way forward. Yes, I know it’s a tough challenge for you. I know that few companies are hiring. But do not fear. Be present. Look at what you need to do now, do it, and move forward. Do not dwell on what’s not working. Just flow like the wind in the trees. Be alert for opportunity. Breathe and relax into the flow. Spend time in stillness, and silence the mind. We were not given this opportunity without the ability to achieve our soul’s purpose.’”

The oracle opens her eyes, turns and walks out of the room toward a different class down the hall. The teacher smiles to the class, arms outstretched, pleased that the oracle was able to share such wisdom.

One student, bored, watches clouds float by overhead, moving over the translucent ceiling. Other students squirm in their chairs, whispering that they learned about meditation and the stillness when they were babies.

The teacher senses the sentiment and reminds her students that knowing about meditation, about sitting in the silence, is one thing. Applying it to your life, when you face the most difficult of circumstances, is something else entirely.

“It is only when we are truly tested that we grasp the wisdom of our souls,” she said. “May you have the courage to be still when your fears tell you to run.”

An Edge interview with Paulette Hastings of Neuro Strength

The idea was intriguing — balancing your brain to the way it was intended to operate. I envisioned a bank of computers where clients rearranged rectangular blocks on the screen or memorized lists from quickly flashing images or tried to remember where letters were hidden out of sight. I thought it was about exercising the brain to make it work better — but I was wrong.

After noted Twin Cities psychic Echo Bodine told me about how Brainwave Optimization had helped her achieve an incredibly invigorating sense of balance again following a mild stroke she had suffered a few years ago, I visited the Neuro Strength offices in Bloomington. What I learned was that a technology has been developed during the past 10 years that not only identifies brainwave imbalances in your brain, but restores optimum brain function through the power of sound.

Paulette Hastings, owner of Neuro Strength, calls it “brain training.” It is based on technology developed by Brain State Technologies in Scottsdale, AZ. The software measures the optimal brainwave levels produced in each lobe of your brain, translates those levels into soundwaves, and then it transfers that optimal soundscape — in real time, as your brain is creating the patterns — back to the brain via headphones with the certainty that your brain will make the optimal pattern it is hearing the dominant pattern in what it is creating. Through hours of repeated sessions in less than two weeks, the intention is that this optimal brainwave level will become how your brain will now operate.

With more than 140 offices internationally, Brain State Technologies has amassed a database of more than 30,000 brainwave assessments — considered the largest database of brainwave readings in the world — and it continually studies how to further refine and perfect its technology to help more people achieve greater harmony in their lives.

I recently spoke with Mrs. Hastings at the offices of Neuro Strength, which has served the Twin Cities for the past three and a half years.

Most of us don’t really think about how our brains operate. What are the signs that our brains are out of balance?
Paulette Hastings: Those signs can come in many different forms. It’s often physical things: “I can’t sleep well” or “I’m feeling too much physical pain.” It also can be emotional: “Whenever I come up to a certain situation, I immediately freeze up and I can’t move beyond that place.”

People come to Neuro Strength for a number of reasons. The largest number of people come to us because they’re depressed and they’re unhappy with what they’re experiencing at this time. Sleep difficulties also are a big reason people come to us for help. And more and more we’re seeing people come for help with addiction, whether it’s a behavior addiction like gambling or a substance addiction. Sugar also is a big addiction for many people.

We know the brain can become imbalanced when it experiences a trauma, whether it is a real trauma or a perceived one. People don’t consider a bump on the head, if it’s not a significant bump, to be an issue, but we know, in fact, that it can have a big difference on how effectively the brain works. Even if you stand up and bump your head on the cupboard. It seems like a minor thing, but it definitely has an effect on the brain.

So it can be physical bumps like that, or car accidents, but it also can be perceived traumas. You felt that you were threatened in some way — or perhaps you are being threatened by somebody or some thing. Those kinds of traumas can cause certain patterns to form in your brain. They are important patterns, because they help you survive whatever the incident is, but they don’t necessarily need to stay there forever, once you are out of that situation.

That’s when the imbalance can come into play.

At first glance, it would seem like you only help people who have had actual injuries to the brain, but you are looking at the total effectiveness of our brains in our everyday lives.
PH: Absolutely. We do help people who have had specific head injuries, but the vast majority of those who come here have not had those types of injuries.

Can you compare what you do with brain function to the process of defragmenting computers that become clogged down with old, outdated information and data that is no longer needed?
PH: That’s an interesting way to put it. I haven’t actually thought of it that way. Yes, when those patterns that develop as a result of some kind of trauma and an imbalance forms, those patterns continue to stay dominant until they are told they no longer need to remain dominant any more.

An example of how those patterns can be changed can be seen in an example of somebody who has had a stroke. We know that if they are having difficulty walking, physical therapy or occupational therapy can help them to override those patterns that are in the brain. Our brains have an amazing memory, and we don’t actually ever lose any patterns that develop. What’s important are the patterns that are dominant and which ones are not, as far as how we respond to things.

So it’s not a question of getting rid of old data that our brains no longer need, but making those old patterns less accessible.

During a stroke, there is a loss of blood to an area of the brain. What is happening during brain training in terms of re-accessing those areas of the brain that have been temporarily lost?
PH: What we allow the brain to do is to see itself through sound. What we do is place sensors on the scalp to measure the brainwaves in specific lobes of the brain. And when we replay a person’s brainwaves as soundwaves to them, we’re really replaying just the optimal ones that they’re creating. So we’re not sending them the tones that are very out of balance. It’s likely that at that location, wherever that stroke took place, what’s happening on the left side of the brain is very different than what’s happening on the right side of the brain, because of the injury that took place. When we create an opportunity for them to hear, or observe, themselves, the brain chooses to create more of that positive, optimal pattern.

For an individual, they may not always regain fully what they had, because there may be too much injury in that location, but the brain may, in fact, make alternative routes. We may never see the perfect balance on the computer screen, because their brain has moved to a different area, essentially, to do a work-around.

What you were describing was the Brainwave Optimization process. Please go back a bit and describe what exactly you do for people.
PH: Our goal here is to promote balance and harmony in the brain. We’re not here to heal or treat or diagnose anyone. We look at the energy that the brain produces. The foundational theory we use is based in quantum physics: Once something can be observed, it changes. In the same way, we look in a mirror and see that our collar needs to be adjusted. We make that observation and we adjust our collar. That’s the same theory as what happens in the brain.

We use an equivalent of EEG equipment, so we use electrodes and we call them sensors. With those sensors, we record the brainwave activity that’s happening in a moment of time. We take only the optimal brainwaves and translate those into soundwaves. We feed those back to a person as tones heard through earphones. It happens in less than a second of turnaround, so in real time the brain can observe that.

There appears to be a recognition by the brain of where these sounds are being produced, and it wants to create more of those optimal sounds. The brain has a sense, or a wisdom, that those are positive for it. We don’t force the brain to do anything. We simply allow it to observe itself. And the brain chooses to make whatever changes it’s going to make.

None of us is given an operator’s manual for peak efficiency of our body and how to use it. Are there any natural ways in which the brain achieves this optimal level without the need for intervention?
PH: The best way to do that is through meditation and taking time to be quiet. Unfortunately in our society, we don’t always take that time and do it every day and be faithful about it. A sense of stillness and quiet reflection can do the same thing. It will take much longer with meditation — and I don’t say that as a negative in any way. We know that master meditators who have been doing this for 40 or 50 years can achieve a great sense of calm and balance.

One of the early things that Lee Gerdes, who developed this technology, did was look at the brains of two Tibetan monks. He felt, “That’s probably what a content brain looks like.” We have had more than 30,000 people use the technology, and he continues to look at brain patterning.

What does everyone need to know about their brains, but do not?
PH: That you have to take really good care of your brain. That’s something we really don’t think about. There are obvious things like wearing a helmet when playing sports and wearing a seatbelt in the car, just to be protective physically of your head. There also are some simple things, nutritionally, that you can do to help. One is to keep yourself really well hydrated. Your brain has a high percentage of water, so that is important. Protein, or amino acids, are a good thing for your brain. Also make sure you include Omega 3 in your diet, either as a supplement or through food naturally (kale, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, the oily fish like salmon and mackerel).

What role does sleep play in the fitness of the brain?
PH: It’s a huge factor. Poor sleep impacts every aspect of our life. When people come to us with improving their sleep as one of their primary goals, we have a protocol to use that has been quite successful in helping people fall asleep more easily, to not wake up during the night, or if they do wake up, they can get back to sleep more easily and feel rested when they wake up.

When we don’t get enough sleep, sometimes we start to produce the stress hormone, cortisol, in the brain. That puts an additional stressor on the brain, as well as the body, in terms of being able to focus well. When you have higher levels of cortisol, it becomes a circle: you become stressed more quickly and, as opposed to the calm of meditation, you stay in more of a stressed environment in your brain.

What daily practices can our readers do to improve the fitness of their brains?
PH: We’ve talked about good nutrition. People may not want to hear it, but avoiding alcohol is a really good thing to do. Exercise is important, to continue to deliver good oxygen to the brain. Meditation and enough sleep also are important to mention.

• Athletes improve focus, concentration, clarity of thought, reaction times and dexterity.
• Artists, musicians, writers and executives create new neural networks that can open up discoveries, creativity and positive energy.
• Children labeled as “learning disabled” find that they are learning-abled, understanding their own brain strengths and opening up pathways for learning, achievement and success.
• Teenagers, overwhelmed by constant stimuli and often diagnosed as ADD or ADHD, find that they can learn to focus, discipline their thinking, conserve their energy and experience greater clarity, joy and confidence.
• Addicts, driven by impulse and habit instead of logic and intent, are released from the tyranny of their “drug of choice.”
• Insomniacs and those who suffer from headaches and pain find themselves restored.
• Women, stressed out and run down by relentless responsibilities, find new energy, beauty and passion for life, children, partner and play.
• Soldiers find that they can come home again. Restoring balance and harmony to the brain eases the transition and erases the warrior instincts that may no longer serve them well.
• Those who may have suffered both physical and emotional traumas find that disturbances decrease.
• Older persons strengthen their memories, physical energy, calm and clarity of thought.

An Edge interview with Paulette Hastings of Neuro Strength

After noted Twin Cities psychic Echo Bodine told me about how Brainwave Optimization had helped her achieve an incredibly invigorating sense of balance again following a mild stroke she had suffered a few years ago, I visited the Neuro Strength offices in Bloomington. What I learned was that a technology has been developed during the past 10 years that not only identifies brainwave imbalances in your brain, but restores optimum brain function through the power of sound.

Paulette Hastings, owner of Neuro Strength, calls it “brain training.” It is based on technology developed by Brain State Technologies in Scottsdale, AZ. The software measures the optimal brainwave levels produced in each lobe of your brain, translates those levels into soundwaves, and then it transfers that optimal soundscape — in real time, as your brain is creating the patterns — back to the brain via headphones with the certainty that your brain will make the optimal pattern it is hearing the dominant pattern in what it is creating. Through hours of repeated sessions in less than two weeks, the intention is that this optimal brainwave level will become how your brain will now operate.

With more than 140 offices internationally, Brain State Technologies has amassed a database of more than 30,000 brainwave assessments — considered the largest database of brainwave readings in the world — and it continually studies how to further refine and perfect its technology to help more people achieve greater harmony in their lives. Mrs. Hastings works alongside of Alina Janssen at Neuro Strength, which has offered such care for people in the Twin Cities area for the past three and a half years.

I recently spoke with Mrs. Hastings at the offices of Neuro Strength.

Please share the basic information about the Brainwave Optimization process.
Paulette Hastings: Our goal here is to promote balance and harmony in the brain. We’re not here to heal or treat or diagnose anyone. We look at the energy that the brain produces. The foundational theory we use is based in quantum physics: Once something can be observed, it changes. In the same way, we look in a mirror and see that our collar needs to be adjusted. We make that observation and we adjust our collar. That’s the same theory as what happens in the brain.

We use an equivalent of EEG equipment, so we use electrodes and we call them sensors. With those sensors, we record the brainwave activity that’s happening in a moment of time. We take only the optimal brainwaves and translate those into soundwaves. We feed those back to a person as tones heard through earphones. It happens in less than a second of turnaround, so in real time the brain can observe that.

There appears to be a recognition by the brain of where these sounds are being produced, and it wants to create more of those optimal sounds. The brain has a sense, or a wisdom, that those are positive for it. We don’t force the brain to do anything. We simply allow it to observe itself. And the brain chooses to make whatever changes it’s going to make.

How is this different than entrainment?
PH: Entrainment is a process in which a specific set of tones are given to everybody. Everybody hears the same thing.

And the body is affected by the tones and changes as a result of them.
PH: Absolutely. And the tones may create a change in every part of the brain. What we do is make it much more specific. It’s specific to one lobe of the brain, and you only hear the tones that your brain is producing, in that moment. It’s very individualized.

We’re not trying to make every brain look the same. Instead of saying we want 20 Hz (cycles per second) to be produced, we want the ratios to be in a nice balance for your brain. For you, a nice balance might be 14 Hz from left to right. For me, it might be 18.

What if my optimal level is 14 Hz, but you gave me 20. Would that great of a shift be harmful?
PH: Our technology cannot do that, because what we’re sending you is what, in real time, what your brain is producing. Our system can only give you what comes immediately from your own brain.

What if some other system was able to give someone 20 Hz when a person’s optimal level is 14?
PH: That would be entrainment, where you force your brain to go into a specific frequency.

What effect would that have, giving us a higher level of frequency than what we are currently at?
PH: I want to be careful how I answer that, because it is so opposite of what we do here. My sense is that, for some people, they would be OK. They might notice a positive shift or no change. But there may be a large portion of people who would have a negative side-effect from that. I don’t know about all of the products that are out there, but we have had a number of clients who have come to us because they did entrainment CDs and had such negative side-effects that they were no longer able to sleep or their focus got so bad they could not function very well.

I like the idea of working with each person individually. Each brain is unique, so we treat it uniquely.

What is the value of us hearing our optimal level of brainwave activity translated into sound if we are producing that optimal level at this time?
PH: You may be only producing that optimal level a little bit, and there are other patterns that are happening a whole lot more than the optimal level. We are trying to bring that optimal level to a more dominant position, essentially, compared to the ones that are less healthy.

I notice on your website that you recommend a certain number of sessions with the Brainwave Optimization. Is that done to secure that optimal level for the brain?
PH: Exactly. We know that if people have just a single session, they likely will feel the effects from it for two to five days. But those patterns cannot stay dominant without being repeated. In a lot of ways, it’s like when you first learn to ride a bike. They don’t know how to push off their bicycle to stay balanced, but kids will get back on and keep trying over and over again. As a kid, we don’t know that we’re creating new patterns, but that’s what we’re doing. It’s that repetition, every day, multiple times a day, that helps those new patterns to become dominant.

For our purposes here, we suggest that people start with 10 sessions done in a very close proximity of time — ideally two sessions per day for five days in a row. Each session is two hours long. It definitely is a time commitment, and not everyone can manage that, but we encourage people to complete the sessions in a two-week time frame. About half of our clients come for 10 sessions and we don’t see them anymore. They feel like they are at a good place. The other half choose to come back, after taking about a month off, to see how they are doing. They may find that those changes are staying with them, but they are not to a place where they want to be with regard to whatever their goals are, such as having less anxiety or eliminating some cravings.

So after 10 sessions your brain does stay at that optimal level?
PH: Yes, it does stay. Now, is it going to be permanent? Not necessarily. We all continue to live our lives and have stressors and traumas that take place. We know that some people will come back after a year and say, “You know, I’ve had a few things happen and I feel like I need a little boost, a reminder of how my brain was when it was balanced.”

What would a typical visit be like for someone coming to your center?
PH: We always start with a 90-minute assessment. We measure what the energy is like in a person’s brain. We have you sit in a very comfortable chair and place five different sensors in different places on your scalp. We take a look at your brain in different states: one minute with your eyes closed, one with your eyes partially open, and a third minute doing a task related to that part of the brain. By doing that, we can see where the energy of your brain is today and determine where there is balance, and where there is less balance.

Once an individual decides to do sessions, each session lasts for two hours. We encourage them to be in very comfortable clothes and they sit in an anti-gravity chair. During those two hours, they will go through between five and eight different exercises. Each of those exercises is selected based on what we see in the assessment. Some are done with your eyes open and some are done with your eyes closed. You will be asked to do a visualization, a relaxation technique or maybe just a breathing exercise. During the entirety of each session, you wear headphones and hear the immediate translation of your brainwaves into soundwaves.

This is a change that really happens in the subconscious brain, not so much the conscious brain. So when people come here, we encourage them to let go of control and just be a part of the process as it takes place. There’s no way for us to say, “I’m going to create a new pattern now in my brain.” We just don’t know how to do that. About 90 percent of all of our responses in life are happening through an automatic response through our subconscious brain. It makes sense that we allow the subconscious brain to make changes here, as well.

Tell me about the study of military veterans and what you’ve discovered so far.
PH: The study of male veterans is ongoing and we’re still looking for more people to participate. As a general statement, we have done tests before they begin their sessions and immediately after they finish their sessions, one month after they complete their sessions and six months after they complete their sessions. We have not come up to the six-month testing yet.

But what we’re seeing on the Beck Depression Inventory and the PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) checklist that the Army uses is that all of those scores from participants have been decreasing, some pretty significantly by about 60 percent. We’re not suggesting that we diagnose either depression or PTSD, but in working with a psychologist who is involved in this study with us, we’re seeing positive trends as far as those numbers go.

[Note: Any male U.S. military veteran who has been in Iraq or Afghanistan is eligible to receive 12 free Brain Optimization sessions from Neuro Strength for participating in the ongoing study. Contact Paulette Hastings at 952.888.0011.]

What is the most astounding thing you have learned while leading Neuro Strength?
PH: That’s a great question! I would say it’s the amazing resilience and plasticity of the brain. We’ve seen some incredible results with people. It reaffirms my belief in the brain’s ability to make changes. When we have clients who tell us that coming here was a life-changing event, that’s pretty powerful.

Can you give us a case study of someone who has been helped by coming to Neuro Strength?
PH: Absolutely. I want to preface this by saying that what one person thinks is life-changing is not necessarily what someone else would. I’m thinking of a woman who was about 40 and battled depression most of her adult life. She had quit her job and was unsure where she wanted to go. She didn’t like looking in the mirror and didn’t want to get out of bed — all those kinds of things that you have with depression. She came in for 10 sessions. During that period of time, she would make little comments like, “I feel pretty today.” That, for her, was huge.

She also had a lot of anxiety that she dealt with. After she completed those 10 sessions, she took a little bit of a break and opted to do 10 more sessions. At the end of the 20 sessions, she was smiling every day that she came in. She started looking for a job, and about a month later, she found a job with a pre-school — exactly the job she wanted, but she was never ready to say she wanted to do something completely different than what she had done before. She had worked in an office. Her level of happiness was much greater. We had a little email exchange about six months after that, and she said she was continuing to feel really positive.

One of the first people to ever come in made a comment to me, and I thought it was amazing. She said, “I noticed that my peripheral vision has increased. I didn’t realize how I had so much of my energy focused so forward because of my need to survive. I didn’t have enough energy before, so I blocked out everything to the side.”

She said, “I was walking along the sidewalk and I saw something move. I turned my head and realized I am seeing leaves blowing around, and I had not seen them for such a long time.” She was feeling much more safe when driving, because she could see what was happening on the side of her on the road. After three years, I have always remembered that.

What can people expect to experience after sessions?
PH: Probably the biggest changes we would anticipate would be that things that you typically would find irritating, now you let them roll off your shoulders. There is just a greater sense of calm. Changes in sleep are likely: more hours of sleep, and a better quality. Sometimes people experience a lot more dreaming. And the third thing I would say is that people notice that they are a little more present, in the moment, versus looking to rush or make a list for the next thing to do. They notice things around them more.

• Break the learning into small pieces. Four one-hour study sessions are better than one four-hour session.
• Before the sun sets, reinforce what you learned by discussing it, writing about it, doing an assignment related to it.
• Get a good night’s sleep to solidify the memory of what you learned and prepare your brain for more intake the next day.

It was summer, a couple of years ago, when I first heard her story. I listened for hours to the heartbreak and the sadness, of a drug-using, alcoholic father who taught his own children to steal from department stores. The mother whose strictness drove her daughter to tune out in front of the television set, mindlessly eating to feel good about herself. And then, many hours later, I learned about the transformational joy and bliss that has risen like a phoenix out of a highly dysfunctional childhood.

Twin Cities psychic Deborah Lynn11, once an aimless pawn pushed back and forth between two parents who were ill-equipped to parent at all, is now sharing her very personal story of how her devotion to spirituality has helped her to overcome all of that — and much more — in her book Murphy’s Law No More, which will debut at the Twin Cities Psychic Symposium on Feb. 26 at Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center, MN.

“My story is a journey from dysfunction to wellness,” the preface to her book reads. “What I will share with you is one woman’s story, but it also is yours. No matter how hard the challenges in your life seem to be, you can overcome them. And in doing so, you will be a much stronger person.”

I spoke with Deborah Lynn11 about her personal transformation.

Deborah, your early story is one of great family dysfunction. Can you give our readers a taste of what life was like for you as a young girl?
Deborah Lynn11: I was in a world of two different places. My father taught me to be streetwise and do everything I was not supposed to do, and my mom was the opposite. It was a world where I had what I thought was a fun Dad. He was the one I felt I should cozy up to, because he let me do whatever I wanted. In my eyes, Dad was the one who really loved me. He let me play and do the things that he thought were fun.

I thought of my mother as a Hitler, a dictator, and someone who I felt hated me because she was so strict. I was never allowed to go and do anything with my friends. I could never go to movies and do things with the other kids. It was all work, work, work — torture.

What was the result of this young girl who had one parent with very strict guidelines and the other parent with no guidelines? What kind of young adult did it create?
DL: It caused me to run away at a young age, because I was torn. Oh my God, what am I doing here? What do I do? I felt like I had to get away from the situation, because I was going crazy. It caused me to have really dysfunctional habits.

And how did your relationships play out?
DL: I was comfortable with dysfunction.

What was the turning point in your personal transformation?
DL: I was realizing that my bad habits were hurting me and my daughter.

Ultimately, how were you able to extract yourself from the energy of the past and move forward in a new direction?
DL: I totally removed myself from the past. I moved to Minnesota and totally removed myself from all the dysfunction, the unhealthy habits that I had acquired since I was a child. By losing all of my family, I was forced to look at myself. I lost my Dad in 1987 and my Mom and husband in 1993, and then my older sister in 1998. I had no one else to turn to but myself. When you have nobody else in your life, you’re forced to look at yourself. And I realized, “Oh my God, what have I done?” You learn a lot about self-awareness when you are in solitude.

Are tendencies from the past still within you, and if so, what is the secret to not going back and reliving old patterns?
DL: Yes, I do have habits from the past that still plague me. One is food, because food represents my fun, the way that I love myself. The way I avoid those habits is to get out of myself and realize that thinking is dangerous. If you sit around and think about the things you need to do, they won’t get done. Just do what needs to be done. It is important for me to motivate myself to get up and do things.

What role did your intuitive gifts play in finding a new direction?
DL: I’ve always been intrigued by the metaphysical world and what it entailed and how it worked. How did people become psychic? I’ve always had a craving to learn that. The key is to follow your passion, and that’s what I did.

Following my passion was instrumental in helping me move forward, away from the dysfunction I had grown up with. I learned that nothing is by mistake. When I focused on the spiritual world, I realized that everything that I was handed was in perfect order. We come here to planet Earth to learn lessons. Life is about choices. I realized I could choose to live in a world of fear and negativity, or I could choose to live in a world of love and protection. To be in the world and not of it. That involves raising your level of consciousness and realizing that there is love and protection around us at all times, even though we cannot see it. You are never alone.

Why did you choose to write Murphy’s Law No More?
DL: A couple of years ago a psychic told me, “You have an idea for a book.” And I said, “You’re right. I’ve been putting it off.” And he told me I needed to get more serious about writing this book. When I moved from Southern California to Minnesota, I knew I needed to write a book about the perils I had experienced in my life, because by sharing them I could help the world.

Who is your intended audience for Murphy’s Law No More?
DL: This book is for women from the ages of mid-20s on up, especially those who feel persecuted and damned because of what has happened to them in their lives.

What do you hope to leave your readers with when they finish your book?
DL: I want to leave them feeling inspired and uplifted. I want to help them realize that we’re on this planet to learn lessons and that we can choose to live in the spiritual realm while here in these bodies. I want them to know that life is a miracle and that it is important to face your fears.

What was the gift for you in going back into the past so you could share it with us?
DL: I learned how much I have really grown and transformed spiritually. It has been a total metamorphosis.

Would you suggest that our readers do the same, go back and explore the gifts they received in their upbringing?
DL: Yes. It is not an easy process, however. Make sure you have a confidante, someone with whom you can express your fears and pain. Someone who will listen and give you the nurturing that you need. Compassion. It may not be a parent or a sibling, but a friend who loves and supports you.

At the beginning of our talk, you shared what life was like for you as a young girl. Please give us a sense of what it is like for you now.
DL: I’m living life here on Earth, as it is in my heaven, in total peace and tranquility. I’m comfortable with my space. I’m responsible, having removed all of my unhealthy habits — except for the food. I have a beautiful home of my home in Stillwater. I was fated to be here. In moving to Minnesota, and coming over the St. Croix River bridge, I heard a very loud psychic message that said, “Welcome home.” For years I had a yearning within to visit St. Croix in the Virgin Islands. I kept thinking, “I need to go to St. Croix.” I had never realized there also was a St. Croix River.

When I heard the message, “Welcome Home,” booming as I crossed the river, I had a déjà vu experience. I saw myself on the St. Croix River as a Native American Indian, standing up in a canoe fishing with a spear. I knew intuitively that it was me, and that I was, indeed, home.

What do you say to the woman who is impressed with what you’ve done in your life, but she doesn’t see any way out of her situation?
DL: If you keep saying you won’t, then you won’t. Have an open mind that if you really want to do something, you will. When there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s a mindset. It’s the universal law of attraction: “As you think, so shall it be.”

Because you are a psychic, I must ask, do your guides have any specific messages to our readers right now?
DL: The “11″ in 2011 is about balancing. The scales are balancing and the world is rejuvenating. We’re going back to the land of plenty. Toss all fear aside.

Finally, what message do you want to leave our readers with, pertaining to your new book, Murphy’s Law No More?
DL: Don’t judge yourself so harshly. We’re all human. We all make mistakes. Forgive yourself. Learn that the more you forgive yourself for your mistakes, the closer you are to the Light, to God. The more you can really love yourself, the closer you are to God.

First of a two-part interview with spiritual teacher Lynn Woodland

Since 2006, with the publication and broadcast of The Secret, much attention has been paid to the universal Law of Attraction, which suggests that we can have our heart’s desires if we put our attention on them. But Lynn Woodland — award-winning author, international teacher, and human potential expert with a 35-year career in transpersonal psychology, human motivation, and mind-body psychology — says there is more to manifestation than affirmations or envisioning can ever bring forth. Much more.

In her new book, Holding a Butterfly: An Experiment in Miracle Making, which will be released in mid-January, she writes: “Popular movies like What the Bleep Do We Know?! and The Secret make ‘the Law of Attraction’ look like an easy way to have everything we want. And it really is that easy…except, of course, when it’s not, when no amount of affirmations or visualization techniques will budge life circumstances that feel hopelessly out of our control.”

In an interview I conducted with Lynn from her home in Minneapolis, she offered a glimpse into a process of miracle making that on the surface seemed downright complex — and paradoxically, as simple as letting go.

How do you define “miracle?”
Lynn Woodland: A miracle, as I define it, is an event born in unconditional love. It really is rooted in love. It has a win-win outcome. It is where things just unfold through serendipity rather than through effort, and they also have a way of just stretching our imagination open to what is possible.

A Course in Miracles defines miracles as a shift in perspective, from fear to love, and I totally buy into that. In my way of looking at miracles, they give rise to incredible events and outcomes, but they really are about that shift in consciousness. That’s what differentiates miracle making from simply practicing manifesting techniques that are about using intention and a focus in a specific way to call forth an outcome.

Manifesting techniques work some of the time for some of the people. They tend not to work consistently, and they often work with some kinks in them. A funny story: I knew a woman many years ago who started practicing an affirmation of, “My next boyfriend is rich, my next boyfriend is rich, my next boyfriend is rich!” She would just write it and say it, and it did really produce immediate results. She attracted a new relationship. The man was not wealthy, but he was named Rich. It worked like a charm.

Manifesting techniques often are just the product of the limitations of our personality and what we can imagine for ourselves, and they often draw from some of the subconscious doubts and limitations and hidden agendas that we might not be very conscious of.

Miracles are when we really let go of “I want what I want and I want it now!” and have this direct experience of love, of God energy, and then things just start to unfold in the way that is maybe what we wanted, but maybe just something really better.

Why do you call this an experiment?
LW: Because the whole book is set up to draw readers into a here-and-now immediate experiment. I base everything in the new science that explains some of the spiritual principles that have been taught in metaphysics 101 throughout the decades. These principles now are starting to be validated by science. I offer some of the science underlying the principles, and then I invite readers to imagine that we can bend time, we can bend space — and truly we can. A lot of research underlies that now. We actually can join in consciousness with every other reader, which has a very amplifying effect.

A lot of current teachings are out of date. I think they came out of the 1980s, which was an era that was very much about the “me consciousness.”

What are some of those teachings that are out of date?
LW: The idea of sitting down with your copy of The Secret and making your vision board and going into your own room and practicing your own techniques so you can get what you want. In the 1980s a lot of these techniques were introduced in a popularized way, and I think they were colored by the era, which was about, “If we’re clever enough, we can have anything.” It was very chic to have it all and to be a little cut above the herd.

Now, in these times, we are seeing a collapse of that way of looking at life, and we’re finding out that good has to come through “we consciousness.” During the day as I listen to news radio, I hear so many commentators use the phrase, “We’re all in the same boat.” There’s something very important about recognizing that in order to find prosperity now, we need to do it together. The experiment I set up in the book helps us to experience joined consciousness here and now, even with people we don’t even know.

There is a quote in your book to the effect that there is only one mind. Is that part of what you’re tapping into?
LW: Yes, because with it there’s such an amplified effect. I have been working with this amplification in my experiential group work during the past 35 years, and I have found that when people get together and join in this place of unconditional caring for one another, it takes them places that they couldn’t go alone. It is more effective than individual counseling, which I used to do way back when.

What I do in this book is a step beyond that, because I set out the premise that we can join not just in the here and now with a group of people, but we can join others across time and space. Someone who may be reading my book next year may have already sent love to you, just as we are sending love forward to others in time and space.

There’s something kind of mind-boggling in it all that makes us wonder, well, what are the limits? So, I set it up really as an experiment, because I’m not sure what the outcomes are going to be. I don’t think we’ve quite tapped into who we can be yet.

We hear about healing miracles and miracle recoveries from disasters, but would you say that we are all creating small miracles every day in our lives without being consciously aware of it?
LW: If you go to A Course in Miracles definition, that a miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love, I think anytime we forget anything but this instant and the experience of love, we are in a miracle. Maybe something just comes together easily for us that we expected to be difficult. Maybe something shows up that just seems just very serendipitous and coincidental in a wonderful way. Maybe we don’t even connect it to that instant of love.

I think the instant is the miracle — and we do experience those frequently. And when the miracle happens, it results in a ripple effect on the physical world around us, whether we recognize the connection or not.

What can our readers do to open them up to the miracle process?
LW: A lot of people are focused on prosperity: “I want it, I want it, I want it, I want my prosperity now. I don’t have it. I want it, I want it!” What I see as being the key to opening up not just our individual prosperity, but our collective prosperity, is to really look at our connections to other people.

When we go into scarcity, we tend to isolate ourselves and freeze up. We disconnect. We might feel ashamed. And yet, I feel that we have collectively manifested the experience of scarcity to learn how to be interdependent.

So my tip — to support your own prosperity and well-being and to help the whole collective experience of the world around you kind of rise out of it — is to look at how you personally may have contributed to the whole “me consciousness” thing that was our downfall. This is not as obvious as you might think, because sometimes it’s simply about being caught up in our own scarcity that we don’t reach out to our neighbor, or we’re not there to support somebody else, or we don’t reach out for help.

Give a lot of attention to questions like, “Who is there for you?” If there is not anyone, start cultivating those networks. “Who are you there for?” Who are you really there for if somebody came upon hard times? How can you give more energy and attention to your own personal support network?

Those aren’t just the things that are going to make us feel warm and fuzzy, they are literally like the fly turning around 180 degrees and finding the open door. They are going to open those kinds of doors for us.

Continued in Part 2….

Last of a two-part interview with spiritual teacher Lynn Woodland

Lynn Woodland, an award-winning author, international teacher, and human potential expert with a 35-year career in transpersonal psychology, human motivation, and mind-body psychology — says there is more to manifestation than affirmations or envisioning can ever bring forth. Much more. In her new book, Holding a Butterfly: An Experiment in Miracle Making, which will be released in mid-January, she writes:

“Popular movies like What the Bleep Do We Know?! and The Secret make ‘the Law of Attraction’ look like an easy way to have everything we want. And it really is that easy…except, of course, when it’s not, when no amount of affirmations or visualization techniques will budge life circumstances that feel hopelessly out of our control.”

In an interview I conducted with Lynn from her home in Minneapolis, she offered a glimpse into a process of miracle making that on the surface seemed downright complex — and paradoxically, as simple as letting go.

What inspired you to write this book?
Lynn Woodland: (Laughs) The real story? My work tends to be very sprawling. I tend to look at the big picture and see how everything’s connected, and my first book was about everything.

Books about everything are hard to sell and hard to get out there. One day I was listening to an acquaintance of mine, Pat Samples, on the radio talk about her latest book. She just cranks out one after another. She is great at writing little books on a particular subject. I happened to be in the shower with the radio playing and I was thinking, “Okay, God, give me my little subject. What is it? What is it?”

And it was almost like God said, “Duh, stupid, it’s miracles.”

I thought, “Oh, you’re right, of course!”

That has been a real focus of my work, forever. My expertise is in how to create an immediate experience. I am a group person, and I wondered how I could share such an immediate experience that I create in groups and put it into words. That’s what I set out to do. It was so much fun writing this book. I just had the greatest of times.

Holding a Butterfly is filled with experiential practices and meditations that seemingly take readers to a different place than when they first picked up the book. Is that what  you were trying to create?
LW: Yes. It starts small with a combination of exercises that give people something to practice as they go about their day. There also are experiments that bring all readers together with all other readers across time and space to create something here and now. The excitement grows during the course of the book, because we build toward bigger and bigger experiences, touching upon things like instantaneous, spontaneous healing, how to manifest our heart’s desires, and how we can step into the role of miracle maker and have a miraculous effect on the world.

You write that calling forth a miracle is a bit like coaxing some beautiful, wild things out of the woods. When told that you can create a miracle, some people may say, “Well, where do I begin?” They may try to do it and then they wonder, “What am I doing wrong, because it’s not manifesting for me?” And then they begin to doubt whether or not they are blocking the process or don’t believe in it enough. What is your advice for somebody who is just starting out in this whole process?
LW: Don’t take it so seriously. Play with it. The whole metaphor of holding a butterfly is one that I use to describe the perfect state for manifesting.

Just imagine that you are in this beautiful garden. You are outside. It is a perfect day. A little butterfly lights in your hand, and suddenly you are totally present. You are not straining or trying. You are in a state of wonder. And you’re still. The past and future are gone. When it flies away, you let it go, but it leaves you full probably for the rest of your day, like, “Wow! That was magical!”

That’s what manifesting is truly about. It’s not trying to focus, like “Okay, I’m going to visualize this until I get a headache,” or “I’m going to write my affirmations until I get carpal tunnel syndrome. If I do it enough it will happen.” That’s when it doesn’t work.

I wrote this book because I feel like the real secret is even left out of books like The Secret. This whole process is a non-linear, paradoxical process. To really master these spiritual laws, we have to be willing to do this big journey into our Selves, which can be a lot of work. It means looking at the payoffs of stepping into our true power, which we don’t usually look at.

We think, “Well, I want my power, I want my stuff, I want it right now!” We don’t think about how having it now will change us. The more we engage, and embark upon this journey of self, the more the manifestations just happen easily — but suddenly they become less important. It’s no longer about aiming just for the result, the result, the result — “I just want what I want.”

Somebody wrote to me not long ago saying, “I did my vision board and I got the little stuff. Now, how do I make the big stuff show up?” And that’s really typical. People can have these incredible results instantly, and yet they will still come away feeling, “Well, how do I change the overall quality of my life to match this result?”

That’s more about what I touch upon in this book. How can we have miraculous lives. Where I go in the book breaks the standard rules around affirmation work and Law of Attraction teachings, because you don’t have to believe. You just have to be able to imagine. You don’t even have to focus only on the positive. I have seen people manifest incredible results by just dreaming about what is too impossible to manifest, essentially tricking themselves to get out of the way just for an instant so that something can manifest.

Pure intention, that pure vision, can just — Boom! — show up in front of them when they have given up the attachment to having it. They are telling themselves, “Oh, this is too impossible, I can’t have this,” but they are envisioning it anyway, and they’re dreaming it, and then it shows up, sometimes instantly.

You say that imagining our heart’s desire is not all that is needed, but we also need to surrender and let go. What are we surrendering and how do we know we’ve let it go?
LW: It’s when we are enjoying life in the moment and not waiting for something to happen in order to feel at peace, to feel joy, to feel content.

So living in the present moment is part of the whole process.
LW: Yes. We hear this so much, with books about The Power of Now and living in the present, but it is way easier said than done. This is where the paradox upon paradox happens. We start out because we want something we don’t have, and then we have to somehow not think, but really know and experience that the path to that is in being full right now.

To achieve your heart’s desire, you have to let go of your desires?
LW: It’s important to let go of the attachment to the results. We can hold the excitement, because excitement is rooted in love. That’s a very expansive energy. But the moment when that excitement turns into attachment is when it turns into fear, which is very contracting and tends to even repel what we want. Attachment is when we stop being present, when we’re focused on the outcome — and we’ve pinned our happiness on getting that outcome.

In a sense, we are micromanaging God. We’re saying, “Okay, God, this and only this will do, and it has to be this way.” And we’re really focused and controlling the process. The surrender piece is about letting go of our small, egoic self’s idea that we can possibly control God.

I like the story you share in the book about the housefly trapped by the screen.
LW: I share that from another author, Price Pritchett, who wrote about watching a housefly bash itself to death trying to get out of the screen window. All of its little housefly senses told it that straight ahead through the screen was where outside was, so it kept bashing, bashing. The harder it exerted, the more it bashed itself nearly to death. We often go about life that way. We get really focused on the linear route.

But what we can’t see, as the housefly could have, is that if we turn 180 degrees around in the direction that doesn’t make any sense at all, we could just fly easily out through an open door. Sometimes that’s how our personality’s perceptions limit us.

Let’s talk a little bit about the idea that we create our own reality. That is not a new idea, but oftentimes people reject that idea because they look at turmoil and crisis in their lives and they say, “Well, I must have created this for myself, too, so in some respect I am a bad person or I’m not really the person I thought I was because all this bad stuff is happening.”
LW: This idea that we create our reality is one that has been horribly abused — just wretchedly abused — and I don’t recommend it for everyone. It is never a perspective that we can impose on somebody else.

I knew someone who actually did this to his friend who was about to get surgery for a brain tumor. On the eve of surgery, he said, “Have you considered what you did to create your brain tumor? Have you taken responsibility for it?” That friendship was over.

It’s not something we can ever impose on someone else. It’s damaging even to use it for our own information, unless we strip out all of the blame and shame that comes with it, looking at it as information rather than, “Oh, my God, if I breathed every breath right, and thought every thought right, and ate every food right, I would never have a bad day.” That’s not how it works.

There is also an element of paradox here, because it’s totally true that sometimes we are victims of circumstances beyond our control. We can look at life from one perspective that is totally true and, at the same time, quantum science tells us that there can be multiple realities that seem mutually exclusive, yet co-exist. This coffee table looks solid from this perspective, yet from a different perspective, at the energetic level, it’s something totally different.

We can look at everything out there as a reflection of something emanating from us, and that’s not something we’re doing wrong. It might be an expectation of life that we were taught as children early on. We can explore those perspectives and consider, “Well, this is something I want to keep,” and it can help us unearth some of those hidden agendas that often just stay very stubbornly unconscious.

Also, there is this really sticky, icky, part of creating our own reality that even the best of us don’t want to venture into, which is that if we truly give up the notion that we are ever victims, then we lose all of our excuses. We can’t just say, “I’m sorry, I’m late because of traffic,” or “I couldn’t because of this or that.” We may not realize what part of us is participating in creating the experience, but it’s a very interesting journey to look at things from that perspective.

Once when I was part of an organization, a group of us were on our way to a board meeting and none of us wanted to go. We all ended up being late. We talked about what we would say before we got there,”Okay, here’s our excuse, we just kind of had to finish this.” But I actually went into the meeting and said, “You know, I’m late because some part of me just did not want to show up here,” and it started a really interesting dialogue in that meeting.

To become truly masterful with spiritual principles, we have to be impeccable at that level — and not everyone wants to go there. Not everyone is quite ready to go there, because if we can’t give up the whole notion of blame and shame, we will victimize ourselves and perhaps our friends as well, by using this as a way to bludgeon ourselves and other people.

When you describe in your book the idea of “Our Power Together,” that seems akin to the whole idea of the power of prayer, “When two or more are gathered….” Is prayer a way that we manifest miracles for ourselves and each other?
LW: Oh, absolutely! I think of prayer as communication with God, communication with that something greater. It can be about listening, and it can be about putting out our request. The more we are in conversation with God, the more we open that pathway between the small perception of our personality and the greater intelligence that is all that is.

Ultimately, I see prayer as making itself obsolete, because what begins with communication ends in communion, where we recognize, “Oh, there is no separation!” That we are God.

Some people suggest that our unseen guides and angels play a role in the prayer process. Do you think that takes place, and does it apply even if you don’t believe in the process or believe in God at all?
LW: I personally believe that we are never alone. It seems presumptuous of us to assume that the physical beings that we can see are the only ones that exist. I think that we are always being helped. I believe that those non-physical beings are very respectful and they will not intrude into where we’re not ready to go or not ready to receive. The more we ask and say, “Yes, I’m available for help,” the more we get it.

I keep thinking back to something my mom started me on — the whole idea of asking your guides for a parking spot. It seems as if I’ve been doing it forever, and now it happens instantaneously.
LW: That’s funny, I was just going to share that example. I often tell people, “Just start with something little like that.”

It really does work.
LW: Sometimes I hear people say that they don’t want to impose on God with the little stuff, and that personalizes God in a way that I think is limited. God will show up however we expect it to. The more we ask for those little things, the more we have faith that God is there when it’s time to ask for the big things.

Instead of asking from a place of desperation, which doesn’t work any better with God than it does with our friends, offer your faith, trust and certainty that everything is all right by cultivating that within. Offer that as an inner experience and then really let go and trust that whatever evolves is a piece of our prayer being offered.

Is what you are sharing with us an awakening to the workings of consciousness or is it part of the evolution of consciousness?
LW: I believe that consciousness is evolving, so I would say the latter. I’ve been leading groups for close to 40 years and have noticed that just in my own personal experience that people are coming to groups for different reasons. First it was to heal something and to learn something. Then people came and they realized, “Oh, there is community here.” And now I think people are beginning to realize that we just have more power when we come together. It’s just easier to come together with a group and change ourselves and the world and to call in the things we want in life.

I think things like the internet are just such amazing physical manifestations of what’s happening in more of an etheric consciousness way, that we are just way more connected than we know.

It seems as if our interconnectedness is taking a quantum leap. The internet was created, then AOL chat was created, Facebook was created, Twitter was created, and now exponentially more and more things that are connecting us, such as Skype and iPad applications. We seem to be making an exponential leap right now.
LW: And that’s why, even though some of the premises I’ve put out in my book seem really far-fetched — even with the validity of science to all of them — the next natural step that is going to start feeling commonplace in maybe three more decades or so is that we can connect consciousness without using the machinery.

Without the technology.
LW: Yeah.

One of my final thoughts in looking through your book was that this process you share is bigger than just making miracles. It’s a primer for self-awakening and stepping into your personal power, becoming the spiritual being that you truly are.
LW: The last chapter of the book is about the ultimate “big step” into self-awakening. There is something kind of scary about that. Not everybody has to go there, because there is something about that that put us on the fast track. Things fall apart that are not serving us anymore. I’ve seen this happen in my workshops when people start with just the intention of, “I want a whole new life,” and suddenly they get fired from their job, their relationship falls apart, and you name it. For that person, it just feels like, “I went for a better life and everything is just falling to shit! I don’t believe in all this crap anymore.” A year later, you’ll just see everything has been rebuilt.

The old has to fall away so the new can come in.
LW: New and unenvisioned way. A funny story involves a guy who started out with an intention, a healing focus, in an event I did. He wanted to heal the plantar wart on his foot. And then I gave the instruction, “Think of something bigger.”

“Okay, I want a better relationship with Kathy.”

Immediately the plantar wart disappeared and the healing circle is gone. His relationship with Kathy fell apart, and they got divorced. He was talking about it like several years later in another group circle about how spontaneously he healed that plantar wart. What did he take from that experience? “Well, I should have stopped with the wart. It just went way too far.”

And then he had this “a ha” experience, because in the circle he was sitting next to his new girlfriend who was named Cathy, with whom he had a great relationship and still does.

He realized, “Oh, my God, I asked for a better relationship with Cathy,” but it was just not the same Cathy.”

A lot of what happens with miracle making is not the same as manifesting what we envision, because when we open it up — “I want my best life and I trust you, God, I trust in the process” — then what we get might not bear any resemblance to what we thought we wanted. But once we have it, we realize, “Wow, that’s so much better,” and yet the process can feel terrible.

In your introduction to your book, you write that there are no guarantees in terms of this miracle process.
LW: I often get this question in regard to healing work I’ve done. People will have some specific request, and they will say, “Will my symptom heal?” Well, I’ve seen every kind of symptom heal spontaneously, miraculously, and I’ve never been able to guarantee that any individual will have a particular experience.

There is something very mysterious that happens. It’s about what the person is ready for, what will truly serve their highest good, and their openness — and we can’t micromanage the process. Sometimes people need some big bang of an experience to just awaken them and show them that life can be different, and something shiny and huge will happen. Sometimes people need to grow into a new life experience slowly, because if it happened too quickly it would be so scary they would just shut it down. We don’t realize this about ourselves until it happens. So what we perceive as “that didn’t work” might actually be working in a way that we’ll best be able to accept it.

“Everything flows, nothing stays still.” ~ Heraclitus, Greek philosopher

I write to you now to tell you about some changes taking place here at The Edge in 2011.

It’s all about simplifying things. Beginning with the January edition, this publication will be simply Edge magazine, and our new website will simply be EdgeMagazine.net. [Don't worry: For those of you who love us as SouloftheCities.net, we'll redirect you immediately to the new site.]

Edge magazine intends to inspire you to expand beyond your beliefs, remind you to listen to the voice of your soul, and educate you on how to be well and in balance.

Edge magazine’s focus is Holistic Living. While “holistic” seemingly is the new buzzword for everything metaphysical, it’s actually a very old buzzword that tells us that everything is interconnected, that human beings are more than the sum of the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies that make us whole. The engineer fabricating new ways to create alternative energy is holistic. The artist who inspires us is holistic. The chef whose raison d’être is to cook with love is holistic.

Holistic living is vital now because it acts as the counterweight to the current lifestyle that celebrates the quick fix, expending as little effort (or integrity) as possible for the greatest gain.

Edge magazine will share articles on authenticity, empowerment, life-affirming health practices, eating natural food, sustaining balance in relationship with nature, the intuitive arts, creativity, the evolution of consciousness, and the unexplained.

To open up the magazine to a wider variety of holistic perspectives, I will be calling upon people in the Upper Midwest…and beyond… to share their inspiration, education and wisdom. Only one current column, “Star Wisdom” by DK Brainard, will continue. I’ve invited other current columnists to submit articles.

While there will be no general theme or topic each month, I encourage you now to begin writing your personal story about how you have come to create and maintain balance, authenticity and naturalness in your life. If you do that in your business, or in your healing practice, submit your story to Edge magazine. Give us bullet points on how we also can do that in our everyday lives.

Articles are to be 700 words or less. Attach a brief bio and your mailing address for my records. Email text or Word documents to me at editor@edgemagazine.net.

New sections of Edge magazine are these:

• Edge Notions — We invite readers to write! Share no more than 200 words each month — your personal relationship, an experience that comes up for you — about a single word. In January, the word is “Angels.”
• Edge Poetry — Share any form (haiku, sonnet, free verse, etc.) and convention — up to 40 lines in length — related to the focus of Edge magazine. Email poetry submissions specifically to poetry@edgemagazine.net.

Edge Talk Radio
Edge magazine is launching an expanded Blog Talk Radio program: Edge Talk Radio. On the first four Wednesdays of each month, at 6 p.m. Central, you will have the opportunity to call in to listen, or listen live online, to an extended holistic conversation over the soundwaves. You will be able to download Edge shows, put them on your iPod or mp3 player and take us wherever you go!

Edge Talk Radio is inspired by a valuable supporter, Cathryn Taylor, who in 2009 chose to dedicate one of her weekly Blog Talk Radio programs to content related to The Edge. Now, she will be overseeing four weekly programs for Edge magazine.

“When I first read about the new direction of the Edge,” Cathryn said, “I called Tim immediately and said, ‘I want to be involved.’ From that grew the idea to feature the Edge once a month on my weekly Blog Talk Radio show. It became my favorite show of the month. It took on a life of its own and now demands expansion. In January the Edge will be given its own voice.”

This is the monthly line-up of one-hour Edge programs:

• First Wednesday (January 5) – Edge Astrology with DK Brainard. The astrology columnists will speak live to listeners about astrology and how it affects our lives. Take a peek into the future. Discover the larger patterns behind life’s ups and downs. Find out how you can flow with the energy of the weeks ahead. Bring the wisdom of the stars into your life.
• Second Wednesday (January 12) — Edge Innerview with Cathryn Taylor. Cathryn will present a one-hour conversation with someone featured in Edge magazine.
• Third Wednesday (January 19) — Edge Wisdom with a guest host. Edge magazine will select someone from the Upper Midwest to host the program on the third Wednesday of each month. The guest host will speak on a single topic related to holistic living, and perhaps other local or national experts in the field will call in for a conversation with our guest host. The Edge is committed to sharing wisdom, information and resources available in our community. This program gives contributors and advertisers of Edge magazine an opportunity to give voice to their gifts and talents.
• Fourth Wednesday (January 26) — Edge Happenings with Cathy Jacobsen. The Edge’s co-publisher will highlight special events coming up in the next month by speaking live with those who are bringing events to the community. Edge Happenings will give you more insight into what to expect and why these events are meaningful in your everyday life.

Join our Email list online now as we’ll be sending out complete details…phone number and website address…on how you can listen to Edge Talk Radio. We also will announce those details in the January edition of Edge magazine.

Tune into the Edge’s Blog Talk Radio program at 5 p.m. Central on Wednesday, Dec. 8 [call 914.338.0821 or listen online at blogtalkradio.com/healthandharmonynetwork] as I will be joined by Cathy Jacobsen and Cathryn Taylor to discuss 2011 changes to Edge magazine and Edge Talk Radio!

A time of anticipation
Edge magazine anticipates that next year will offer tremendous opportunity for each one of us. As we become more connected, we also begin to move more into the flow of life and spontaneously create our lives in concert with our souls.

I leave you with one of my favorite quotes, by Greek philosopher Heraclitus:

“The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny — it is the light that guides your way.”