The Garden of the Soul

Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World (Part 4)
by Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC
Personal Transformation Coach and bestselling author

For Part 1: view post dated 7 July 2009
For Part 2: view post dated 8 July 2009
For Part 3: view post dated 9 July 2009

The role of coaching in this process
In my coaching, this is a major facet of how I help people. First, I help them realise the unconscious limiting belief patterns they have created and carried with them for many years (perhaps since they were children). Because coaching focuses on the “now” and not the past, it is not essential to go back in time to the cause of these beliefs; but often I find that as soon as clients see the pattern emerging in their lives, they can frequently scan back in their memory and find the root of it without effort. Usually, they are amazed that the belief has gone back so far in time, and they begin to see the impact this belief has had upon them, sometimes for many decades. This in itself can create a huge shift in the clients’ view of life, and they see that they are truly at choice to change their belief system, if it is no longer working for them in their current lives.

Stepping into your life purpose
Of course, as you begin to transform, it is also important to learn compassion and forgiveness towards oneself as you release these old belief systems, so you do not blame yourself for wasted time or spend time dwelling on regrets for past decisions. This process of “letting go” is the next stage in transformation. Taking a step back and seeing the bigger picture of the story of your life, instead of all the little stories in isolation, you begin to see who the world has been calling for you to become within your lifetime. At this stage, I help clients identify and claim their life purpose.

A life purpose is not the same thing as a career or defining what you want to “do”. A life purpose is identifying your ultimate impact on the world—your legacy. Once we come to understand that we actually have a life purpose, we look at life differently.

If the words “impact” or “legacy” are too challenging for you at this point, trying substituting them with the word “gift”. To get a clue as to your purpose in life, ask yourself these questions:

• What keeps calling me over and over again throughout my life?
• What do I keep resisting out of fear?
• If I could create/do anything, what is the “gift” I would want to leave behind for the rest of the world?
• What would I need to stop resisting so I could give that gift?

When you begin to see that you have a “gift” for the world, it shifts your sense of purpose. Instead of believing you are powerless and insignificant, you begin to see your own importance in the world. When I work with clients at this stage, I help them “claim” their life purpose, and learn how to give themselves full permission to live that purpose, for the sake of giving the gift that only they can give. This is when all the old, out-of-date belief systems simply start to slip away. No longer do we see ourselves as selfish human beings for living our life purpose, Rather we start to see that our own personal transformation and fulfilment is actually the key that can unlock a future world that is full of peace, harmony, compassion and wide-spread happiness at a global level…

To be continued.
Be sure to subscribe to this blog to receive complete article.

Coming up in Part 5:

• “Becoming BIG” and
• “Balance, Resilience and Recovery”

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

Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC

For more information about Lynn and her work, visit:

• COACHING: www.create-a-life.co.uk
• BOOK: www.give-receive-become-be.com (or find the book on Amazon)
• GLOBAL WELLNESS CIRCLE: www.global-wellness-circle
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL RADIO SHOW: www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL FACEBOOK GROUP: http://tinyurl.com/fb-gots
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: http://tinyurl.com/gots-fan
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL SOCIAL NETWORK: www.gardenofthesoul.ning.com

Related posts

• Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World – Pt 3 (0)
• Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World -Pt 5 (1)
• Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World – Pt 2 (0)
• Coaching (0)
• The Lily – the Principle of Being (0)

Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World (Part 3)
by Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC
Personal Transformation Coach and bestselling author

For Part 1: view post dated 7 July 2009
For Part 2: view post dated 8 July 2009

The impact our beliefs have upon us
When we are convinced that something “is” true, it stands to reason that we will not bother to look at it a different way. So at the core of this feeling of powerlessness is the belief that something simply “is” and we are not at choice with it.

But the minute we are willing to try to see the same situation from a different angle, we have stepped out of the role of being the victim, and become one step closer to our Authentic Self. For instance, if someone has the habitual tendency to criticise you, you might have developed a belief around the fact that you are trapped in this situation and cannot escape it. At the core of this belief might be a deeper belief that you are weak and powerless, or that you actually are all the horrible things that the person is saying you are. Standing in these beliefs, you already believe yourself to be weak, flawed and vulnerable, and your reactions will be dictated by these beliefs. Because you feel so vulnerable, you might react by counter-attacking their criticisms. Or, if you are feeling very flawed and weak, you might simply “stuff” your feelings so as not to get into an argument, only to feel upset or irritable about it later. You might even believe that what they are saying is true, and beat yourself up about it rather than get into a conflict with them.

This is classic “passive-aggressive” behaviour. In either case, whether passive or aggressive, you have still allowed their criticisms to affect you emotionally, and to enter your mental and physical world. In the long term, this can cause stress and even disease. In some extreme scenarios (such as abuse or incessant bullying) it might be necessary to take yourself physically out of the situation as a first step, but until you learn how to realign and rebalance yourself from such energies in the outside world, you will simply continue to swing back and forth in a passive-aggressive pattern, without being truly free of its effects.

Learning to realign
Learning to realign is a matter of developing the ability to step into different perspectives where you are not “taking on” the energy of that critical person, and you do not feel the need to expend any of your own energy towards it, whether physical, mental or emotional. When you begin this process of realignment, you start to see that person as someone who is simply trapped in their own sense of powerlessness, and their criticisms lose their energy. When you do not take on that undesired energy, and you do not expend any of your own energy to reflect it, you remain equipoised, balanced and stress-free. And when the body and mind are not under stress, it means you are not only healthier and happier, but you are also more able to be creative and find more solutions to the challenges in your life. So while it is true that you cannot change the person’s behaviour, their behaviour no longer has a negative impact on you, and you find that you are more able to create the outcome you truly desire for yourself…

 To be continued.
Be sure to subscribe to this blog to receive complete article.

Coming up in Part 4:

• “The Role of Coaching in this Process” and
• “Stepping into Your Life Purpose”

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

Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC

For more information about Lynn and her work, visit:

• COACHING: www.create-a-life.co.uk
• BOOK: www.give-receive-become-be.com (or find the book on Amazon)
• GLOBAL WELLNESS CIRCLE: www.global-wellness-circle
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL RADIO SHOW: www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL FACEBOOK GROUP: http://tinyurl.com/fb-gots
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: http://tinyurl.com/gots-fan
• GARDEN OF THE SOUL SOCIAL NETWORK: www.gardenofthesoul.ning.com

Related posts

• Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World – Pt 4 (1)
• Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World – Pt 2 (0)
• The Lily – the Principle of Being (0)
• Personal Transformation and Why it is Important for the Greater World -Pt 5 (1)
• Feeling is Healing – Interview with Steve Ryals (0)

Joe Rumbolo

Title: TALK RADIO: Integrating Spirit and Human
Location: Blog Talk Radio
Link out: Click here

Description: Author and Personal Transformation Coach Lynn Serafinn hosts life empowerment facilitator, transformational life coach and talk radio show host, Joe Rumbolo. Joe will share his story of how he overcame the challenges of his own lack of confidence, and learned how to recognise and step into opportunities he would never have dreamed of in the past. He will tell us about his experiences with creative channelling and his thoughts on conscious evolution, and will draw upon the material from his workshops to offer us tips on how to “dump the junk” that holds us back, so we can move towards the ascension of our own higher consciousness.

Listeners can listen LIVE or \”on demand\” any time after broadcast at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn/2009/06/10/Ep21-Integrating-Spirit-and-Human

Listener questions: call at 646-727-3449 during broadcast (US number). An online chat room is available during the show for people to ask questions/make comments.

ABOUT THE SHOW “LYNN SERAFINN\’S GARDEN OF THE SOUL”
www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn
Weekly show exploring personal empowerment, life purpose, balance of mind, body and spirit, and how to tap into the inner hero that lies within every human being. Lynn hosts a line up of distinguished guests including authors, coaches, artists, motivational speakers, social reformers, community leaders and others who are actively making a positive and inspirational impact upon the world.

ABOUT YOUR HOST
Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC, is a Personal Transformation Coach living in Bedford England, dedicated to awakening the authentic voice in all people through her company Create-a-Life.

Lynn is also the author of the Amazon Bestseller The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self, that has been hailed by readers to be “as spiritual as Deepak Chopra and as magical as Paulo Coelho.”

Lynn is also the Founder/Leader of The Global Wellness Circle, an exciting holistic community project that is rapidly spreading throughout the UK.
Start Time: 18:30 UK time (13.30 EDT)
Date: 2009-06-10
End Time: 19:00 (1400 EDT)

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• Using Sound for Healing and Happiness – interview with John Levine (0)
• The Gift in Goodbye. Interview with Gemini Adams (1)

Author, Personal Transformation Coach Lynn Serafinn interviews author/spiritual coach Steve Ryals on www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn

SHOW: Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul
EP20-Feeling is Healing
GUEST: Steve Ryals
DATE AIRED: Wednesday 3 June 2009

Every now and then, you meet a person whose every thought, word and way of looking at things just seems to shine back to you like a mirror. My guest on my last episode of “Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul” was one of those rare mirrors, whose clarity of heart was so evident that we were able to connect within seconds of first speaking together. That person was Mr Steve Ryals, a licensed spiritual coach and “Feelings Coach,” and author of the transformative book Drunk with Wonder: Awakening to the God Within.

Steve’s book kicks off with a bang. The opening words of the first sentence hurtle us directly into a graphic scene in which he describes one of his many experiences shooting speed in Haight Ashbury in the 1960s. From that scene, we travel along with Steve down the rabbit hole of bereavement, depression, alcoholism and dissociation. But Steve shows us this descent only for the sake of contrast, for his book is far from a nostalgic ode to the Summer of Love. It is, rather, a collection of spiritual dialogues between Steve and his Higher Self. 

Which brings us to explore the reasons why this book is described as “‘Where What the Bleep Do we Know?’ meets ‘Conversations with God’”.

First, let’s talk about “Conversations.” Dialogue as a literary vehicle is as old as philosophical thought itself. While so many of our modern philosophical works are presented in the form of scholarly theses, the Greeks, the ancient Indian Vedas and countless other oral traditions of the past utilised dialogues (and metaphoric stories) to present and explain complex spiritual concepts. Following in the tradition of these ancient texts, Steve Ryals, in Drunk with Wonder, allows his “Higher Self” to engage in an ongoing debate with his “lower self”, who asks many of the same kinds of questions we might also ask during the process of our own spiritual evolution. Such a dialogue enables Steve to speak eye-to-eye to the reader, rather than positioning himself “above” the reader as some kind of expert. In this way, the reader travels along with Steve as his two “selves” hash out finer details of the meaning of life. In travelling along with Steve on the journey, he becomes our ally in our own transformation. 

If any of you have read my book, The Garden of the Soul, you will no doubt remember that I also use dialogue in my discourses with the Four Flowers, the Very Good King, and also in my escapades with Crow in the story “Learning to Breathe.” I did this because I strongly feel that carefully constructed dialogue is possibly one of the most effective means of presenting a deep, spiritual message. Steve’s use of dialogue is slightly different, although the impact is similar. When I read Drunk with Wonder, the dialogue reminded me a bit of how Boethius wrote the classic work The Consolation of Philosophy way back in the 6^th or 7^th century. In that work, a reluctant and depressed Boethius is visited by the personification of Philosophy, who brings him to a state of Divine Wisdom through the vehicle of dialogue. Steve does much the same in Drunk with Wonder except that his teachings come from our 21^st century perspective, where quantum physics, field theory and holistic thinking have informed our way of explaining the nature of Truth.

Which brings us nicely to the whole “What the Bleep Do We Know?” thing. Back in the days when I was studying Vedic (ancient Indian) spirituality, I used to chant a lot of Sanskrit mantras. The Sanskrit word “Sat” appeared in many of them. Most books translated the word “Sat” as “eternity”, but I always felt that this did not give the true purport of the word, so I made up the word “is-ness” to explain what I felt the word “Sat” to mean. I remember my daughter, when she was little, always used to comment on how much she liked that word, because it was easy to understand the complex meaning of the word “Sat” by thinking of it in that way. Well, as I was reading Drunk with Wonder, to my great surprise and delight Steve also uses the word “is-ness” to describe our intrinsic and unchanging state of being. This made-up word speaks to us at a direct and intuitive level that bypasses the intellect and eradicates the need for logic…which I sort of think is at the backbone of Steve’s Truth. When we start to trust and release the need to understand the Infinite by means of our own finite thought, we start to step into the Divine.

Ok, so I’ve tried to explain a little bit about the style in which Steve’s book in written, but in this blog post I am not going to give away what the profound, yet easy to understand, teachings of the book contain. For that, you will just have to pick up your own copy of Drunk with Wonder and travel with Steve through his journeys with his Higher Self. But first, if you want to get a feeling for how, well, feelingly Steve presents his pathway to the Truth, check out his beautiful reading of one of the poems from the book near the end of the podcast. To my delight, he said that there is indeed an audio version of the book available via iTunes (see link below).

Steve and I did quite a lot of talking both before and after the show, and I felt like we had so much more we wanted to share. He is a lovely person, with a lot of passion for his work and for people in general, so he really is (as I said at the top of this article) just so easy to talk to. We both felt there simply wasn’t enough time on the air to cover everything we wanted to discuss. The whole experience has really got me thinking to extend the show to 60 minutes in length. My guests just keep getting better and better and 30 minutes is just not long enough.

Guess I’ll just have to invite Steve back some day.

AND… watch this space, because I’d actually like to collaborate with Steve to create some sort of intercontinental spiritual awakening experience sometime in early 2010. I’ll keep you posted.  

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

If you want to find out more about Steve and his work, listen to the podcast below. And after you do, be sure to visit Steve’s websites, and check out his book on Amazon.

Listen to the playback of the show here:

Or download the MP3 of this show from:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn/2009/06/03/Ep20-Feeling-is-Healing

Subscribe to the podcast here:  

Steve’s Official Drunk with Wonder Website: www.drunkwithwonder.com

Audio Book version of Drunk with Wonder on iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=251938760&s=143441 

Browse through other episodes at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn

NEXT ON
Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the SoulWednesday 10 June
SHOW: Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul
Ep21-Integrating Spirit and Human
6.30 PM UK time, 1.30 PM Eastern, 10.30 AM Pacific, 7.30 PM CET
Author and Personal Transformation Coach Lynn Serafinn hosts life empowerment facilitator, transformational life coach and talk radio show host, Joe Rumbolo. Joe will share his story of how he overcame the challenges of his own lack of confidence, and learned how to recognise and step into opportunities he would never have dreamed of in the past. He will tell us about his experiences with creative channelling and his thoughts on conscious evolution, and will draw upon the material from his workshops to offer us tips on how to “dump the junk” that holds us back, so we can move towards the ascension of our own higher consciousness

Listen LIVE or download the broadcast “on demand” at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn/2009/06/10/Ep21-Integrating-Spirit-and-Human
Listener questions: call at 646-727-3449 during broadcast (US number)

Can’t make it to the live show? No problem!

Catch all our episodes “on demand” at
www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn

About the show, “Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul”
Weekly broadcast exploring personal empowerment, life purpose, balance of mind, body and spirit, and how to tap into the inner hero that lies within every human being. Hosted by Lynn Serafinn, Personal Transformation Coach and author living in Bedford England dedicated to awakening the authentic voice in all people. She is the author of the Amazon bestselling book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self, and the Founder/Leader of The Global Wellness Circle, a holistic community project that is rapidly spreading throughout the UK.

Lynn’s links

• Garden of the Soul Book Blog: www.give-receive-become-be.com
• Garden of the Soul Social Network: http://gardenofthesoul.ning.com
• Create-a-Life Coaching/Training: www.create-a-life.co.uk
• Global Wellness Circle: www.global-wellness-circle.com

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• Always Look on the Bright Side of Death (0)

The Lily- The Principle of Being

Some thoughts on the teachings in my book The Garden of the Soul. Click HERE to find out how to purchase the book today.

Over the past months, I have been sharing with you some of the life lessons from my book, The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. The main body of book is divided into four sections, each one represented by a particular flower. You might think of these flowers as my “guides” or “mentors”, who teach me four spiritual principles:

• The Rose teaches the Principle of Giving
• The Iris teaches the Principle of Receiving
• The Daffodil teaches the Principle of Becoming
• And finally, the Lily teaches the Principle of Being

Today I would like to share some thoughts on the Lily and the Principle of Being.

Last month, I spoke about “The Principle of Becoming” (lessons from the Daffodil). The Principle of Becoming calls us forth to let go of “old stories” and allow change to occur for the purpose of expansion and growth. The Principle of Becoming is extremely important because without the conscious act of letting go, we tend to hold on to old patterns of behaviour, old emotions and old belief systems that no longer serve us and keep us stuck in so many ways. The Principle of Becoming is vital to our ability to adapt, experience joy and actualise our own creativity.

While the Principle of Becoming is all about our need for a sense of change, regeneration and rebirth so we can grow and have a sense of aliveness, the Principle of Being reflects our need for a sense of continuity, serenity and timelessness so we can feel safe and have a sense of identity. And while the Principle of Being is the seeming opposite of the Principle of Becoming, it is actually its essential counterpart. Without a firm hold on the Principle of Being, change in our lives can often make us feel vulnerable rather than free. But when both of these Principles are present and working together, they provide that much-needed balance between our desire for outward expansion and our desire for inner stability.

“Being” refers to continuity.
Our “Being” is that which is constant throughout our lives.

Being is…

• That safe place to which we can return reliably no matter what else is happening around us
• Our sense of Self that is not dependent upon time or circumstance
• Our inner knowing of who we are regardless of changes in our age, occupation, education, marital status, achievements, belief systems, social circles or economic status
• Our personal wellspring of serenity, wisdom, peace, inner tranquillity and satisfaction

In other words,”Being” is our sense of eternal identity, and is independent of our ever-changing personal relationships and roles in life.

To assess your own connection to your ”Being”, a good question to ask yourself might be, “Who am I when I remove all the labels about myself?” In other words, “Who am I when I am not the mother/father, daughter/son, husband/wife, boss/employee, this profession/that profession, rich/poor, young/old?” etc. In a quiet moment, ask this question, without self-judgment, and you will begin to get an idea of how much (or how little) you are in touch with your own essential “Being”.

At an even deeper level, true “Being” means an awareness of who we are beyond even more subtle designations of “self”, such as our intelligence, our talents, our nationality, our faith, our ethnicity or even our gender. Now ask yourself “Who am I without these designations?” and look more deeply into yourself to get a sense of that “Being” that lies at your centre. How easy or difficult do you find this?

Now go even deeper still and strip away all designations whatsoever, even to the point of letting go of the boundary between Self and the Universe. At this point, you realise at a deep level, and not merely with your intellect, that you and everything around you is Spirit. You come in touch with your own essence-your own eternal, pure consciousness- where you can see your connection to all of Creation, and is not dependent upon being within a particular bodily form at all. This ultimate understanding is at the core of the Principle of Being.

Some of us might find this perspective shift very challenging, if not scary, if we are at a point in life where we feel little inner connection to our own Being. We might fear that without some kind of “label” we will lose all sense of identity completely, and simply slip into a feeling of “nothingness”. If we dig down to discover the underlying cause of our fear, more often than not we will find it is triggered by a deep-rooted feeling of unworthiness. We do not feel we are “enough” without our worldly attributes. In other words, we have become accustomed to defining our worthiness through our roles, achievements and designations. We feel that we need these roles and designations to feel worthy of love, abundance-to be worthy of “Being”. When we have this underlying belief in our own unworthiness, it stands to reason that we would fear the loss of Self if we were to lose our labels.

But in actuality, the truth is just the opposite. Far from losing the Self, when we reach a state of genuine connection with our “Being-ness”, where no designations are needed to define who we are, our sense of identity is profound. At this point, we are able to find immense peace within the understanding that our identity is no longer dependent upon any external factor and is not subject to circumstance. When we finally release the need to identify the Self with “things” that come and go throughout our lives, we come into contact with our true Self, embracing it as eternal, and  transcending all change. And there is an immense sense of safety within this sense of “Being”, which is both immutable and indestructible.

The lessons I learned from the Lily in The Garden of the Soul (and especially in the story in the book called “Message on the Bridge”) guided me gently and lovingly through my own fears and attachments, so I could return to the essence of who I truly am. And the Lily as an image is an inviting and appropriate symbol for the Principle of Being. In the west, the Lily is frequently used in funeral ceremonies as a symbol of eternal, spiritual life. In the east, the water lily (or lotus) is a symbol of eternity and divinity, used to represent the soul, the spiritual master and even the spiritual world itself. In my own personal experience, back when I used to live in Arizona, I remember seeing a very special type of cactus that only bloomed one night a year, during a full moon. While I don’t know the name of this flower, it seemed to me that its white, star-shaped blossom was yet another kind of Lily, who appeared like a solitary hermit praying to the moon itself, shining brilliantly against the dark night for only a few hours. In fact, some of the imagery in my book where I meet the Lily come from my memory of that remarkable cactus flower. To me, the Lily, in all of its lovely permutations, was the perfect metaphor for the Principle of Being, as its beautiful, strong, white petals look like a hand of outstretched fingers, reaching upwards towards the heavens, providing a bridge between the earthly plane and the Divine.

The Four Principles of Give, Receive, Become and Be provide an easy model to check balance and flow in our lives. When we learn how to recognise these Principles in ourselves, we are more easily able to know how to recover from the inevitable upsets that come into our lives. The Principle of Being, like all the other Principles, helps us to enter into a deeper and more meaningful relationship both within our own Self and with the world around us. By tending to the Four Flowers within the Garden of our own Souls, it becomes very easy for our true Selves to blossom.

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Boosting Your Emotional Intelligence – an Interview with Gail Sussman Miller

[NOTE to readers: this blog post originally appeared on my social network "Lynn Serafinn's Garden of the Soul" on Ning. When I refer to people by name as "our own" and "right here", I am referring to that network, which can be accessed at http://gardenofthesoul.ning.com. Come JOIN us!]

This evening on my radio show, Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul, my guest was our very own GAIL SUSSMAN MILLER. For those of you in the Garden who have not met her, Gail is a coach, writer and public speaker, living in Chicago. I met Gail about a year ago when I attended one of her excellent teleseminars about reaching your target audience. At that time, I found her energy to be so warm and loving that I simply had to become her friend. On the spot, even though she didn’t know me at all, she volunteered to be one of my “beta readers” for my book (which was, at that time, unfinished). Since then, she has not only been one of my readers, but also a reviewer, a joint venture partner, a friend, a guest on my show and NOW (as of tonight’s show) we are talking about doing a workshop together sometime soon. How cool is that?

Anyway, if you don’t know Gail, become her friend because she is one fabulous lady who really knows how to make you feel welcome. And that is probably why she is so good at what she does. One of Gail’s many specialties is working with small groups to develop “Emotional Intelligence”. The term, she says, was originally coined by Daniel Goldman. On the show, Gail explained how we generally equate “intelligence” with the brain and measure it with “IQ”. This kind of intelligence is fairly static in life. That is to say, we all have a certain amount of “brain” intelligence, and while we can study and learn, brain intelligence itself does not generally increase to a great degree as a result of learning. Our bodies also are great repositories of intelligence (Luis and Fran you are always talking about this!). Lastly, however, our emotional bodies are also great bodies of intelligence. And unlike brain intelligence, emotional intelligence CAN be increased. And a good thing too! Most of us grow up with vastly underdeveloped emotional intelligence. We simply “react” rather than learn how to “respond”. Through development of conscious awareness, however, we can learn how ot separate ourselves from this reactionary modus operandum, and move away from feelings of being controlled by our emotions, and into a place where we feel at choice and within true selves at all times.

These are the ideas that Gail spoke with me about on tonight’s show. She also gave 3 of her 10 “secrets” to developing emotional intelligence. I’m NOT going to tell you what they are!!! (ha ha). If you want to find out these first 3 secrets of emotional intelligence, well you’ll just have to listen to the show by CLICKING HERE..

AND… Gail also wrote an eBook called (as you might have already guessed) “!0 Secrets to Boost Your Emotional Intelligence”. AND… here’s the very cool thing. She is giving it away to everyone who buys my book during its launch. Now, the launch was SUPPOSED to be over today (Wed 8 April) but I have decided, as it is Easter week, that it will run through Easter Monday. That means, if you buy “The Garden of the Soul” on or before this coming Monday, you can STILL get access to download 26 beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts from my friends and colleagues…. many of whom are right here on this site like Gail, Fran Stockley, Amber Rojas, Kathleen Schulweis, Gina Marks, Sheila Finkelstein, Jessica McGregor Johnson and Glenn Smith (did I miss anyone?).

To get Gail’s great eBook, along with all the other wonderful gifts from our friends here in the Garden (and many others besides, just go to http://tinyurl.com/lynn-bonus and find the links to Amazon to buy your copy of my new book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. Then come back to that same site and enter your name, email and purchase code. That’s all there is to it. you will then be able to “unlock” the bonus page and download all the goodies. Remember…. this page will ONLY be online until Easter Monday, so be sure to claim your copy of the book and these bonuses now.

To find out more about the wonderful Gail Sussman Miller how she teaches women solopreneurs, executives and companies how to turn obstacles into opportunities by boosting their emotional intelligence her many courses, training, coaching and other skills, visit her websites at:

www.InspiredChoice.com
www.HowToLoveSpeaking.com
www.HowToLoveNetworking.com

You can also connect with Gail on LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/in/gailsussmanmiller
And follow Gail on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GailSussmanMill

Lynn Serafinn
8 April 2009

P.S.: If you missed Gail’s show and you don’t have time to hear it now, you can access it “on demand” at www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn or subscribe to “Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul” via iTunes.

P. P.S.: NEXT WEEK on my show on BlogTalkRadio, my special guest is our own BRUCE MORSE, American artist, photographer, poet and author of the book “Forgive Myself”, which I JUST read last week. Bruce will be sharing his personal story of how he found peace with personal crises in his own life, including the death of his young son, through the pathway of personal forgiveness. Bruce will also share selections from his book. His story is remarkable. Be sure you tune in next WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL 6.30 PM UK/1.30 PM EDT at www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn

AND… don’t forget to check out my book and all those great bonuses before Monday at http://tinyurl.com/lynn-bonus

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No, it’s definitely NOT Monty Python!

It’s my upcoming interview with author and spiritual teacher Glenn M. Smith on my talk radio show LYNN SERAFINN’S GARDEN OF THE SOUL. Glenn will be sharing his story of how his personal experience with psychic forensics helped him solve a murder of a young girl, and gave him a unique insight into the nature of the afterlife that he says can help people overcome their anxieties about death and dying. He will also tell us about his new book, The Lotus Petal.

Broadcast time:
6.30 PM UK time, 1.30 PM Eastern, 10.30 AM Pacific, 7.30 PM CET

Listen LIVE at
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn/2009/04/01/Ep11-Releasing-Yourself-from-the-Fear-of-Death

Can’t make the live show? No problem! Listen “on demand” at the same website, or subscribe to the show via iTunes.

ABOUT THE SHOW LYNN SERAFINN’S GARDEN OF THE SOUL Weekly broadcast exploring personal empowerment, life purpose, balance of mind, body and spirit, and how to tap into the inner hero that lies within every human being. Hosted by Lynn Serafinn, Personal Transformation Coach and author living in Bedford England dedicated to awakening the authentic voice in all people. She is the author of the upcoming book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self, and the Founder/Leader of The Global Wellness Circle, a holistic community project that is rapidly spreading throughout the UK.

Here’s the complete April line-up:

Catch the show weekly at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lynn-Serafinn

AND… don’t miss the official Amazon Launch of Lynn’s book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self  on Tuesday 7 April. Click HERE to receive a launch reminder so you can receive over 20 beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts when you buy the book.

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Spring is coming to England and the air is losing its chill. So today I took a walk along the River Great Ouse, which is a beautiful  and very ancient river that runs through this part of England. Every time I go down to that river, I find myself connecting with nature, with time and space, with the universe, and with my hometown. Basically, it is a very grounding thing for me to do, because I can get a real sense of the timelessness of the river, and how all the life along its waters and riverbanks co-exist together. Perhaps you have had a similar experience in your own hometown, or some other place that is special to you.

In my book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self, I talk about ”Four Principles” of “Give, Receive, Become and Be”. For me, the River is a great teacher and I find myself able to connect with these four principles easily whenever I go there. But today, the most prominent principle I  felt there was the “Principle of Receiving”, which is the principle that includes all that comes from the world and flows into you. ‘Receiving’ as a principle includes acute awareness via the senses and the ability to relish the smallest of the small and the greatest of the great. ‘Receiving’ is the fertile ground upon which creativity can take root; through ‘receiving’, the entire universe can sit upon our consciousness like a canvas.

I walked along the river and simply allowed my senses to open up. I opened my eyes and ears and simply watched and listened. I saw the most wonderful patterns atop the water’s surface, as the currents flowed and hit the sides of the riverbank. I saw dozens of swans, geese, ducks and seagulls along the river (as always) and noticed intricate waves of interference weave together as they swam atop the shimmering water. I noticed how the waves that were created by the flow of their bodies seemed to “clash” at first, but then they formed new waves, each with its own unique pattern, which glimmered brightly in the late afternoon sun. I heard the sounds of the water, the water fowl, the air, and the people along the embankment. I allowed all of it to enter my senses equally, without imposing a preference for one over the other.

And from allowing my senses to open up and simply watch and listen, the wisdom of the moment entered my awareness. I noticed the complexity of the sparkling patterns upon the water, and I could see how things that appear to be “conflicts” in our lives are really simply these waves of interference that weave in and out of each other, continuously coming and going. Each is equally beautiful. It is only our perception that interprets them as “good” or “bad”. Really all waves have a place on the river, and it is when we allow all these waves to flow in and out without judgement, that we become able to live in harmony with the world. 

To master the “Principle of Receiving” we need only to open our senses fully, and allow whatever is there to be, and to let it enter us and wash over us. Only then can we see the beautifully intricate patterns within the waves upon the surface of our own lives. When we are receptive to all that life is giving us, rather than inclined to filter it according to our judgements, we are finally able to master the art of receiving. Only then are we able to feel truly grateful and awestruck by how much the world is giving us at any given moment, and to “feel so full that you have no choice but to give yourself away” (from The Garden of the Soul).You can also read all about the Four Principles of “Give, Receive, Become and Be” in my book The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self. It’s coming to Amazon Tues 7 April. You can receive 25 beautiful mind-body-spirit gifts when you buy the book during its launch. Find out all about the book and these gifts at http://tinyurl.com/lynn-bonus.

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