Curran Galway on Her Ordinary Mystic Novel about a Woman's Spiritual Journey

Curran Galway talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim, host of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com about her book, Ordinary Mystic: Practicing the Presence.



“The extraordinary is everywhere in the ordinary.” ~Curran Galway

Curran was raised as a Roman Catholic and has taught for over twenty-five years. She has raised four children and gotten her Master’s degree in Divinity and is interested in the new types of spirituality that are coming out. She was inspired to write Ordinary Mystic because she felt that some of the new views on spirituality need to be brought out in story form so people can see what those spiritual principles can be seen in a daily life. Curran also remarked that Ordinary Mystic, which is the second book she wrote, is a more personal one than the first because it includes an experience that she, herself, had, and that she also included some spiritual experiences that others, whom she had spoken to, have had.

Curran’s own spirituality started when she was undergoing a dark period in her life and went on a retreat to sort things out. She mentioned that, the night before her experience, she had experienced such strange things as crosses swinging, walking up to the top of a mountain and then having a spiritual experience, feeling arms around her and being told that she is loved and that she must to tell others about how they, too, are loved. Curran emphasizes that she wasn’t looking for this experience though she starts her day with meditation, which gives her a sense of mindfulness and energy and sets the tone for the rest of the day. She also takes hikes in nature and takes time to be still, which means being being both physically and mentally still, and going inward to connect with her inner divinity.

Ordinary Mystic is the story of a woman who is at a crossroads in her life and who, when she goes on a retreat, experiences a connection with God at the top of a mountain. The experience turns her life upside-down and takes the woman years to fully incorporate it into her own life, and while it is a spiritual story, it is also a great story on its own, with Curran’s own friends telling her that the book is “a page-turner.”

Curran remarks that she wants people to awaken to the divinity that lies within themselves, and of how much the Divine loves them. She differentiates spirituality from religion, saying that religion is a home for spirituality, while the latter is all about living and being guided by Spirit. She remarks that there are so many outside distractions nowadays that people don’t turn inward to find personal transformation and finding out who one is on the inside and one’s own divinity within, which is what spirituality is all about.

Curran remarks that speaking about spirituality nowadays is “a little bit scary” and points out that the Roman Catholic Church made mystics saints, but that this was so because there weren’t that many people who were spiritually awake, which made the presence of mystics very extraordinary. She also remarked that people are hungry for spirituality because they want a more vital life, which they can get by connecting with their own spirit, and that spiritual experiences are available for everyone, regardless of background or religious beliefs or lack thereof.

Curran defines spirituality as being a direct connection to God, which is what mystics have had. Spirituality, according to her, is the heart of religion, and most religions have lost that connection over time. Curran notes that ordinary people can connect with Spirit in various ways, such as walking in nature and meditation. She remarks that just being mindful creates connections all its own and that making the connection results in a feeling of bliss and ecstasy, where everything is taken up and one is bathed in a feeling of love.

Curran notes that Christianity is moving from an indoctrinated belief system to an experiential system. She remarked that, in the past, spirituality was all about suffering, which is a central idea of Christianity, in that suffering is a part of life that had to be endured, and that what was thought of as a “simple life” corresponds to poverty. Likewise in that context, matter and spirit were separate, that one was either spiritual or materialistic and that becoming spiritual was a difficult goal to achieve because one was unworthy of it. At present, there is a great amount of turmoil where people are trying out a lot of different things, and what is coming out is the abundance of divine love and provision, which means that people don’t need to live in poverty and suffering. This, in turn, creates an attitude of abundance and trust that such abundance is available to everyone. Curran believes that, in the future, more and more people will become mystics, and in that oneness, they can move beyond the “dualistic reality” that is present into a world view of wholeness.

Where duality is concerned, Curran referenced some recent scientific findings where there is a part of the brain that lights up in an MRI whenever someone has a spiritual experience. She also remarks that children, before around the age of five, do not have a mid-line in the brain, which means that, for them, everything that goes on is a “natural contemplative experience.” It is when the brain divides, which starts around the age of seven, that duality becomes present in the brain. That said, meditation enables one to rise above such duality, which then accesses the mystical part of the brain.

To those who have had a spiritual experience but who are reluctant to speak of this to others, Curran recommends writing down such experiences as, when one reads these, there are messages to be found in these. She remarks for people to trust that we humans are moving into a new vision of spirituality and that some of the old ways will need to be dropped, and that we should not be afraid because God is with us every step of the way and wants to give all of us the kind of deep connection that saints and mystics have had.

Purchase from Amazon: Ordinary Mystic: Practicing the Presence by Curran Galway

Anna Gatmon on Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World

Anna Gatmon talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim, host of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com about her book, Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World: 4 Keys to Fulfillment and Balance.



“Living our calling and purpose is how we humans can live in spiritual and material balance.” ~Anna Gatmon

Anna lived in Paris in her twenties, where she worked as an international fashion model, and while she was fulfilled materially, she felt something missing. This feeling stayed with her when she went to the United States, where she got a doctoral degree, married, and raised a family, and she realized that she had to find a middle ground between spiritual fulfillment and material gratification.

Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World is intended for people who are looking for more purpose and meaning, be they spiritual people who feel an emptiness due to a lack of appreciation for the material or people who are gratified materially but who are spiritually empty. Anna intends for this book to be a road map that anyone can follow, whatever their culture or spiritual upbringing, or whatever their lifestyle, be one an office person or a guru, and remarked that her book provides an unusual approach to spirituality and materialism.

Anna points out that people create “amazing things,” and that there is a common misconception that spiritual people don’t lead lives of material abundance and gratification. She notes that people, as part of being spiritual, need to appreciate the material creation of others and gave the example of appreciating a chef’s work as an example of balance between a spiritual aspiration of the chef and the material gratification on the part of the diner. She notes that humans’ preference for either the material or the spiritual is due to seeing the world in duality of either/or, and that both the material and the spiritual both need to be expressed in order to create balance. Anna opines that being very spiritual in the context of balance with materialism doesn’t necessarily mean being rich, and gave an experience of hers as an example where, one morning, when she was concerned with her family’s financial situation, she became present to the abundance of what she had, with the six dollars in her account being merely one of the things she was blessed with.

The four keys that Anna notes in her book are:

1. Expansive Presence - an expanded perception of reality
2. Attentive Listening - becoming aware of the information present when one’s perception of reality is expanded
3. Inspired Action - putting into action any prompting that became present during attentive listening
4. Faith-filled Knowing - becoming aware that the Universe is a co-creator of one’s expression

The genesis of the book came about when Anna was in a meeting with the Dalai Lama and another woman asked the same thing Anna was asking herself: how does one integrate the spiritual teachings that one has learned into one’s daily life? She remarked that the four keys came to her in a flash while she was identifying spiritual experiences in her life, and that the research into these keys took three years, remarking that this is similar to the way scientists make their breakthroughs.

Anna advises people to live their highest calling, as doing so enables one to be in balance and unity with one’s spiritual aspirations and material expression.

Anna’s website is annagatmon.com, where one can download her workbook, 7 Practices for More Prosperity, Peace and Purpose for free.

Purchase from Amazon: Living a Spiritual Life in a Material World: 4 Keys to Fulfillment and Balance by Anna Gatmon

Gurutej Khalsa on The Moon She Rocks You: Revealing the Secrets of Women's Inner Emotions

Gurutej Khalsa talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim, host of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com about her book, The Moon She Rocks You: Revealing the Secrets of Women's Inner Emotions.



“The more that we can get our internal rhythms slowed down, the more that we can be present with each other.” ~Gurutej Khalsa

Gurutej Kaur, otherwise known as Gurutej Khalsa (“Kaur” is her middle name, so “Gurutej Kaur” and “Gurutej Khalsa” are both her.) built spiritual communities all over Canada in the 1970s and the 1980s, and some of the things she learned was that, when one has challenges in one’s life, one either practices the things that sustains one or gets involved with bad habits. She notes that, when one is in a leadership role, one can’t tell people to do things that one doesn’t do oneself, and along the way, through her life’s journey, she learned how to remain empowered and alive though the challenges that arose. The Moon She Rocks You is intended primarily for women, but men can also get something out of it as well.

Gurutej notes that women are ruled by the moon, which operates on a 28-day cycle, and that women have eleven moon centers, which alternate within that 28-day cycle. The summary of these moon centers, and some of the things that will come up in a woman’s life during that part of the cycle where a particular moon center is dominant, are:

Hairline
Positive: very connected with visions
Challenged: paranoia, self-doubt
Neutral: immovable, vast; knowingness is huge

Eyebrows - act as shields for the eyes; healing dreams; understanding
Positive: capacity to know what one is doing
Challenged: move into fantasy
Neutral: can share these dreams with others

Cheeks
Positive: promotion queen
Challenged: out-of-control flirting (get someone else to tell you that you are good)
Neutral: radiant and beautiful

Lips
Positive: excellent communication
Challenged: sharp-toned

Earlobes
Positive: sharing own values
Challenged: self-deprecating; down on oneself
Neutral: empowered by values

Nape of Neck
Positive: susceptible to sound and voices
Challenged: unable to communicate
Neutral: can speak from the heart

Nipples
Positive: over-giving
Negative: feel like a victim; exhausted
Neutral: unconditional love

Navel - power center to the world
Positive: physical energy
Challenged: unstable; have no energy
Neutral: unstoppability

Inner Thighs
Positive: organized, loving, connected
Challenged: feel disorganized
Neutral: creative strength and possibility

Clitoris
Positive: excel in social situations
Challenged: insecure; need to be around people you know and love
Neutral: charming, in control

Membranes of the Vagina
Positive: being energetic and connective
Challenged: total zero
Neutral: beginnings and endings are the same

Gurutej notes that there are more to these moon centers as described in the book, and that there are meditations and breathing exercises available for each of these moon centers, designed to bring one to the positive aspect. She notes that it takes three minutes before the breath enters the brain, and that this can change the brain’s cellular structure, and that there are lots of options available for each of the moon centers.

Gurutej notes that the moon centers don’t move in the cycle as noted above, but that charting the moon centers for three months will give an accurate feel of how these rotate. She also notes that, because the cycle revolves around the moon, even women whose periods are irregular will get something from the exercises in the book.

Purchase from Amazon: The Moon She Rocks You: Revealing the Secrets of Women's Inner Emotions by Gurutej Khalsa

Jenny Johnston on Claiming Your Past Life Inheritance and Being Free from Emotional Traumas

Jenny Johnston talks to Alexander “The Engineer” Lim, host of AuthorStory by alvinwriter.com about her book, Your Past Life Inheritance: Tapping into the Wisdom Within to Create Your Future Now.



“The things that we’re struggling with in this lifetime, they wouldn’t be there if we hadn’t already stepped through them in another lifetime.” ~Jenny Johnston

Jenny was an occupational therapist working with veterans who used relaxation therapy and she became interested in spirituality and past lives after her mother’s sudden death. It was while she had “a lot of time” while recovering from a spine injury that she told her Reiki healer that she wanted to become a past life therapist, a course on which, as it turned out, the healer’s sister had already done. Jenny then took the hypnotherapy course, where she also learned about Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), which is commonly called “tapping,” as it is a form of energy psychology that can be thought of as acupuncture without the needles which works to clear any blockages in one’s energy that are identified with particular memories. It was during her investigations into these that she came in contact with Kryon, which is a conglomeration of beings who speak through a channel and whose purpose is to aid humans find who they really are. Her contact introduced her to the Akash, which is essentially a library of one’s past lives, and she then combined what she learned in EFT with working with guides to work with clients on such issues as fears, self-sabotage and unfinished business in previous lives to release these and create a better life for themselves.

Jenny describes Your Past Life Inheritance as being a self-help tool that empowers its readers to be able to do the work, as it includes links to videos and other material so that people can learn and do themselves. The book includes transcriptions of sessions conducted by Jenny with clients who have given permissions to have their experiences included in the book. Jenny included these transcriptions so that readers can see, word for word, how this the session was conducted. Her technique is essentially that of what she calls “waking hypnosis,” as the brainwaves go into the subconscious range while the client is still conscious and awake, and deal with the totality of a person, including the soul and one’s Higher Self. Jenny notes that past life events sometimes come to a client - even ones who don’t believe in past lives - when she is conducting a normal EFT session, and that the realization often surprises the person concerned. During the first sessions, she asks her clients to go to their Akash and its Crystal Cave to help identify those memories in one’s past lives which are holding us back in the present, likening these to outdated background programs in a computer that are running and taking up space. Later on, she takes her client to places of higher learning for them to get why that incident was chosen by the soul and the lesson behind it, after which she takes her client back to the present with that learning, which takes away the feeling that one is a victim and enter a state of wonder and creation.

Jenny notes that, while we call previous lives “past lives,” this isn’t entirely true, as when one is in a past life, that past life is in the present and real, as the energy present in humans today enables humans to access their past lives. She takes into account information given by spirit guides such as Kryon, whose channelers are often accompanied by scientists who back up what Kryon describes with scientific evidence. Jenny notes that she creates the space for people to clear their blockages at a soul level, also noting that intention plays a big part in her work. She notes that the case studies in the book are a good representation of the regressions she does with other clients, and that a common thread in these regressions is the feeling that we humans are not alone, as well as that of connection to guides and Higher Self as well as of empowerment, particularly in the cases of people who, in their past lives, have suffered trauma for standing in their truths.

Jenny remarked that she’s training Quantum EFT practitioners to eventually do the work, as she admits that she won’t be around forever and she wants this to be available to the world at large. She notes that fear is behind people’s feelings of being judged, persecuted and humiliated, and that this affects people physically, and then gave the example of a client whose son, at the present, was blind because the client was guillotined in a previous life and the son in this lifetime was the son in that previous lifetime, who saw his father being killed. She notes that the effects of such traumas are there to protect us, and that releasing these includes acknowledging it for the protection offered and recognizing that it no longer serves us.

Purchase from Amazon: Your Past Life Inheritance: Tapping into the Wisdom Within to Create Your Future Now by Jenny Johnston