Be Amazing

Book: “Be Amazing: Discover Your Purpose, Conquer Your Fears, and Fulfill Your Potential,” Paul S. Boynton, Skyhorse Publishing, 2020

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available: January 7, 2020

“Be Amazing” was an inspirational concept and experience that Paul S. Boynton received after visiting and receiving outstanding service at a restaurant. From there, he goes on to explain that giving your all is necessary in your endeavours. He writes, “It starts with a desire to be the best we can be in a specific area, followed by a decision to actually make it happen.” That is the essence of the book as Paul outlines a number of other people and situations that were outstanding in his opinion.

He outlines six points for Amazing Qualities. One of the quotes that he writes that I like is when you are doing that one special thing, you don’t have to be the best and as a Zen saying goes, “Flowers don’t compare themselves to other flowers, they just bloom.” That is a very encouraging thought and causes some self-reflection.

Mr. Boynton goes on to say that people know when people are being authentic and when they are with the “real deal.” People can recognize a disingenuous smile and reaction.

He gives out some steps on being amazing. They are as follows:

1. Find your “Spirit Blueprint”
2. Making a decision
3. Discover what amazing will look like
4. Making it happen

He writes his book from a question and answer process. This is how he engages the reader. I understand why Paul does this although I am not sure I like this process. I would prefer he just wrote the book in a straight-forward manner with the assumption that the reader has had those questions and he would answer them without indicating each time what the question was or is.

I like how the end finishes with a quote such as: “Remember, every book began with a single sentence. And every garden started with just a few seeds.”

This book was rather short. I would have preferred a longer version with more stories and examples of excellence.

For an inspirational short read, I give this book a 3.75 out of 5.

Tags: Paul S. Boynton, Skyhorse Publishing, Amazing, Purpose, Fears, Potential, Self-development, Self-help, Spirit, Spiritual, Power of Yes, Begin with Yes, Spirit Blueprint, Decisions, Action, Motivation, Inspiration, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review

Death and Dying

Book: “What the Dead Are Dying to Teach Us: Lessons Learned From the Afterlife,” by Claire Broad, Watkins Publishing, 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available September 10, 2019

Claire Broad tries hard and for that I have to give her some credit. She has written a basic book about mediumship and what the dead are trying to teach us. It is a good beginner introduction but if you are aware of anything about what decease spirits are saying, it is repetitive from other sources. If you watch Long Island Medium, Mama Medium, Mom’s a Medium or have seen John Edward, Colette Baron-Reid, John Holland, James Van Praagh you should be aware of the major points spiritual people are making.

I found myself becoming quite busy and so had to leave the book mainly read but not entirely. It was a mistake because I was not “called” back to the book. I eventually came back to it to finish it off and give it a proper reading. I am sorry to say but much of what has been said in this book has been said by many others beforehand.

Here are the seven main points. “You are spirit or conscious awareness. Death is an illusion because consciousness is not confined. You are never alone. You can rise above fear. Love never dies as your life has purpose. Ask and it will be given. And nobody dies alone.”

To be fair, I went over my notes and I found that I liked Claire’s Call to Action sections.

To conclude, I would have to say that if you are dealing with death or are curious about the afterlife, this is a good introductory book. I give this book 3.5 stars out of 5. If you interested in life between lives, I would recommend the hypnotic work of Dr. Michael Newton of the Newton Institute.

Tags:  Claire Broad, Waktins Publishing, death, medium, mediumship, dead, spirit, spiritual, psychic, Long Island Medium, Mama Medium, John Edward, Colette Baron-Reid, John Holland, James Van Praagh, spirit, consciousness, illusion, fear, love, purpose, Dr. Michael Newton, Newton Institute, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review

Mindfulness

 

Book: “What’s Beyond Mindfulness: Waking Up to This Precious Life?” by Stephen Fulder, Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available January 15, 2019

It has taken me quite some time to read this book as I had to keep getting re-acquainted to the book as I needed to keep putting it down for consideration and reflection The book is about mindfulness. It is about Buddhism being part of our way of life that can be inclusive of already understood religions like the Judeo-Christian ones. Buddhism, as a way of life, adds to these existing religions in a way that is not adverse to them and so it is a good adjunct.

Stephen Fulder has done a lot of things including having Israeli-Palestinian workshops trying to give peace a chance in the Middle East. People leave behind their pre-conceived notions of the “enemy” and come to see that there is a humanity and spirituality in all people.

I appreciated the appendix as it offered a question/answer format. I would have, in many ways, preferred if the entire book had been written this way. Buddhism some may say is easy to learn, however, I find it much more difficult to understand and therefore difficult to write and read about.

I appreciated quotes from spiritual leaders like the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and the many Buddhist and Hindu spiritual leaders. The books goes into the stories of the bible like Jonah and Job, as well as into a number of psalms. Stephen also has written a number of poems throughout the book.

One quote early on I like is “We can live a wise inner life of reflection, creativity and inspiration, a life with wide horizons.” Another quote towards the middle that I like is “Consciousness is pure, it is our Buddha-nature, our pure being.” Finally, a quote near the end is that “The Sanskrit wordsamadhiis used for deep quiet, serenity and concentration, and it actually means to gather ourselves together. To bring ourselves back home.” The eight tenets of Buddhism were mentioned as well.

There is a lot of information provided but I am coming from a spiritual/New Age perspective so I found myself at odds with a number of the concepts. One example is karma. I disagree with what the books says. I do think it is about cause and effect. I do think that what you have done in a previous lifetimes affects you in your current life. Many situations that you are dealing with in life are as a result of either good intention or bad intention actions in past lives.

I appreciated the vocabulary of terms in the appendix in the back. I commend Stephen Fulder for the positive work he has done in society overall.

I am giving this book 3.5 stars out of 5 because it is informative but not in a structured way. Like I mentioned above, I think the book would have been more logical to understand and also more focussed if it were a question-answer process as the concepts are difficult to grasp due to our dualistic way of thinking.

Tags:Buddhism Buddha, Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi. Judeo-Christian, Jonah, Job, Psalm, karma, situations, dualism, cause and effect, spirit, spirituality, New Age, lifetime, consciousness, reflection, creativity, Sanskrit, Mary Mikawoz, Mikawoz, Book Review.

HSP – Highly Sensitive People

Book: “The Handbook for Highly Sensitive People:How to Transform Feeling Overwhelmed and Frazzled to Empowered and Fulfilled,” by Mel Collins, Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

The book is available January 15, 2019.

Mel Collins worked in a prison for over 10 years as a HSP or Highly Sensitive Person. She realized that this was not the best match and so studied to become a therapist which was ideal for her intuitive abilities.

Some people are scared that they are so highly sensitive or intuitive but Mel Collins sees this as a gift. She believes in having a balanced life between the feminine and the masculine aspects or the yin and yang of the person.

She also believes in having a balance between physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects. By keeping these areas balanced and shiny like a diamond, there will be very positive results for the HSP.

Mel Collins talks about the chakras and the auric field. She talks about EFT tapping. She discusses ways to protect HSP from outside energies in a number of ways.

There area a number of ways to deal with energy fields. First is the golden light technique, second is visualizing using colours, third is the spotlight method, fourth is crystal therapy and fifth is prayer or faith-based techniques. It is important to clear energetic hooks or cords and cleansing your aura and chakras by the silver shower method, the violet flame method, or smudging or burning sage. Plus, there is the power of salt and the pool of purification method.

Mel Collins says there are earthbound spirits that may attach to a HSP because of the lighter and higher vibrations the person is giving off and because the person is a helper. In these cases, it is important to get the spirit to understand that they are no longer living and should move onto the light.

She talks about the divine blueprint that is with all of us before we reincarnated. We often deal with outstanding issues from previous lifetimes. Mel also does past-life regression therapy work and feels it could be important to realizing why we are here on Earth.

I found the book about Highly Sensitive People to be a good one because I am one. I thought what can this author teach me that I already don’t know about myself and the spirit world but she did a pretty good overview. I liked the book and would recommend it to people who are intuitive but still developing their spiritual practice. For those who have been evolving for awhile, it is a good overview.

Tags: highly sensitive people, person, intuition, yin, yang, masculine, feminine, chakras, aura, energy field, spirit, spirituality, past-life regression, emotional, mental, physical and spiritual.

365 Ways to Beat Stress

 

Book: “365 Ways to Beat Stress: How to Relax and Find Perfect Calm” by Adam Gordon (ed), Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available April 16, 2019

There are a few sections to this book: Mornings, Dealing with Stress and Emotions, Positive Change, Mind and Spirit, Body, The Peaceful Home, Work, People, Creativity and Play, and Evenings.

There are common-sense and yet new ways of dealing with stress. This book is full of good ideas from drawing insight from your dreams to thinking how you can give joy to one person today as you walk to singing in the showers.

I recommend this book to those who would like to give a thoughtful gift. It can be used daily as an inspiration to what to do with your life to destress. It is well thought out and worth it.

Tags: peace, meditations, inspirations, spirit, Mornings, Dealing with Stress and Emotions, Positive Change, Mind and Spirit, Body, The Peaceful Home, Work, People, Creativity and Play, and Evenings.

365 Ways to Find Peace

 

Book: “365 Ways to Find Peace: Meditations and Inspirations” by Marcus Braybrooke (ed), Watkins Media Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

Book available April 16, 2019

There are a number of sections to this daily book of 365 ways to find peace through meditation and inspiration. It splits off in a number of sections: The Centre of Being, The Inner Circle of Love, and The Outer Circle of Spirit. There is a quote for each day from the Buddha, to Epictetus to George Washington Carver and George Herbert.

One that I like as an example is in the Svetashvatara Upanishad approximately 600 to 399 BCE in India.

“All is change in the world of the senses, but changeless is the supreme Lord of Love. Meditate on him, be absorbed by him, wake up from this dream of separateness.”

And then there is a more modern one from Max Ehrmann (1872 – 1945) USA

“You are a child of the Universe, no less than the moon and the stars you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should.”

It is good as a gift for a friend. It is best read one quote at a time to consider and reflect upon each day.

Tags: peace, meditations, inspirations, spirit,

Softy Snowing

Softly Snowing

by Mary Mikawoz (2019)

It is starting to snow – softly and ever so eloquently
It rejoices and falls to the Earth
Displaying non-judgment
And good discretion

It is an act of nature
Ever so poetic
And brilliant in its execution

The snowflake
of itself is divine
Different each one
Designed by God

Wonderfully quiet and serene
The pleasantness of calm
In its absolute honour it descends to the ground.

Living Aware

 

Book: “Living Aware and Inspired: Intuition, the Bioenergy Field, Mind and Emotions” by Helen Pankowsky, MD, Boutique of Quality Books Publishing and WriteLife Publishing, 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

The book is available January 1, 2019.

I have enjoyed reading this book immensely. It is very good at what it has served to do as its goal. The first part of the book deals with Intuition. The second part of the book deals with the Bioenergy Field. The third part of the book deals with “The Mind-Field, Emotions, Body, And Soul.”

For Dr. Helen Pankowsky, being called to the arts but eventually being drawn to the sciences, it was as if “In the ongoing dispute between my psychic/artistic/mystical self and my rational/ scientific/logical self, intuition was caught in the middle. ”

It is important to know how the mind-field works. It is also important to know about the brain and how it functions. Intuition may come as dreams, synchronicity, body information, meditation, art, and mental imagery. “Intuition is like tuning in to a radio frequency.” Senses may be used to download or receive information. Many of these are: clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, telepathy, extrasensory perceptions, and psychometry.

Intuition can be received through emotions as well: anger, sadness, fear, or happiness. The question for the next phase is dynamic and begs the question what to do with it. There is the “three-times rule” that says if it comes once, send the information away, if it comes a second time, send it away again. If it shows up a third time, you should be able to deal or impart the information to the person. Consider – “What is my intent in revealing this intuitive information?”

Some obstacles to intuition may include: fear, denial, invalidation, self-deception, control, and willpower.

Remember what Albert Einstein said “Everything that is, is energy.” and so the human bioenergy field exists. The seven chakras relate to the plexuses and the aura is the bioenergy system.

There is a CD of music made by Dr. Valerie Hunt called “Music of Light” which helps with the bio-energy field or auras of the body. One of the examples of colours is – “Elevating (blue-white-gold): stimulates higher awareness, peace, and contentment, a sense of unity, and clearer thinking and facilitates processing of problems at a higher level of consciousness and access to more wisdom. It enhances feelings of spirituality and lovingness and can enhance meditation.” It is no coincidence that the walls in my house are blue, gold with white trim.

Robert Monroe has developed Hemi-Sync technology which is basically binaural beats which can be used in healing. The highest frequencies deal with altered states, high consciousness and spiritual contemplations. Middle frequencies deal with material problem-solving. Lower frequencies deal with grounding, being healthy, attentive, creative, intuitive and spiritual. So, develop higher frequencies but don’t forget the lower frequencies by going for a walk or lifting weights.

You can use a pendulum on the chakras. “When there is a flow of energy (electrical force is greater than magnetic), the pendulum moves in a circular clockwise direction. When the energy is disturbed (magnetic force is greater than electrical), the pendulum moves back and forth. “When there is no flow or a very weak one, the pendulum stays still.” Check at the soles of the feet, the knees, the elbows, the shoulders and the seven chakras.

Learn to breathe through your chakras and to visualize it spinning clockwise through the various colours of the chakras.

Unresolved emotions are held within the mind-field of the bio-energy field. The three strongest emotions are anger, fear and love. There are many subemotions but essentially they are all a part of the three main emotions with various energy levels. Dr. Pankowsky is a psychiatrist first and still will medicate people as needed to get their physical functioning a boost and then deal with the emotional and spiritual components of the problem. With awareness, comes changes in the body field.

The soul-breath is very important. The Kundalini experience exists at a low-level to exist as human beings and can be experienced under certain circumstances. “The totality of all experiences exists in the mind-field as packets of information, accessible through the mind and which influence patterns of behavior, the emotions, and the physical body of the current life.” Lifehood or past life regression through hypnotherapy or psychics, can be an important avenue to seeing blockages in the current life. Mind dives, life shock or lifehood memory recovery can figure out current problems in this lifetime based on emotional trauma in previous lifetimes.

“There is a complex interplay between the information held in our soul, mind, bioenergy field, and physical body. ” The mind-field is where transformation takes place. You can access the mind/cell memory of your being.

This books includes excellent questions to help guide you. There are exercises as well as meditations for you to do. They are quite good. I would recommend this book for people interested in the spiritual discipline whether a novice or highly experienced.

The book is available January 1, 2019 when it will be released to the public.

Tags:spiritualist, spirit, spiritual, energy, mind-field, energy field, lifehood, past life regression, hypnotherapy, psychics, intuition, mind, chakras, aura, bio-energy, medical doctor, Helen Pankowsky, Mary Mikawoz, Book Review, artistic, mystical, soul, body, soul-breath, clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, telepathy, extrasensory perceptions, and psychometry, radio frequency

Everyday Empath

Book: “The Everyday Empath: Achieve Energetic Balance in Your Life” by Raven Digitalis, Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd., 2019.

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz

The book is available March 8, 2019

Raven Digitalis has been an empath all his life. He has focussed on Wiccan and pagan pursuits and is also a farmer. He now explores empathy for those who are newly grounded in it or for those would like to understand highly attuned empaths in their lives. Empathy is an emotional internalization. It is a word that is less than a 100 years old and comes from the German word to “feeling into” where you feel somebody else’s emotion as your own. “Empathy is considerate, compassionate and engaging.”

Unlike sympathy which is a feeling “for” somebody, empathy is a feeling “as” somebody. The empath is “absorbing” the emotional frequency. Everyone is empathic to one degree or another. It all depends on how much you have developed it. Many spiritual people indicate that the emotional response of empathy affects our karma.

Our empathic techniques include the following points: we don’t need to have all the answers, it’s good to be honest, disapproval is ok sometimes, you are not a victim, put yourself first, and cultivate gratitude.

Psychics have an enhanced ability to perceive energies and are more focussed as empaths. For those with highly-developed empathy, we have the benefit of transforming or transmuting the energies by increasing the vibrations. Emotional absorption can take place while on the phone, watching TV, and reading the newspaper, in that these are examples of everyday life energy and it is everywhere. If you feel something negative, transmute its energy field to something positive. If you feel something positive, amplify that to the energy grid.

Although the empath is more compassionate, he/she may be scared and see something they don’t want. Some sensitives turn to alcohol, drug abuse, addictions, video gaming and other methods of emotional disconnection. It is really a good thing to be an empath as we are helping to bring in a new aeon of ages into being. If we isolate ourselves for long periods of time, we are bringing in external negative energy without the ability to project our positive energy.

Some methods for dealing with empathy are to: look at the third eye instead of the eyes, covering up your crown chakra with a a hat or shawl, “fake it till you make it,” carry a rock or gemstone, watch your breathing, and surround yourself with like-minded empaths.

Having said all this, it is important for the empath to have boundaries and reinforce this with visualizing a shield of protection. The Mother Earth and Father Sky shield is a good grounding one. You can try a crystalline shield, an egg shield, a mirror shield, shield of iron, a cloak of invisibility, coat of arms, patterned shield, an empath’s heart shield, shield of prayer, or elemental shield.

Empaths are prone to anxiety, depression and emotional imbalances. There are ways to deal with these problems or issues. An empaths purpose is to inspire unity, growth and healing. Empaths are natural healers and that is what we are supposed to do. That is one reason we should be continuing in our community doing the work of transmuting empathic energy and vibrations.

There are a number of exercises in the book. The first one is to observe people and figure out what is going on. It there a dominant personality and a submissive one? Is it a mother and child trying to work out a conflict? What is the feeling between the couple or the group? A second exercise involves you meeting and talking to your Shadow Self. A third exercise is regarding absorptive and projective empathy. A fourth exercise is self-limitation cord cutting. A fifth exercise is morning and evening rituals for empaths. A sixth exercise is a bathing cleansing. A seventh exercise is an empathic journey into art. An eighth exercise is to think globally and act locally. A ninth and final exercise is for action for animals.

Remember “We are not mere emotional sponges. We are emotional alchemists!”

As a fellow empath, I found the book a good review with some very good insights and also some good suggestions for exercises. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels they are developing feelings of empathy towards others or are into metaphysical subjects. I found the book valuable for myself and found it a good read.

The book is available March 8, 2019 when it will be released to the public.

Tags:Spirit, spirituality, empathy, wiccan, pagan, reading others, shields, protection, Mother Earth Shield, Father Sky shield crystalline shield, egg shield, mirror shield, shield of iron, a cloak of invisibility, coat of arms, patterned shield, heart shield, shield of prayer, elemental shield, cutting cords, alchemists, anxiety, depression, emotional imbalances, Shadow Self, community, animals, transmutation, transformation, energy, vibrations.

Chocolate for a Woman’s Spirit

Chocolate for a Woman’s Spirit

Book: “Chocolate for a Woman’s Spirit: 77 Stories of Inspiration to Life Your Heart and Soothe Your Soul” by Kay Allenbaugh

Book Review by Mary Mikawoz (Author of “Northern Lake Adventures: The Encounter”)

This book is very similar to the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series. The difference is that the stories are all written by women for women. I am not saying a man could not or would not appreciate the stories, however, they focus around women’s issues.

I find the stories are helpful in that they provide insights into women’s lives. The book carries a wide range of stories, some of them quite heartfelt. Other stories are just average.

I would recommend reading this book if you are looking for some inspiring or uplifting stories. It would be a nice present for a good friend. This book is part of a series of contributed stories and so there other “chocolate” books in the series.