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Shakti
Gawain is a pioneer in the field of personal growth and
consciousness. Her many best-selling books have sold more
than six
million copies in thirty languages worldwide. For more than
twenty
years, Shakti has lead workshops internationally, and has
facilitated
thousands of individuals in developing greater awareness, balance,
and
wholeness in their lives.
She has appeared on such nationally syndicated shows as Oprah!,
Good
Morning America, Sonya Live, The Larry King Show, The Leeza Show,
America's Talking and New Dimensions Radio, and she has
recently been
featured in Cosmopolitan, New Woman, New Age
Journal, Body Mind & Spirit and Time
magazine.
Shakti was brought up as the only child in a highly academic
environment. Both parents were atheists. The mother,
by way of her own belief system, demonstrated that there are no
limits other than those we set ourselves; everything is
possible! This created in Shakti an attitude of both
openness and skepticism that lead to a great need for testing
everything herself. For a while things went perfectly smooth
until eventually a love relationship broke up which left Shakti in
a
deep existential crisis. What is it all about really? she
wondered, and
thus took the first step on the long path to self-realization, in
search
for the true purpose of life.
"I read a lot and filled my head with psychology. And
eventually I
realized that it is not enough to stimulate only the mind, the
intellect. Also the body needs to express itself.
That's how I started
dancing."
The next step in Shakti's journey came about through a trip to
India
where she became deeply impressed with the culture and the
religious
beliefs she encountered. All of a sudden she lost interest
in all things
material. "I gave away all my possessions and kept only
what I could
fit into a small canvas bag," she goes on. "I
needed nothing more. I
realized that, along the way, we will be given all the things we
truly
need. There is no sense in collecting more that you can
use. By the way, the name Shakti is the name of the female
aspect of the Hindu God
Shiva."
"18 years ago I decided I wanted to write a book about my
experiences,"
Shakti explains. "However, I doubted my capability, and
for a long time
I did nothing but fret about it. At the time I lived
together with a
very creative man. It was he who taught me to 'cut the shit
and do the
thing'. So I did, and that's how Creative Visualization came
about."
According to herself, Shakti was once a workaholic.
"This is what
becomes of us when we allow ourselves to be influenced by outer
authorities for whom, in order to give us their love and
acceptance, we
believe we need to perform constantly. Most of us lost touch
with our
intuition already as children. And now we are faced with the
intricate
question: how can I trust myself and my intuition?
Make contact with
your inner Child, your Mentor within," advises Shakti.
"That teacher
knows which fork in the road to follow. And you know when
you have
chosen right, because then you feel alive. Start exercising
your
intuition by letting it guide you on issues of less
importance. For
instance, shall I go to that party or not? What feels
best? And then act on it, like if you never had a doubt in
your mind."
"Nothing is predestined," she continues.
"Everything is a creative
process. Visualizations and affirmations are only tools to
help in the
process. Our own healing is the most important process
taking place on
Earth at the moment, because it influences the collective all or
oneness. The greatest harm we inflict on Earth is our
separation from
nature. When we change, we also change the world around
us. The Earth is undergoing a great transformation - and it
happens very fast. Old values and patterns can no longer be
followed. We must heal ourselves and find out own
path. We must make use of our will, become valiant 'knights'
on a crusade for positive thinking, positive acting. However, on
this crusade we cannot become victorious unless we also recognise
our shadow side; our fears, our denials, our negative
thought-patterns. This side of ourselves must also be
brought into the light in order to manifest wholeness." |
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About our
people pages:
Because many visitors have asked for more information
about particular people whose words appear on the site,
we'll try to give you as much information as we can about
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to works by the author, though at times they'll display
other books if the author has written an essay or
introduction for those books. |
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We
all have within us a deep sense of what we need, and what is right
and true for us. To access this we need to pay attention to
our feelings and our intuition. We need to learn to listen
deeply to ourselves and to trust what we hear. And we need
to risk acting on what we feel to be true. Even if we make
mistakes, we must do this in order to learn and grow.
Shakti
Gawain |
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