Reviews written by Krysta Gibson

Chants of a Lifetime is a memoir of well-known chanter Krishna Das who met Ram Dass in the winter of 1968. After being totally devoted to Ram Dass, Krishna went to India where he lived and experienced his guru Neem Karoli Baba. After a few years, Krishna Das returned to the United States where he has been chanting ever since.
The book chronicles his various experiences and is a wonderfully vulnerable description of the author’s spiritual seeking and finding. His main spiritual practice became chanting which he has been sharing with many people since the 1970’s. The book is accompanied with a CD which will introduce the reader to the practice of chanting.
There’s a lot of spiritual history in this book and it is a delightful read that also takes you on your own inner spiritual journey.

Getting a handle on the new energy medicine/healing and the people behind it all is much easier once you see this movie. It has a cast of people like Lynne McTaggert, Eric Pearl, Bruce Lipton and others who explain the various types of new discoveries being made about how our bodies work and heal.
Well put together and entertaining at the same time, this is the perfect gift to give someone who doesn’t believe in anything other than conventional medicine. It is a mind-opener and could help people have more willingness to consider complementary healing modalities. Even if you are accepting of these ideas, having them organized as they are in this movie makes it even more fascinating and welcomed.

If your life seems to be stuck even though you have been meditating, affirming and using other spiritual tools, it could be that you need to learn how to forgive. This book is a fabulous toolbox for really learning how to do this.
Not only does the book give ways to give up our feelings and beliefs that are giving problems, but it also helps us learn how to actually shift our perceptions so we see things differently which allows us to act differently.
This book will appeal to people who want more than an emotional approach to this topic. It draws from A Course in Miracles, cognitive behavioral therapy, body-centered therapies, psycho-spiritual therapy, attitudinal healing, and energy work. There are lists, exercises, journal-writing, meditations and so much more. You’ll want to spend some time with this book and the rewards will be worth it.

When you work with this book, you’ll visit thirteen of Egypt’s scared temples and learn what ancient wisdom each has to teach you. By tuning in on an energetic level, you will be imbued with the consciousness of that temple. Visit Sakkara which holds the vibration of unlimited abundance and the temple of Abydos for remembering. The initiations in this book awaken your intuition as well as the sahu or realized self.
Local author Danielle Rama Hoffman has been journeying to Egypt and working with these energies since 1994. This book contains a lot of information about the actual physical temples as well as the lesser known spiritual implications of each. There are some beautiful color photos of the areas visited which make the journeys more visceral.
The book is meant to be experienced, not just read, and the CD enclosed offers two fabulous guided journeys to get you started. Many years of study and inner work have gone into the production of this book and we’re fortunate to have it shared with us.

Many people like to say they are “spiritual but not religious” and that they don’t want to be involved in any one particular organization. At the same time, they want to have some sort of spiritual life and practice. Someone has written the book for these folks and it is a good one.
This guidebook can help the spiritual independent create their own independent spiritual practice while also providing some framework to it. Not being involved with an organization can lead to a lack of structure and eventually to a lack of practice.
There are 13 chapters and they include information such as: creating sacred space for spiritual practices; clarifying motivation, intention, and clearing the mind; working with dreams and intuition; using the vision quest and retreat; and performing rituals.
The book is well-written, clear, supportive and could be an invaluable aid to the spiritual independent person who would like some self-guided structure.

As I am sure is true of you, I learned about the power of blessing many years ago through the works of Catherine Ponder. So when this book came in, I thought to myself, “Now how could anyone write an entire book about blessing. It is such a simple, though profound, practice.” I started reading and found out.
The book is filled with delightful stories, ideas, and practices that will support you in learning how to bless constantly in your life. Pradervand describes blessings as “wishing all that is good for someone, recognizing their individual worth and honoring them for it.” Blessings become a way of seeing the world and of interacting with everyone and everything in the world, including ourselves.
There is a part of the book that talks about remembering to bless ourselves. Of course – and how often do we think of doing that? Not very, I suspect. The Gentle Art of Blessing is truly a gentle, compassionate book that will withstand the test of time, just like the act of blessing does.

This is a dandy little book and CD that leads you through the creation of your own mandala of manifestation using 14 guided visualizations. By using this mandala with journaling, dreamwork,
and visualizing you are grounded in a personalized method of manifesting your life the way you want it to be. The chambers visited in the journeys are body, money, machines, home, creativity,
organization, other, depth, journey, vocation, vision, dissolution and return. There is a lot of depth to this interactive program. This isn’t a book to be read; it is an actual program to be used and lived.
There is a longer version of this program that I reviewed a few years ago. It is really nice to have this abbreviated form for use by busy people who might not have the time to listen to the entire course. If you want to deepen your life experience by having a better understanding of your own manifestation process, this would be a great program for you to use.

This is a fast-paced one and a half hours of following the main character, Sean, as he tries to find the secret to happiness. His search leads him to visit with a wide array of authors, religious and spiritual leaders, and social activists such as Eckhart Tolle; Marianne Williamson; Michael Bernard
Beckwith; and Nachum Shiffren, the Surfing Rabbi. There is also an exclusive video interview with Geronimo (Pratt) Ji Jaga who found self-realization while unjustly incarcerated for 27 years.
The teachers share what they believe about finding happiness and the state of the world today in a
way that grabs your attention from the beginning and doesn’t let go. Interspersed with their wisdom are tidbits of our seeker’s life as he tries to understand and apply what he is learning. You’ll watch this more than once and it would make a great gift for someone you know who is seeking the greater meaning to life.

The focus of the author of this program is “…to guide persons in adopting handwriting patterns
that bring out the best in themselves, with a specific emphasis on the transformational power of the letters of the alphabet.” She teaches that how we write letters, where we make loops, how we cross our “t’s” make a difference to our subconscious and can influence our life experiences.
The reader is asked to write every day in a very specific way for 40-day cycles. By doing this, she says we will find ourselves letting go of outdated thought patterns and acknowledging ourselves at the highest possible level.
The book offers this for each letter: soul quality, declaration of intent, alphabetical family, element, gender, gemstone, animal, guardian protector, and how it is best to inscribe the letter. I have not had 40 days to work with the program so cannot attest to its effectiveness. However, on the outside of the program’s box, Louise Hay says she worked with the program and released many old negative patterns by using it. Sounds like it is well worth trying even if it just tidies up your handwriting!

After having viewed several DVDs of Eckhart Tolle as well as seeing him on Oprah’s 10-week webcast and listening to several CDs of his, I thought, “Could I really enjoy another 110 minutes
of Tolle?” But, yep, I did! It isn’t that he said anything new on this DVD. He didn’t. But each time he talks about being in the now, giving up our resistance to what is, and allowing ourselves to be the space for whatever is happening in our lives, he does it in a slightly different way. It feels new each time. With his quiet sense of humor and giggle, rolling eyes, and floating hand movements, he draws us right back in to the present moment. He reminds us that looking to the past or the future for fulfillment is “madness;” that we can live without struggle and with great joy if we just let go and live life as it presents itself to us. Watching this DVD is an excellent way to put yourself into pace with him and feel what it’s like to be truly present and alive.

If you are interested in learning more about how to create magic in your life, you will enjoy this book. Never boring, it takes us on a ride through the life of a man named Mark Vale who is facing financial and marital problems. He meets a group of people who lead him through various experiences that ultimately teach him the seven secrets of magic.
The people he meets include a charismatic billionaire, a smooth talking golf pro, and a beautiful topless waitress. He does end up manifesting a lot of money and then has to face whether he can keep it as well as keeping his family.
The author lives in Australia where he founded the Living from Greatness program. He coaches his clients that “no one should settle for anything less than a magical life.” In this book he certainly gives some great tools that anyone can apply to their lives. It wouldn’t surprise me if this is made
into a movie; it has all the elements of a successful one.

Slated for a national theatrical release in November, this film explores the concept of God through the eyes of rabbis, christian fundamentalists, Catholic priests, Buddhist llamas, Hindu swamis, Zen masters, Muslim radicals, shamans and ordinary people across the globe.

After being frustrated with religious turmoil, fanaticism and fundamentalism, filmmaker Peter Rodger set off with a skeleton crew of one person and traveled the globe asking people “What is God?” The results are extraordinary while also being challenging, depending on your personal belief system.

Filmed around the world, we are treated to a wonderful experience of nature, people, sounds and customs (warning: there is one custom from the Masai which is shocking if you have not seen it before). It is truly amazing to hear what such a varied group of people has to say about their religious beliefs.

In some situations, such as the Muslim radicals, you have to wonder how they got access to these people in order to ask the questions. One of my favorite parts of the film is when Rabbi Menachem Froman, an Orthodox Jew, and Ibrahim Abu El-Hawa, a Muslim community leader and peace advocate, embrace. It is truly a beautiful moment to witness and I can still see it vividly in my
mind.

This film will broaden your knowledge and open your heart ever wider to the amazing array of people who live on this planet. The movie encourages us to allow everyone to find their own path and not impose ours on others. To find a screening near you, go to www.omgmovie.com.

Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and “Mutt” cartoonist Patrick McDonnell have teamed up to give us a fun visual romp through the concepts in the book “The Power of Now.” If you have read any of Tolle’s works, you know he is an animal lover and that he has a dog. After Patrick McDonnell read “The Power of Now,” he approached Tolle about working together on a project and “Guardians
of Being” is the result. The artwork is simple and teamed up with words such as “When you pet a dog or listen to a cat purring, thinking may subside for a moment and a space of stillness arises within you, a doorway into being.” This is a wonderful way to dip into the concepts during the day, visiting them briefly, and allowing them to flow through you into whatever you have in front of you at the moment.

Many of us have companion animals and will appreciate the highlighting of the part they can play in the process of our enlightenment. Although we might already be aware of this, “Guardians of Being” helps us touch it in a new and profound way. You might want to put this on your holiday shopping list for the animal lovers in your life.

According to the author the Akashic Records “contain everything that every soul has ever thought, said, and done over the course of its existence.” If this is true, then it makes sense we could benefit from being able to learn from these records. The author has been working with these records for herself and others and is able to present a good working knowledge of this dimension of life. The book provides very specific instructions for accessing this material for yourself or for others. She shares the experiences of others who have read their own records which helps you feel a little more confident when beginning to access your own. Whether you are interested in order to learn more about yourself or you want to heal some past life issues, this method seems to be sound and well-worth learning how to do.

Most of us have had the pleasure of hearing or playing singing bowls; such a beautiful and haunting sound they can make. Although people do use these bowls for healing, this book is the first I have seen that gives an actual procedure to use for various types of healing. The author was born in Nepal and in the village where he grew up people were healed by herbalists, monks, and medicine men using drums, gongs, and mantras. He came to the United State when he was 15 years old, graduated from college and eventually returned to Nepal to learn how to practice ancient healing techniques. In the book, he explains the types of bowls (he is not talking about the crystal singing bowls, only the metal ones), how to choose them and how to work with them. He talks about the charkas and tones to use for various ailments and desired results. With the book is a CD where he walks you through a relaxation session, a chakra healing session, and a meditation. During the sessions, he tells you which bowl to use, where, and how to strike it. This would be very helpful to someone learning to use the bowls in their healing practice. I enjoyed each of the sessions even though I wasn’t using bowls myself. Anyone who wants to incorporate the use of metal singing bowls in their personal or professional practice will want to add this book to their library. It is full of practical, clear information that is sure to help you use these incredible tools to help yourself and others.

If you have known someone who has had a stroke, also known as a brain attack, you know the devastation that can follow and how long and steep the road to recovery can be. This book is a jewel and a gift to those who have had a stroke or other serious injury, illness or seemingly impossible problem. The author walks us through her personal experiences of having two strokes and what she went through in order to recover the use of her body and brain, the impact it had on her family, and what she learned. She shares tools and ideas that have helped her as well as the stroke survivors and family she works with today.
According to the American Heart Association, about 700,000 new strokes occur in the United States every year; that’s one every 45 seconds. The information in this book will certainly go a long way to helping stroke victims become stroke survivors and give friends, family, and professionals some very practical tools to help them as well.

This movie is about the use of EFT or the Emotional Freedom Technique. EFT is a way to use some of the principles of acupuncture by tapping on certain keys points of your body. Many people know about EFT and use it. This is the first movie I am aware of that follows 10 people who attend a weekend seminar where they learn about the technique for the first time. We actually get to meet these 10 people who have a variety of issues: physical pain, intense grief, financial concerns, weight issues, post-traumatic stress disorder. The beginning of the movie shows interviews with these people where they express their issues. None of them have previous experience with EFT but they are willing to try. You can easily see the pain each is in. During the movie we see them working on their issues both in group settings as well as in individual sessions. It is incredibly powerful to watch them go through their processes. The filming supports our own emotional involvement with each person. I found myself encouraging them on, wanting to see them overcome their problems. There is no way your heart is not touched by their willingness to share their processes with us. At the end of the weekend, these people are visibly transformed. They share how different they feel, but we can see it in how they appear. Their faces shine! There is also follow-up where they are interviewed six months after the workshop and they are still pain-free and still using the EFT technique. From watching the movie you will learn the technique for yourself; it is very simple. There is also a special section where we are walked through the actual process of using EFT so we can start using it ourselves right away.
Interspersed throughout the movie are short clips of teachers such as Jack Canfield, Dr. Bruce Lipton, Joe Vitale, Cheryl Richardson and others telling us about their view of EFT being valid and something they have each used themselves. This movie will touch your heart and encourage you to want to explore the possibility of living a life without pain, without some of the emotional luggage you might be carrying around. What if life could be more joyful and fulfilling just because you knew how to “tap?” Watch this movie and see what happens for you.

This is one of those books that could stand on its own simply because of the title. We are, indeed, excellent as we are. Fortunately, the author did write the book, though, because it is not only a visually beautiful book, it is also very inspiring and supportive. The book offers insightful stories and motivational quotes drawn from the author’s meditation book, The Woman’s Book of Confidence. The words are accompanied by some of the most beautiful photos of flowers I have ever seen. Just looking at the photos brings a sense of peace and wholeness. Combined with the thoughts, it is a smashing success. This would make a fabulous gift for yourself or a friend and is a great little book to keep close by.

Finally, someone has written a book that blends the worlds of spirituality and activism, and does it very well. Andrew Harvey is an internationally acclaimed poet, novelist, translator, mystical scholar, and spiritual teacher who has published over 20 books.The first part of the book gives us the background of how Harvey came to his own realizations about being able to blend his spiritual process with the needs of today’s world. The second part gives us what he calls the seven laws for sacred activism. These cover everything from the necessity of incorporating a spiritual practice into your life, to transforming anger into wise energy, to the importance of what he calls networks of grace. He explains that neither the practical work of the activist nor the passive spirituality of the individual is enough to change the world. The two must be fused to affect the profound change that is necessary. The Hope comes at a perfect time to teach us how to be conscious agents for change and gives us a plan to do so. The book is being embraced by many well-known spiritual teachers and activists and Harvey is even drawing the attention of the United Nations where he will present his vision this month.

Debbie Ford is known to many people as the author of several books and she has been on the major television talk shows. She has developed what she calls The Shadow Process, which is a way for people to get in touch with their shadow sides, heal them, and be freed to live their lives more fully. In this movie, we are presented a very graphic explanation of what the shadow self is as well as insights into how the Shadow Process can help to integrate and heal it.

Self-improvement heavyweights weigh in during the movie: Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, James Van Praagh and others talk about the existence of the shadow and its importance. There are some very inspirational stories shared by people who have done this using the Shadow Process. If you only view the movie you might be disappointed like a writer who posted to Debbie Ford’s website. He was very frustrated because while the movie helped him recognize that he needs to deal with his shadow, it did not help him actually do it. He felt the movie was basically an infomercial. There is an interactive version of the movie that really needs to be used along with the movie. The interactive version takes the next step and actually walks the viewer through the process of uncovering and dealing with one’s shadow. Both versions are very well done and can provide some great support for people who want to face their shadow self once and for all. This is a great use of current-day technology to help people move forward with their lives.