Category Book Reviews

Dana shares books she likes

Oct 15 2012

World Menopause Day–Seriously…

October 18th, 2012 has been declared World Menopause Day by the International Menopause Society.  I must have been inspired to write about menopause from the cosmic group consciousness going on.

World CongressLast night I attended a fundraiser dinner for our local symphony. As often happens when women-of-a-certain age gather around a table, the subject of hot flashes and menopause came up. The conversation went something like this:

50-something woman–“These hot flashes are driving me crazy. Guess it’s just part of life now. My mother still has them and she’s in her 80’s.”

70-something woman–“Mine started when I was 45 and I’ve been having them ever since.”

There was a lot of nodding and commiseration as everyone seemed to simply accept the inevitable discomforts of feminine aging.  I wanted to yell, “You don’t have to take it! Menopause is a passage, not a curse. You can take charge of your health.”

Of course it was neither the time nor the place to get on my health-conscious soap box. That place would be here…

THE CHANGE

The Change doesn’t necessarily mean you turn into a Werewolf. Change can be a good thing, too. As the body shifts its chemistry, women need to focus on finding a new way to bring balance and harmony to their systems. Hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and weight gain do not need to be your Next Chapter.

When I turned about 50, I experienced a few classic menopausal symptoms. I believe my symptoms were less severe than most American women largely because I have been ingesting the Quinary Formula of Chinese Herbs from Sunrider International for about twenty years.  This formulation of over 50 herbs to balance the five basic systems of the body is the biggest bang for your buck for over-all health–in my opinion.

However, after one particularly powerful, nauseating midday hot flash, I hied myself over to my favorite Korean Herbalist/Health Food Store Owner, Lady M. She is a porcelein-skinned healer in La Habra, California. We did some muscle-testing with a row of female formulas and settled on one called Transitions from Pure Essence Labs.

Pure Essence Labs Transitions, 60 VegicapTransitions contains black cohash, dong quai and other herbs known to bring relief to menopausal symptoms. I stayed on the product for a couple of years and found it very beneficial. The hot flashes and increased appetite disappeared. There is no one-pill-fits-all, but there are many formulas to try. Working with a skilled diagnostition can help you find  the right product for you.

PROGESTERONE CONNECTION

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About(TM): Menopause: The Breakthrough Book on Natural Progesterone (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About...)Dr. John Lee wrote the now classic What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause. He writes persuasively about how the estrogen-rich plastics and oil-based products in modern society are throwing our bodies out of balance. He touts progesterone as a way to restore balance. There are now many progesterone creams on the market. They are not all equal. Personally, the ones I tried made me too “hot,” until I started using the Young Living Essential Oil version.

progessence plusToday, Young Living has a new generation answer to the progesterone product in a serum called PROGESSENCE PLUS.  Information about this product can be found at:

Young Living PDF

Dr. Dan Purser FAQ on Progessence Plus

If you want to order a bottle, you can use my membership number–57763.

BE PRO-ACTIVE

The point is, if you are not functioning at optimum health–DO something about it. If you’re in hormone hell, educate yourself about what is happening to your body and then take action to alleviate your symptoms. You should be able to enjoy life at every stage. Take the misery out of menopause.

Celebrate World Menopause Day!

Dana Taylor

Reiki Therapist, Author of Ever-Flowing Streams

Sep 5 2012

Messages from The Ancient Ones by Stacey Stephens

Messages From The Ancient Ones: Year One (Messages From The Ancient Ones - Spirituality, Consciousness, Self Help & Personal Growth (Akin to: Esther Hicks & Eckhart Tolle)If you’re a fan of the Abraham/Esther Hicks channeled books, you might enjoy Messages from the Ancient Ones by Stacey Stephens. Well organized by topics such as Compassion, Empowerment, Relationships, Integrity, etc., the ideas presented are upbeat and almost uptopian. If everyone took the advice to live by the ideals in this book, it would be a better place indeed.

I used the chapters as a daily devotional in the mornings. There are pictures to set the tone for each chapter, which is a creative way to utilize the new freedoms of digital publishing. The messages are reminiscent of A Course in Miracles talking about ego-based thinking and urging readers to breakthrough to an era of Divinity.

This book is part of the New Thought movement of spirituality. For those of us well-versed in this type of philosophy, it doesn’t break new ground. However, it is a good presentation of the ideas and presents a hopeful image of what the human experience can be.

Dana Taylor

Aug 31 2012

Cancer and Reiki

1st Place Spirituality & Religion–E Festival of Books Awards 2012

The Supernal Friends have found themselves surrounded by cancer patients over the past months. Cancer used to be a disease of “old” people. Today it cuts a swath across all age groups. It touches everyone. You probably know several people dealing with it.

As an energy worker, I sometimes feel overwhelmed when faced with these extremes of thinking:

  • Going “all natural”—Sometimes people walk completely away from medical doctors and begin a desperate search for health with supplements, strange diets, gurus, and begging me to send them healing energy.
  • Last resort—After all the surgeries, chemo and radiation have been tried, then people are looking for a miracle worker and I get a call.

In my experience, neither one of these scenarios are optimum for healing. Reiki and most natural methods of dealing with a health crisis are best utilized for accelerating healing and establishing better lifestyles. They work in conjunction with an overall game plan for better health.

Best Case Scenario

I’ve been working woman who has had breast cancer and has recently finished up all the surgery, chemo and radiation treatments.  Her prognosis is good, but she has been seeking a boost back to wellness. She had a wound that would not heal for months. After one Reiki treatment, there was enough improvement, her doctor told her, “I don’t know what you’ve done, but keep doing it.”

Reiki energy treatments are ideal in this situation. After cancer treatments, the body is impaired and out of balance. It is full of toxicity. The patient feels exhausted all the time. Reiki serves as an infusion of healing energy. It draws on the Ever-Flowing Streams of light and color and envelopes the patient in these unseen, but very real energies.

As a Reiki therapist, I can “read” a body.  As my hands travel over the head, trunk, arms & legs, I literally feel the hot spots. I know where there are problems. Like little Geiger Counters, my palms buzz over trouble areas.  Often, I’ll get an image of an organ in my mind’s eye and work the area as I feel led.  This is an intuitive way of tapping into information available in the patient’s energy field.

Sometimes I draw out the blockages to improve the energy flow.  Occasionally I lay my hands on the area and concentrate on sending energy into the person. It’s certainly not an exact science, but then neither is traditional medicine.

A Reiki therapist works on the whole person. Even with a repeating client, each session can be vastly different. Emotions may be more at issue one week and I’ll suddenly “know” about a situation that needs to be addressed. Mind and body are so intertwined.

Cancer is so much more than a physical disease. It is a huge emotional experience. It’s a catastrophic event.  People go from being themselves to being a Cancer Patient.

Energy treatments go through all the layers of imbalance and distress, both physical and mental to help people get to a better place.

Despite the pain of hearing about a teenager struck down by leukemia or the dear friend with a deadly tumor, my Reiki work is my way of making a positive difference. A half hour on my Reiki table is an oasis of peace and healing for my clients. That is their time to rest in the Ever-Flowing Streams. Sometimes they cry; occasionally they sleep; their pain is usually alleviated.

Healing is a process. Reiki helps.

Aug 20 2012

Visionary Fiction Leader, Jacob Nordby

The Divine Arsonist: A Tale of AwakeningOne of the more interesting, creative genres emerging in the writing world is being labeled “Visionary Fiction.” Jacob Nordby is part of the vanguard of authors presenting New Thought philosophy in the fictional fashion.  The Divine Arsonist : A Tale of Awakening is a sort of modern Pilgram’s Progress, featuring an American business man, Jacob, and his spiritual journey.

Jacob is a hard-driving type-A personality, reaching for the American Dream. He has it all–the growing business, the pretty wife, two great kids, a few extra pounds, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Enter Lucius, a mysterious messenger, challenging Jacob to meet him next week at his Idaho cabin. His life will be irrevocably changed. The choice is his.

Driven by inner guidance and a need to find Who You Really Are, Jacob takes the challenge. What unfolds is a mystical journey that strips him bare, literally and figuratively. His metaphysical experiences are the stuff dreams are made of. The guides he meets all have lessons to teach. He emerges from the harrowing, sometimes blissful, experience transformed.

Jacob Nordby is a gifted writer. He tackles difficult scenes–dream sequences, pedantic conversations, revelations–with a deft touch. He is especially adroit  at description. He uses fresh analogies. The hills of Idaho come alive. Astral projection, doomsday visions, and other-worldly adventures are easily imagined. Even though much of the journey is supernatural, his main character remains very human.

The reader senses the real story is about to unfold as the new Jacob re-enters society with a greater awareness of what is really important in life. What sort of impact will the enlightened Jacob have on the people and planet? Perhaps, in a few years another installment of Jacob’s life will make for fascinating reading.

As value systems change and global awareness increases in the area of spirituality without religion, books like The Divine Arsonist will influence the world, one reader at a time. If there is hope for the world, it is in young people with vision, like Jacob Nordby.

Read more about Jacob Nordby at Your Awakened Self.

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 1st Place Winner E-Festival of Words

Religion & Spiritualitiy

Aug 8 2012

“Miracles: 32 Stories”

You know you’re about to embark on a unique book when the cover page reads: “This book may be copied and freely distributed. Its contents belong to God; its work are His glory.” Miracles: 32 True Stories

Miracles: 32 True Stories compiled by Joanie Hileman centers on thirty-two people living in Maine who all were touched by God’s grace. Hileman does an excellent job of capturing everyone’s “voice” and writing their stories as if they are sitting in your living room sharing their lives.

The book is decidedly Christian in philosophy and features many people who were struggling through life and found their way to a better path by becoming followers of Christ. The people portrayed are generally middle class folks living in a small town setting. Some stories are anecdotal incidents such as “The Appointment” where a woman reluctantly keeps a hair appointment during the busy Christmas season. She winds up saving a choking child’s life and the appointment becomes divine intervention.

Other stories are much longer tales of despair and redemption. A sad commentary on our society is how many of the people in this book have struggled with drugs and addictions. They are the lucky ones to have found a way out.

“Losing Matthew”—Barbara’s story covers a thirteen year span about a mother who seriously messes up and loses her son to the foster care system, then to the biological father. I found her story of slow redemption especially moving. There were no instant miracles, but God never gave up on her, either. Barbara found God’s grace many times along the way, even after she stumbled time and again.

There are two suicides in the book. In both cases, family members receive supernatural encouragement to get through a devastating situation.

There’s an authenticity to this book that will undoubtedly resonant with many who will identify with the people who share their stories. Miracles demonstrates that life is not easy, but it can be filled with grace and joy, even in the most difficult of times. When people open themselves to Divinity—in these examples through the Christ Spirit—miracles do happen!

Jul 28 2012

“From Scared to Sacred” by Carol Woodliff

 From Scared to Sacred: Lessons in Learning to Dance with Life.

Therapist Carol Woodliff demonstrates what can happen when  “still small voice” whispers turn into full-blown lessons for abundant living.   From Scared to Sacred: Lessons in Learning to Dance with LifeUsing an interesting mix of channelled information and  memoir, Woodliff provides an uplifting and entertaining guide to positive living.

Carol Woodliff is a shaman, healer, and hypnotherapist who has crossed my path in writing circles. Over the past couple of years I’ve come to “know” her through the social media. If I had to use one word to describe both her book and Carol Woodliff, the person, I would choose “authentic.” She has an authentic desire to help people heal and grow; she has an authentic hunger for personal spiritual growth. She doesn’t use hype or sell CD’s on how to become a guru in twelve easy steps. No, Carol, has experienced life-changing communications and used them to change her life. Her book offers spititual wisdom and encouragement.

From www.CarolWoodliff.com: Profile picture

“In From Scared to Scared, I share the beautiful poetic lessons from that Voice and honest personal essays reflecting on living that wisdom.  It is a journey that is funny, touching, mystical and grounded in the question, “How do we live those spirit teachings and be compassionate with our human self at the same time?”

              • Have you ever felt the whispers of your heart and then felt they just weren’t practical?
              • Have you ever thought, “The spiritual teachings by many New Age writers sound really good but how do I actually live them?”
              • Have you ever longed for a real discussion about how we love being human and be our highest spiritual self at the same time?

I did and this is what I share with you in From Scared to Sacred.  It is just a small transposition that changes the word scared to sacred. It is similar small shifts in our consciousness that allow us to move from living ruled by our fears, to living in sacred connection to our highest and most authentic spirit.  I invite you to join me in this exploration and listen to the whispers within your own heart.”

“Life isn’t a test. It is an opportunity for our spirits to experience our humanness in this wonderful dance we call life!”

This is a great book to use as a daily devotional, taking a chapter a day to get off to a good start.

Learn more at www.CarolWoodliff.com. You’ll be glad you did!

Dana Taylor