The Truth About Soulmate Love

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By Tammy Mastroberte

We all dream of finding our perfect soulmate to love and cherish forever, and we often feel if we could just find that one person, then everything in our lives would fall into place. There would be no fighting, pain or disagreements, and life would just be an endless stream of bliss and love.

However, that is just not the reality or the purpose of love relationships. Yes, being with our soulmate can be wonderful, fun, exciting and blissful. But it can also cut us deep, bring up old wounds and push all our buttons. But that’s exactly the way it should be.

Back in June 2012, bestselling author Marianne Williamson taught a weekend workshop dedicated to the topic of romantic relationships, and she shared the true purpose of these connections from the viewpoint of “A Course in Miracles,” which is to heal.

“The Course says relationships are assignments made in order to increase the maximum soul growth of both people,” she explained in our June 2012 cover story. “It is as though a giant machine somewhere sees where you are wounded, and then picks out the person and situation in all of the universe in combination with whom you would most likely be healed.”

In the March 2016 issue cover story, bestselling author Arielle Ford shares expert advice and tips for reigniting love and passion in romantic relationships, and reconnecting to the feelings that brought us together with our partner in the first place. Her newest book, “Turn Your Mate Into Your Soulmate,” explains what is true and normal for relationships, and how with a little work, we can create our own happily ever after.

“Chances are if you marry somebody there was a time when you were in love and you believed they were your soulmate, and now you are thinking the grass is greener somewhere else or you are just not in love with them,” she says in the March 2016 issue. “There is a 90 percent chance what’s happened is you have years of anger, disappointment, frustration and unexpressed desires, or desires you expressed by yelling or shouting that didn’t get met. So all that love is covered up,” she shared. “But chances are the love is still there.”

I believe our soulmates are there to help us grow, evolve and heal, and I believe we planned it all with them before entering into this physical world. Remembering this, appreciating them and changing our perspective can not only transform our relationship, but can also strengthen our connection to our partner and the universe as a whole. Even if the relationship is not meant to last a lifetime, there is always a purpose, and there is always an opportunity to become a more evolved soul as a result.

But it’s up to us to increase our awareness and do the work. Soulmate love doesn’t equal easy, but it does equal expansion. And our souls and the souls of those we love are worth it.

Tammy Mastroberte is a three-time, award-winning writer, founder of Elevated Existence, and publisher and editorial director of the multi-award-winning Elevated Existence Magazine. She started the new age, spiritual and self-improvement publication at age 30 – eight years after the sudden death of her mother from a brain aneurysm only three days after Christmas in 1999. This tragedy led her down a synchronistic path to discover her purpose and the meaning behind many of the events in her life – including her mother’s death. She now shares her guidance, and the wisdom of today’s top authors and spiritual celebrities through Elevated Existence Magazine. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter: @ElevatedTammy on Instagram: elevatedtammy. For more information, visit www.tammymastroberte.com.

2015 Editor’s Inspirational Gift Picks

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Every year, Elevated Existence editors select some of their favorite gift ideas to spread spirituality, love and inspiration to others during the holiday season. Below are the picks for 2015!

Ask Believe Receive Prosperity Pendant
Remind a loved one (or yourself) the laws of creation are Ask, Believe and Receive with this solid sterling silver pendant. Featuring a black oxidized finish, the pendant includes an 18-inch black leather cord with a 2-inch chain link extender. The three words spin in the bail, and it’s 1 1/8-inches in diameter.
www.liveaha.com; $125

Behind the Sangria
Made of high-quality, organic, food-grade ingredients, Behind the Sangria offers skincare and body products named after cocktails. The line includes Spiked Coffee Body Scrub, with organic ground coffee, olive oil and brown sugar, a White Russian Facial Mask for dry skin, with organic yogurt, milk, oatmeal and natural Indian clay powders, and a Mud Slide Facial Mask with only one ingredient to absorb excess oil — pure dead sea mud.
www.behindthesangria.com; $15 – $30

Believe & Let Go Necklace
Serving as a reminder to let go of our worries and believe, this necklace includes two pewter, hand-stamped pendants and silver-plated heart diffuser locket to use with essential oils for aromatherapy. The pendants are strung on a leather cord, and with the purchase of every necklace, the company donates $2 to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
www.dropsofjoyjewelry.com; $30.22

BKR Water Bottle
Ditch the plastic (toxic to the body and the environment) and start using one of these glass water bottles. They feature a silicone sleeve to protect the glass, and are available in 250 ml (8 ounces), 500 ml (16 ounces) and 1 liter (33 ounces). Available in a variety of colors and designs, and each year the company releases limited editions.
http://www.mybkr.com; $28 – $45

Candi Andi Zafu Yoga Floor Cushions
Handmade from crushed velvet and filled with all natural Buckwheat Hull, these cushions for meditation and yoga measure 15 inches by 5 inches, and include a carrying handle and a Velcro opening to add or remove fill for a custom fit. Six colors are available, each with a unique inspirational message.
www.candiandi.com; $149

Escentually Yours Facial Anti-Aging Skincare Set
An all-natural skincare set made for all skin types, this set is great for mature skin and acne-prone skin, but gentle enough for sensitive skin. The organic Beauty Oil contains essential vitamins and nutrients for healing and restructuring to replenish, tone and balance sebum production. The Facial Clay Mask and Scrub includes Rhassoul clay and Kaolin clay, along with apricot seeds for gentle exfoliation, and the Creamy Facial Bar uses activated charcoal on one side, and rose clay with shea butter on the other, along with essential oils.
www.etsy.com/shop/EscentuallyUrsAroma; $40

Gem Elixirz Transformation Sprays
Designed to bring about transformation in specific areas of our life, these sprays combine aromatherapy with the power of semi-precious stones. The gemstones in each bottle are selected for each spray, and are drilled and can be made into custom jewelry. Choose from Abundance, Calm, Energy, Fertility, Focus, Immunity, Love, Shift, Joy, Sleep, Nausea Relief and Pain Relief.
www.gemelixirz.com; $24.99 each

Hippy Spirit Hats
Available in luxury cashmere, cable-knit and more, Hippy Spirit offers luxury headwear, featuring genuine leather patches with a message hand sewn onto each hat. Patch options include a Buddha, Hamsa, Yin Yang, Peace Sign and words like “Strength,” “Love,” “Imagine” and “Breathe.”
www.hippyspirit.net; $95 – $170

Lei-Lei Bracelets
Look fashionable while helping to empower women and children to break free from the cycles of poverty, illiteracy and human trafficking through the production of these handcrafted Lei-Lei bracelets. They are 7.5 to 8 inches each and come in a huge variety of color combinations. Pictured here is Purple Passion.
www.Lei-Lei.net; $10 each for 3 or more

Love Goodly Bi-Monthly Boxes
Every other month, subscribers receive five to seven full-size products and deluxe samples of nontoxic and cruelty-free beauty and skincare, healthy snacks, wellness and eco style accessories. Not only can subscribers earn rewards and deals by sharing and reviewing the products, shop for any of the products on the company’s website, and each purchase supports a cause or charity.
www.lovegoodly.com; $44 for 1, $99 for 3 or $180 for 6

Pumeli Monthly Gift Box
Subscribe to this monthly care package filled with teas and textiles designed to help busy women relax, slow down and unplug. Each shipment contains a stress-relief toolkit to help relax in five to 10 minutes each day.
www.pumeli.com; $49.95/month

RMS Beauty Glowing Gift Set
Offering products free of gluten, GMO, soy and nano particles, and filled with natural and organic ingredients, including coconut oil and cocoa seed butter, RMS Beauty offers this Glowing Gift Set that is customizable. Choose the color eye polish, lip2cheek and ‘un’ cover-up, and it also includes a universal luminizer.
www.rmsbeauty.com; $12

Spiritual Gangster Lakshmi Hoodie
Featuring “Peace Love Yoga” on the arm, “Salute the Sun” on the front and Lakshmi on the back, this fleece hoodie is a cotton/poly/rayon blend made in Los Angeles. It’s available in sizes XS through large.
www.spiritualgangster.com; $98

SuperLoveTees “I Choose Love” Sweatshirt
Offering clothing with a message, SuperLoveTees “I Choose Love” wide-neck fleece sweatshirt is a soft cotton blend, and is available in a variety of colors, including the Heather Black with hand-screened, Orchid color, water-based ink pictured here. Sizes small through XXL are available.
www.superlovetees.com; $40

Neale Donald Walsch Receives 2015 Elevated Existence Award

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Every year Elevated Existence editor’s choose one individual whose actions, intentions and work spread the gift of spirituality, enlighten others with knowledge and tools to improve the quality of their lives, and contribute to the overall uplifting of the world’s consciousness. This year, we honor bestselling author of the “Conversations With God” series and more than 30 books, Neale Donald Walsch.

“The title of the books has received far, far, far more attention than the author of them, which is exactly how it should be, because I was not the true author,” he says in the December 2015 Elevated Existence Magazine cover story. “I merely transcribed. I was the messenger. I refuse to allow myself to be placed in the forefront of these messages, except to the degree that I think it might help others to hear about them, and perhaps see some truth within them and to embrace them and activate them in their own lives. To that degree, I’m willing to joyfully and humbly receive this award.”

In the December 2015 cover story, Walsch shares some of the biggest misconceptions people have about God, including God wanting or needing things from us. Different religions teach we must follow certain rules or we will surely be punished, says Walsch. “If we don’t go to church on Sunday, confession on Friday or bow to the east three times,” we will be disappointing God, committing a sin, and must seek forgiveness.

“Many of the world’s religions teach it is possible to offend God because God has needs we must meet, and if we do offend God, we must find a way to get God to forgive us or we are not going to heaven,” he explains. “That is the single most damaging and self-destructive belief we can hold about God. What if you lived in a world where God wanted and needed and required nothing at all? That is the biggest misconception, and others are that God is punitive, punishing, judgmental, condemning, and that some sins are unforgivable.”

The biggest issue and why it’s so important to realize God is not punishing and unforgiving is because that belief mistakenly gives human beings the moral authority to act that way with each other, he says, not just one on one, but worldwide. When you remove this belief, we remove that authority.

“If you take God’s judgmentalness and God’s condemning nature off the table, you suddenly remove the moral authority of ISIS, for the death penalty in Texas, and for virtually every act of righteousness committed by human beings — not just in these days and times, but over many centuries of humanity’s existence on Earth,” Walsch shares in the issue.

Purchase the single issue featuring Neale Donald Walsch, our 2015 Editor’s Inspirational Gift Picks and more here!

Elevated Existence November 2015 Book Picks

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Each month, a ton of new spiritual and self-help books hit the market. It’s easy to get overwhelmed or miss out on some new releases.

We created Elevated Existence Monthly Book Picks to help our readers narrow down their search, and make sure they don’t miss some great options!

The books for this month were chosen by our editor’s as their picks for November 2015. They are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on each title to go directly to Amazon and find out more about the book.

“Brave Enough,” by Cheryl Strayed
This gift-size book by bestselling offer of “Wild,” Strayed presents a collection of quotes based on her writings. Each on a single page, there are more than 100 quotes and thoughts or “mini instruction manuals for the soul,” bringing readers toward love, compassion, forgiveness and endurance within.

“Energy Healing for Animals: A Hands-On Guide for Enhancing the Health, Longevity and Happiness of Your Pets,” by Joan Ranquet
Animal Communicator, Joan Ranquet, offers an essential guide for anyone seeking to enhance their pets health and longevity. This do-it-yourself pet therapy resource offers a variety of healing help for behavior issues, pain relief, anxiety and more. Her modalities include understanding the pet chakra system, EFT, Healing Touch and more.

“The Happy Vegan: A Guide to Living a Long, Healthy and Successful Life,” by Russell Simmons
Hip-hop mogul and entrepreneur, Russell Simmons, shares how his practice of meditation led him to be more conscious about his choices, including his diet, and let him to become a vegetarian, and then eventually a vegan. He offers research on mindful eating, the link between stress and poor eating habits, and tips on how to transition to a vegan diet.

“Inside the Miracle: Enduring Suffering, Approaching Wholeness,” by Mark Nepo
Bestselling author Mark Nepo offers a collection of poems, reflections and essays exploring how we can to face difficult situations, including illness, with compassion. He shares his own journey through cancer and the hard-earned lessons for everyday living as well as how to cultivate resilience.

“Life in Life: Live Longer, Strengthen Your Relationships and Create a Healthier Life — A Meditation Journal,” Laurie Ann Levin
Award-winning author and holistic psychologist Dr. Laurie Ann Levin created this journal to help readers spark a connection and begin a conversation with their higher self and a higher power. With thought-provoking passages and questions, it will open the channel for insight, intuition and truth, and can assist in healing past traumas in career, relationships, health and love.

“Medical Medium: Secrets Behind Chronic and Mystery Illness and How to Finally Heal,” by Anthony William
William has helped thousands of people heal from ailments that have been misdiagnosed, ineffectively treated or that doctors can’t resolve through a divine voice telling him what lies at the root of people’s pain or illness, and what they need to do to restore their health. In the book he reveals the root causes of disease and conditions such as Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, adrenal fatigue, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease, blood sugar imbalances, digestive disorders and more, and what we need to heal.

“Miracles from Heaven: A Little Girl and Her Amazing Story of Healing,” by Christy Wilson Beam
The true story of a little girl, her journey to heaven and a story of healing — soon to be a movie starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah. Annabel Beam had a rare and incurable digestive disorder that prevented her from living a normal life, often in and out of hospitals. One day she fell three stories, headfirst, into a hollowed-out tree when playing with her sisters — and survived. While unconscious inside the tree, she visited heaven, and when she got out of the hospital, she inexplicably recovered from her chronic ailment.

“How to Relax,” by Thich Nhat Hanh
Part of The Mindfulness Essentials series of how-to books by Thich Nhat Hanh, this book introduces beginners (and reminds seasoned practitioners) the essentials of a mindfulness practice in a pocket-sized book.

“Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Well-Being,” by Deepak Chopra and Rudolph Tanzi
The genes we are born with do not determine our destiny. We have the ability to boost our genetic activity by making simple changes in our lifestyle. Our genes respond to the way we think, say and do, and we can have an impact on prevention, immunity, diet, aging and chronic disorders.

“Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun and Be Your Own Person,” by Shonda Rhimes
Creator of “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Scandal,” reveals how saying “yes” changed her life and how it can change others too. A mega talent, Rhimes struggled as an introvert and would find herself hugging walls at parties and fighting panic attacks before media interviews. She avoided invitations and focused on her work and her three children at home — until one Thanksgiving her sister told her: “You never say yes to anything.” For one year, she decided to say “yes” to anything that scared her. She shares her journey of transformation from this decision.

Acupuncture & Alexander Technique Can Help Neck Pain

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A new scientific study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, reports acupuncture and the Alexander Technique can be effective in relieving chronic neck pain.

The Alexander Technique is used to prevent and relieve various types of pain associated with misuse of the body in daily activities, and is based on principles such as the recognition of unhelpful habits in order to stop them, and giving yourself a series of coordinated orders to prevent automatic responses to stimuli, according to a report by CTV News.

On the other hand, acupuncture takes an energy-based holistic approach to the body, using “meridians” which Chinese medicine believes are “life-energy paths” in the body. Needles inserted into the surface of the skin stimulate acupuncture points, which help to bring about physiological, physical and psychic balance, the report stated.

To assess the effectiveness of these two complementary care methods, a team of British and American researchers selected 517 patients who had chronic neck pain for more than three months. Patients were randomly assigned to either 12 acupuncture sessions, 20 Alexander Technique lessons, or usual care. These two alternative therapies are often used together to alleviate this type of pain.

The researchers used the Northwick Park Questionnaire (NPQ) to assess the neck pain at 3, 6 and 12 months. One year after treatment began, the pain experienced by the participants who attended sessions in one of these two techniques was reduced, in contrast to the patients who received conventional care.

Both groups experienced a 32 per cent reduction in pain from the beginning of the acupuncture sessions or Alexander Technique lessons. This was substantially higher than the 9per cent generally obtained with a combination of physiotherapy and exercises.

The researchers also stated that these therapies, which had a high rate of acceptability and greater adherence, resulted in an increase in the participants’ self-efficacy. These improvements were associated with better NPQ outcomes.

Previous studies, such as the one published in the journal Pain in June 2004 undertaken by a team at Oslo University, have concluded that adequate acupuncture treatment may reduce chronic muscular pain in the shoulder and neck and related headaches.

Zenify Premium Mindfulness Meditation App

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Teaching users to live a more conscious and mindful life, Zenify Premium App offers a variety of mindfulness meditation exercises delivered to a smartphone. These assignments help users experience a heightened state of awareness in the present moment.

Throughout the day, users can choose chosen intervals for the Zenify app to chime with assignments to teach mindfulness meditation techniques. It allows one to take breaks throughout the day to return to the present moment and “strengthen the neuronal connections between the part of your brain responsible for consciousness and awareness (prefrontal cortex),” according to the app developers.

Suggested exercises take five minutes or less, and are relatively easy to complete. The app is available for iTunes and in the Google Play store for Android for $1.99.