Elevated Existence May 2018 Spiritual/Self-Help Book Picks

Posted on by Tammy

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.

I created Elevated Existence Monthly Book Picks to help narrow down your search, and make sure you don’t miss some great options!

Here are the picks for May 2018. They are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on each title to go directly to Amazon and find out more about the book.

“Apple Cider Vinegar Handbook: Recipes for Natural Living,” by Amy Leigh Mercree
Apple cider vinegar is a useful addition to the pantry and a tasty ingredient in cooking, but it can do more than just add flavor. It holds the potential to cure an upset stomach, treat a sore throat, aid weight loss, and more — proving apple cider vinegar is one of today’s handiest all-natural remedies. Author Amy Leigh Mercree shows why this inexpensive liquid is a must-have in your home and how to use it to achieve optimum health with an easy-to-use, illustrated guide that is complete with recipes.

“30-Day Meditation Challenge: Exercises, Resources and Journaling Prompts for a Better Life,” by Emma Silverman and Nicole Stumpf
In Emma Silverman’s newest book, she teams up with her yoga teacher, Nicole Stumpf, to make meditation accessible, interesting and fun. Exploring meditation traditions from around the world, Silverman and Stumpf invite readers to try 30 different meditations and then record their experiences after the practice. This book combines thousand-year-old meditation traditions with the newer phenomenon of prompted journaling. This book will help readers explore what the buzz about meditation is all about, and why so many scientific studies point to its amazing benefits.

“Choose Wonder Over Worry: Move Beyond Fear and Doubt to Unlock Your Full Potential,” by Amber Rae
Why do we hold back from pursuing what matters most? Why do we listen to the voice inside our head that tells us we’re not good enough, smart enough, or talented enough? How can we move beyond the fear and doubt that prevents us from creating a life that reflects who we truly are?

This new book by inspirational speaker and artist Amber Rae is your official invitation to face your fears, navigate your discomfort, and rewrite the “worry myths” in your mind that keep you from being your best and truest self.

Rae will connect you with your voice of worry and wonder, teaches you to listen to your emotions rather than silence them, and encourages you to seize your dreams. Through a thoughtful blend of vulnerability, soulfulness, and science, Rae guides you in expressing the fullness of who you are and the gifts you’re here to give.

“The Empath Experience: What to Do When You Feel Everything,” by Sydney Campos
Learn to lead an empowered life with this supportive and positive guide for those who are discovering their empath abilities and looking for information to help in understanding their gift, as well as how to embrace it and thrive in everyday life.

In The Empath Experience, you’ll find detailed information on what it means to be an empath and the different ways this gift can influence your life in positive ways. There is also supportive advice on how to embrace the positive aspects of this special talent, get in touch with and understand your emotions, and tips and techniques to help you feel your best — even when someone else may be feeling their worst.

“Essential Oils Handbook: Recipes for Natural Living,” by Amy Leigh Mercree
Essential oils have wide-ranging healing powers, and this handbook by medical intuitive Amy Leigh Mercree explains how we can take full advantage of these natural wonders. It covers all the different grades of oil, which ones are safest, and how and when to use them. There are also expert recipes for combining oils and specific advice on ways they can alleviate allergies, coughs and colds; aid with weight loss and digestion; help with skin disorders, wrinkles, and acne; relieve insomnia and headaches; balance hormones; and even act as a bug repellent. If you are excited by natural healing, this book is for you.

“Getting Back to Happy: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Reality, and Turn Your Trials Into Triumphs,” by Marc and Angel Chernoff
Marc and Angel Chernoff have become go-to voices in the area of personal development, reaching tens of thousands of fans each day with their fresh and relatable insights. This book reveals their strategies for changing thought patterns and daily habits to bounce back from tough times. Sharing never-before-published stories and advice, the book shows how to harness the power of daily rituals, mindfulness, self-care, and more to overcome whatever life throws our way–in order to become our best selves.

“Happier Now: How to Stop Chasing Perfection and Embrace Everyday Moments (Even the Difficult Ones)” by Nataly Kogan
This isn’t a book about positive thinking, silver linings, or always being happy. This is a book about living fully in good times and bad, and enjoying life more because of it. Nationally recognized happiness expert, Nataly Kogan, teaches readers how to stop searching for some elusive “big happy” in the future and start finding more joy in everyday moments. Drawing from science, Eastern traditions, her experience as a refugee, and her own failing search to find lasting happiness through career success, Kogan shares simple practices to help readers live happier and have greater resilience when times get tough. Readers will learn how to experience more joy and meaning, boost their “emotional immune system,” and embrace difficult times with compassion and stability.

“Note to Self: Inspiring Words from Inspiring People,” by Gayle King
Gayle King shares her favorite inspiring letters from the popular CBS This Morning segment Note to Self, in which twenty-first century luminaries pen advice and encouragement to the young people they once were.

What do Congressman John Lewis, Dr. Ruth, Kesha, and Kermit the Frog wish they could tell their younger selves? What about a gay NFL player or the most successful female racecar driver? In Note to Self, CBS This Morning cohost Gayle King shares some of the most memorable letters from the broadcast’s popular segment of the same name. With essays from such varied figures as Oprah, Vice President Joe Biden, Chelsea Handler, and Maya Angelou — as well as poignant words from a Newtown father and a military widow — this book is a reflection on the joys and challenges of growing up.

“The Power of Your Potential: How to Break Through Your Limits,” by John C. Maxwell
Many of us hold ourselves back because we firmly believe our abilities are finite. But what if our supposed limitations are just an illusion? Bestselling author, John Maxwell, identifies and examines the 17 key capacities each of us possesses. Some we are born with, such as how we think or how we naturally relate to other people. The rest are choices, often unconscious, including our attitude or personal disciplines. All are expandable.

Maxwell gives clear and actionable advice on what we can do to improve in each of these areas. From learning to manage your emotions and increase your energy, to conquering procrastination and becoming more comfortable with taking risks, you will surpass your own expectations to become a better you than you ever thought possible.

“Practical Meditation for Beginners: 10 Days to a Happier, Calmer You,” by Benjamin W. Decker
From Zen and Vipassana to walking meditations and body scans, the simple practices outlined in this book by experienced meditation teacher, Benjamin W. Decker, make it easy to build an ongoing meditation routine that is best for each person. Readers will experience a clear 10-day program for learning 10 different meditation techniques ― one for each day of the program. The book also offers step-by-step instructions, writing prompts, and daily structure.

“A Tribe Called Bliss: Break Through Superficial Friendships, Create Real Connections, Reach Your Higher Potential,” by Lori Harder
Lori Harder is a self-love expert with over 6 million listeners on her Earn Your Happy podcast. In A Tribe Called Bliss she shares the exact structure she used to build her own tribe and grow from the anxiety-ridden, unhealthy, introverted underachiever she was to the confident woman who takes risks and leaps out of her comfort zone, with a foreword from #1 New York Times bestselling author Gabrielle Bernstein.

The benefits of a having a tribe are undeniable. Women who have strong social circles are living longer, happier, healthier lives in comparison to those who lack connections and are mentally and physically exhausting themselves trying to quench external desires in isolation. In this book, Harder bridges the gap between inspiration and action, providing a lasting resource for positive change and a guidebook for establishing a support tribe. It includes lessons and contextual self-work exercises on how to develop the kind of awareness of the present moment that is the key to a lifetime of blissful happiness.

“The Wisdom of Shamans: What the Ancient Masters Can Teach Us About Love and Life,” by don Jose Ruiz
For generation after generation, Toltec shamans have passed down their wisdom through teaching stories. The purpose of these stories is to implant a seed of knowledge in the mind of the listener, where it can ultimately sprout and blossom into a new and better way of life.

In this new book, Toltec shaman and master storyteller don Jose Ruiz shares some of the most popular stories from his family’s oral tradition, and offers corresponding lessons that illustrate the larger ideas within each story. He begins by explaining that contrary to the stereotypical image of “witchdoctor,” the ancient shamans were men and women who fulfilled several roles within their communities: philosopher, spiritual guide, medical doctor, psychologist, and friend.

According to Ruiz, their teachings are not primitive or reserved for a chosen few initiates, but are instead a powerful series of lessons on love and life that are available us all. He has included exercises, meditations, and shamanic rituals in an effort to help readers experience the personal transformation these stories offer.

Elevated Existence July 2017 Spiritual and Self-Help Book Picks

Posted on by Tammy

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!

Here are the picks for July 2017. They are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on each title to go directly to Amazon and find out more about the book.

“The Compassion Revolution: 30 Days of Living from the Heart,” by Amy Leigh Mercree
Author Amy Leigh Mercree offers uplifting stories, contemplation prompts, meditations and other fun activities, to immerse yourself in compassion while drawing inspiration from her positive perspective. The Compassion Revolution includes practical ideas like technology curfews, personal dance parties, rewiring your brain, and social media hashtags and quotes to help you connect with the compassion movement, and return to you innate, kind self with 30 days of self-love, peace and living from the heart.

“Heartwork: The Path of Self-Compassion — 9 Practices for Opening the Heart,” by Radhule Weininger
The technique called self-compassion can be the greatest of blessings because the compassion you learn to apply to yourself naturally extends to all the other people in your life. With nine simple mindfulness practices Radhule Weininger provides a step-by-step course in self-compassion to live from that place of intelligent kindness in the face of life’s difficulties. Using stories drawn from her own life and those of others she shows that, with the right intention and practice, we can all deepen our capacity to respond skillfully to our own suffering and thus to that of others and our world.

“The Joy Plan: How I Took 30 Days to Stop Worrying, Quit Complaining and Find Ridiculous Happiness,” by Kaia Roman
As a mother, a wife, and a businesswoman, Kaia Roman always had a plan. But when the business she cofounded collapsed, she found herself crushed by depression. And with a husband and two kids relying on her to get out of bed, she didn’t have a plan to move forward. Determined to turn her life around and put her ingrained habits of stress and anxiety behind her, she decided to put everything else on hold and dedicate 30 days to the singular pursuit of joy. The results were astonishing-and lasted much longer than the initial month-long project.

In this memoir, she uses her business savvy to create a concrete Joy Plan to get back on her feet fast. Using scientific research on hormones, neurotransmitters and mindfulness, along with the daily dedication to creating a more joyful existence, she teaches readers how to move past temporary happiness and succeed in creating joy that lasts. Complete with advice, exercises, and key takeaways, this book offers a step-by-step guide to how she, and everyone else, can ditch the negative and plan for the joy in their lives.

“Making Love Last: Divorce-Proofing Your Young Marriage,” by Laura Taggert
With 30 years experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist, Laura Taggart understands the unique struggles of newly married couples who find marriage much more difficult than they imagined. In this practical and hopeful book, Taggart offers the wisdom and help she would share as a counselor with a couple beginning their marriage. She helps couples examine their true expectations for marriage, provides six action steps for improving the way couples relate, and gives couples a new picture of what it means to enjoy marriage for a lifetime. And each chapter includes discussion questions for couples or small groups as well as additional questions for personal reflection.

“The Path to Personal Power,” by Napoleon Hill
In this lost manuscript from the “grandfather of self-help,” Napoleon Hill provides timeless wisdom on how to attain a more successful and wealthy life using simple principles. He first wrote this book in 1941, intending it as a handbook for people lifting themselves out of the Great Depression. But upon the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s entrance into World War II, these lessons were put aside and largely forgotten–until today. The book is a powerful roadmap that leads to a single discovery — we already have the power to attain whatever wealth, success and prosperity we desire in life.

”The Present Parent Handbook: 26 Simple Tools to Discover that This Moment, This Action, This Thought, This Feeling is Exactly Why I’m Here,” by Timothy Dukes
If you can recognize your child needs to be witnessed, held and loved by you, he or she will have a chance to thrive. With all the distractions of work, technology, and life in general, The Present Parent Handbook invites parents to be mentally and emotionally available to their children. With an easy-to-follow A to Z format, every parent will be able to implement the 26+ simple tools to become a more present parent for their children.

“Soul Journeying: Shamanic Tools for Finding Your Destiny and Recovering Your Spirit,” by Alberto Villoldo
Psychologist and medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., explains the practices for healing outside of ordinary time and space. It shows how to enter the timeless “now” to heal events that occurred in the past, and to correct the course of destiny. Villoldo discusses ways to heal yourself and loved ones by employing intention through practices used by shamans of the Americas —w hich, until now, have been inaccessible to most of the world. The shamans of old called this “journeying.”

In this book, you’ll discover in the same way you have a four-chambered heart, you have a four-chambered soul. In the first chamber, you store away the memory of a wound that derailed your destiny. In the second, you keep the limiting beliefs and soul contracts that you entered into at the time of your loss. In the third, you recover the grace and trust that will make you whole again; and in the fourth, you remember the calling and mission that you choose to unfold in this lifetime.

“The Subtle Body Coloring Book: Learn Energetic Anatomy from the Chakras to the Meridians and More,” by Cyndi Dale
Coloring is more than just an enjoyable way to learn about the energy systems that govern our health—it’s also an effective practice to help awaken your intuitive connection to your chakras, meridians, and more. With The Subtle Body Coloring Book, Cyndi Dale joins illustrator Richard Wehrman to bring you an illustrated resource on healing modalities from a variety of traditions, inviting you to tour the major energy structures of the subtle body — fields, channels and centers; the body’s auras and electromagnetic biofield; the meridians; chakras, acupressure points; organs and more.

Elevated Existence October 2016 Self-Help Book Picks

Posted on by Tammy

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 October 2016. They are listed below in alphabetical order. Click on each title to go directly to Amazon and find out more about the book.

“Anti-Inflammatory Eating for a Happy, Healthy Brain: 75 Recipes for Alleviating Depression, Anxiety & Memory Loss,” by Michelle Babb
From the author of “Anti-Inflammatory Made Easy,” this new cookbook is dedicated to the mind and brain, and based on the latest research between a healthy gut and a healthy mind. As a nutritionist, Michelle Babb explains the science behind the eating plan she presents in the book based on the success of her clients, and shares easy recipes to balance the gut and the mind.

“Daily Love: 365 Days of Celebration,” by National Geographic
Combining beautiful landscape photography, uplifting quotes and words of wisdom, this new book is ideal for daily use — reading one per day — and is entirely focused on love. There are also monthly themes such as passion, devotion, trust and understanding.

“How the Secret Changed My Life: Real People, Real Stories,” by Rhonda Byrne
Following the publication and movie “The Secret,” many people began to use the principles shared to change their lives for the better using the law of attraction. this book is a collection of real people sharing their stories of success and how their lives changed for the better because of “The Secret.” The stories will inspire the reader and feature a variety of themes, including money, health, relationships, family and career.

“Joyful Living: 101 Ways to Transform Your Spirit & Revitalize Your Life,” by Amy Leigh Mercree
Written as a roadmap to achieving inner and outer happiness, author Amy Leigh Mercree uses a mindful and balanced approach to offer more than 100 ways to transform and enliven the spirit in “Joyful Living.” It features affirmations, exercises, inspiring stories, mindfulness techniques and more, and it explores a variety of themes, such as spiritual ecstasy, gratitude and creative inspiration.

“Master Your Time, Master Your Life: The Breakthrough System to Get More Results, Faster, in Every Area of Your Life,” by Brian Tracy
International speaker and productivity expert, Brian Tracy explains why tackling the right project at the right time can make all the difference, and how using our time in the appropriate way in the most important areas of our lives will allow us to accomplish much more — and more easily — than one ever thought possible. He identifies the 10 different times we operate and what is required to perform at our best during each one.

“Namaslay: Rock Your Yoga Practice, Tap Into Your Greatness & Defy Your Limits,” by Candace Moore
Combining old world yoga principles with a modern perspective, Candace Moore’s approach to the practice grew out of her own fight against illness and depression. She shares this and more in her guide to help others live a more authentic life, walking readers through more than 100 yoga poses, broken down by experience level, to include modifications and progressions. It also includes full color photos and tips to overcome common mistakes, along with three 30-day yoga programs focused on de-stressing, strengthening and back pain.

“Napoleon Hill’s Gold Standard: An Official Publication of the Napoleon Hill Foundation,” by Napoleon Hill
From the author of the classic book “Think and Grow Rich,” comes a collection of writings ranging form his earliest to his latest work, including essays, books and his course PMA: Science of Success. It’s broken into 52 chapters that will teach, inspire and encourage readers to take action toward their dreams and desires, and the selections were pulled together by Judith Williamson, a teacher of Hill’s principles at Purdue University. Williamson has unique access to the archives of the author’s work at the Napoleon Hill World Learning Center on campus at Perdue University.

“Raising Accountable Kids: How to Be an Outstanding Parent Using the Power of Personal Accountability,” by John G. Miller and Karen G. Miller
Based on John Miller’s signature work, “QBQ: The Question Behind the Question,” this new book shares how to use this method to help parents look behind questions such as “Why don’t my kids listen?” or “When will they do what I ask?” to find better ones using QBQ, such as, “What can I do differently?” This turns the focus back to the parents, and what they can do to make a difference for themselves and their children. It provides parents with the means and inspiration to be more effective.

“The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection & Intimacy,” by Dr. Jenn Mann
Whether you are in a great relationship and want to kick it up a notch, on the brink of divorce, or single and want to get it right in your next relationship, this book has something for you. Combining the latest research and Dr. Mann’s nearly 30 years of experience as a marriage and family therapist, she teaches how to have a deeper and more satisfying relationship, as well as how to fix one that is not working anymore. Readers will learn how to use conflicts to strengthen their relationship; how to create connection with your partner (even if it’s been years); how to change bad patterns; how to make an effective apology using the four R’s and more.

“Your 3 Best Super Powers: Meditation, Imagination and Intuition,” by Sonia Choquette
In her newest book, Sonia Choquette shares the three super powers she says we all already possess — meditation, imagination and intuition. When we use all three together, we can learn to live in tranquility and empowerment. It starts with meditation, which allows us to tap into the other two super powers, and Choquette shares simple and practical tools and techniques on how to access each one. The book also includes a digital download of guided meditations.

Creating Romantic Abundance in Your Life

Posted on by Tammy

By Amy Leigh Mercree

If you are reading this article, you have access to the Internet and most likely a safe place quiet enough for you to indulge in some reading for entertainment and personal enhancement. You have time to devote to leisure and recreational activities, including reading, which means you are rich compared to much of the world’s population.

We are incredibly abundant in our lives, yet, for many there is an emptiness to be filled. We seek to fill it with romantic love, things and interaction. Some of us search for spiritual connection to fill the emptiness, but many are living with a sense of lack within.

How can we be so abundant, but live in varying states of internal lack?

It has become the norm in society to cultivate cravings and then endeavor to fill them. We need those new skinny jeans for a night out – then we’ll feel beautiful and like we fit in. We have to have those special face cleansing cloths to pamper our skin after a workout – then we will give our face the best and prove to ourselves we are worthy of the very best.

What if we could step outside of the hamster wheel of external validation? What if we could find our worth within? What if we could be filled with the divine power of our own uniqueness? How would our lives change?

Well, we would live from our creative souls and from a sense of sharing and community, and could think in terms of interconnection among all life. And we can start this mindset blooming within our beings now.

Start with a nightly list in your journal of 30 things you are grateful for in your life. Look at how abundant you are! Record each night what you are grateful for, and feel the blessings of your life with your heart. The more attention you place on the positive, the more positive you create in your life. It’s simple, natural law. Your attention creates your reality.

You are also romantically abundant whether you are coupled or single. Take a gratitude inventory of all the love and caring in your life. Do you feel love between you and your sister’s dog? Between you and a close friend? Between you and a coworker? Did you help your mother clean her car? Did you share a smile with a neighbor? Did you snuggle with your boss’s cat when you stopped by to feed her? Did your best friend send you a sweet card? There is love everywhere. There is caring flowing between people, animals and plants all around you. Interconnection is a Web designed to help you experience loving abundance. Let yourself tap into it!

When you choose to experience interconnection and loving abundance, you give your romantic life a boost. When you notice and identify those moments of abundance and express your appreciation and thanks for them, you exponentialize them. You harness the electrical charge and energy they contain, and it infuses your life – including your love life. You can create romantic abundance today by counting your blessings and choosing to experience love and caring each day. Share your love, experience true abundance, and romance will follow.

Amy Leigh Mercree is an expert dating & relationship coach, entrepreneur, adventure guide and internationally acclaimed author of “The Spiritual Girl’s Guide to Dating: Your Enlightened Path to Love, Sex, and Soul Mates.” Visit www.SpiritualGirlsGuide.com for your complete evolved dater’s toolkit, and follow Amy on Twitter: @AmyLeighMercree.

Do You Believe in Love at First Sight?

Posted on by Tammy

By Amy Leigh Mercree

Fairy tales and romantic comedies often tell stories of two people meeting, sharing a look and instantly falling deeply in love for life. These stories ignite our hearts with hope of a love so vast and all encompassing – where we feel like we found our missing piece. Who can forget the much quoted Jerry Maguire line: “You complete me.”

Why does a part of us innately seek completion from another instead of finding it within? Perhaps, we are really seeking the divine outside of ourselves instead of delving into the truth of it being within all along.

That being said, I do believe in love at first sight! I believe in the unexplainable alchemy between souls and in the unknowable, sometimes undefinable, strands that connect us in love to another – whether we just met or have known each other for years.

There is a certain charge that can mean soul level familiarity and oftentimes when we feel it, we know. Frequently, it transcends the romantic connotation of soul mates and delves into the territory of soul friends and soul family. How beautiful is it that we can have soul-deep caring in our lives from not only our romantic partners, but also from close friends and family. We are all abundant of the heart if we choose to let love in.

With love at first sight, besides soul connection personal and chemical compatibility come into instantaneous play. Personal compatibility can be as simple as liking one another and as complex as developing a communication style that resonates with both partners. Sometimes in the first minutes of knowing someone this can click or not. I believe we can sense part of what may come with personal compatibility when we first see a person. In reality, we are all immensely intuitive people and intuition can contribute to our love at first sight experiences.

The ever-present, intensely complex world of chemical interaction between people is massively at play in love at first site scenarios. Even from a distance we can imperceptibly smell our chemical compatibility with a potential partner and a complex cacophony of scents and pheromones pull us in or repel us instantly.

But what about the couples who meet virtually first? Do they get the chemical benefit of love at first sight? Answering that question, at this point in time, is 100-percent conjecture. No studies have been done on the topic, but I’ll tell you my observation as a dating and relationship coach for the past 15 years. Sometimes, the chemical becomes the psychic and people receive the same cues at a distance as they do in person. I have heard some pretty amazing stories of the psychic sense of smell affecting romance and attraction across the miles.

The real truth is love, whether at first, second, 200^th sight, is an unstoppable force of nature. Soul connected people magnetize each other at the right times in myriad magnificent ways. Our hearts can be stirred and nourished from within and without, and it is living in true abundance to graciously accept all the beauty that comes our way.

Love at first sight is real, and it happens all the time.

Amy Leigh Mercree is an expert dating & relationship coach, entrepreneur, adventure guide and internationally acclaimed author of “The Spiritual Girl’s Guide to Dating: Your Enlightened Path to Love, Sex, and Soul Mates.” This June, Mercree is teaching “Spiritual Romance: Reawakening the Sacred in Your Love Life,” at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. See more information on the seminar here. And visit her Web site www.spiritualgirlsguide.com for you complete evolved dater’s toolkit!

Three Tips to Bloom Into Love This Spring

Posted on by Tammy

By Amy Leigh Mercree

A strong foundation of self-love and empowerment makes for a life that can blissfully bloom in concert with nature and your heart. This Spring, follow the tips below to get your internal house in order and gently spring clean the old to make room for a new radiant love life. It all starts inside of you!

1. Tend Your Heart. Give your heart the love and caring a master gardener would share with a new garden. Take a realistic internal “temperature” of your heart. Be honest with yourself about how you are feeling. Does your heart still feel bruised from a breakup? Do you feel lonely? Do you feel full of love for everything you encounter? Or maybe all three? Being aware of yourself fosters an inner environment of honesty and acceptance. You have to give yourself this freedom to be truly aware of who you are. An added bonus is you will be less likely to repress and bury your emotions, and therefore more likely to truthfully represent your needs in a relationship. This helps create a real and lasting bond. Whether it is with a romantic partner, friend, or family member.

2. Warm Your Soul. What touches your soul in a deep nourishing way? Sometimes, we aren’t actually sure what reaches us deep in our core and nurtures us. But it’s important we find out. Think of it like the gentle Spring sunshine warming the ground and through this warmth calling forth a seed to sprout and eventually bloom into a gorgeous flower. What fosters your soul’s health and happiness? Maybe it is heart-centered meditation, dance class or time with close friends. It could be getting your hands in the dirt and communing with your herb garden. It may be as simple as believing in yourself. The choice to warm your deepest soul comes from a knowledge that you are important. You matter. Your soul is precious. Nourish it.

3. Blossom at Your Own Perfect Pace. Honor your own perfect timing. Your body, mind, heart and soul are self-correcting and self-regulating. You are precisely programmed to live your best life. Each moment offers you a choice to live from a place of self-honoring and self-love. Through that commitment to yourself, you position your heart to share that same level of caring with the rest of the planet to the best of your ability.

Step into this now by aligning with your best life using a simple statement. Repeat aloud now three times, “Proper Universal Alignment.” Feel your spine align. Feel your being reorganize around this principle. You can trust your own inner sense of timing. You will blossom into the love life you desire or any other state you are aiming for by taking conscious action and trusting the timing of your soul aligned life. The more you choose goodness, love and joy, the more of it you reap each day. You create an endless flow of positivity by making conscious choices and taking conscious action. Especially with your love life, once you have taken the necessary action steps all you can do is trust and have faith in the beautiful perfection of your life.

Let the bounty and beauty of Spring inspire your life to be gently nurtured and bloom forth into bliss this year by choosing to tend your heart, warm your soul, and blossom at your own perfect pace.

Amy Leigh Mercree is an expert dating & relationship coach, entrepreneur, adventure guide and internationally acclaimed author of “The Spiritual Girl’s Guide to Dating: Your Enlightened Path to Love, Sex, and Soul Mates.” This June, Mercree is teaching “Spiritual Romance: Reawakening the Sacred in Your Love Life,” at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. See more information on the seminar here. And visit her Web site www.spiritualgirlsguide.com for you complete evolved dater’s toolkit!