of nature, of which we are a part, is the central reason for our existence. Anita Moorjani’s latest book,


What If This Is Heaven? reiterates the life lesson she learned from her dra- matic near-death experience in which she identified herself as a state of pure consciousness connected with every- thing in the cosmos. She clearly heard: “Your only work is to love yourself, value yourself and embody this truth of self-worth and self-love so that you can be love in action. That is true service, to yourself and to those who surround you.” This message continues


with her, and she explains that by not loving our- selves, we are deny- ing the part of God that expresses itself through us. An overar- ching insight from her life-changing journey is, “Unconditional love


is a state of being, not an emotion. It’s not just one side of the coin— it’s the whole coin.”


How-to Resources Interest in this deeper perspective led The Shift Network, which offers online transformative education, to host a recent Advanced Teachings for Truly Loving Yourself with Margaret Paul, P.h.D., co-author of Do I Have to Give Up Me to Be Loved By You? Many others are working to


spread the word about a larger sense of life-giving love, including Cleveland, Ohio, intuitive psychologist Debra L. Reble, Ph.D., author of Being Love: How Loving Yourself Creates Ripples of Transformation in Your Relationships and the World. She says, “Our soul’s purpose is to be and express love. We dream of love, yearn for love and make love, but rarely do we realize that we are love, a source of divine energy.” Reba Linker, a New York City life


coach and author, hosts a Leaders in Self-Love Facebook page and the Paint Yourself into The Picture online coach- ing show. Linker’s philosophy on love resembles that of New Thought leader Michael Beckwith, minister, author and founder of the Agape International Spir- itual Center, in Culver City, California—


If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.


~William Blake


ence, the energy of love, a heart con- nection of life. Consciously choosing this awareness allows us to be ‘love living life.’”


Kamini Desai, director of edu-


cation for the Amrit Yoga Institute, in Salt Springs, Florida, lends her yogic perspective to love. “We are each a wave on the ocean of existence. Even though we are separate waves, we carry the essence of the same ocean. When that essence manifests in us as spirit, its quality is a healing force of love surrounding our cells, causing our heart to beat and regenerat- ing our organs. This intelligence guides and directs the uni- verse in the same manner that it heals and maintains our


body. In yoga, we learn to listen to its subtle voice


so that we can follow its urges and energetic impulses to the source from which it springs.” The perceptions of Cal-


to discern that our true nature is love is to know that we are created in the very image and likeness of love, the essence of life itself. Gary Sinclair, author of Healing Memories in Seconds, views his life from an altitude of oceanic oneness. His 35 years of study in a field that uses energy to heal spirit, mind and body led him to develop Soul Link, a memory energy therapy. His work is changing the face of therapy for those with post-traumatic stress disorder and led to the revelation, “Love pulls what- ever it touches to its highest potential.” Teaching what he knows “beyond


a shadow of a doubt” helps to shift his students’ worldview. “All of creation is made up of electromagnetic energy vibrating at different frequencies. We are energy beings who can learn to manage our energy to heal ourselves. We are all connected by omnipres-


ifornia’s HeartMath Institute founder Doc Childre, dedicated to helping people access their intuitive insight and heart intelli- gence, are generally aligned with those of Fredrickson. Both approaches recognize how order and balance in the nervous system and smooth, har- monious and coherent heart rhythms enhance our ability to clearly perceive a far larger universe of experience. The ensuing connections widen


the windows of perception to view ourselves as no longer separate, but part of a unified whole. Accumulated micro-moments of love communicated through synchronized gazes, touches and vocalizations forge a shared sub- jective appreciation of connection and oneness. We feel ourselves embodying positive resonance and experience easier and more immediate rapport in familial, familiar and even new relationships. We discover abundant opportunities to feel love, loved and loving as we make ourselves available to them.


Linda Sechrist is a senior staff writer for Natural Awakenings. Connect at ItsAllAboutWe.com.


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