Miracles making eating easier now: My interview with Gabrielle Bernstein

I often get asked questions about staying in the moment, and how to shift old habits of thought, especially when it comes to food.It's such a pleasure to share with you a new book that has really inspired me.Below is my interview with my friend and New York Times Best Seller, Gabrielle Bernstein, author of Miracles Now:Gabby, tell us about your new book, Miracles Now. I love this book and I’m so psyched to share it with you. Miracles Now helps readers lessen stress and find peace—FAST! I handpicked 108 techniques to combat our most common problems—from addiction and anxiety to burnout and resentment. The exercises are inspired by some of my greatest spiritual teachings. Throughout the book, I offer up spirit-based principles, meditations and practical tools to help readers bust through blocks to live with more ease. I break down each technique Spirit Junkie style—with meditations, assessment questions and step-by-step guidance—while incorporating lessons from the metaphysical text A Course in Miracles and Kundalini yoga. This book is meant for the busy, stressed person who simply wants to feel better fast. How can meditation help with food cravings and obsessive compulsive eating habits? To quote my doctor and friend, Dr. Frank Lipman, “Sugar is like crack.” I couldn’t agree more. Sugar is a drug that keeps us wanting more to the point of addiction. When we’re addicted there is an imbalance in the pineal gland (also called the the third eye). The pineal gland is a small endocrine gland in the vertebrate brain. When the pineal gland is imbalanced, bad habits turn into addictions. The imbalance in the pineal gland affects the pituitary gland, which regulates the rest of the glandular system. When the pituitary gland is affected the entire body and mind go out of balance. A major tool in my process of healing my addiction to sugar has been the Kundalini meditation for healing addiction. Follow this video for guidance:   Lesson 39 is called "Just show up" - how does that work for someone who is trying to stick with an eating plan? I think it’s important to keep it in the day. Each day make the decision to just show up and stay on path with your plan. One day at a time you will create new patterns and move into a new way of being. Showing up is 90% of the work. How is Miracles Now different from all of your other books? Each of my books has a unique format but a shared intention, which is to offer readers tools for releasing all the blocks to their true happiness and peace. Miracles Now shares that core intention through 108 short exercises that can be done anywhere, any time. This book is less self-reflective and more action oriented. I want it to put people into practice immediately so they can experience Miracles Now! What made you write this book. I write my books based on what I feel my readers need. I realized that so many people have packed schedules and lots to do, but they want to carve out a little time each day to create positive change and find peace in ways that are easy to follow and put into practice. In addition, I continuously witnessed my audience members and social media followers ask me for more practical tools to release their stress and boost their moods. People want to get to work and they want to feel better fast. This book is my response to that call. The higher purpose of this book is to contribute to a greater global change. I believe that when more and more people begin to feel better, the positive collective energy supports the energy of the world. I believe that it is our collective energy that can save the world. This is the higher purpose for Miracles Now. I reinforce the book’s mission in its introduction, excerpted below: {Excerpt from the introduction} Right now we’re in a special and powerful position, because the world is having a spiritual awakening. When energy speeds up there is no space for playing small, and nothing can remain hidden. At some point all lies are brought to the surface and truth comes forth no matter how hard we try to hide it. Cynics are filling the yoga studios and the spiritual choir is growing larger. There is a massive call for more lightworkers, and now is our time to rise up and bring more positivity to the world. When the masses begin to vibrate with an energy of love, the world will no longer be a container for war, violence and lies.  There are great Kundalini meditations throughout the book. Can you tell us more about them?  For this book I chose twelve of the most powerful Kundalini meditations for shifting your mood, changing your energy and reducing stress. I was mindful to include meditations that are easy for newcomers as I expect many of my readers may be new to meditation. A great meditation for beginners is what I’ve nicknamed Peace Is in Your Pulse. It improves your concentration and brings calm to even the most scattered mind. Sit in Easy Pose (comfortably cross-legged on the floor) with a slight neck lock, which means your chin slightly down and your neck is straight. Lightly close your eyes and focus on the space between your eyebrows (the third-eye point). The mantra is Sat Nam (which means “truth identified”). The hand position (mudra) is simple. Place the four fingers of your right hand on your left wrist and feel your pulse. The fingers are in a straight line, lightly pressed on the wrist so you can feel your pulse in each fingertip. On each beat of your pulse, mentally hear the sound of Sat Nam. This meditation is suggested for 11 minutes, but you can experience great benefits in just one minute. Practice it daily to develop your intuition and calm your mind.  Who is this book for? This book is for anyone who wants to create positive change in their life. If you’re stressed out, anxious, fearful, stuck or simply ready to play bigger in your life, this book is for you. If you have the slightest willingness to feel better, this book is for you. It doesn’t matter where you are on your spiritual path. You can be a dedicated yogi with a 20-year practice, a hardcore cynic who thinks this stuff is woo-woo, or anywhere in between: No matter what, you’ll benefit a lot from these teachings. What’s most exciting about the book is that you can simply use one of the exercises on a daily basis and it WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. I say that with conviction. How can readers use the book? This book is fun and interactive. You can read it from start to finish and soak up the concepts, but there are other ways to approach it. I feel that book can also act like a tarot deck. You can set an intention for yourself and then open the book to any page. Mark my words: You will ALWAYS get the guidance you need most in that moment. I think the best way to use this book is to surrender to the exercises. Let your intuition guide you through each page. When you land on exercise that excites you, DO IT. Practice it for 40 days and master it. Then share it! These tools are meant to be shared. The last lesson in the book is that you are the guru. Miracles Now  empowers you with life-changing tools that you can share with the world. When these tools become yours, they are yours to share.  What are the spiritual teachings that influenced the lessons in the book?  As a student and teacher of  A Course in Miracles and Kundalini yoga and meditation, it has become my mission to translate these life-changing spiritual truths for all seekers. A Course in Miracles is a metaphysical self-taught curriculum based on the principle that when we choose love over fear we experience miraculous change. The Course emphasizes the practice of turning our fears over to the care of our inner guide and places strong emphasis on forgiveness. The Course teaches us that through the experience of forgiveness we will know true peace. Kundalini is the yoga of awareness, which focuses on enhancing one’s intuition and strengthening the energy field. Kundalini aims to draw forth the creative potential of an individual to have strong values, be truthful and focus on compassion and consciousness. It is a great honor to share the principles of both A Course in Miracles and Kundalini throughout this book. These tools helps the reader release everything that blocks their connection to their inner power. When you practice these techniques, fear melts away, inspiration springs up, and a sense of peace sets in. Most importantly, you build a relationship to the power within you — and this power connection is essential. The power I speak of is your connection to love. The more we tune into our own frequency of love, the more love will spread. When love is the trend there is no room for violence and war. Trust me when I say: Your practice is crucial in the awakening of the world. Each person’s energy matters.  In the book you use social media in a really cool way. Can you share about this?  I love this part! I boiled down each lesson into a 140-character description — or Miracle Message — which can be tweeted, pinned on Pinterest, posted on Facebook, or shared on Instagram. Each Miracle Message ends with the hashtag #MiraclesNow so readers can connect, share miracles and spread inspiration. And e-book readers can share right from their devices. Share with us your journey and how it led to where you are now  In my early twenties I ran a nightlife PR firm in NYC. On the outside everything looked great, but on the inside I was a mess. I was seeking happiness, security and self-worth outside of myself. I regularly stayed up till 5 or 6 a.m. partying, and thanks to cocaine I weighed about 98 pounds. My friends had tried an intervention, but it didn’t work. Then, one night, I finally let it go. I wrote in my journal, “I need help. God, Universe, whoever is out there … I surrender.” The next morning, October 2, 2005, I woke up to a loud inner voice that said, “Get clean and you’ll have everything you want.” I knew I had no other choice than to listen. I am happy it happened the way it did. I found God in my own way. I got clean. My conscious surrender was when I asked for help in my journal. I received an answer right away, and I have been sober since that day. I was desperately looking for happiness, and I was seeking everything good—peace and happiness—outside of myself. For the past eight years I’ve been on a powerful journey inward, expanding my intuition and shifting my perceptions of the world. Through my own personal journey I have been guided to teach others to do the same.  Order Gabby’s new book, Miracles Now TODAY, and get these three gifts from Gabby: -       Her ½ day workshop on Manifesting Miracles-       Her lecture on Living a Miraculous Life-       The audiobook intro to the book! Click here for the gifts: www.gabbyb.tv/miraclesCheck this out Overcoming family trauma with @marielheminway!Learn more about MCT oil for smoothies and brain health!