Sonia Choquette has been one of my favorite authors for many years. I've always enjoyed her books and the title of this one, The Power of Your Spirit, got me curious especially when combined with the subtitle, "A Guide to Joyful Living."
When the book arrived for me to review, I wondered if Sonia could have done it again? Would I enjoy reading her new book since I've read several books by her? The answers to these questions were "Yes!" and "Yes!"
Sonia is a great storyteller and she weaves in stories that teach us from the examples of what lessons she or the people in the story learn from what has happened in their lives.
She had me curious from the first two paragraphs of the introduction. In them she describes a movie (that I've seen) which is about a tour guide in Greece who has lost her kefi, which is a Greek word for "spirit."
Sonia says, "The film reminded me that the idea of losing your connection to spirit isn't all that unusual." She goes on to say that she encounters many lovely, generous, and caring people who feel lost, disillusioned, and powerless.
In this book, she guides readers through four stages she says we must pass through on the way to reconnecting with our own spirit.
The four stages are:
Awakening
Discovery
Surrender
Flow
For most of us the journey is gradual but she says it's also possible, though rare, to move through all four stages in one dramatic shift.
In "How to Use this Book" Sonia says, "Take time and enjoy the process. Ponder the questions and stories throughout." She also says to be sure to implement the daily practices for at least 40 days.
One thing she repeats through the book is that you must change what you do and not just read books expecting your life to change. She gives an example of a woman who kept reading more books but wasn't putting what she read into practice. It's with a daily practice that we change the frequency of our vibration.
Sonia Choquette
Sonia reminds us that we are all students. Each of us faces challenges and the stories in this book can help us learn through OPE (other people's experience).
In this book, Sonia stresses the importance of how we breathe. Shallow breathing – and even holding our breath – can keep us from feeling connection with our spirit.
"The preamble to our awakening is marked by a growing sense of overwhelm, exhaustion, anxiety, restlessness, impatience, irritation, depression, and complete victimhood. In other words, it's a feeling that life is a struggle, and there's nothing we can do about it."
Throughout the book Sonia has questions for us to answer which are best written in a journal. She also says to invite your spirit — your most authentic self — to answer them.
After answering the questions she guides you to close your eyes and to calmly breathe through your nose in a deep way that feels relaxed and wonderful. In fact, as she says, it can help you feel calm, connected to Source, peaceful, and energized all at the same time. She calls this "connected breathing" and it is a technique she explains in the book. I love how it makes me feel! Sonia suggests you do it for 15 minutes. It is a way of breathing that connects the breaths and connects you with your spirit. I've heard that the word inspire means to breathe in — and it feels inspiring to breathe this way.
Reading about "connected breathing" helped me to realize it's what I do — and feel — when I do my 15 minute meditation each morning. As Sonia says, using a timer allows you to relax. What I realized while reading this part of the book was how good it feels to do this "connected breathing" at other times during the day — or night — any time I notice my breathing has gotten shallow or that I'm feeling tense and find I'm holding my breath.
Sonia says, "To surrender to the power of Spirit, you must listen to your heart and admit how you feel, first to yourself and then to others, even if your truth makes you or those around you uncomfortable, angry, or afraid." She goes on to say, "To live in alignment with your Spirit is to live your truth and build your life upon it."
"Live Your Love"
As Sonia points out in this part of the book, none of us knows how long we have on this planet. A powerful thing to do is to make a list of all the things you want to do or experience before you leave this life. I love her suggestion to put the list in a prominent place and plan to do one of them — or at least part of one of them — each day. As she points out we really don't have time to put off our dreams for someone else's demands. I suggest we all take her advice and begin to do the things on our list!
"Go with the Flow"
I found this part of the book a great reminder for me when I begin to want to control life: "Make a habit to relax. Let go. Take a breath and look around. Enjoy the view. Accept life as it unfolds rather than try to force it in a particular way."
"The Ebb"
"The greatest challenge to staying in the flow comes when you encounter 'the ebb,' which is any change, expected or unexpected, that leaves you feeling threatened and insecure because you aren't sure what's coming next."
Ebbs are part of life and they come when our life shifts. As Sonia points out, ebbs instigate growth — they invite us to become aware of what's holding us back and they help to move us forward in the direction we're meant to go. They lead us into our next experience of being in the flow.
There is an inspiring quote by Earl Nightingale that Sonia included in the section on the flow: "All you have to do is know where you're going. The answers will come to you of their own accord."
The book ends with an inspiring list of choices we can make as part of our daily practice. Sonia suggests we write the list in our own handwriting on a beautiful piece of paper and read the things on the list out loud daily.
Do I recommend this book? YES.
Here are four ways to purchase, The Power of Your Spirit by Sonia Choquette:
Sonia Choquette will be leading a 2-hour workshop on "The Power of Your Spirit" at the Pasadena, California, and Tampa, Florida, "I CAN DO IT!" conferences. I've signed up for her workshop in Pasadena. I've been to other workshops with Sonia and have enjoyed being with her for them. She is inspiring, playful, and FUN. If you would like to meet Sonia and attend one of her workshops, click here or on one of the links below for more information and to buy your ticket.
Hey - I got this book on Kindle. I really love the questions for journal ling.
Posted by: Atara Atara | September 26, 2011 at 11:48 AM