If you or a loved one is struggling with life challenges-a career change, divorce, grief, addictions or compulsions-give us a call and let the Sedona Intensive give you the help you need. Don't face these problems alone. Let our support team of professional therapists help you today.

(800) 647-0732 or www.sedonaintensive.com.

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3-day Workshop with Albert Clayton Gaulden

Path to Authenticity

August 22 – 24, 2008

Hilton Hotel, Sedona

PROMISES FOR THE THREE DAYS:

INTUITION: You will learn how to activate your own intuition and be able to distinguish intuition from wishful thinking.

FORGIVENESS:  There will be strategies for uncovering where resentments have been festering and how to forgive yourself and others.

FAMILY DYSFUNCTION: A major component for the three days will be tracking where in the family tree all the compulsions and addictions began to distort who you really are and how this distortion led to living a lie.

ASTROLOGICAL BIRTH CHARTS—Albert will have the birth chart of each class member, and will anonymously give individual insights for how to deal with the issue of authentic versus the false you. He will assign a number privately to each person and when he calls a number only the person whose number he talks about will know who he is addressing.

DAY ONE

Friday, August 22   9 AM- 4 PM

Prayer and Meditation

Class members will come with a statement about: (a) Who they think they are and what is their purpose in life; (b) What they would like to get out of the class; (c) What is their heart’s desire.

Each day, Albert Gaulden will facilitate the discussion using insights, strategies and tools to clarify where members of the class might be stuck, enmeshed in family dysfunction, etc., et al.

• Who or what has been misidentifying you?
• What keeps you from living your passion?
• What has been your success in relationships? Marriage or live-in?

There will be an in-depth discussion about how your Ego, your dark side, interferes and distorts to keep you from being authentic. Gaulden will explain how your ‘Other Self’, your Shadow, is complicit with your Ego that become the block to who you really are.

• Addictions and Compulsions
• Family dynamics

There are far more addictions and compulsions than alcohol and drugs, all of which will be exposed in order for the class to see what are the deep holes into which they fall to stay inauthentic.

DAY TWO

Saturday, August 23   9 AM – 4 PM

Prayer and Meditation

Albert will begin the discussion with the statement that “None of you are who you think you are,’ but we are about to uncover the real you as opposed to who you have been acting like you are.”

      VI.       Where the misconceptions of who you are not were born

      VII.     How you keep the lies you tell about yourself from spreading

      VIII.     The antidote to outing your false self in order to live authentically.

      IX.       What does it look like and feel like to be authentic?

        X.       How do we remove the barriers to the real self?

Homework for Sunday:

Write what changes you have to make to become who you were born to be.

How can you find support back home?

What do you put in place of what you have to give up to be real? 

DAY THREE

Sunday, August 24   9 AM – 12 PM

Prayer and Meditation

Albert will bring the two days together. He will outline the how’s and why’s of staying authentic. Gaulden will handout strategies that solidify the major points he has covered in class.

Each class member will face the class and let us know who the authentic Self really is and what have been the misconceptions that kept them living as someone they were not.

What have we learned about us?

What can we do to stay real?

Who or what must get out of our life to stay authentic?

Call (800)647-0732 or (928) 282-4723 to register

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Happy Birthday Swami Swahananda
We here at the Sedona Intensive™ wish Swami Swahananda, Albert’s spiritual teacher, a very Happy 87th Birthday. He was honored with a cake and ice cream celebration at the Vedanta Society in Hollywood on Sunday, June 29th. Swami is the Spiritual Head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. In Albert’s new book, You’re Not Who You Think You Are—a Breakthrough Guide to Discover the Authentic You, which will be published December 2, 2008 by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Swami Swahananda serves as a spiritual conduit of the eight steps to self-realization. www.vedanta.org

Om Tat Sat Om—Peace, Peace, Peace

A few weeks ago Scott and a close client friend and I went to Los Angeles to celebrate Swami Swahananda’s 87th birthday. Swami is the spiritual head of the Vedanta Society of Southern California. As many of you know I joined the Vedanta Society largely because the Hindu approach, “all paths that lead to God are right paths” is in alignment with what I know to be true for me.

Although we were only in California overnight, the traffic (we were in a traffic jam for over an hour on Saturday night as the Hollywood Bowl was just letting out), the humidity and the general frenetic energy of this complex and over-crowded city got to me big time.

The next day as we drove into Hollywood for the service in the Temple, I felt out of sorts to the degree that I found myself doubting whether or not I should have come for Swami’s celebration. I made a bee line for the Temple and secured seats on the front row for me and my group.

The minute that Swami came into the room I immediately began to let go of all distractions and annoyances and irritation and became as calm and as cool as that proverbial cucumber. My group whispered to one another that they could not understand much of what Swami was saying—he still speaks with a thick India accent. But I got exactly what I came for—to be able to still myself and to go inside where peace lives. He spoke for an hour and I was transfixed. More often than not when a big piece of stuff speaker speaks, I impatiently look at my watch constantly wondering when he or she will be finished. I was enrapt with being in the energy field of this master; the hour sped by.

I spoke at the Cake Ceremony about my relationship with Swami and how he had inspired me to write my new book in a counseling session with him many years ago. I went to Swami to complain that someone had said something terrible about me. I went on and on with a lot of sniffles and a bit of ‘poor me’ and Swami looked at me intently when I had finished my saga of woe.

“Ramapriya, every time you come to me for counsel you tell me that you are not who you think you are. Perhaps you are not who he thinks you are either.”

45 minutes from me and a 10-second solution from O High Holy One. I went away satisfied.

I called Swami the day after I returned to Sedona to ask him for a quote for my new book. He agreed, and then I told him that my friends could not understand him in the Temple. He said to me, “Ramapriya, I would rather they understand themselves.”

Om Tat Sat Om. Peace, peace, peace.

TAKE A BREAK

Sometimes when everything you do seems to get you no where and the negative thoughts continue to bombard you, the best resolution is to get away from it all. You may think that this is running away or sticking your head in the sand like an ostrich, but I have found recently that it cleared my head to get away—to get away from the day-to-day grind—and just relax.

That’s exactly what I did on the 4th of July this year. Rather than stay home and have the pressures of work so close at hand, I decided to pile in the car and go to San Diego. From the high desert red rocks to the sea was the extreme change that I needed. We went to the beach, enjoyed the shows at SeaWorld—most of all we just had a good time by adjusting not only with a change of scenery but with a change of attitude.

It was amazing how much better I was when Monday rolled around and I went back to work with some new ideas and a better handle on how to get them done. Too often we try to convince ourselves that we are ducking responsibilities or that we just don’t want to face what we need to be doing; I disagree. The best direction for me oftentimes is to head out of town or to change my routine to give myself a new perspective.

The next time you are wondering how to mix things up—to clear your head for a better solution—take a break. Get away in order to come back home and to the job more relaxed, more inspired and more productive.

The biggest news this month is the two Eclipses: a Solar Eclipse New Moon at 9 degrees of Leo on August 2 and a Lunar Eclipse Full Moon at 24 degrees of Aquarius on August 16. A Solar Eclipse is a special New Moon when the Moon is directly between the Sun and Earth. During a Solar Eclipse the Moon completely or partially obscures the Sun across the Earth’s surface. In this moment of perceived darkness, spirituality and the psyche combine anew, beginning another cycle in our personal development.

Both Eclipses, since they are in Fixed Signs, will most affect Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. Speaking of Aquarius, the Solar Eclipse New Moon on February 5 this year was at 18 degrees of Aquarius, and one of the more ominous interpretations of this Eclipse according to Sabian Symbols was “A man’s secret motives are being publicly unmasked.” This was around the time of the subprime scandal, Bear Sterns’ demise as well as Eliot Spitzer’s dalliance with a prostitute and his subsequent resigning as Governor of New York. The Affirmative of that same Eclipse is “I am bathed in the loving light of Truth.” Take your pick, or rather apply whichever interpretation has come true for you, particularly, if you are an Aquarian or have personal planets there.

A Lunar Eclipse Full Moon is when the Earth passes precisely between the Sun and the Moon—the shadow of the Earth covers the face of the Moon. There is a theory that Lunar Eclipses are more foreboding—triggering the end of the matter, perhaps a marriage or a job, oftentimes the loss of money or perhaps moving from one place to another. In my experience Solar Eclipse New Moons are more powerful in how one’s life can change in whatever area of the chart it falls.

There are four other planets retrograde in the Leo cycle: Jupiter at 16 degrees of Capricorn (may portend a slow down in the good fortune of this blessed planet; Uranus at 22 degrees of Pisces (sudden change are a bit kinder and less jolting); Neptune at 23 degrees of Aquarius (the deceptive nature of Neptune will be less daunting, and Pluto at 29 degrees of Sagittarius (diminished the full bore of Pluto’s colossal upheaval somewhat). Retrogrades soften the impact of the retrograde motion. What it really means is for each of us, wherever these retrogrades occur, should be learning the lessons they have come to teach.

Leo (July 22 - August 22)

With the Solar Eclipse New Moon in Leo you may get the boost in respect and promotion that you deserve. As you read in Signs of the Times, however, this lunation is more about getting what you deserve. If you have been a good little boy or girl, your ice cream sundae will have a cherry on top; if you’ve been bad, you will be relegated to eating humble pie. Around the 14th of August there will be a Lunar Eclipse Full Moon—this is the moving fickle finger of fate. When God says, “Let go,” let go. If you do, there is always something better than you could have imagined waiting.

Virgo (August 23 - September 22)

Mars and Saturn have been getting together in a tight conjunction for a number of weeks in Virgo. This means that you have been accelerating and breaking at the same time—getting nowhere! Be patient and don’t kvetch and kvell too much while you’re in the waiting room. God has a plan and this is the planning stage of your next extreme makeover. For the last dog days of summer, meditate. Journal. Ask what you can do for someone else. It will take your mind off of you. Good astrological idea, huh?

Libra (September 23 - October 22)

With Jupiter in Capricorn until January 2009, you’d better not get yourself into any more trouble with too many irons in the fire. Known to be a worrier who can never make up his (or her) mind, down size expectations, including speculating in the stock market, and you will do better later. There are a few words of caution for those of you having relationship problems (if married, check out the condition your marriage is in and change the one you can: you)—the grass may look greener on the other side, but the other side is full of women (or men) panting with great expectations for the next catch of the day (or month or year). Nothing is as grim as starting over when you’re starting over with the same old flaws you’ve been stuck with. Stay put.

Scorpio (October 23 - November 21)

That Solar Eclipse New Moon is going to square (cause trouble) you, so make sure you don’t fly off the handle and say things you will regret. Check your script over and make sure you’re not stepping on someone else’s lines—you know, trying to upstage or talk down to a more wicked witch than you are. There could be some repercussions to such outbursts. My cosmic advice to those of you with deadly stingers would be to chill. Run your insane mind chatter by someone you trust, and then say nothing. Getting something off your chest is never worth the amends you’ll have to make later.

Sagittarius (November 22 - December 20)

Since Pluto has slithered back into your best laid plans for a while longer, let me suggest that you check out your tendency to do nothing—goofing off when you should be applying yourself or get into trouble with someone else’s girlfriend (boyfriend). You are known as the Bachelors (Bachelorettes) of the Zodiac. It’s not that you are some sex fiend—you just were just never good with boundaries or keeping the rules that apply to the rest of us. This Leo cycle you better watch your p’s and q’s because Pluto is watching and waiting to see if you need another deep soul cleanse.

Capricorn (December 21 - January 19)

You Goats may be feeling like Noah did when everyone wanted to know why he was building that big ole’ Ark. You are onto what you need to do to put a firmer foundation beneath your feet and a sturdier house over your head. Stay the course. You are known to be frugal (oftentimes stingy), but whatever your still small voice is telling you, keep listening. You are going to be able to survive when the rest of us who are trying to keep up with the Joneses are getting what the Joneses always get: peter out and the money wells run dry trying to be something we are not.

Aquarius (January 20 - February 17)

You get a lot of criticism for always being out of step with the rest of the world. With the Eclipses coming the first two weeks of August you may be feeling like ET from the blockbuster movie when he said “Home”. What you may be hearing is new news about how to be a bearer of hopeful tidings rather than sink beneath all the Doomsday hype plastered across newspapers and blaring on television and the radio. The stars are trying to guide you with a mission that only you understand now—later we will all know what you have always known.

Pisces (February 18 - March 20)

Now that you are beginning to live life on life’s terms, learn to add and subtract as well as trying to live in your Zen state of consciousness. It is just as important to tend to the ‘here and now’ as it is to dream dreams and see the world through rose colored glasses. Reality comes with a price tag unfortunately. Uranus in Pisces retrograde is giving you breathing room from all the sudden changes that have been going on the first part of the year. Intuition is higher and more dependable this month than ever.

Aries (March 21 - April 20)

You may think that the world has turned on you big time. Not. Actually, since you are the most reckless of all the signs and too selfish and self-centered for your own good, those Capricorn planets just might be saving you from another hair-brained scheme or even a broken neck from how fast you drive. The good news for you is that the Eclipses this solar cycle are going to boost your economy and some of your way-laid plans will materialize. Don’t crow—receive the bounty to share.

Taurus (April 21 - May 20)

I have been working with a lot of Taureans lately and it is amazing how thick-headed and thin-skinned you Bulls really are. The Eclipses in August are going to challenge you to stay the course rather than picking up your marbles and storming off because you don’t like the game you anted into. These lunations are trying to teach you that kinder, softer, gentler will get you more than ‘my way or the highway’ skewered thinking. You have had so much cosmic help this year so bend your knees and thank God for what you have—and don’t have. Keep it all simple and you will breathe more easily.

Gemini (May 21 - June 20)

The Eclipses are going to pull you out of your funk and you are going to feel like you are on the Price is Right and the announcer has just called your name and said, “Come on down”. There is no sign in the Zodiac that likes to roam without a tether more than you do. Reach deep into your emotional bag of tricks and see what nagging voice is trying to beat you down—confront it—tell it to “Get lost”—and then enjoy the playground the Lords of Karma have laid out for you. This is a month for you to see the glass as half full—and drink in all the blessings that will come your way.

Cancer (June 21 - July 22)

The longer you live the more time you have to let go of the tight rein you hold on all those around you. This is a cycle for you to tend to matters of home—is it time to redo a room in the house? Will you have room for all the company that would rather stay with you than pay for a hotel room? The focus is on tending to your business and letting the rest of the world go by. The quicker you accept that Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn are not moving to harm you—but to refine you and make you better—the faster you will be right-sized for what life has to teach you and also what all of us can learn from you. Bottom line: tend to your own business.

Andrew Bell

I recently traveled to a small town in France to see my sister perform in an opera.  The region where we were staying, though beautiful, was practically vacant and lacked any sort of connection with the outside world.  There were virtually no functioning television in the town, and internet access was available only on Fridays.  As for transportation, a bus service was active twice a week, and traveled only as far as the nearest hub, 30 kilometers away.  My American phone was left at home, and international phone parlors were non-existent.  As such, I was alone, no television to watch, no people to call and no news to read.  At first I was stunned.  I realized that I was alone; unaware of what would befall my world back home.  I would have to miss the Wimbledon Final I had wanted to watch.  I would be unable to wish happy birthday to friends back home.  And the emails and phone calls I received would have to go unreturned.  I have spoken endlessly on MargaretWendt.com, as well as to friends and family about how dependant Americans have become on the new gadgets and technological advance we have today at our leisure.  Even daring to laugh at a generation, unable to manage a day without checking Face book, or Instant messages they’d received that day.  However, alone in Europe and completely depressed, I realized the joke was on me, as I too had been a victim of the dependency I had so adamantly criticized.

Under the circumstances, I was forced to overcome the experience, in the same fashion humans did for centuries before modern technology.  I read, wrote, meditated, prayed and soul searched.  And it was after a few days of such activity, that I realized how freeing it was not to be tied to the world, in the way I was before.  I can honestly admit that I learned more in those 9 days about not only the world, but about myself, than I had in quite some time.  And boy was it rewarding.

The Price of Ice Cream

By Bill Sharon

Over the past year there have been any number of people who have written and spoken about the depth and breadth of the financial crisis that we are currently suffering through. The unwinding of the derivatives that have driven the increase in wealth without any underlying value was as predictable as the dot.com bubble. The collateral effects of the decisions not to invest in our infrastructure, healthcare system and schools have also been well documented. The global demand for fossil fuel shouldn’t have come as any surprise either; US companies have been increasingly making their profits in emerging economies and the rise in living standards has had a predictable effect on the demand for energy. All this has taken place while our political class has been as moribund as ever.

Those of us who predicted these problems were right. Almost everything we said would happen has happened. Being right, however, is highly overrated. One only needs to be in a vertical position, have a pulse and pay attention to have seen what was coming. So no trophies or blue ribbons for prescience; just a chastened sense that we aren’t as crazy as some people wanted to think we were.

As with any unpleasant experience everyone wants to know if it is going to be over soon. The answer is clearly “no”. At this writing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are no longer viable and on the verge of collapse, GE has had it’s second quarterly loss in its history, oil is flirting with $150 a barrel, Citibank is selling assets hand over fist, Lehman is rumored to be the next investment bank to go bust and the New York Post announced on its front page this morning that Con Edison bills are expected to go up 22%. The end is not near and it is unclear as to whether we are at the end of the beginning.

The floods in the Midwest that have caused billions in damage are at least in part a result of the failure to address the identified levee issues after a similar flood in 1993. The fires that rage in California began just weeks after the state declared a drought emergency.

Nature’s wrath and the consequences of human folly seem to be converging, not only in the US but around the world. It is likely to be our reality for some time to come. We are going to have to live through it and in doing so will create a new reality. It can either be based on a combination of fear and a grasping at what used to be or it can be based on hope and a new way of thinking about possibilities that, until now, have seemed too futuristic to contemplate.

Energy and water are the two commodities that lie at the heart of any turn in our fortunes.

Fossil fuel is finite, dirty and increasingly difficult to come by. The technology for clean energy is already here. There are cars that exist in Australia and France that run on compressed air and get 200 miles to the tank. GM’s Chevy Volt, which does not exist, will only get 40 miles per electric charge and is a hybrid; it will still require gasoline. We fiddle with a hybrid concept that Toyota introduced 11 years ago.

The two year drought in California is but the latest evidence that the water crisis in the Western and South Western United States is persistent. On the other hand, there are 7,500 desalination plants throughout the world, 60% of which are in the Middle East with Saudi Arabia taking the lead. The prohibitive cost of these operations has limited their use but it is conceivable that those costs will look very cheap indeed in the foreseeable future.

These are but two paths that we can pursue among many. While on their surface they appear to be driven by environmental concerns, their real power is in their economic impact. Plentiful water and renewable energy on a broad scale will result in a profound change in the financial and political power structure both here and around the world that is difficult to conceive.

It’s easy to be right about what’s gone wrong. Being right about what needs to go right means changing the way we think and that’s the most difficult change of all.

Sarah McLean

Seek and You Shall Find
Looking for The Good

As my husband Marty drove us down the hot streets of Phoenix last week, I kept my eyes peeled. I often do that especially when the temperatures are up in the one hundred and teens. I look for signs of animals big or small that might be hot, hungry, or thirsty and need help.  That is my thing.

I look between buildings, through fences, apartment windows, stairwells, always keeping an eye out for an animal in need. I keep an eye out for people who might need help too.

As we were driving and my eyes were darting in my search, I noticed a sense of anxiety and compulsion. There might have been a great song was playing on the radio, but I wasn't listening, I was compulsive, nothing else mattered in the moment. I had to look, had to know if an animal was suffering. This practice had become a habit and was exhausting, and no fun.

Suddenly, I was reminded of an exercise I did with my niece Courtney during a weekend trip to New York City. She was 11. As we were walking together down a busy street in Times Square, she announced to me that everyone in New York was mean. I asked her how she knew that, and she assured me she could tell by people's faces, "They're all mean," she said, pointing one or two sour faces out. I hadn’t seen it that way. So I asked her to do an exercise, and you can do it too as you read this.

I asked her to stop for a moment and look around to find everything that is blue in color. She scanned the storefronts and people on that street for anything blue. When she felt complete, I asked her to close her eyes, and when she did, I asked her to recall what she saw that was red (you can do this too, but shut your eyes right now).

She kept her eyes closed and was silent. She couldn't recall red things. Red hadn't been what she was looking for. This is one of the simplest exercises to demonstrate that the mind is always looking for evidence, always looking to be right, and always finds what it is looking for and little else. She opened her eyes and thought about what I had said to her.

I thought about my niece as my husband and I continued driving down Central Avenue, and I became more aware of my habit of becoming an animal detective. I wanted to stop the looking; it was a habit I had created over years. I decided I would look for something else. I would consciously look for beauty instead. It could be in any form, shape, or experience.

As I made up my mind to do this, my eyes lit on a sign, it read 'Beauty'. I laughed out loud. It was a beauty supply shop. I looked for beauty everywhere: in the color of buildings, in the clouds in the sky, in the music on the radio, and in the reflections and shadows of the sunlight on the desert landscape. I could find it. I just had to remember to look for it. I know
I was reminded of this Navajo chant - used in ceremonies to help one return to a state of balance within the universe. This state of balance called "Hozho" in the Navajo language. It goes like this:

In beauty I walk.
With beauty before me, I walk.
With beauty behind me, I walk.
With beauty below me, I walk.
With beauty above me, I walk.
With beauty all around me, I walk.
It is finished in beauty,

I will see what I am looking for. It just may take a while to make it a habit.