Dear Friend,

Well, summer is moving right along here in San Diego. It is starting to warm-up for sure! Things are also moving right along with my book promotion and publicity campaign, although I am being sure to take some time to enjoy the beautiful weather. I took my bike to get serviced over the weekend and am ready to go out for some beautiful rides!

I am thoroughly enjoying and am incredibly grateful for some profound and yet subtle shifts in consciousness that I have been experiencing. How I see, experience, and live in the world is shifting subtly and yet ever so dramatically. In my experience, one of the fascinating things about spiritual awakening is it is so subtle and yet so profound. On the one hand, the shifts in consciousness are almost imperceptible, like a gossamer thread that you can barely perceive. And yet, on the other hand, they are more profound and more dramatic than anything else you could ever experience. It is at once indescribable and at the same time irrefutable - it simply is.

To speak of spiritual awakening is to speak of the changes that occur as your consciousness shifts, as your perception begins to shift and you begin to become more and more aware of awareness itself. This shifting, this awakening, is quite simply the fruit of traveling on this path - available to anyone who wants to walk along this road. Though the ultimate experience is enlightenment, what you perceive of, or what I perceive of as the path is simply the journey from here to there. But please remember - there really is no journey from anywhere to anywhere, since we are already that which we seek. We are already the brilliance and the beauty of the universe, manifesting as a human being. It is simply awakening to this reality that already is and has always been. Any experience is necessarily transient, but who we truly are remains eternally and always exactly as it is.

An experience of your true self will transform every aspect of your reality. This week's article will explore decision-making, and how discovering your essence will help you make decisions with effortless ease…

My goal is to make this e-zine as useful for you as possible, so please let me know what you are struggling with; what you would like help with. Send me an email and let me know what would be the most useful for you.  I always love to hear from you.

May you experience yourself as the perfection that you already are,

Peace, Love, and Beauty,

Sarah Maria

Effortless Decision Making

Do you ever struggle with decision-making? Life is full of seemingly important decisions:

• Whether to stay in a relationship or leave
• Whether to buy a house or rent
• What school to go to
• What doctor to visit
• How to best support your children

On and on, life is filled with an endless array of decisions that seem to influence and affect our lives. Every day we are confronted with decisions that have to be made.

Interestingly, I used to have a difficult time making decisions - a really difficult time. I would ruminate endlessly - should I do this? Should I do that. What about this? What about that? What if? What if not? It created a lot of angst and anxiety for me, and made me a difficult person to live with to say the least.

People tried to help me. I saw one renowned cognitive-behavior psychologist who told me to create a pro-and-con list. "I paid you $200 an hour to tell me to create a pro-and-con list?????" I thought to myself. In my experience, a pro-and-con list is utterly unhelpful and just creates more mental turbulence and trouble. Why?

In my experience, the answer to a troubled mind is not to be found in the mind. The inability to make a decision is simply the reflection of a restless mind. You worry, you ruminate, you ponder as you try to make a decision. The problem is that the more you try, the deeper the hole you dig. The more you worry about the decision, the more endless the cycle becomes.

The solution to indecisiveness, to anxiety, to any mental health problem or difficulty is to step out of the mind. That is right - the only solution is to go beyond the mind.

In my experience, when we struggle with decision-making, it is because we consider the universe to be outside of ourselves. This is not a conscious thought, but it is a subconscious belief for the vast majority of people. You consider the universe to be outside of yourself, and therefore perceive that you somehow have to make some "right" decision in order to create the result you want, which is to be happy. You believe that the mind is what allows you to make decisions, so you ruminate, weigh pro's and con's, and struggle to make the "right" decision, which in my experience only creates more turbulence.

For effortless decision-making, explore another possibility:

The universe is you - you simply need to listen. Apply yourself to one task - learn how to listen. The universe is part of you - the environment is your extended body. Everyone and everything around you is an expression of yourself. You are not an isolated individual. Rather, you are part of the fabric of the cosmos.

When you approach decision-making from this vantage point, you will discover that decisions make themselves. You need quite simply to Start Listening and Stop Preventing. Open yourself to the universe, and allow it to deliver your decisions to you.

Since the mind usually wants something to do, try this step-by-step process for effortless decision-making:

1. Remind yourself that you are not separate from the world, and the world is not separate from you.
   
   
2. Set an intention - "I allow myself to make the perfect decision regarding (fill in the blank)."
   
   
3. Let go of this intention and become receptive to what the universe sends. Become aware of how different possibilities feel in your body. Remind yourself that the universe will always help carry you to your goals. Listen to the messages the universe sends your way.

Always remember - you are not limited to your body-mind. Who you truly are is the expansive power of the cosmos. As you shift your identity from small ego-mind, you will discover that decisions make themselves with effortless ease.

Awakening the Feminine
Connecting To Your Source of Power

It is ready! It is here! It is available right now! Yes, my new audio product is finally available for purchase. This product is based on the course I taught, Awakening the Feminine - Connecting with your Source of Power.

This course shows you how to change your life by using the power of myth. You will discover how to awaken the gods and goddesses that are dormant inside of you so that you can create a life that you love.

Click here to order today:
Awakening The Feminine: Connecting To Your Source of Power

Here is what one course participant says:

No Attachments, No Aversions
by Lester Levenson

I just started reading the autobiography of Lester Levenson. Lester was a New Jersey native who became "fully awake." He eventually created what is now known as the Sedona Method, a systematic technique for eliminating negative emotions, thoughts, and behaviors as you become awake to who you truly are. Very beautiful work. The name of the book is No Attachments, No Aversions by Lester Levenson.

Sarah Maria is a body-image expert and teacher who can help you discover the beauty that you already are so that you can create a body and a life that you truly love. Her first book, Love Your Body, Love Your Life, is being published by Adams Media and will be available for purchase in November '09. She combines ancient spiritual wisdom with modern science and shows you, step-by-step, how to pacify your mind, heal your heart, befriend your body, and transform your life.

She has studied with the leading experts in health, spirituality, personal development, and success, including Deepak Chopra, physician Dr. David Simon (co-founder of the Chopra Center for Well-being in Carlsbad, CA), Dr. Wayne Dyer, Jack Canfield, renowned Ayurvedic physician Vasant Lad, and many others. She is a lover of eastern philosophy and spiritual wisdom and passionately shares these teachings that have so transformed her own life.

Before founding Break Free Beauty, Sarah Maria received her law degree from Stanford University and her Master's in International Affairs from Columbia University in NYC. She has lived and traveled throughout Latin America, and has also visited many countries around the world. Her greatest passion is helping people discover the beauty and the greatness that resides inside so they can live from this place of grandeur, transforming themselves and the world.