It's here! My new book, Truth Seeker, now in Paperback!

BIG NEWS, EVERYONE!

MY LONG-AWAITED SECOND BOOK, TRUTH SEEKER, IS ALIVE, KICKING, AND AVAILABLE NOW ON KINDLE AND PAPERBACK.

A spiritual memoir, an off-the-beaten path India travel tale, and a bittersweet love story all rolled into one wild ride.

I hope you love it!

And if you do, please leave a review!

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY.

THANK YOU!

The author in Varanasi, India on the ghats of the Ganges

CLICK HERE TO GET TRUTH SEEKER

THE STORY OF A WOMAN'S EXISTENTIAL CRISIS,

THE END OF SEEKING,

AND THE WILLINGNESS TO LOSE EVERYTHING 

TO FIND TRUE, LASTING FREEDOM.

A combined off-the-beaten path India travel adventure, bittersweet romance, and deeply personal spiritual memoir, this book shares the profound, inexpressible grace of encountering one's spiritual teacher, or guru, and is an homage to the absolute faith and fearlessness required to be released from the shackles of suffering.

Truth Seeker: A Spiritual Adventure of Love, Loss, and Liberation is the long-awaited follow-up to the spiritual travel memoir, The Adventures of Bindi Girl: Diving Deep Into the Heart of India (2012).

Advance Praise for Erin Reese's new book

TRUTH SEEKER:

A SPIRITUAL ADVENTURE OF

LOVE, LOSS, AND LIBERATION

"If you read a lot of “spiritual” books, as I do, you can be filled to the brim with theory. Truth Seeker is what happens in one woman's life when the theories become fact in the day-to-day. There's romance – human-to-human and human-to-India – and courage and humor and an incredible degree of acceptance of life as it comes and where it is. And that might be the essence of those spiritual books, after all."

—Victoria Moran, author of The Good Karma Diet, cofounder of The Compassion Consortium

 “Erin Reese’s excellent new book is a deep dive into the heart, dedication, and courage required while on the spiritual awakening journey. This book isn’t merely about truth seeking; it’s about truth finding. The book is far more than a journey into the spiritual cornucopia of India; it’s an inspirational nudge into the deepest depths of your own heart. Do you have the courage? The dedication? I highly recommend this book to both glistening spiritual newbies and jaded old-timers. After reading I was left in a beautiful, resonant, heartfelt state. This alone is worth the price of admission.” 

—J. Stewart Dixon, author of Spirituality for Badasses: How to Find Inner Peace and Happiness Without Losing Your Cool

“So often overlooked on today’s spiritual path is the mystical bond with a guru to support the journey to self-realization. Ramesh Balsekar was a laser beam of integrity and a fountain of peace. This book shows the transformative blessing of meeting such a master on one who is passionate and sincere. One that has the power to surrender.” 

— Prajnaparamita, spiritual master, author of Wings of Freedom 

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary non-dual spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering. Visit erinreese.com for more information.  

Full Moon of the Yogi ~ Guru Purnima ~ Transforming Our Losses

Erin Reese Teaching Yoga on Guru Purnima 2017

Namaste dear friends:

Today is the Full Moon in Capricorn, a lunation known as Guru Purnima – the full moon of the teacher! Yogis and sages, Buddhists and Hindus typically pay respects to their teachers on this day and express their gratitude. I was deeply honored and grateful to celebrate this day by teaching a yoga class at a local hospice organization where I provide grief and bereavement counseling.

In 2010, I became a Certified Yoga Instructor at Swami Vivekenanda University in Bangalore, South India. While I don’t teach a regular yoga asana class, I practice regularly and am happy to offer this gift to those in need. This morning, on this important Full Moon of the Teacher, I taught a very gentle hour and a half class called “Gentle Yoga for Grief and Loss,” suitable for all levels.

Seven wonderful women showed up. One of them had just lost her sister, and was far too distraught to move about on the mat; she participated in the whole class sitting in a comfortable chair in silence, breathing and being. Her energy and participation were just as palpable, just as meaningful, as those of us doing the whole postures. Yoga is very much a state of being, a way of becoming seated in the Self, the ground of being.

Other folks had various neck, knee, and back limitations; we made modifications with pillows and props throughout. Following my intuition and the energy of the group, I placed particular emphasis on relaxing the muscles of the jaw. At one point, the whole group of us began shaking and bouncing, moving out the excess stress and tension that grief adds to the body. Our arms upraised, we all felt the electricity in the room. I explained that in Buddhist teachings, we transform ‘poison into nectar,’ or amrita, and in this same way, through physical asana postures, we transform the stress and congestion of grief into life force energy, or prana.

Loosened up in body, mind, and spirit, the emotional body is much more able to flow and express itself without resistance. Grieving is hard physical and mental work, whether experienced through death of a loved one, or loss of a life chapter, or end of a relationship. Yoga is a supportive and gentle way to facilitate the grief process, and restore balance in a taxed emotional system. Many tears flowed easily in savasana, resting pose. Hearts were opened, minds settled down, bodies relaxed. 

Together, on this full moon of the guru, the teacher within and without, we came together to transform our losses and ease our personal and universal suffering just that little bit more…

Here is the list of poses we practiced in our 90-minute session:

Easy Yoga for Grief and Loss:

1.      Meditate and Breath

2.      Warmups: shoulder shrugs,

 shoulder rolls, neck stretches, neck rolls

3.      Cat / cow (from table top)

4.      Child’s pose

5.      Sphinx pose

6.      Legs up the wall

7.      Side twists

8.      Happy Baby

9.      Savasana deep relaxation

10.  Closing meditation. Namaste.

OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI

Today, I bow in gratitude to my Teacher, advaita master Ramesh Balsekar (1917-2009), and to all of my great Teachers, past, present and future. I bow to each of You, whom I learn from every day. I bow to Mother Nature and the Goddess Shakti, the Divine Feminine. She is my Mother, and flows through me and of me. I bow to Shiva, Consciousness, the Self, and Existence… here and now, here and now. Never not here. Here and now. Sat Chit Ananda – being *consciousness *peace. Namaste.

Namaste

Erin Reese, Master of Science in Counseling is an author, spiritual teacher, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world.

For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly at erin@erinreese.com.

New Moon in Scorpio: The Alchemy of Death

No new life can arise, say the alchemists, without the death of the old.

They liken the art to the work of the sower, who buries the grain in the earth:

it dies only to waken to new life.

~ Carl Jung

Today, October 30, we have a New Moon in Scorpio, most potent water sign of transformation. Here we have our allies the great serpent eagle and the phoenix rising from the ashes. A perfect fit for this Halloween-Samhain and Dia de los Muertos honoring of death and rebirth. Wise witches, healers, and alchemists know it is far less painful to embrace an inevitable disintegration process, than to resist it.

At this autumnal dark of the new moon, we may observe and experience important things falling away: people, relationships, ways of life. And the more we can even ‘settle in’ with the death and dying process, the easier and – daresay – more relaxing it becomes. Maybe not enjoyable, but probably more full-filling or meaning-full. Satisfying. Ripe.

When something dies, it is often overly ripe, far past its sell-by date. The German word reife relates to ripe, meaning maturity. Extract to the English word rife, which means unchecked or in a widespread manner. If something is overly ripe, and resists the death process, it is putrid, rotting, uncontrolled. Rife can cause damage, like a virus or cancer. Pruning occurs to reduce the chance of overly ripe things running amok. Balance is restored. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we awaken again to everlasting life through the death process.

I know: All this is simple, on paper, but to remember it when someone we love is in the dying process, or when our cherished intimate relationship is ending, or our professional life is taking a walloping turn – well, that’s another story. It is at these times, that the ancient principles of alchemy can help, with its motto "solve et coagula (dissolve and coagulate)". Two of the key alchemical stages signified by our New Moon in Scorpio are putrefactio and mortifactio.

The Putrefactio

The process of putrefactio is a transition stage. A gate, a station of decomposition. The matter itself is literally rotting. We know not what lies on the other side of the door. It is a secret, a mystery. One senses power and potential energy on the other side, a garden of delights. But the transition through the portal requires a trust to endure great shadow, to not bolt during this stage when all is in decay. We rely on the ancients, the seers, and our contemporary mentors and guides. Even our selves-as-teachers, who have already lived through various forms of the death process before. These previous experiences remind us that we do live on. Yes, changed in form, and garnered with hard-earned wisdom.

Solve et Coagula: Dissolve and Coagulate

In the mortifactio, we are reminded that the final death knell can be mortifying, bringing us to our knees. We experience the mourning during the blackest and the bleakest. The sensation of grief, whether pre- or post-bereavement, can feel like the wind has been completely sucked out of us. We are empty, deflated, and the world is on hold. Close cousins with depression and anger – totally normal reactions, by the way – the mortificatio stage can last for months or even years.

It is a soul-driven process, and the rational mind does what it can to move it along. Alas, the extent of the enmeshment or identification with the person or situation that is no more, may require a good long work of disentangling to make sense of the matter. Meaning-making returns to reclaim the pieces of Self that were projected onto the lost object. Healthy grieving is invaluable, filled with power as the soul does what it must to clear the ground for what is to come.

Navigating the mourning, the mortifactio, is deep work requiring great courage. It may require a guide, a person who has gone before and is familiar with the terrain of the cremation grounds. But even without a helper or wise teacher, the miraculous force of Life itself will naturally lead a soul to new ground, to plant a seed, and start again. Fresh compost tops the soil, the ripeness is now a readiness to receive the seed and eventually bear new fruit. But first we must endure and respect the alchemical stages of putrefactio and mortifactio.

Honoring, even celebrating the transition – the transformation – is the secret magic and the message of this New Moon in Scorpio.

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.

Further Reading:

• Experiencing the Mortificatio: Jung on Grief, Grieving and Mourning by Sue Mertens
• The Principles of the Yoga Philosophy of the Rosicrucians and Alchemists

Spiritual Guidance with Erin Reese

Standing at a crossroads?
Need a guide?

Spiritual Consulting with Erin Reese

Did you know that I offer spiritual consulting package options for clients desiring a deeper dive? This is an incredibly affordable option for those who wish to check in and receive support on a regular basis.

How does it work?

I offer spiritual counseling combined with regular intuitive readings on an ongoing basis. I meet with clients on a weekly or biweekly basis to check in on any professional or personal issues they are working with. We go as deep as you need. Some clients are working through relationship challenges, some need energy clearing to remove blocks in awareness. Some are learning to heal from reactive trauma in which I give them tools and we discuss the progress. Some clients need systemic constellation work to clear ancestral blocks in the family system. Some prefer more free association and personal or business coaching. Last but not least, some clients seek support with embodied spiritual awakening and deepening into the Self. Most clients request a look at the Tarot or their astrology chart for a short or long reading at some point in the session - a very good tool. In short, you bring to the table whatever you want to work through, and together we will find the tool to address it.

How much does it cost?

I offer one-time sessions at my normal rate of $125 per hour or $75 per half-hour, but by far the most affordable solution is to commit to a series of 4 sessions at only $350 which is just over $85/hr. I work with my clients via phone or Skype. I also allow any follow-up questions via email in between calls, if needed, to touch in on anything we are working with. You have my support. It's a great tool for folks that don't feel the call to traditional therapy or coaching but do want to go deeper and build trust with one person in a counseling fashion. And, of course, you have the added benefit of psychic readings as needed to go with it.

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What is your background?

In addition to 25 years of experience with astrology and the tarot, I am also an author and spiritual travel writer. I have training in transpersonal psychology, yoga and meditation, somatic therapies, recovery, and alternative healing. I have a strong business background, having worked as a corporate recruiter, website producer, and editorial consultant. I have undertaken long periods of spiritual pilgrimages and travel in Asia and Europe, along with five years living in India and studying with a spiritual teacher. My innate psychic ability has been inherited from the women in my ancestry and has been highly activated through spontaneous awakening of the Kundalini life force. I offer my work to clients all over the world in the spirit of service and healing.

For those who like credentials, here are a few other bits of training you might find interesting:

° Coaches Training Institute, Professional Life Coaching, San Rafael

° Sofia University (formerly Institute of Transpersonal Psychology), Palo Alto

° Certified Yoga Instructor. SVYASA Yoga University, Bangalore, India

° Systemic Constellation Training, Germany and United States

° Bachelors of Science, Highest Honors, University of California

° Masters of Science in Counseling (in progress), California State University

If you'd like referrals, please let me know. I have several ongoing clients that have offered to answer any questions from you as a reference for my work. You will know if you feel called to work with me.

How do I get started?

Please email me at erin@erinreese.com to set up an appointment time. Indicate whether you prefer phone or Skype appointments, and indicate a few options and times, Monday through Friday, that would work with your schedule on a weekly or biweekly basis. Payment can be made in advance or at the time of the first scheduled appointment via PayPal or with a bank card or check, your choice. We will find the best option for you.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

I look forward to supporting you on your journey!

With love,

Erin Reese

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world.

For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.