The spirit is the only part of the self that lives forever, cannot be destroyed, is the center of the self, and is connected to every other spirit in the universe. Wow! Quite a resume! And despite these qualifications, I noticed that dissatisfied people who came to me in my psychotherapy practice were not in touch with their spirits. Why, I wondered, had these particular people found me? What was the universal plan that had led them to me? Perhaps their souls were crying out for spiritual fitness, a lifetime path to self-realization far different than the one they were on!

I had been on a path to spiritual fitness since the age of twenty-one. My journey to spiritual fitness began during a spiritual healing circle, when I discovered that my spirit had touched someone hundreds of miles away with healing. This mystical experience profoundly and permanently changed my life. In a moment, I felt how real my spirit is, how it lives eternally and how it can heal and do good work in the world.

I felt inclined to bring this information to the world, began attending a doctoral program with the intention of researching spiritual fitness, and continued on with my own spiritual studies. These studies took me to the Himalayan International Institute, Europe, Hawaii, around the US, and especially into my inner being. I spent much of my time doing meditation and intuitive development practices. Life as a spiritual seeker and teacher has resulted in actually reaching various inner destinations and helping others to do the same. I found that millions of others were on the same path. The studies that I have pursued in teaching, psychology, and spirituality have been used to educate, inspire, and assist in the healing of others.

I decided to write Spiritual Fitness and to share my stories of mystical experiences that I had undergone along the way. I had avoided sharing the experiences before then, because I thought therapists "should" be planted in more logical soil. Coming forward as a woman of faith seemed a risk. I persisted and put together the basis of the program.

Through my stories and instruction, readers will learn to set their priority wheel (with spirit at the center) and begin a daily practice. They will lay out a master plan for their lives using a brain map and a spiritual assessment. These tools help readers to review their spiritual lives so far and to decide what to keep and what to release. After this clearing out, they can move more quickly on their path.

The techniques I present are time-tested methods I have successfully used with students and clients for over twenty-nine years as a psychologist and teacher. They include psychological techniques, such as self-hypnosis, making commitments, journal writing, and dream interpretation. Then readers move on to spiritual methods of breathing, color and sound regulation, meditation, daily practice, prayer, and physical exercise.

I began to write Spiritual Fitness about four years earlier, but the demands of work and life had kept me from spending the time that it needed to find its way to the bookshelf. Then a profound part of my spiritual journey occurred that stopped me in my tracks. Notice I did not say "dead in my tracks." It could have ended that way, but because of spiritual fitness, it did not. I had gotten sick, gone to many doctors who did not know what was wrong with me, and decided to take matters under my own wings. I connected to my inner spiritual wisdom, knew I was very ill, and took myself to a local hospital emergency ward. After a week of testing, I was diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of leukemia. Because of the delay in diagnosis, the disease had advanced and my prognosis was poor. It was time to become the spiritual warrior and to fight for my life. By using the techniques of Spiritual Fitness, including natural medicine, prayer, visualization, faith, and distance healing in combination with traditional medical treatments, I was cured in twenty-three days.

I knew it was time to finish the book. In Spiritual Fitness you will find a spiritual path that will last and sustain you for a lifetime. Spiritual Fitness addresses the eternality of the spirit and, hence, the wisdom of relying first and foremost on the only part of the self that is going to be there despite outer challenges and losses, and even life-threatening illnesses. So, join me as we stop begging for minnows and learn to fish in the sea of God.