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  • Hey there, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create

  • a business and life you love. And this ain’t Q&A Tuesday, you know why? It’s a very special

  • episode today. We have one of my dear friends who also happens to be an incredible spiritual

  • teacher.

  • Featured on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday as one of the next generation of thought leaders,

  • Gabrielle Bernstein is making her mark. Expanding the lexicon for the next generation of spiritual

  • seekers, Gabby is the number one bestselling author of Add More -Ing to Your Life: A Hip

  • Guide to Happiness and Spirit Junkie: A Radical Road to Self-Love and Miracles. And now she’s

  • launching her new book, May Cause Miracles, published by Random House. Gabrielle is also

  • the founder of the social networking site HerFuture.com for women to inspire, empower,

  • and connect.

  • Gabby, Gabby, Gabby. Welcome to MarieTV!

  • I am freakinpsyched to be back on MarieTV! Second time.

  • Second time, I know.

  • So good.

  • Your first episode, the first one that we did together, was all about manifesting and

  • I think, I don’t know, like 35,000 people watched that video as of right now.

  • They were digginit, yeah.

  • Theyre really, really digginit.

  • Yeah.

  • So I know you have a new book here, which is May Cause Miracles, your brand new book.

  • Congratulations.

  • Thank you.

  • This is huge. So, tell me about this book. It says it’s a guidebook of subtle shifts

  • for radical change and unlimited happiness. I am so proud of you for this, this is amazing,

  • but I wanna hear what inspired you? Why did you write this next book?

  • So you and I talk about this a lot.

  • Yeah.

  • We really want to listen to what our audience wants and needs from us.

  • Yes.

  • And so I write my books based on what the call is from the audience. So if people are...

  • I can sense it. It’s not even necessarily some things people say, I can feel it.

  • Yeah.

  • So when I wrote my book Add More -Ing to Your Life, it was very clear that I needed to give

  • people... it’s called A Hip Guide to Happiness. It needed to be very easy and fun for people

  • to digest.

  • Right.

  • Spirit Junkie I felt that my audience needed to know more about me and needed to see myself

  • qualify the work and say, “Ok, this is who I am. This is how I got here.”

  • Right.

  • And then when this book came to be, it was really clear to me that it was time for my

  • readers to be given a handbook and I kept feeling the sense of this call from people

  • saying, “I just wanna know how to do things. I want to be told what to do.”

  • That’s really, really interesting because I’ve seen that a lot in my work and just

  • throughout my career that people want to be given the step by step to anything.

  • Absolutely.

  • And they...

  • And you do a great job of that.

  • Thank you.

  • Yeah.

  • But they don’t wanna figure it out on their own and I know that this is... it’s a 42

  • day...

  • It’s a 40 day guide.

  • Yeah.

  • It’s a 6 week course and it’s broken up into all the different corners of our lives.

  • So from our personal experience with ourself to our body image to our finances to our experience

  • of the world to our romantic relationships.

  • Ooh!

  • Kind of cover everything.

  • That’s awesome.

  • 40 day guide, yeah.

  • And so tell me more about how the book is broken down. So it’s a 40 day guide, there’s

  • meditations.

  • Every day has the same ritualistic practices. So every morning you wake up with a morning

  • reflection, which this is also really based on my personal practice.

  • Yes.

  • So I was like, “Oh, well what works for me? Let me put this into a practice for everybody

  • else.”

  • Yup.

  • And I really have to say that it works because obviously I’m walking around a pretty happy

  • girl, you know?

  • You know, I will say this too, and I love this because you and I have been friends for

  • years and so I see you when were out doing things in the world, like we got to do Oprah

  • together, and I also see you at parties, but I also hear from you, you know, you call me

  • up. And that’s one of the things I love about you is that you walk your talk. And

  • so I love that youve put everything that  you do down into a book for the rest of

  • us to be able to learn. So that’s awesome.

  • That was kinda part of the call. Like, the audience kept saying, “Well, what is it

  • that you do? How do you start your day? How do you practice these principles? How do you

  • keep it going?” And so that was really the main message was saying, “Ok, here’s a

  • morning reflection. Start your day with this new idea. Here’s an affirmation that goes

  • along with that. You can continue to practice with that affirmation throughout the day.”

  • And then the final part was at the end of the evening to really sit in contemplation

  • and that’s when I really do most of my journaling and I do some reading and I open A Course

  • in Miracles. And so I’ve given all the heavy lifting in the evening because I think people

  • don’t wanna do that self reflective work in the mornings.

  • Right.

  • And they don’t have a midday break...

  • Right.

  • ...not everybody.

  • Right.

  • So it’s an evening exercise to just go a little bit deeper, do some journaling, get

  • a little dirty.

  • I like it. So... so, you know, all of our MarieTV viewers, we have folks that maybe

  • spirituality and God is not really a part of their conversation. But, I have to say,

  • I think most of them it is part of it whether they consider themselves religious or spiritual,

  • theyre very open minded to it. And the title of your book is May Cause Miracles.

  • How do you define a miracle?

  • So to simplify a miracle, it’s really when we shift our perspective, when we see something

  • with more love. And it’s often that were walking around in these sort of crazy cocoons

  • thinking, “Oh, I can’t. I don’t have enough. I can’t change my body. I’ll never

  • have that partner. I can’t have that experience of life that I wanna have.”

  • Right.

  • And so when were locked into that cocoon of negativity, we really feel as though there’s

  • no way out.

  • Right.

  • But through these practices we begin to shift our thinking. And the moment that you shift

  • your thinking, the moment that you say, “I want to see this differently. I’m ready

  • to see this differently,” that’s when the miracle occurs.

  • So that’s awesome because I’ve heard you, you know, I attend your lectures and we always

  • talk and I love that idea that a miracle is simply a shift in perspective. I feel like

  • that’s so powerful because it doesn't mean, like, the clouds have to part and someone

  • comes down and then all of a sudden that your life is necessarily different because some

  • outside force came and, you know, changed your home or gave you a new job. But really

  • the power of a shift in perception, I know for me, whenever I do have that shift, my

  • entire life does feel different.

  • Yeah. Well, when you have that energy shift, then you open the floodgates for everything

  • to fall into place. And often what I teach is that there’s really a lot of powerful

  • energy working on our behalf and this is... this is science too. It’s quantum physics.

  • You know?

  • Right.

  • It’s like we are vibrating at a certain frequency, and we talked about this in our

  • last episode.

  • Yeah.

  • If you start to think with higher thoughts and move into a more enlightened way of being,

  • then you literally... it’s almost like you open this massive door for all of the guidance

  • that you need to expand your life. And the books will come in, the teachers will come

  • in, the resources will come in, the support system, the publicity will come in to get

  • the messages out. Whatever it is that you need, you actually say, “I’m ready for

  • this,” and you open the door for it.

  • So, Gab, I know this is airing right now and we just... were right at the beginning

  • of 2013 and so many people have resolutions at this time of year. Theyre pumped up,

  • theyre ready to, like, make all these big changes, and I know that May Cause Miracles

  • can help people actually transform their habits and behavior. Tell me more about that.

  • Well, one of my big intentions for this book was to make it really helpful for folks that

  • are ready to make that resolution stick. Because when we hit January 1st, everyone’s like,

  • Oh, I’m ready to make changes,” and theyre, like, all psyched about it. And

  • so that’s when...

  • That sounded like South Park. That sounded like...

  • Well, did you want me to do Cartman?

  • Can you do...?

  • Hey, Cartman. So we have this experience of wanting to make change.

  • Right.

  • And were ready for that transformational experience. So, for me, it’s like jackpot,

  • let’s got on these folks now. Let’s give them the tools when they're in that place

  • of willingness.

  • Yes.

  • Because that’s what most of the book is about, is really opening up to willingness.

  • But January is a hotspot, it’s like right when were all willing to change.

  • Yes.

  • Were ready to do something different. And so that’s really the first step to having

  • any resolution stick is having the willingness to make it happen.

  • So let’s talk about willingness a little bit more, because I find willingness to be

  • this really kind of magical state, magical kind of tool. Because, for me, if I’m hanging

  • on to my point of view or my perspective, there’s almost like whenever I’ve been

  • really bratty, there’s no willingness inside me to even have it transform, whatever my

  • bratty state is, because I’m so committed to my own point of view. And I think that

  • for many of us, and I’d love to hear your opinion on this, you know, we say we want

  • change but were not really willing to let go of either our behaviors or our way of thinking.

  • And so have you noticed that with your work? Like, the willingness piece is a bit of magic?

  • Yeah, I think that people have to hit a hard enough bottom to really wake up and say, “I’m

  • ready to do this.” You know?

  • Yes.

  • So it’s like, for me, I’ve been on a path of trying to give up coffee for several years.

  • And something just hit me. You know, I was given some guidance from one of my spiritual

  • teachers, it was like, “You need to clean that up if you wanna go big.” You know?

  • And sometimes there’s just those moments when youre like, “That was enough of

  • a bottom.”

  • Yeah.

  • And that was just a moment for me to say, “I don't wanna do that anymore.”

  • Right.

  • And so I think that you can’t deprive someone of their bottom, they have to have that experience

  • naturally, and there will maybe many moments of just, you know, reverting back to old behavior,

  • reverting back to old behavior, until youre really ready to commit.

  • Yeah.

  • But the neat thing about January and New Year’s time is that people are kinda like looking

  • back at last year and theyre like, “Oh, I got shit to do.” You know?

  • Right.

  • So theyre ready to make some change.

  • Yeah.

  • And that’s what this is really, hopefully gonna be a major guide for people to make

  • that change stick. And the main way that the change will stick is because of the repetition.

  • Mm. Tell me about that.

  • So all the yogi’s and the metaphysicians have used these practices, 40 day practices.

  • So when I do a cun delini meditation, I’ll do it for 40 days. And the purpose of the

  • 40 days is, one, from a neuroscientific perspective, it’s literally changing the neural pathways

  • in our brain.

  • Yes.

  • You know, were... were creating new patterns. And then from a spiritual perspective,

  • it’s just the more you call on spirit, the more you call on a higher way of thinking,

  • the more that way of thinking becomes your reality.

  • Yes.

  • And so it’s really just the repetition of a new thought.

  • Love it. Absolutely love it.

  • Yeah.

  • So you know one of the things we love to talk about is the idea of winning in your business,

  • creating a business that you love, creating a life that you love. And whether youre

  • an entrepreneur and you have your own business or youre working in a company or youre

  • a freelancer and you work for many different companies, you know, money is one of those

  • hot topics. And I know that you and I often have fun conversations about this, about the

  • spirituality of money and, you know, can making more money be spiritual and just the idea

  • of abundance. And I know that on page 174 you have this, and I thought this was gorgeous:

  • The ego has a get mentality rather than a give mentality. When were ego minded

  • with money, we believe we need to get more to be happy. Our peace and salvation has a

  • dollar amount. Giving can often become an afterthought when getting is the primary function.

  • And the course teaches to have, give all to all. This concept is confusing to the ego,

  • but throughout your miracle minded practice youll gain real clarity around the true

  • purpose of giving.” Talk to us a little bit about giving, the ego, getting, and how

  • that relates to money.

  • It’s so trippy. You know, the ego, it’s like money and sex are the places where the

  • ego is just like, goes crazy.

  • Right.

  • Right? So it’s like with money in particular, people really get hung up about, like, this

  • sort of hoarding mentality or I need more to get that fulfillment or a way of, you know,

  • feeling like I’m good enough in the world. Often I’ve seen in people, and I’m sure

  • you may see this in your practice because you really help people... you see people start

  • earning more.

  • Yes.

  • But sometimes even when theyre earning more, it’s not... it’s like, “Oh, well

  • then what’s next?”

  • Yes.

  • And it’s like a lot of this sort of like hovering over, “What’s next? I need more.

  • I need more.”

  • Yes.

  • And so we need to really hold that energy of yes we can receive more, yes we can earn

  • more, but we also can give more. And the process of giving, and you know this because youre

  • business is very philanthropic. You know?

  • Yes.

  • But not even just being philanthropic, just being a generous person in general. The experience

  • of saying, you know, “I’m gonna give, I’m gonna write that check, I’m gonna

  • hire that person, I’m gonna employ people.” This kind of energy is not that hoarding mentality.

  • And the ego thinks, “I’ve got to hold it all for myself, I have to hoard it, it’s

  • never enough.” But that give mentality really shifts a lot energetically. It sort of gives

  • you this essence of abundance. And the essence of abundance is really what starts to call

  • more abundance into your life.

  • Yeah.

  • And so we need to start to open up to the practices of being willing to give.

  • I love that. Being generous, for me, I always try and look for the places where I’m not

  • being generous, like, that’s one of my practices. So if I ever catch myself being stingy, you

  • know, and it can show up in all kinds of places for all of us. I know, you know, one of the

  • places where... like, Josh and I will order out and hell be like, “Oh, can I have

  • some of that?” I’m like, “No, it’s mine. Why didn't you order the good thing?”

  • I always have the right thing.

  • I’m the opposite.

  • Are you really?

  • I always order the crappy thing.

  • Yeah so, you know, but I think it’s fun for us to look at the places, you know, for

  • me especially if I feel like, “Oh, you know what? I’m doing good,” in terms of generosity

  • with money. But where am I not being generous with my love? Or where am I not being generous

  • with, you know, other aspects of my life? And it’s kind of, I think, it’s a fun

  • practice.

  • Yeah.

  • You know?

  • And we were also talking about, you know, tithing and sedacca and, you know, the sedacca

  • tradition is give 10% of your earnings monthly.

  • Yes.

  • And that’s trippy for people. That’s, like, super hardcore for folks to wrap their

  • heads around. But, you know, they may wanna consider tithing, the finding that there’s

  • a place where youre spiritually fed. And we were talking and we both get checks, like,

  • random checks or I’ll get a random PayPal statement from somebody and the subject says,

  • Tithe,” and it’s, like, $45. And these are the moments when people are saying, “Oh,

  • you have been feeding me spiritually. I’m going to give.”And I do the same, I mean,

  • I send checks to my Kundalini center, I send checks to my coaches, you know, just thank

  • you.

  • Yeah. No, it is. I remember the first couple of times that that happened, I didn't know

  • what was going on. I was just like...

  • Why are these...?

  • Yeah, I was just like, “Why is this money coming?” But then I saw the little... the

  • little check and it was really, really beautiful. Gabby, I absolutely love this book. Anything

  • else that you want to talk about before we go into our challenge for our readers? Anything

  • else that you really wanna let us know? Because I want everybody to go out and get May Cause

  • Miracles. I mean, books, for me, are such a source of learning and inspiration. I have

  • so many books. Josh is always telling me, like, “Youve gotta get rid of some of

  • them.” I’m like, “No, theyre my friends.” And I just cannot tell you how much I love...

  • I love all of your books, but this one I’m really, really excited about because it’s

  • so practical and it gives us the step by step for true transformation.

  • Yeah, I mean, I guess I can just sort of close with the fact that I’m just so grateful

  • that people will be able to have this book as a resource.

  • Yeah.

  • And so my hope and intention for everyone is to crack people open. And I can only do

  • so much, you know, we can only, you know, say what we can say and we can only make suggestions.

  • But it’s really the reader or the viewer that can say, “I’m gonna go take action.”

  • Yes.

  • And so my hope and my intention is for anyone who watches this episode or anyone who picks

  • up this book really gets the hit that they need to get to work. And that’s when the

  • real cracking open occurs, when we actually start to take those daily practices and commit

  • to the daily practices.

  • I love it.

  • And so I hope everybody gets really cracked open from this book.

  • Yes! So you know what we do here on MarieTV, we always like to challenge you, our viewers,

  • to take action because insight, I believe, without action is absolutely worthless. So,

  • Gabs, I know kind of back in our green room we were talking a little bit about what we

  • could challenge people with today and you had a really good idea. Like, no matter where

  • you are in your life, whether youre looking at improving your finances, you wanna see

  • a miracle around your relationships, maybe it’s around your body or your health, any

  • aspect of your life, Gabby’s gonna tell you right now what we wanna hear from you

  • in the comments.

  • So I really wanna make sure that people can become willing to witness what is not working...

  • Yes.

  • ...and become prepared to shift it.

  • Ok.

  • And so they can share with us what theyre willing to shift.

  • Great.

  • And so looking at your life, taking an inventory, what’s not working? What am I willing to

  • shift? And putting it out there is major.

  • I think so.

  • That’s a massive statement.

  • It’s really courageous and it also allows other people to support you because, as you

  • know, our MarieTV audience, our community, is probably one of the most inspiring, positive,

  • and supportive places on the planet. So you can feel safe that you put the place that

  • you wanna see a shift happen in the comments below. And so are we starting out with kind

  • of the place that were in a little bit of pain or discomfort with?

  • Yeah, I mean, there’s a place where you may feel, “Ok, I’m done with this.”

  • Yes.

  • And when you get to that place, it’s really empowering to say, “Hey world, I’m done!”

  • Good.

  • I’ve been instagramming photos every day of my green juices instead of my coffee and

  • telling people publicly I’m ready to let go of my coffee and I’m choosing this instead.

  • And, I’m telling you, having the audiences and people viewing that shift...

  • Yes.

  • ...is helping me stay comfortable.

  • Awesome. So that’s what we want you to do. In the comments below, let us know, what are

  • you willing to let go of? What are you done with? Make a public declaration and also let

  • us know what youre moving towards and how we can support you. Gabby, it is such a pleasure,

  • always, to have you on MarieTV. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule

  • to be with us here today and to help us kick off the new year right. I love you dearly.

  • Thank you.

  • And for you, as you know, MarieTV rocks and if you like this video, please like it and

  • share it with your friends. And if you want even more great resources to create a business

  • and a life you love plus some personal insights from me that I only talk about in email, get

  • your butt over to MarieForleo.com right now and sign up for email updates. So what I’m

  • gonna leave you with is what I always leave you with. Stay on your game and keep going

  • for your dreams because the world needs that special gift only you have. Thank you so much

  • for tuning in and I’ll catch you next time on MarieTV.

Hey there, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create

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