One of the seeds for the book was planted in the summer of 2020 at a Mayan Wisdom Keepers’ gathering.
In the middle of the English countryside surrounded by large trees, Claudia Roth listened attentively to a woman dressed in white and with long grey hair. Mayan elder and spiritual teacher, Yoti (Jeneane Prevatt, PhD) was talking to a small group of people. The wind was howling and the canvas of a large tipi tent flapping, but Claudia understood that Yoti was not talking to her, as such, but to an older and wiser part of herself, to her Higher Self. Yoti’s message also reached the woman inside Claudia; the wisdom, love, and compassion she longed to share.
It was Claudia’s need for compassionate conversation that made her bring together a group of women, all with stories to share. As a result, other seeds were planted in the fertile soil of 14 other women.
During the global pandemic all the seeds were watered by meaningful Coffee Morning Soul Conversations and started to sprout.
As the world, as they knew it, retreated from view, these women slipped their moorings and headed out into uncharted waters. Fear dominated the major news channels and the world came to a halt. But in contrast to the darkness and uncertainty brought about by the pandemic, nature thrived in her majesty and beauty. With planes grounded, birds reclaimed the skies. And women gathered to share, as if in anticipation of a new dawn.
They shared stories from their lives. About releasing fears and reaching goals. Stories that have the power to inspire hope and resilience.
There are teachers and spiritual mentors, and there are women simply sharing deeply transformative, precious, loving, and empowering moments of their lives. All are equally important.
The Coffee Mornings helped a group of women scattered across the globe and gathered online feel connected and anchored. The weekly meetings offered time for reflection and helped them to recharge and face whatever lay ahead. A safe harbour, the flowing transformational conversations and meditations to these women felt like home, like soul family found. Experiences and life stories shared gave perspective in midst of a shifting world.
The pandemic helped shine a light onto the enduring human desire for connection and positivity. The many uninterrupted still moments aided contemplations on life. What really matters? How invaluable are love, connection and human touch? Can we use the challenges we experience in life as stepping stones to growth?
One of many outcomes was this book, I AM EVERY WOMAN. The tangible result of many cathartic moments, this collection of stories is a precious gift from 15 women to you.
Whether just starting to break free, longing to find inner peace, or trying to accept the circle of life – birth, death and rebirth – reading this book will support you. It can help hold space for you and look at your own harvest, however difficult, knowing that you are never alone.
All of the co-authors, all women, have taken off from or been torn off their familiar path, by crisis or hardship. They have had their resilience tested and their bravery called forth.
“My turning point was a night when my dad picked me up from a party, and he started to shout at me in the car. I shouted back and he tried to hit me, so I jumped out of the moving car and rolled into a ditch. He stopped the car and hauled me out of the ditch and into the car. I sobbed all the way home. However, I woke up the next day, and decided that I wouldn’t accept this anymore.”
~ Amanda Winwood
“I grew up in a “black and white” family speaking English and Amharic at home. My dad was the Ambassador for Ethiopia and hence we moved around a lot. My mother told me that when she used to sit next to my dad in their car in Nairobi, the police would stop them and tell my mother that she was not allowed to sit next to her driver – it was her husband. When my brother was born in 1957, my father needed special permission to enter the ‘white’ hospital to see his wife and his newborn son. What a change from Germany it must have been for my mother.”
~ Anja Loetscher
“I cried when I tried to cook our first meal in our new home. Everything was new and different. I had nothing: no cooking utensils, no spices, none of the things one accumulates over a lifetime and that one takes for granted. I gave myself a stern talking-to and reminded myself that millions of people live with less, that we were fortunate.”
~ Louisa Pantameli
“I became conscious that life is too short to spend much time on worrying about my future. Instead, I stepped into my mother’s wise words, to live today, not worrying about tomorrow because there might not be a tomorrow.”
~ Astrid Salas
“If I look back now on who I was before and who I am now, the two women are miles apart. I have changed from the inside out. I found freedom inside myself, a space I have come to love and treasure. And so, the journey continues.”
~ Claudia Roth
“My unknown, unexpected, inherited heart condition diagnosis came from out of the blue. Previously, I thought a hamstring injury was a big deal! I could have fallen into a deep space of depression and self-pity. Instead my positivity and light have helped me through; a light I wasn’t aware I had until my heart condition was diagnosed.”
~ Christine Hale
I AM EVERY WOMAN is set to support you if you are contemplating making bold changes in your life, or if you have ever longed to live your life more fully.
Writing your own life journey may be one of the most important and powerful steps you take toward self-discovery. It can open a path towards discovering who you truly are and what the meaning of your life is. There is more to this book than the sharing by 15 women. There is a sincere hope it may inspire you to write your own story, and so it contains guidance to help you to do so. Self-love, healing and mastery are not empty words to the women who wrote these stories and they all invite you to write yours too!
There is also an online community – may the sharing continue!
Join us for our global book launch (via Zoom) on Thursday, 13th May 2021 at 5pm BST.
