INTERNATIONAL NEW AGE TRADE SHOW 2009

Shamans and music and candles, oh, my! INATS promised to have the latest and it delivered again this year. It is THE place to be if you make products for the cultural creatives or if you offer these products or services. Source of Enlightenment attends INATS to report to you first-hand what we found. (Note: I spoke to James Endredy, author of Shamanism For Beginners". I will be visiting James in Sedona over Labor Day weekend and will report on a trek that myself and two friends will take with James.)

I attended the INATS Author's Breakfast on Sunday. My Saturday was spent at the Byron Katie workshop. It was a pleasure to see Katie also at the Author's Breakfast. She shared the stage with Cheryl Richardson and Laura Berman Fortgang while the audience munched on fresh fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage and juice. Laura, Cheryl and the other people I met are discussed below. To read about Byron Katie, please click here>>.

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LAURA BERMAN FORTGANG

Laura Berman Fortgang is a "nationally-renowned speaker and life coach, who helps individuals, small businesses, and corporations forge new directions and weather change. Recently ordained as an interfaith minister, she lives in Montclair, New Jersey." That's what it says on her book jacket from The Little Book on Meaning.

Meeting her in person, you find she is so much more. She talked about being lost for three years due to deep depression. She studied the Course of Miracles and made the realization that she had a "disease of perspective". She then studied under Marianne Williamson and became a coach. In the beginning she did not incorporate the spiritual aspect into her coaching practice, as she does now. It wasn't until 2001 that people were ready to speak New Age language. "If you know who you are and where you stand, you know what you want to do." She said that growth is spiritual and when we connect with something, it gives meaning to it. (www.laurabermanfortgang.com) * * * * * * *

CHERYL RICHARDSON According to her book jacket (The Art of Extreme Self-Care - Transform Your Life One Month at a Time), Cheryl is a New York Times best-selling author and leads a large Web community at www.cherylrichardson.com, which is dedicated to helping people around the world improve their quality of life. One very interesting aspect I found about Cheryl is that her background is in accounting. She has even studied the IRS tax code! So the next time someone pooh poohs the New Age movement as being full of "touchy- feeling" type of people, point them in the direction of Cheryl. It will probably change their mind. She talked about how her father (also a numbers cruncher) shared his wisdom with her. He said:

1) Share your wealth with others.
2) Never forget where you came from.
3) Always show people that you care.

She likes working with business owners and from that experience, she said you need to grow your business to grow yourself. You need to invest in your own personal development.

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DONNA MICHAEL

I met this delightful lady in line as she was waiting to speak with Byron Katie. Donna was the musical director for the INATS convention. She is a licensed Religious Science minister, practitioner and Radical Forgiveness coach. She offers many workshops and retreats with titles such as "Divine Designing Your Dream Life" to "Girls Night Out!".

She gave me her "Somewhere in Silence" CD. It is very powerful. I would like to share with you some of the copy of the CD jacket. "On a Saturday afternoon in October, I sat down at a nine-foot concert grand piano in teh shadowed stillness of the studio with ony silence, two candles glowing in thehalf light, and something much, much greater than I. In that absolute quietness, I remembered what it was like - to ask, to listen, and to hear the whisper - somewhere in the silence. (www.DonnaMichael.com)

JUST BE NICE

These two sisters get along better than any sisters I have ever seen. It could be because they have a common goal - to carry on their father's work. George Mason started the "Just Be Nice" campaign and actually had the phrase trademarked. Kat (right) and Findley had a booth at INATS to show off their T-shirts and bumper stickers and tell people about their father and his vision for bringing people together. It hasn't been all fun and games, Kat said. One time when her father was visiting her in Chicago, he did what all good fathers do and took her shopping. He took her to a market and bought her some food. While Kat was otherwise occupied, her father left Just Be Nice cards everywhere in the store and in the surrounding neighborhood. Kat didn't see them until later. She said she was embarrassed at first, but then realized that it meant a lot to her father. (www.justbenice.com)

TERRA ESSENTIAL SCENTS

Carin Constantakis was manning the Terra Essential booth at INATS. I have seen a lot of candles in my time. I even used to make them until I got tired of all my food tasting like wax. But I had never heard of candles like the smudge candles they carry. She said that in all their research, they had never seen anyone making smudge candles. Just imagine - No mess, no smoke. Additionally, each candle is very pleasing to the eye. They are topped with a beechwood cap and imbedded with specific stones to complement and energetically enhance each of their candles. Carin explained that with their soy candles, the soy wax can be used on the skin. She also said that these candles are used by massage therapists and they use the soy wax on their clients because the wax is not as greasy as somem of the massage oils. (www.terraessentialscents.com)

SANDPICTURES

These sandpictures are unique in that they use a mixture of colored sand, soap, water and air bubbles. According to the information, gravity pulls their blend of fine grained sand through the air bubbles to create a unique 3-D landscape each time. You can regulate the amount of air in the Rainbow Vision which will result in the faster or slower flow of sand. You turn the picture upside down or at an angle and every time you will get a different picture. (www.sandpicture.com)

ASHLEY EVANS

As I was hurrying to meet James Endredy, I passed a booth that had some art that caught my eye. I made a mental note to stop back when I had a chance. I am so glad I did! The booth belonged to Ash Evans. Her work reminded me of a favorite artist of mine, Michael Bedard. Ashley also paints whimsical creatures and makes little fairy-land figures. I purchased the unicorn picture because I often use unicorns in my meditation. (www.ashevans.com)