Loss can be a powerful catalyst for spiritual transformation. In this episode we speak with Barron Steffen, author of “The Final Gift of the Beloved,“ an account of the 13 days after the death of his beloved wife Seana. We loved talking to Barron, who’s sincere, deep and insightful.

Excerpt from the book: “During the 13 day journey, Barron draws on nearly forty years of study and training with gurus and mediation teacher to discover ecstatic love, save fractured relationships, and glimpse a greater arc and purpose for being alive. A love story disguised as a tragedy, Barron weaves extraordinarily poignant and powerful experiences with honesty and revelations that will change lives. Along with intense pain and emotion, there is also great beauty and transcendent insight, for nothing is as it appears.”

Highlights from this episode:

How writing and sharing his story helped Barron realize that even a devastating tragedy could help him understand himself and his purpose for being alive and to benefit humanity.

The difficult but powerful lesson of letting go.

The “astonishing, almost repelling” idea that Seana’s disappearance could be the greatest gift she had to give him.

Barron’s experience of Shaktipat initiation from Baba Muktananda at age 20.

What’s the unaskable question?

What’s the first book Barron would recommend to people who just experienced a loss of a loved one?

The Yoga of Mindset - replacing the old tapes in our heads with new ones.

“Whatever thought we’re thinking in each moment determines our experience in that moment.”

How can we become the gardeners of our own mind?

Barron’s experience of communicating with Seana from the other side.

Barron Steffen is a longtime student on the spiritual path of Siddha Yoga, a big band crooner, and a widower. He has been a big wave surfer, a 1980s Italian pop singer, and an award-winning elementary school teacher. Barron has now fully transitioned from the elementary school classroom to his company, The Yoga of Mindset, where he teaches children and adults how to use their thoughts so they’re not used by them. For more on The Yoga of Mindset and “The Final Gift of the Beloved: Her Disappearance - 13 Days”, visit BarronSteffen.com.

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