Dr. Ferguson is author of two books “The Path for Greatness – Work as Spiritual Service” and “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand- Awakening Soul Consciousness for the New Millennium“. Readers find the exercises at the end of every chapter valuable and practical. They can apply the ideas immediately in their life and see results. Linda has conducted three national book tours, presented at national conferences, and conducted worship services to inspired and appreciative audiences. Linda also leads Shamanic Journeys, spiritual study groups, and retreats for people who want to dive deeper into the insights and ideas offered in her books on spiritual growth and transformation.
Linda has developed a seven step process of Transformational EmpowermentTM, for personal mastery. She developed this powerful process of manifesting and creating positive life changes from her own life experiences, her work with her coaching clients, and her study of mysticism.
She uses the spiritual principles found in her Transformational EmpowermentTM process in her coaching practice so that her clients more effectively move through their important life changes. Her coaching provides a structured and consistent venue so that people can make positive changes in their life easefully and confidently.
Linda has been on radio interviews and has featured articles in Interbeing, a journal of personal and professional mastery. She also writes a weekly blog to support people’s desire to integrate their spiritual life with their professional life- www.managementhelp.org/blogs/spirituality/
Dr. Ferguson earned her Ph.D. from Indiana University (I.U.-Bloomington) in Organizational Behavior with a Masters also from I.U. studying Social Psychology. She has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in psychology and management. Linda did her coach training in 2004 from Coach Training Alliance, completed her certification in Team Coaching, and has CCE credits from International Coach Federation (ICF).
In 1994 she traveled abroad for six months to Asia, Australia, Israel, and Europe before moving to Virginia where she currently lives. Her personal spiritual practice includes daily prayer and meditation, Sufi Dances of Universal Peace, Integral Yoga, Native American Sweat Lodges and other Earth-based ceremonies.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I lived in Australia as a little girl and moved to IL when I was 3 ½ . Both of my parents were born abroad, so I grew up with a pretty international outlook. I’ve traveled abroad in high school, college, and grad school. Around age 30, I took 6 months off from work to go back to Australia and then on to Hong Kong, Thailand, China, India, Nepal, Israel, and much of Europe.
I’ve also been to Malta and Israel to attend an international summer school for psychologists that my mother runs. Every year it’s in a different country and people from all over the world attend it. It’s a fabulous experience to get to know people in a deeper way.
As a result of these trips and my upbringing, I appreciate diverse cultures and religions. My step dad is a philosophy professor (retired) so we get into wonderful conversations of religion, particularly Buddhism, and Native American spiritual ceremonies. He wrote several articles on Black Elk, the Sioux/Lakota medicine man.
My training is in psychology (I have a BS and MA in psychology) with an interest in group dynamics. I later earned a PhD in management studying corporate whistle blowing.
I’ve always been interested in people and cultures, how people interact with others in groups and at work. I first started being interested in spirituality in grad school. Since then it’s been a 20+ year journey studying and practicing from different traditions – Kabbalah, Sufism, Christian Mysticsm, Buddhism, Yoga, Native American and Earth-based spiritual ceremonies.
I used to live on 19 acres of woods near the Blue Ridge Parkway and hosted a sweat lodge ceremony there with a man who was trained in the traditional Lakota way. I’ve also studied with a Christian mystic, a Medium, and a Cherokee shaman. Through these various paths, I’ve learned more ways to access the Divine as spirit guides, totem animals, Inner Wisdom, God Source Energy.
I now do a combination of yoga, Native American Medicine Wheel prayers, and meditation as my daily spiritual practice.
When did you begin writing?
Of course I wrote a lot during graduate school. I started writing on spirituality and work after working for a few years. Writing came easily for me as I had a good training in clear, structured writing.
What is this book about?
Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand is an insightful spiritual guidebook that provides memorable stories and practical spiritual ideas for moving through life challenges to experience greater joy. Each chapter has valuable exercises, meditations, and affirmations. Readers learn the potent seven step process of Transformational EmpowermentTM that I developed working with my coaching clients and workshop participants.
This book is written for those who are:
● ready to fulfill their soul contracts,
● desire to be a Conscious Co-creator for personal transformation,
● want to raise their energy for greater abundance, joy and healing,
● ready to awaken spiritually, and
● wish to deepen their spiritual practice
What inspired you to write it?
I wrote this book a couple years after Sept. 11th, 2001- When our country was in turmoil, we were just entering the war in Iraq, people had a lot of healing and anger to work through. I could see fear taking hold in people’s life.
Also during this time, I was going through a divorce and dealing with deep emotional scars I didn’t even know were there. I also lost my job during the early years of writing the book, so had that to contend with too. Needless to say, I was feeling the shifting ground personally and socially.
I had finished 3 national book tours for my first book and felt this nudge to start to address spirituality for everyday living to help people move through their fears, their stresses, and their life challenges. As I stepped through my own challenges and fears, I learned new ways of approaching life from a spiritual perspective.
Every time I had some big lesson to work through or shifted into greater spiritual awakening, I knew I needed to write something related to it in this new book to support others in their life transitions. So everything I’ve written, I’ve lived and seen demonstrated in my life (and in the life of so many others over the past 8 years).
I offer meditations and activities at the end of each chapter so that readers can practice a new way of being. It’s been fabulous to get reader responses that my book is right on target for where they are in their life, or that they used my ideas and it made a big difference in their life. There’s no greater satisfaction for an author than getting that reader feedback.
Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?
My website is www.lindajferguson.com There are links there to my two books, which are available from the publishers – Balboa Press and Infinity Press. The books are also available on Amazon, and as ebooks on Nook and iStore.
Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?
I post weekly blog features on my website for ways to live a life in balance, find greater inner peace, and renew your spirit in the busy-ness of your life. Check out these blog posts along with videos and audio recordings on my website of my presentations and teleseminars.
Do you have a video trailer to promote your book? If yes, where can readers find it?
This isn’t really a video trailer but it is a video I made for a competition two summers ago for the Next Top Spiritual Author. It gives an overview of my book – Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand.
What is up next for you?
I am giving workshops and sermons at Unity and related churches, as well as hold seminars in the Metro DC area. I’m developing study guides for both of my books so people can explore the ideas in more depth and with a group.
I also hold teleseminars with guest speakers where we talk about topics related to my two books. They can get notices of these teleseminars when they sign-up on my website. They’ll also receive information on my Transformational Empowerment process that they can use right away in their life.
Later this year I’m going to develop 4-5 webinar/ecourses for people to do a deep dive into the ideas in these books. Each ecourse will offer practical activities, meditations, and short videos where I share more about the ideas.
These will be available on my website so stay tuned.
Is there anything you would like to add?
One main message I share is to ‘walk the path of Love not fear’
That’s my mantra now with this second book - not only for Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand as a way to deal with life challenges and stresses, but to show up and step up to the abundance, beauty, joy and gifts we can experience every day. In this way we can truly experience the magnificence of Who We Are.
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