Calling Back Your Power: Your Catalyst for Personal and Spiritual Transformation

By Suzette Faith Foster

Where Healing is Possible

This is a life-changing guide for emotional and physical health by Suzette Faith Foster. She rebounded from a deadly injury, paralysis and other life challenges using these mind, body, spirit approaches. Experience a new perspective that aligns you with the power of your thoughts, intentions, and the divine perfection that is at your core. Discover your innate power and how you can heal using mind, body, spirit awareness. Read real-life stories about astonishing healings from these integrative techniques. Learn how to calm your monkey mind, rid negative thoughts and receive inner peace.

Suzette Faith Fosters healing experience leads us to ask, What are the limits of healing, and are there any limits at all? Healingrelated to holy and wholenessis is our birthright, and Suzette explores how it can manifest in anyones life. ~ Larry Dossey, MD Author: One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters

"Calling Back Your Power has the momentum to move you beyond the challenges at hand to your best life. ~Jack Canfield, Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul and The Success Principles.

Suzette Faith Fosters remarkable life story provides factual evidence that it is possible for us all to awaken the perfect healer residing right at the center of our own being. ~Michael Bernard Beckwith author of Life Visioning

Suzettes doctor: When it is a severe spinal cord injury that high in the spine, it is often very, very significant. Historically it would be devastatingone you would not survive. Im presented with a woman who got a lot better, a lot quicker than would have been comprehended, so I am trying to make sense of it in my mind. ~ Dr. Robert Isaacs. Director of Spine Surgery, Duke Medical Hospital

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Nov 5, 2015
• ISBN: 9781504342094

Suzette Faith Foster

The Universe is so cool! Suzette was born with the name Suzette Faith Foster, and now, she fosters peoples faith. She feels blessed that her passion is her lifes callingto inspire people not to settle on health or life challenges and to remember who they really are: pure energy, pure Spirit, pure potential. Besides through this book, CDs, and mp3s, she shares her wisdom and transformational energy through life coaching, speaking, tele-classes, and by facilitating energy healings. Suzette is a certified Reiki master, wellness consultant, and ordained minister. She has studied with renowned sound healers Tom Kenyon and Jonathan Goldman. Suzettes great appreciation for Mother Earth and the environment has led her to work with the Humpback Whales and Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins. In 2014, Suzette married her life and laughing partner Bill Mosher and is a mother of two adult daughters. She also enjoys yoga, biking, hiking, and dancing.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 Suzette Faith Foster.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Printed by BMI, Ashland Ohio.

ISBN: 978-1-5043-4208-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-4210-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5043-4209-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015916510

Balboa Press rev. date: 10/23/2015

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 Choosing to Dance

Chapter 2 Living Heaven on Earth

Chapter 3 Your Energetic World

Chapter 4 Freedom from Pain

Chapter 5 The Power to Choose

Chapter 6 Living the Law of Attraction

Chapter 7 Tapping into Spiritual Guidance

Chapter 8 Divine Synchronicities

Chapter 9 The Creative Genius of Spirit

Chapter 10 How Spirit Comforts and Guides You

Chapter 11 Growing Through Relationships

Chapter 12 Good, Good Vibrations

Chapter 13 LAFTER as Medicine

Chapter 14 Diamonds in the Rough

Chapter 15 It’s All Good

Chapter 16 Creating Your Financial Comeback

Chapter 17 A Wealth of Health Naturally

Chapter 18 Body Fuel for Beautiful

Chapter 19 Heal Cancer Holistically

Chapter 20 Inspirational Stories of Healing

Chapter 21 A New Beginning

About the Author

Author’s note

I am sharing information that I have learned and/or experienced personally or with clients to help you make informed decisions. I am offering safe, non-invasive options to help you achieve optimal health.

I am not a doctor and I am not practicing medicine. I am a holistic wellness practitioner who understands how the body works energetically and offers energetic rebalancing.

My work is not intended to be a substitute for the diagnosis or advice from your doctor or other qualified licensed professionals. A conscious effort has been made to present information that is both accurate and truthful. Yet, you alone are responsible for if-and-how you use the information in this book. The author and the publisher assume no responsibility for any actions you may take.

Endorsements

Suzette Faith Foster’s healing experience leads us to ask, What are the limits of healing, and are there any limits at all? Healing—related to ‘holy’ and ‘wholeness’—is our birthright, and Suzette explores how it can manifest in anyone’s life.

Larry Dossey, MD Author: One Mind:

How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters

Calling Back Your Power has the momentum to move you beyond the challenges at hand to your best life.

Jack Canfield, Co-author of Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul® and The Success Principles.

Suzette Faith Foster’s remarkable life story provides factual evidence that it is possible for us all to awaken the perfect healer residing right at the center of our own being.

Michael Bernard Beckwith author of Life Visioning

I knew Suzette before her spinal cord injury and saw her MRI scan afterward. Her deep faith in the healing potential of mind, body and Spirit, against Western medical expectation, transformed her and transforms her clients. Reading about their stories and embracing these teachings can dramatically improve your life too.

Larry Burk, MD, CEHP, author of Let Magic Happen: Adventures in Healing with a Holistic Radiologist

To you, dear reader and to the three most important women in my life: my mother Marie, thanks for your unwavering love and to my daughters, Brianna and Brittany, thanks for adding such richness and depth to the fabric of my life.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I am grateful for the oneness I AM with the infinite, intelligent field of consciousness that I call God, Spirit; thanks for orchestrating the quality of support I have received in getting this book to print.

I extend my deep appreciation and gratitude to the following folks. My editor, Cassandra Khan, has heard me say Thanks so much! so many times and, yet, it is still not enough. I am grateful to all that she has brought to me and this book. Her knowledge of writing and love for these teachings has made the editing process a joy. Thanks to Amy Simpson for her Light in editing several chapters.

Sharon Wood, an exceptional writing teacher, fanned the flames of my desire to take my writing to the next level in my first edition. And, in my second edition, I continued to learn under her tutelage as she went chapter-by-chapter improving the writing for the highest good of all.

To Lee Aldridge, photographer extraordinaire, for her photography and original cover design. To Katie Baker, of Baker Ad Design, whose creativity always delivers—giving the cover more graphic elements. To Callee Maher whose breadth of numerology expertise helped me choose the book and chapter titles. I so appreciate each of you!

Friends contributed valuable time and feedback. Thanks to Robin Joy Bickford, Lu Hillman, Joseph Asterita, Worth Durgin and Michael Bannan. And to Sandi Baron who gave me invaluable guidance on raising the quality of my writing. She also encouraged me to attend the Mid West Writer’s Workshop in Indiana. What a high-quality, passion-driven conference.

Thanks to my virtual assistant, Andrea Armstrong, for her caring support and continual technological expertise.

Kudos to Christine Kloser’s Transformational Authors Program for easing the writing and publishing process and enlightening transformational authors.

Much love and gratitude to my daughter Brittany who allowed me to share our challenges with the hope others could learn from our experiences. And thank you to my clients who allowed me to enlighten others with their stories. A delicious thank you to Kelly Marra, my raw food chef. She maximized my time at the keyboard and prepared me with a variety of tasty and nutritious food. Big thanks to Unity Church of Raleigh and my Grace Circle of friends for keeping me in their prayers and providing me with such loving support.

Again, thanks to those mentioned above and those not mentioned who, in some way, encouraged me in the writing of this book. I am blessed to be touched by your Light.

Special Bonus Gift from Suzette Faith Foster

Now that you’ve got your copy of Calling Back Your Power, you are on your way to creating an easier, happier and healthier life! Plus you’ll read many stories that will inspire you to transform the setbacks, suffering and limitations.

You’ll also receive my special bonus gift to add to your toolkit. This one-hour class includes an empowering message to help you live from the mind, body and spiritual perspective. In addition to the message I provide three blessings—laser-like beams of divine Love—to help energetically dissolve fears, old programming and limited thinking.

Most of us were not taught that as you change your perspective and beliefs and improve your thoughts, you become a stronger magnet for blessings, solutions and your heart’s desires. When you finish this book, you’ll be equipped with what you need to know to feel better and live life on your terms.

To keep the momentum going, it is my pleasure to give you a gift, offered only here as a special bonus. You can claim this free mp3 at www.Choose2Thrive.com/BonusGift.

The sooner you reprogram what you learned, which was to look outside yourself for answers or to feel stuck in old programming and limitations, the better your chances for dissolving resistance to your joy, peace, health, and success.

I’m in your corner.

Here’s to living that easier, happier and healthier life!

Best,

Suzette Faith Foster

Introduction

Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance…I hope you dance.

Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers

In November of 2005, while I was healing from the injury that inspired this book, my friend Andrea gave me a copy of the Mark Sanders and Tia Sillers book, I Hope You Dance. Sanders and Sillers are the authors of the song by the same name, the one made famous by Lee Ann Womack that has been so meaningful to so many people. On the first page Andrea wrote: To celebrate the day you dance again. I hope you heal quickly.

I have always loved to dance.

Dance is a form of celebration, and I love to glide and turn, expressing my joy in each movement. My friends are used to me swaying with the beat even when there is no official dance floor. I let the rhythm flow through me—all I need is space and music. I love the freedom of dancing at home where a room can become an impromptu dance hall as I enter into the bliss of the moment, oblivious to style or grace. Other times, like this morning at the Farmer’s Market where my neighbors Karl and Matt had a gig playing their guitars and singing; every fiber of my being just has to move.

Dance is also the balm that soothes the pain of challenging life experiences. It helped me face the heartache and feelings of failure while my marriage was dissolving and lessened my anguish when my daughter grappled with depression, drugs, and suicide attempts. It lifts me and shifts my mood.

Our Innate Power

Since that fateful day in November, I appreciate dancing even more. That afternoon, I took a fall while mountain biking and became instantly paralyzed. Moments later, I stopped breathing. It seems I made a crucial choice: sit it out or dance.

My injuries were almost identical to the ones suffered by Christopher Reeve, including the loss of my ability to breathe. My doctor, Robert E. Isaacs, director of spine surgery at Duke University Medical Center, said that my presentation was pretty graphic—historically, it is one people do not survive. With the severity of my spinal cord trauma, my prognosis for mobility was terrible. After surgery, Dr. Isaac’s expected me to remain a quadriplegic.

I gave faith a fighting chance. I chose to dance. I created a very different outcome.

I embraced the full capacity of who we are—limitless spiritual and energetic beings. My results surpassed my doctors’ wildest expectations: I regained my breath at the scene without EMS and, within months, became fully functioning. My life is evidence of the truth that we are far more than most of us have been taught or imagined. When we open ourselves to a new perspective, we have the opportunity to experience how powerful we really are.

Five years before I broke my neck, I started embracing my passion and path of service as a holistic wellness facilitator, teacher, and speaker. I give credit for my phenomenal recovery to my belief and practice in the teachings and to the processes that I share in this book. At that critical juncture between life and death, I stayed in the moment, accepted my infinite, ever-present inner wisdom and Higher Power, and held tight to my trust that everything is in divine order.

These teachings—the dance steps of the divine—helped me to choose calm over chaos and turn my life around. I’ll show you how I released limitations and refused to accept the status quo. And, how my assurance that we are all here on a spiritual journey to attain our highest potential has guided me towards healing and inner peace. And, how you too, can move through life’s challenges into health, abundance and joy.

I have watched my clients dramatically improve their life situations as they learn to apply a spiritual and energetic perspective to life’s problems. This perspective helps them view their bodies, thoughts, events, and even the universe itself, as fields of energy moldable by their minds, intentions, and feelings. In our sessions together, we balance these fields, transmuting the physical symptoms created by present and past emotional pain so that the flow of healthy energy and, the resulting, improved health and life situations can return. I will explain the principles behind this.

In my practice of life coaching and energy healing, I have seen clients get well enough to cancel scheduled surgeries and avoid exhaustive, invasive and expensive medical treatment. Others get off prescription medicine, release pain, depression, and addiction, and feel more peace and joy in their daily lives. One client’s cancer cells were no longer evident after five sessions. I attribute their recovery, and my own, to our work in balancing our energy fields, our readiness to use new tools to create our goals and our willingness to see life from an energetic and spiritual perspective. If you have health, relationship, career or financial concerns, I will share stories to give you insight into the power of the mind, body and Spirit perspective—practices that could work for you.

Honoring the Journey

If you are ready to align with the mind, body, and spirit awareness, then Calling Back Your Power offers you an opportunity to move into a deeper knowing and owning of these teachings.

If you find what you read surprising, then I suggest that you consider that, we have been taught to look outside ourselves for answers throughout our lives. This book offers a way for you to use your inner power to heal your health and life circumstances.

If you look at the world in a purely scientific way, I invite you to research the teachings of quantum physics that I mention in the third chapter, Your Energetic World. You will find information about research by world-renowned scientists from top universities who have uncovered evidence supporting the spiritual and energetic truths that have been in practice for millennia. You will see that, where Western medicine is perplexed at my results, ancient spiritual teachings and the emerging science of quantum physics make them more understandable.

If you come from a biblically-based background, I hope you will recognize the parallels with much of what you read here. Consider, Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think, Romans 12:2. And, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive," Matthew 21:22. The teachings I discuss in this book share these same truths.

If you believe God has failed you and you question the existence of any Higher Power, I invite you to read this book with an open mind. Also, affirm that you will feel and know the Truth of your Being.

There are many paths that lead to spiritual awakening. As you read this book, I invite you to open yourself to the thoughts that serve you most naturally, and that feel right for you. Along this journey, you will deepen your faith in our energetic and spiritual universe and your innate power. Relax and let the Divine work through you, for you.

Spiritual evolution is at the heart of our lives. Though not always an easy task, we can limit the amount of pain, disease, and difficulty we experience. This book gives you ways to dissolve the power we give situations that make life hard. I hope my stories, teachings, and truths will help you find the options and answers—the freedom— that is divinely yours.

I had dedicated myself to this journey long before I needed these principles for my ultimate ordeal—my biking incident. Was I perfect in remembering these principles? No. I had, and still have, plenty of life trials with which to practice these principles. But, these teachings resonate with me and I am consistent in my efforts. I learned the value of being present in the moment and of acting from empowerment, not fear. From the moment I stopped breathing, my preparation gave me the awareness and spiritual strength I needed all the way through my recovery. These are the teachings that I share with you.

Shall We Dance

I invite you to take the incremental or, perhaps, giant steps that create your personal dance as you journey through life. Hear the songs that are calling you to move at your right and perfect tempo. Let no one step on your toes! Let life’s struggles help you deepen your beliefs and grow in confidence while you practice your dance steps over and over. Expect your positive results to multiply and watch your life transform right before your eyes.

I’m writing this book from my heart, sharing my life, hoping it helps you find the truth of who you are—a way to remember more fully the nature of your essence. Follow the teachings, and you will also experience a shift in consciousness—an understanding of how to release old hurts and pain and attract better life experiences, to move forward with prosperity, health, and joy.

Beginnings

I often am asked how I started down this path. The short answer is that we are always being guided to our destiny path’s highest good. The longer answer follows.

In the mid-1990s, my former husband’s job transfer moved our family from Maine to North Carolina. I brought with me the book Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom by Christiane Northrup, MD, a practitioner, author and speaker recognized and respected for her holistic medical knowledge. The book opened a new way of thinking for me though not all at once.

People align with different books and teachings as they move through life; and, at that point in my life, I aligned with many of Dr. Northrup’s teachings. Ironically, I skipped over the chapter on the chakras. Chakras are energy centers within our bodies that receive, assimilate and express life-force energy. This concept seemed too out there for me at the time.

My reaction to the concept of chakras seems rather comical to me now, considering that a mere five years later I followed a path to Reiki, an ancient Japanese healing modality that balances the chakras. Over the years my appreciation for Dr. Northrup’s pioneering and visionary spirit has deepened—she has persevered with integrity in leading women to a deeper understanding of holistic medicine and our innate wisdom.

My introduction to Reiki in the winter of 1998 was my first exposure to metaphysics. I was nearly forty years old and my marriage of eighteen years— a twenty-six-year relationship with my high school sweetheart—was dissolving. Reiki helped me awaken to my untapped inner strength.

I remember the day I was invited to attend a Reiki healing group. Bill Alford, a retired neighbor with whom I often road biked, asked me to join him. I knew nothing about Reiki, but I did know Bill. I wondered if this was another of his crazy ideas. Bill is young at heart and physically fit for his age. He sports a gray ponytail and is very liberal in his thinking. I lovingly refer to him as my retired hippie friend. Luckily, we were on our bikes when he invited me to the Reiki class, so he didn’t see me roll my eyes.

Something drew me there, though, and I was intrigued. Instead of eating my words, I had to refocus my gaze. I had grown up Catholic but could never wrap my mind around God being a man in the sky. Now, my greater spiritual awareness beckoned.

My experience of Reiki, spiritual books, workshops, and meditation has led me to an ever-deepening awareness of the Divine. I resonate with the truth that I am one with a Higher Power, not separate from it. I believe in the wonderful connection between the mind, body, and spirit. And, I continually deepen my knowing of the fullness of who I Am while being steered along my destiny path.

You, too, are being steered along your destiny path. I am honored to be a part of your journey.

As you read my book, you may resonate with some thoughts and not others. My words may clarify feelings and ideas that you have, or you may feel resistance to them. Please set aside the ideas that bring up resistance and focus on what feels right for you. We align more with our spiritual essence by not seeing ideas as right or wrong but rather as what is or is not for us at a particular time.

Chapter 1

Choosing to Dance

You must meet the outer world with the inner world or existence will crush you.

-Mark Nepo

I met up with my friends, Charlie and Andy, for our weekly bike ride at Lake Crabtree, a county park bordering Raleigh, North Carolina. Our single-track mountain biking excursions involved leaning into curves, riding over roots and obstacles, and jumping piles of logs.

We approached a trail, one with an expansive view of Lake Crabtree surrounded by her forested shoreline. Tall office buildings poked above the treetops. We breathed in the beauty of the mild autumn day; a palette of shades of green sprinkled with maple tree leaves bursting into their seasonal glory of orange and red. Sunlight shimmered on the water and reflected a scattering of billowy clouds against a Carolina blue sky. Nature drew us into the woods—the fresh fragrance of the pines, the sunlight dappling the trees and the dead leaves crackling like fire beneath our tires. The forest came alive.

The bike trails spanned miles of roughly cleared paths worn smooth by riders over the years. At odd intervals, bulging roots had pushed through the earth and forced us to focus. We rode into and out of gullies, up and over piles of logs, and across a twenty-foot-long narrow wooden plank system. These planks stood about twelve inches off the ground and were no wider than a cereal box. The challenge was to stay steady the entire length of the planks. When we lost our balance, we would drop to the ground; after that we could continue to ride the path or go back and try again.

We reached a familiar teeter-totter, one we had mastered many times, riding up one side and down the other. We stopped and contemplated a much bigger and heavier teeter-totter that was new to the trail. I wanted to try it. The challenge excited me. Charlie and Andy stopped to watch me.

In mountain biking, speed is your friend. I pressed forward.

My front tire made contact with the teeter-totter and climbed to the top. But, my bike never came down the other side. It stood upright at the top of the teeter totter for a few seconds, without me; I had gone flying over my handle bars. Then the bike fell to the ground. I remember sailing through the air. A flood of thoughts flew through me. I was barreling toward the earth; I hit head-first.

I tried to move my arms, my legs, my body—nothing moved. I waited for the pain—there was no pain. I was just lying there. Charlie had come to my side; his eyes opened wide in shock. I wanted to talk—I really did, but no sound would come out. I mouthed 911 three times.

Then… I stopped breathing—the imminent death sentence.

I had no movement, no voice, and no breath.

I had taken a fall. Taking falls are part of mountain biking but before I always got back up, bruised, cut, a little bloody, but never seriously injured. This time, this day, November 3, 2005, I had no breath and was paralyzed from head to toe.

I hung between life and death; my instincts propelled me to my inner power. I had been practicing spiritual and holistic healing principles for over six years. I tapped into the healing and manifesting potential of my true Being. I could not talk. I could not move. I could not breathe. Yet, I had everything I needed. I had my faith and Oneness with the creative force of the universe—God, and I still had access to my mind, my thoughts.

Instinctively, the mantra I daily recited when I needed to call back my power rushed forth. Still on the ground, motionless, breathless, I willed my body, emphatically. "I refuse to accept this limitation; God is my Source!"

Boom! What felt like a huge lightning bolt coursed through me. My beliefs—my thoughts—continued to spill from my mind to every cell in my body.

I refuse to accept this limitation; God is my Source!

Another bolt followed instantly. My left arm flopped at my side.

Moments later I regained my breath! My lifeless form had accepted the dance of my mind, body, and spirit.

The ambulance arrived in seventeen minutes from getting the call and took me to Duke University Medical Center. I was in a large examination room, more like a private room than a curtained area. There was a flurry of activity, much of which I do not remember. An ER doctor told me that my full paralysis was the result of my C1 and C2 neck vertebrae fractures and a profound spinal cord injury. I found out my C2 vertebra broke into two separate pieces.

The emergency room filled with friends and family. I said, This is temporary. See me dancing.

My doctor, Robert E. Isaacs, director of spine surgery at Duke Medical Center, told me that most people with the severe spinal cord injury I had don’t even make it to the emergency room. They die at the scene because they stop breathing. He said the surviving few who don’t stop breathing were left quadriplegic. People like you don’t exist, he said.

However, I do exist.

He may have had more questions than answers to why I had lived. And, though he didn’t seem to resonate with my mind power and faith, he did respect my beliefs.

My first and only surgery took place late that night. Dr. Isaacs told me right before the surgery, Reconnecting your C2 is my responsibility, using your mind to your full advantage is yours.

Because my C2 broke in half my head was not connected to my body by bone. In surgery, Dr. Isaacs entered through the front of my neck and reconnected my vertebra to the spinal column with a two-inch plus screw. He verified the position of the screw every quarter turn with x-rays. The surgery was a success. However, I was still left a quadriplegic, a condition that I, in stark contrast to Western medical thinking, vehemently considered temporary.

I continued to use the teachings and Truths I had learned along my spiritual journey and shared as a holistic life coach and healing facilitator to influence my outcome. Our bodies do not know the difference between what is and what we affirm and expect. The nervous system creates a pathway with each thought—whether the thought is real, remembered or made up. That is why I ignored what was so obvious and gave little attention to my paralyzed body. I refused to spend energy asking why me or rehashing what ifs when instead I could picture myself dancing again.

I directed my mind, time, and energy into my healing. I more than desired—I expected—to ride a bike and dance again. In my mind, I felt the excitement of high-energy music and saw myself dancing with my friends on a crowded floor. I visualized riding my bike and saw in detail the greenway trails, the woods and a pond with a water fountain in the middle. My visualizations created in me a sense of gratitude and joyous expectation—energetically imprinting into my body that I fully healed.

Only eighteen hours after surgery, and against earlier medical expectations, I had the opportunity to combine my positive expectations, visualizations and faith. I got a chance to walk. I trusted my body to respond and prepared my mind for taking my first step. I visualized myself walking the full length of the long corridor, much further than what the therapist asked me to do. And, I did walk, ever so slowly with legs that felt like cement, the length of