From Math Teacher to Mystic: Extraordinary Experiences on a Spiritual Awakening Journey

By Kelley Baeza

This mesmerizing and inspiring memoir describes many profound and unbelievable experiences of the author, Kelley Baeza, as well as her struggle as a high school mathematics teacher, to understand and to integrate the extraordinary phenomena.
Months after abandoning a PhD dissertation and beginning an Ashtanga yoga practice in 2007, mystical and psychic phenomena began. With no religious or spiritual background to view the extraordinary experiences, Kelley was continuously wondering if she was making them up or going crazy. She embarked on a quest to learn about awakening and spirituality to try to understand what was happening as premonitions, out-of-body experiences, plant spirit communications, seeing and hearing Divine Masters and other spiritually transformative events occurred.
In From Math Teacher to Mystic, Kelley shares numerous spiritual experiences including a premonition that resulted in her saving a drowning child, a spontaneous healing of chronic pain from an auto accident, accounts with thousands of dollars materializing, and being enveloped in the sensation of being loved and taken care of. Ultimately, the plethora of these experiences along with the wisdom gained from many trips to India, retreats, spiritual teachers, meditations and books, quieted her mind. Trust and faith developed in the Universal Intelligence guiding her and led her to the discovery of a life filled with inner peace, calm and contentedness even in challenging times.
The author states:
“I want my readers to be
• inspired,
• encouraged,
• uplifted,
• entertained,
• and determined to build their own connection.
Others will be
• reminded of their experiences/synchronicities,
• curious to learn more,
• and optimistic that life in a peaceful state is possible.
My hope is that From Math Teacher to Mystic brings my readers joy, causing them to smile throughout their being.”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Apr 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798765227640

Kelley Baeza

Kelley holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s degree in educational leadership and organizations. She has extensive experience teaching secondary mathematics, leading professional development for teachers, and presenting at state and national conferences. As her spiritual journey evolved, she began hosting meditations, encouraging other spiritual seekers on their journeys, volunteering, and channeling messages and healings. She loves the outdoors, so you can often find her hiking on the trails or walking on the beaches of Santa Barbara.

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 Kelley Baeza.

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

844-682-1282

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.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use

of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical

problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The

intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help

you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use

any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional

right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-7652-2763-3 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-2765-7 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-2764-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022906988

Balboa Press rev. date:  04/22/2022

To my dearest friends Damien, Nimmi, and Janet. Each of you uniquely, lovingly, and unwaveringly supported me in so many ways over so many years. Thank you for being instrumental to the discovery of a life in a calm state of joy and contentedness. I am forever grateful.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1     Pool Premonition

Chapter 2     Flat Tire

Chapter 3     Waving Sage

Chapter 4     Softball and A Premonition

Chapter 5     Stick

Chapter 6     Oak Tree

Chapter 7     White Light, Birthday Cake, and Pizza

Chapter 8     The Checks in The Mail

Chapter 9     Adyashanti’s December Retreat

Chapter 10   Buddha, Ganesh, and Quan Yin

Chapter 11   Shoulder Mountain Heart

Chapter 12   Number Two Pencil

Chapter 13   Lint Roller Prayer

Chapter 14   Internet Cards

Chapter 15   K-Love

Chapter 16   Just Like You Don’t Trust Me

Epilogue

About The Author

Acknowledgments

27443.png

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my two amazing daughters, Cristine and Danielle. I cannot thank you enough. I love you, and I am incredibly proud. To my teachers, monks, and friends from all over the world, I wish to express my profound appreciation for the gifts of wisdom and blessings you have imparted on me. Many thanks to all who knowingly or unknowingly assisted me on this awakening journey. And finally, immense gratitude for all the experiences that strengthened my connection to Source and led me to trust Divine Guidance, from which this book is a product.

Introduction

27443.png

If a course of action is in alignment with what the universe wants, it will become empowered.

—Eckhart Tolle

Early one morning in 2021, while sitting meditating, I asked for guidance from the Universe as to what to do next. I had been watching free webinars and taking courses via Zoom during our many months of pandemic restrictions. Having just finished a marvelous ten-week online course on communicating with spirits, and a ten-module course with a transformational leader on success before that, I was wondering what learning was in store for me.

Most mornings, my meditation routine consisted of sun salutations, breathing practices, chanting a mantra, and then sitting in silence for a while. In the silence portion of my morning routine, an activity or task to complete that day appeared in my thoughts. The task usually involved something I would not normally do, such as write a thank-you card to a former employer, make a flower essence for a friend, go to a thrift store to look for a desk, or ask a person I volunteer with if they have ever had a psychic reading. If nothing appeared, I asked if it was a same ol’, same ol’ day, meaning I would be doing what I normally did on that specific day of the week.

That particular morning, I heard quite clearly: Now is a good time to write a book.

Ugh hit in response to that announcement. My body slumped dishearteningly.

I don’t want to write a book. I argued back to the voice that I now considered as the Higher Intelligence. You see, all my life, I’d been trying my best to avoid writing. I discovered in junior high and reinforced in high school that I did not enjoy writing. What made a paper good and what made one earn only a B in school eluded me. While I loved reading, writing just did not come easily. It did not have rational formulaic procedures leading to the correct wording or phraseology. The writing process was difficult, with thoughts and ideas not flowing naturally for me in written form.

I much preferred math and science courses with all their problems to be solved. In math class, I could study notes, look at examples, ask a friend, and figure out how to do all the problems. Algorithms could be memorized, and success was readily available. Though nervous for math tests, when I took them, I knew my solutions were accurate, thereby allowing me to relish in the satisfaction of being right so many times. This also occurred in science classes. I knew what needed to be done, and I would do it. Writing felt like torture to my brain, with no clear path to success.

Writing avoidance played a large part in the decision of a major for college. I chose civil engineering. Engineering majors had many of their general studies requirements waived, which meant fewer English, history, and cultural studies courses and therefore fewer papers to write. In the middle of my junior year of college, I changed my major to math, which meant the general education classes were no longer waived. Grudgingly, I wrote the required papers to earn my bachelor of arts degree in mathematics. Some years later after earning my master’s degree and taking all the courses for a PhD in educational leadership and organizations, I bailed on the biggest paper of all, the PhD dissertation. Writing a hundred pages or more on research I did for a dissertation seemed like an insurmountable chore.

That was why I cringed at the Higher Intelligence telling me that morning to write a book. However, I knew full well I would indeed be writing a book. For the last thirteen years of life, experiences taught me I had to follow the guidance, even when it didn’t make rational sense to me. Those years also taught me how to differentiate between the voice of mind or ego and the voice of Higher Intelligence. A monk in India had said to a group of us, "If the voice is telling you to do something you want to do, it is mind. If the voice is telling you to do something you do not want to do, it is the Divine guiding you."

And while I trusted the guidance, a personality still existed in me that continued to be hesitant, as often I was guided to situations or tasks I was quite uncomfortable with. Writing a book would be one such huge discomfort. Sharing the extraordinary phenomena I had experienced over the last decade would be yet another.

What followed the cringing that morning was the realization that it was actually a good time to write. With COVID restrictions limiting activities and travel, it provided a lot of time to be at home. I could utilize some of that time to write. I acquiesced in my head that yes it was a good time to write a book. But I followed that with the whining complaint: I don’t know how to write a book.

The subject of the book was obviously going to be the numerous extraordinary metaphysical experiences that began occurring with me in 2007. That was when my spiritual smackdown began. I embarked on journey to gain knowledge on a topic I knew nothing about—spirituality. The effort was to understand what was happening and to prove to myself I was not going crazy. Now I was being asked to embark on another journey to do something I knew nothing about—writing a book.

Reluctantly, I made the commitment to write that book, got up from my meditation spot, made breakfast, and sat down to check my emails. There in my inbox was a notice that I had received a free bonus gift from one of the webinars I had recently attended. The link took me to a page with a list of a variety of things offered by people as the bonus gift. Having discerned this as a marketing strategy, I quite unenthusiastically checked the list of gifts, while not expecting to be interested in anything. To my utter surprise, the perfect free gift was there! Third on the list was module one of a program on how to write a book! I began laughing, very pleased with how the Responding Universe had already showed up to assist me with the dreaded task. There was no need to dread.

After choosing and completing that first module, I sensed the complete program was exactly what I needed to write a book of my experiences. In fact, I was much more optimistic with the writing process because of the guidance in the program. There was, however, the money glitch. With no income, my savings had dwindled rapidly during the pandemic. I did not want to spend the hundreds of dollars for the whole program. Again, I knew I was going to buy the program because the Higher Intelligence had led me to it, but still, I expressed my reluctance at spending the money. That was when I heard the postman delivering my mail. I got up from my desk and strolled over to my mailbox, only to discover an envelope with a $600 debit card! The federal government stimulus payment had arrived. Immediately, I recognized how, in my life, if an action was in alignment with the flow, the Universe conspired to help make it happen. I bought the course of videos on how to write a book.

27446.png

I was four or five years old, roller-skating alone on the sidewalk across the street from my house in Santa Barbara, California. As I skated under a liquidambar tree, a monkey leapt off a branch and landed on my head! It proceeded to lean over and bite my shoulder before jumping off and running toward the green tract house near the tree. The actual bite did not hurt much, as it did not break through the skin, but the shock of the monkey terrified me. I began screaming hysterically, crying profusely, and skating home as fast as my skinny little legs would take me.

My father was lifting weights