Dr. Toni Galardi’s The LifeQuake Phenomenon Interviewed on Fascinating Authors

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What excites you most about your book’s topic? Why did you choose it?

Author: What excites me most about my topic is that I created a model for helping people overcome the fear of change that can have a global effect as well. If we learn to anticipate when cycles in our lives are ending, we don’t have to bring in catastrophe to motivate us to change. We can end such disasters like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina if we change how we negotiate change in our own lives. It also excites me that I have been able to use this model with individual clients, public seminars, in big business, and as a relapse prevention model in chemical dependency treatment facilities. I want people to be saved from the unnecessary suffering I went through to get this message.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: How long did the book take you from start to finish?

Author: The book itself took three years. The journey of writing the first proposal began twenty years ago.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What aspect of writing the book did you find particularly challenging?

Author: Editing out stories I had collected from all the interviews I had done to keep the number of pages manageable.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What surprised you the most about the book writing process?

Author: How much of it is editing.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Did you have any favorite experiences when writing your book?

Author: Up until 2008, every time I wrote a book proposal from 1990 to 2007, my life would go into another LifeQuake and the depth of the book would expand.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What do you hope your readers will gain from reading your book?

Author: I hope they will feel inspired to experience their LifeQuake as a rebirth not a disaster and that with this seven stage roadmap, it will get easier and easier to anticipate when to make changes and become more agile when dealing with sudden changes.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What projects are you currently working on?

Author: Most of my writing involves blogging, articles, media interviews to promote this book but I have an idea for my next book which has to de with redefining sexuality in America.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Is writing your sole career? If not, what else do you do?

Author: I am a career coach, psychotherapist, advice columnist, corporate trainer and public speaker.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Did you do any research for your books, or did you write from experience?

Author: Both. I did a lot of research into evolutionary psychology, conducted over 100 interviews, and read what had been said about mastering change in order to show the distinction in my model that addresses reconstructing the whole human at the body, mind, and spirit level. And I shared my experience.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: How did you come up with your title?

Author: I needed a word that was a metaphor for the process that interfaced humans and the earth: The earth has a core. We have a core. The earth has layers around it with faultlines running through it. We have layers of faulty programs from the old tribal paradigms. So when the soul wakes up and demands living authentically, it creates pressure in these fault lines that can translate into outer crisis if the person’s ego resists making changes. I called it The LifeQuake Phenomenon because this awakening is taking place globally. We are in a massive, collective shift that looks like economic collapse.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What books have influenced you the most?

Author: Pema Chodron’s “When Things Fall Apart” to explain the importance of resting into groundlessness and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning that teaches one to have a soul filled context for suffering and loss that give one’s life meaning.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Who was your publisher and why did you choose them?

Author: My publisher is Wheatmark Publishing and I chose them because I wanted a free hand in writing my book while getting guidance where I needed it. They provide great hands on assistance and graphic designers for the cover. I was very pleased with how the book looks aesthetically to complement the content.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Tell us a little bit about your book.

Author: The LifeQuake Phenomenon is a body, mind, and spirit method for overcoming the fear of change, eliminating crisis as a catalyst for moving on, and learning how to thrive not just survive radical upheaval.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What inspired you to create a work of nonfiction?

Author: My life and the lives of the 100 people I interviewed. “Truth is stranger than fiction.”

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What did you do to prepare for writing your book?

Author: I experienced physical challenges, financial ruin, and confronted addiction issues. I took a journey that Jungians call “the descent into the abyss” that involved three near fatal experiences and a birth into my authentic self. I lived this model and wrote 7 versions of a book proposal over the course of 20 years.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: How did you develop your idea for this book?

Author: I saw that there was a pattern of how change occurs when a cycle in our psyche and lives are coming to a close and a construct for developing one’s new life purpose out of the chaos that ensues. I interviewed people on a talk show I did for two years, spoke on the subject of crisis and change at conferences, conventions, and workshops and did live radio as a guest. The feedback I received confirmed I was on the right track.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What can we look forward to in your next book?

Author: It is still marinating inside of me but I am musing the idea that we have a very schizophrenic approach to sexuality in this country and it has taken a toll on our body images. The shadow side of our Puritanism is the proliferation of pornography and child sexual abuse. We need a new model that has more respect and nurturing paid to the physical body.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you would like to include?

Author: We are in an exciting time. What looks like chaos, ie. climate disasters, economic contraction, and the rise of addiction are all part of an evolutionary shift on the planet that will truly unite us as a global family. Everyone I interviewed shared that without their LifeQuakes they would never have expanded their consciousness into the awareness they stepped into. However, people need a road map and an inspiring context for holding the chaotic transitions going on in their lives so that they choose evolution over trying to hold onto the past. The LifeQuake Phenomenon delivers that model and roadmap!

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Thank you for taking the time to be part of this interview!

To learn more about the book and author, please visit: http://www.lifequake.net/