Every so often something comes into your life that radically alters your perception of Reality. For me, that something was the book Application of Impossible Things by Natalie Sudman…
This is an amazing true story of a female civilian employee of the Army Corps of Engineers in Basrah and Nasiriyah, Iraq. She was riding in a truck with other men when a roadside bomb destroyed the vehicle. Her body was so severely damaged that there was no possible way she could live. She vividly recounts her Near Death Experience when she went out of the body to the spirit world. There it was decided that her work on Earth was not done and with the help of spirit guides, they repaired the body so she could reenter it. She retained the conscious memory of what happened and during the time in the hospital, more details returned. This is the amazing story of a survival in wartime conditions. This has happened to many others in Iraq, but how many remember the spirit side of the experience?
Before this experience, Sudman was dubious about anything that smacked of the paranormal. This experience made her a believer. She shares her story here for the first time to demonstrate that the paranormal is normal and to assist others who have had similar experiences.
This is a book for anyone interested in near death experiences and out of body experiences. It is one of the first such book to come out of the Iraq conflict.
– Amazon.com
I still vividly remember sitting on the couch reading by my amber glass table lamp one evening last fall…. I had what can only be described as a Mystical Experience as the fear of death left my body with a series of chills and what felt like waves of sparkling electricity coursing through my body. By the time I finished reading this book (do not think this is a book to be breezed through – at 128 pages, I thought it would be a quick read, but it took me a good week to finish it, since I really had to let the concepts the book presented sink in – this is a very dense book, content-wise) I felt changed, lighter, with more optimism for the the future than I had felt in a really long time. Natalie’s book became an instant favorite, and I began recommending it to practically everyone that crossed my path!
When I first started this blog, I had an idea to include features and interviews, along with the articles, and had come up with what I dubbed the Elemental Interview, based on the 5 elements of nature. You can only imagine my delight when Natalie agreed to do the inaugural Elemental Interview!
So here it is, without further ado!
~ Druyan
~ Elemental Interview~
“Earth: What do you do to ground yourself and maintain balance?
Being out in nature is really my favorite grounding and balancing. I like to walk, but it also works to just touch a plant or the dirt, no matter where I am. Actively engaging by concentrating on sounds, smells, or touch – how the wind feels on my skin, how the grass feels against my ankles – this is an effortless way to bring myself into the present and relax.
Air: How do you engage or feed your imagination/intellect?
I don’t really think of my imagination and/or intellect as needing feeding. They may more often need a blanket over the cage to calm them down (ha), or perhaps a structure to help engage the energy in a way that’s not just random and sort of chaotic.
I’m an artist, so that’s how I most commonly engage the imagination and intellect.
I also love to read and write. I love to read because it takes me places that I may not experience in this lifetime (emotionally, physically, intellectually, whatever), or even imagine. Reading certainly feeds imagination and intellect, and in a relaxing way. Writing engages imagination and intellect in a very different way than reading. Writing is more like working on art: writing and art really require that the imagination and intellect be involved with each other in an active, kinetic balance. They must expand each other in order to create something more than either intellect or imagination alone is capable of.
Fire: What motivates you to keep going; what inspires you?
I think what inspires me is, like the grounding and balance, nature. The natural world is amazing in its complexity, and in its simplicity and beauty. It’s endlessly interesting and inspires my curiosity. The natural world is also free of pretense, intellectual tangles and other human challenges so it feels clean and clear to me. It’s a reminder to keep it simple, soak up the experience, live the moment.
What motivates me to keep going … I don’t know what that means. If “to keep going” means “what keeps you doing what you like to do”, then the answer has to be: what I like to do keeps me doing what I like to do. If by “to keep going” is meant “what keeps you from committing suicide” I would have to say almost nothing. We’re infinite beings, and so we’re always “going”, always aware, always in the moment which will always be a part of every moment. In my experience we don’t need motivation to keep going … maybe we sometimes need motivation to enjoy the fact that “going” is inevitable.
Water: What do you love, what engages your intuitive side?
These are two very different questions … What engages my intuitive side … again I’ll have to say nature. Also play, exercise, repetitive motion, writing and doing artwork. These are things that allow my analyzer-mind to slow down, relax, be quiet. Then my intuitive mind engages more freely.
The things that I love are too numerous to list. A list like that wouldn’t make sense anyway. It would include everything from old hiking boots and saddles to the sound of an exploding mortar and a hug — and still not really explain what I love. The word ‘love’ is a very broad and forgiving word in the English language, so it can include anything and still be accurate and true.
When anything is fully experienced within the moment, when we’re fully aware within a moment, we become aware of ourselves as ourselves within this moment, this unique experience. We become aware of ourselves and of whatever it is that we love from the viewpoint of our infinite mind. When we are aware through that infinite mind, we can know ourselves as expressions of All That Is, which is Love. We are creating love and being created by it. We think of love as an emotion, but to me love is a state of being, it’s a field that I am always within. I love becoming aware that I’m within it.
When I got back from Iraq I said that I loved working in Iraq. Even when I hated it, there was no place else I wanted to be. I believe that our whole selves are always saying that about this embodied life … that our whole selves are always creating and being created within the field of love, and that even when things don’t look that great from the human point of view, when we hate the moment, there’s no place else we as whole selves want to be.
With all that in mind, then, I’ll say that I love being aware of and within the sensuous nature of physical reality. I love the touch, smell, taste, feel, and sound of things, be they objects or experiences, beings or ideas. What do I love in particular? Sooner or later, … everything.
Spirit: What is your personal, spiritual practice. What makes you feel connected to Spirit?
My personal practice shifts and changes. I get bored easily, so I change things around. I don’t think it matters what I do as a practice; what matters is that I practice, in some personal way, being aware of my own awareness. Remembering who I am and what I am – an infinite being. That’s when I feel closest to the All That Is: when I’m fully owning and embodying myself as an infinite being experiencing through this physical world as it is. ”
Natalie Sudman is an author, artist and psychic intuitive. Natalie worked as an archaeologist in the Great Basin states for 16 years before accepting a position managing construction contracts in Iraq. In 2007 Natalie was injured by a roadside bomb. During this incident she had a near-death experience which she describes in detail in her book Application of Impossible Things. After recovering from injuries, Natalie retired from government service to concentrate on art and writing, both long-time passions. Raised in Minnesota, Natalie has lived most of her adult life in eastern Oregon, Montana, and South Dakota. She now lives in southern Arizona.
http://www.nataliesudman.com
Guided Unicorn Meditation for Kids. Yes, you read that right! (and perhaps you’ve already seen it here on SMG!) Does it get any more magical? This has to be one of the most interesting meditations I’ve ever come across and I love that it’s geared towards children, including the Inner Child. I wanted to share this again today because this Full Moon weekend is quite intense, and this is a great way to relax for yourself, or your little ones that are having a hard time settling with these energies.
Nicole Ford is a heart centered mental health therapist working in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. She has a deep passion for helping people get in touch with their wellspring of gifts and strengths so they can step into their true purpose and be of service to the world. Nicole earned her masters degree in social work (MSW) from Portland State University. Nicole has experience in Trauma Therapy, DBT, Narrative Therapy, Mindfulness Practice, Play Therapy, and EMDR. She has worked with children, adolescents, adults, families, and groups. She is a lover of life and cultivator of happiness joy.
Annabel Gat is a practicing astrologer certified by the 
sacredmoongrove 