Terri Amos is a spiritual coach who tells it like she sees it and wastes no time helping others clean up the emotional chaos in their lives.
She is also a compassionate intuitive healer, wife, mom, former Miss USA and television host, and the author of Message Sent: Retrieving the Gift of Love.
Terri specializes in relationship healing and improvement, dealing with such pivotal issues as anger, judgment, frustration and blame.
Her work brings understanding and healing to all relationships including your family, friendships, the workplace and most importantly, the relationship you have with yourself.
Her website is http://www.
terriamos.
com Explain the mission behind the Enlightened Family Institute, and in particular with respect toyour Enlightened Mom Workshop? The workshop is designed to give mom permission to be different, unique, and special in her own way and be an example of celebrating her original self to her children.
It's not what moms do for their families but how they live their lives that will impact them the most.
If a mom gives herself permission to honor the way she was created and not try to fit into a mold, she will teach her children to follow their hearts as well.
True abundance comes when we create a connection to God by living from our hearts and how we were created.
And this is the mission of the Enlightened Family Institute: to help families break down walls of separation, judgment and blame by honoring each other for his or her uniqueness.
And it starts with mom.
What is the core message that mothers learn about in the workshop that is distinct from what they may have been trained to believe about motherhood? The old paradigm of motherhood says women must be martyrs to be good mothers.
The core of this message is that mom must perform for her family to be loved.
This sends the message out that "I am only OK if you (external world) say that I am OK.
"This means that love comes from the outside world.
The enlightened mom finds out who she is and this unconditional self-love overflows to the kids.
It is not about performing but love coming from deep inside.
My process addresses the demons and false beliefs in the way of this to reveal a person's uniqueness and gifts.
Ant it starts with mom.
How is the Enlightened Mom weekend unique since there are a lot of mother and parent-oriented workshops on the market? The program is about re-parenting the mom and creating a greater connection to God.
Again, we have been taught that we have to find love outside ourselves.
This strategy always makes one feel empty.
This is my personal experience because all the achievement in the world won't make someone feel love.
The fundamental message to moms is not to be a martyr and to break the illusion of what a good mother is and stop the perpetual cycle of guilt, anger, blame.
Sending the message that you need to perform for others to get love creates judgment.
It separates a person from their heart and they get angry.
One goes into pain.
I am about training someone to listen to their heart.
My work is cemented in God.
You put God first and you listen to the messages in your heart.
Then accept and surrender to your heart.
Here a woman becomes an example of love and abundance because it comes from within.
When the mom shifts then the whole family shifts.
My husband and I own the company ConsciousOne.
This company came about from this principle.
When you stop being a martyr and open up to receive, you tap intoamazing messages.
For instance, I walked into a library some years ago and asked, "What do you want me to see God?"I found myself standing in front of video tapes and pulled out one by Deepak Chopra called"The Way of the Wizard.
"I had been doing a lot of spiritual work at that time and allowed my life to be guided by God and all the wonderful messages.
I picked up that tape not knowing why but took it home anyway.
After I watched it for about five minutes I knew it wasn't for me.
It was for Steve.
The message was about the seven levels of consciousness, moving from innocence to ego to achiever to seeker and so on.
Steve watched it and cried.
He said, "I don't want to be an achiever anymore.
I want to be a seeker.
" He said he wanted to do something bigger than himself, he wanted to do something for God and the planet.
Not too long after that is when business partners showed up with the idea for ConsciousOne.
So my message to mothers is when you stop being a martyr and take time to get connected to God, your life will affect everyone you know.
Steve had seen my life change over the years and had seen me become a more loving mom as a result of taking a stand for finding the love within.
His life changed when I stayed open to the messages and brought him a tape that day that changed his life forever.
Is there a certain type of woman who does the Enlightened Mom weekend? It is a varied group.
I have had grandmothers, soon to be mothers who are pregnant, and mothers of kids in different age groups.
All these woman are re-parenting themselves so they will be more loving moms and human beings.
How did you come to develop your work as a healer and the Enlightened Mom Workshop? When I was in the top five in Miss USA, Bob Barker asked me, "If you could spread a message to the young people of the world, what would it be?"I said, "To be honest, because if you have honesty, you have everything.
"I didn't win Miss USA because of my looks but my interviews took me to the top.
The response was "Wow - you are honest".
The message was mine.
That is the model that I live in my life and teach.
See who you are and your truth.
Be honest with yourself.
Get to know the real you.
When I became a mother, I didn't like myself.
As I decided to get honest and take a look within, I realized that I lived by many false beliefs that told me how I had to be as a mom.
One of them said that moms can't receive love unless they meet a standard of perfection.
I thought to receive meant to be selfish.
I had to learn to be able to give and receive, it is a cycle.
Prior to that, it was all about approval but not knowing how to receive love, which is the essence.
I didn't even know it then.
As I have healed my life and opened up to creating a wonderful connection to my heart and God, there is an ebb and flow with this cycle.
It's about feeling connected to your heart and the world around you.
When you find this kind of love inside yourself, you become a more loving mom.
My Enlightened Mom workshop is simply an avenue for me to share this message.
I saw my family heal as I got really honest with myself and now I'm seeing families all over the world heal as well.
The key is for mom and the whole family to see life's difficult situations as opportunities to heal.
Life is a gift for you to connect to your heart.
One of the things I try to impress upon people is to stay in a space of gratitude, even when you are having a difficult time in your life.
Gratitude keeps you out of resistance.
Judgment gets you in trouble.
It can keep you stuck in life for so long.
You move through life or any difficult situation easier when you release judgment and stay in gratitude.
Quit judging it, it is a gift when something is not working.
God's trying to tell you to follow your heart.
When you are going through a difficult time in life, it's important for you to allow yourself to feel all emotions.
This is the way to finally get to the false beliefs you've been holding onto.
You have to feel to heal.
I have beaten the crap out of my bed.
I have taken my clients to a room with a punching bag.
All of a sudden their rage comes up.
They release the anger there.
Then they sink in the floor and cry.
Pain comes up and is released.
I want them to get it out of the body.
The work is to peel away layers of negative emotions so one can step into acceptance and love.
It starts with the courage to face it.
What is under the negative emotions is a belief.
Who you think you should be versus who you really are.
You are love and perfect as you were created.
Permission is the key word to celebrate how you were created.
Compassion for pain creates the ability to receive love.
When did this experience of receiving love begin to heal? I was on a healing journey at 33 and then my father passed away.
I ran a lot of male energy of not feeling, struggling with my stepson, and couldn't stand myself.
I was driving myself crazy and being angry with knee jerk reactions and control freak actions.
I entered therapy and realized I had become like my father.
My therapist was astute and told me to get into meditation.
I did and then set an intention for unconditional love.
Forgiveness was needed in order to heal.
I had to forgive myself.
My dad believed he caused his dad's pain.
You see, your parents are wounded and you take on their stuff.
When a parent hasn't taken responsibility to find him or herself and heal the pain, they blame, andwant others to make them happy.
This is what happened with my dad andhis father.
He grew up believing he was to blame for his dad's pain and, thus, shut down to receiving love.
If a child grows up with this kind of family dynamics, the cycle of pain will remain and be handed down, once again, to a new generation.
As I began my healing journey, I knew I didn't want to perpetuate this cycle with my kids.
I became a courageous woman with the courage to feel.
Before I was taught to not show people what I was feeling.
Dad told me to suppress anger.
Shutting down emotions made me become angrier.
These moments were a beginning .
they flipped the switch on.
So once I gave myself permission to feel I allowed feminine energy to flow through me.
It was OK to be soft, vulnerable, kind, and compassionate.
No armor allowed me to receive more love and, in turn, become more loving.
How would you sum up your book and CD - Message Sent? My message is that life is like the hokey pokey dance of trust.
Embrace that and be a human on a spiritual path.
Have compassion for yourself and release old beliefs.
You need to embrace your life as the pathway to oneness to God.
There is an energetic experience of receiving.
The first meditation on the CD is called "Grounding in God's Light.
"As you allow yourself to go into this meditation and give yourself permission to receive light, you feel the energy and a beautiful connection.
Some moms who have donethis for a while have people come to them and ask them if they are onProzac.
It has a calming effect from the connection to receive love.
Itis so different than what we are accustomed to in life.
Love yourself enough to receive.
As you do, you become a more loving person.
By opening up this way, you realize that you are not alone and never have been.
No longer do you have to perform to receive love from the outsideworld.
Accept the way you are and open up to God's love.
Only then canyou truly be of service to all those you love.
What is your ultimate vision for your work? To see families heal all over the world.
I see families who are workingtogether for mutual acceptance and unconditional love.
To create a worldof peace, we as individuals must take responsibility for healing our lives and becoming unconditional love.
And this starts in the home.