Temple of Love
by Natalie Glebova (www.o-books.com)
The Most Important Journey You’ll Ever Take Is The Journey To Find Your Heart.
Set against a backdrop of exotic jungles and weaving through exciting travel recounts and encounters with mystical creatures, Temple of Love takes my readers on a journey like no other.
When I set off to write this book, I envisioned a self-help book that is as intriguing as a fiction novel – not full of dry concepts and abstract ideas. Having gathered a fair amount of knowledge from meditation retreats and various healers around the world, I wanted to enrich the reader experience with practical healing exercises and spiritual activities that have helped me immensely in my own internal development and spiritual growth.
Each chapter in Temple Of Love unveils new adventures, insights and lessons as I take the reader on a heroine’s journey through the Americas – from Peru to Mexico. In the process of her search for the legendary temple, deep in the jungles of Mexico, you will follow the protagonist as she heals emotional wounds and deep-seated limiting beliefs, and quests after self-discovery, transformation and true love.
The start of my own spiritual growth journey was something that I didn’t realize was happening at first, nor was it something I thought I needed to embark on.
Seven years ago, I was living my life, “normally,” and seemingly happy, being more focused on the external world and materialistic pursuits rather than the internal world of spirituality. I was making sure I was all caught up on the latest trending TV shows and kept busy with putting my name out in public media channels to grow my brand of a traveling family and its audience. I was certainly equally attentive to the truly important things in life, like nurturing my relationships, being a great mother, staying fit, eating mindfully and various self-care routines. Yet I sensed that all that surface-level self-awareness and goal setting was leaving me continually empty and unfulfilled, no matter how many checkmarks I’d put on my year-end review.
I was searching for more…
…more meaning in life, a purpose that truly aligned with my inner truth, a connection to something greater than me, and a break from the incessant noise of my chattering parrot-like mind. I craved inner quiet and peace that I heard can be reached by deep states of meditation but could never achieve myself. I hungered for more self-acceptance from all the perceived flaws I had collected over the years working in the unforgiving and hypercritical entertainment industry. And I quietly yearned for the kind of love I had dreamt about while reading those fairytale love stories as a teenager, but had given up on because it seemed frivolous and immature to want that as a wife and a mother.
Picking up The Power of Now for the second time in my life to re-read it, since it didn’t quite stick the first time I tried to in my early twenties, I was pleased to discover that the concepts presented by Eckhart Tolle about living in the present moment, of thought awareness and the ego were much easier to grasp this time around and resonated deeply in me. However, I still couldn’t experience those higher levels of presence and transcendence directly, and perceived these concepts as mere mental constructs or theoretical ideas that I liked to think about. And that was completely missing the point of his teachings, because one cannot “think” about being present – one can only experience it for herself through total “self” awareness and disidentification from the ego. Try as I did, those states continued to elude me in the many failed meditation attempts.
I instinctively felt that there was something more than what my eyes can see and what my mind can comprehend – something mysteriously hidden from the highest of intellects and what science has yet to prove. Curiosity and open-mindedness about the metaphysical world, eastern philosophies and ancient knowledge was urging me to discover this mystery.
In a very synchronistic and serendipitous fashion, a friend told me about a plant-medicine ceremony she and her whole family had recently attended, led by a Peruvian curandera (female shaman.) I researched and learned everything I could about this traditional Amazonian concoction made up of two plants found in the rainforests of South and Central America called ayahuasca. It is known for being used for thousands of years by native tribes to provide emotional healing, gain existential insights, and connect to the spirit world. The mystery surrounding its discovery intrigued me because out of hundreds of thousands of plants in the rainforest, the shamans knew to combine these two particular plants to create the intended entheogenic effect. After reading reviews and personal accounts of dozens of people who have taken it, I knew that this was exactly what I needed to get the confirmation I had been looking for that the physical world is not all there is.
Taking the plunge – traveling far from home to participate in a five-day retreat where I would consume this psychoactive substance in a form of a brew, I sat in front of the altar, accepted the cup from the curandera with trembling hands and downed its contents. What happened next was truly remarkable!
I received everything that I wanted and so much more from just three ceremonies over four days. Releasing old stagnant emotions which I refused to acknowledge and connecting deeply with the surrounding nature, realizing that all comes from the same source, I was able to finally detach myself from the narrating voice inside and become the observing presence behind it that watches all thoughts and emotions go by like clouds in the sky.
And the gifts of the mother plant kept coming even weeks after I had come back home. I was able to deepen my understanding of all those spiritual concepts I was reading about from my favorite teachers. I achieved higher meditative states through present moment awareness and connection to my body. And I had opened up a space in my heart that felt as expansive and infinite as the external universe around me, using breath as a bridge between the two and realizing the miracle of this most basic of human functions.
Externally, my life took several turnarounds as well. I was able to improve some relationships and let go of the ones that didn’t resonate with my newfound heart space. My career also began a transformation and over the next several years, as I found myself seeking more purpose and meaning that aligned to my heart’s calling, I began to slowly exit the entertainment industry and started an energy-healing & mindfulness coaching practice.
All these incredible insights and revelations were the creative force behind Temple Of Love, which is the result of my ongoing healing and growth journey through life.
As I peeled back the layers of my subconscious mind to reveal the traumas and conditioning, I was living through the story I was writing, healing myself one chakra at a time. My life became my art, and the art my life.
It helped rip apart some long-standing beliefs and made me question certain actions I was unconsciously doing out of cultural or family obligations that no longer resonated with my truth. One example (which might not seem that shocking to some but was a huge deal to me) was the story of how I decided to get a very meaningful tattoo despite my family’s objections and their outdated programming, which challenged me to break away from it and reclaim my autonomy.
The writing process forced me to look into my ancestral trauma and helped me reconnect to my roots. I learned about my parents’ trials during the communist regime and how their struggles have been passed on to me in the form of blocked energy centers and subsequent physical ailments. By using energy-healing practices of yoga, sacred sexuality and other holistic healing modalities, I was able to cure many of my chronic imbalances and psychosomatic conditions. I discovered my “inner goddess” and remembered my “inner child.”
This inner pilgrimage dismantled many of the mental structures and concepts I had about myself and the world. And ultimately, it led to the dissolution of my 9-year marriage, which I had outgrown but was too afraid to admit was not serving me any longer. Although this was the roughest consequence of my spiritual metamorphosis, getting myself out of a controlling, narcissistic-abuse relationship is a gift that I treasure deeply. It taught me to judge others and myself less and to love unconditionally.
By following the signs and synchronicities that had become my guiding posts and trusted angel messages, I was able to surrender and have faith in the great plan that is at work behind the scenes FOR me. Because in the end this is what led me to reconnect to myself, find my heart’s purpose, and experience the kind of incredible, divine love that I didn’t even know existed – both inside and outside myself.
And I’m hopeful Temple of Love can do the same for you – my readers – to inspire you to find the courage to look inwards, discover your truth, and live your lives intentionally, aligned to the heart.
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Natalie Glebova is a best-selling author, mindset & energy coach, and a former Miss Universe. Through her own extensive spiritual journey to attain self-love and deeper self-awareness, Natalie started a coaching practice that focuses on energetic aspects of personal development to help her clients become winners in both life and love.
Specializing in using healing and transformational approaches and modalities from all parts of the world, Natalie helps her clients achieve deeper and longer-lasting levels of inner peace and happiness.
Her compassionate teaching style combined with her extensive expertise in energy-healing techniques and plant medicines gives her the unique ability to combine ancient spiritual practices with modern-day understanding of the intricate workings of the mind. Which is why those who are on a transformation journey are naturally drawn to Natalie, as she is known to teach those she works with and those who read her books the steps they need to take to advance their personal development from a holistic perspective.
As a recognized thought leader in the space, Natalie’s masterclasses, books, and social media messages on spiritual growth reach an international audience of over one million people.
Temple of Love by Natalie Glebova is available from www.o-books.com or from wherever books are sold. Release date May 1st, 2025.
BOOK LINK: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/o-books/our-books/temple-love-pilgrimage-heart