Valentine's Day Gift: An Interview with Karinna Kittles-Karsten

If you've been part of the Make It Great! community for any length of time, you'll know I love books. And I love people. So when I was approached to review a book about love and people, I knew I had to learn more about the author, and then share our conversation with you.

 

Karinna Kittles-Karsten is the author of the new book Intimate Wisdom The Art of Sacred Love, and of the Sacred Love blog. Her writing is from the heart and touched me in a very deep way. Maybe it's where I am in my life right now. I don't know.

 

When I got the book, I knew right away I needed to talk more to Karinna and learn about her philosophy on life, and on why she chose to write such a meaningful book.

 

I think you'll really enjoy the interview, as she is so deep and full of meaning. She's also got a very special offer for the month of February for us, so I encourage you to read all the way through and check it out.

 

And if you're nice, I just may have a copy of this wonderful book to give away to 1 lucky Make It Great! reader. You'll just have to read all the way to the end to see what I've got cooked up for you, dear reader and friend.

Phil Gerbyshak: Who is Karinna Kittles-Karsten? Married, kids, what's important to you, and what gets you up in the morning?

 

Karinna Kittles-Karsten: In the most expanded view of reality, I would like to think of myself as a multi-dimensional being on a life adventure towards greater enlightenment and all my encounters with others and life experiences both challenging and effortless are helping me with that.  Here on the ground, I am happily married and my husband and I have one child who happens to have four legs. He is a Jack Russell Terrier named Sparky. Love is very important to me, also time in nature, the environment, meditation, discovery and alchemy of self, travel to amazing places, the next election, learning all kinds of new things, teaching and helping others and giving back to world causes that encourage intimate health and gender equality.

 

What gets me up in the morning is the gym, a great hike through the mountains, my hemp protein shake and excitement about a new day to share more passion and love with my lover as well as the world through my work as a love educator.

 

Phil: Your blog is called Sacred Love, so just in time for Valentine's Day, you're being interviewed on Make It Great! Tell me about "Sacred Love" and why you chose that for a name?

 

Karinna: I think I have always been on a quest to discover Sacred Love which could be defined as rich, integrated, meaningful love. I believe the name just came to me about 6 years ago as I was teaching in Hawaii on the subject of creating intimacy that had a spiritual component. The name was later validated for me when Sting released a CD called Sacred Love the next year-and I love that CD-I thought to myself, he’s brilliant, he took the words right out of my mouth. Sacred Love the way I observe, practice and teach it is an artistic and meaningful approach to sharing fulfilling emotional, physical, mental and spiritual compatibility in an intimate relationship.

 

Phil: Do you see any similarities between your methodology and other great "love" writers? Who and why?

 

Karinna: I certainly have been inspired by many great writers, poets and teachers but the closest methodology that I have found to my own and I literally just discovered this yesterday when I picked up a classic book that I had never read –you’ll love this because it is a business book-- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. I nearly dropped over when I saw very significant similarities in his message to approaching business and life and my approach to love and intimacy. I would love to have a conversation with him.

 

Phil: What makes your thinking and approach so uniquely successful?

 

Karinna: The focus is not on quick fixes-although it is a major short cut (by-passing the trial and error approach to love that most people find themselves consecutively on) to the love life you are meant to have. Sacred Love focuses on cultivating your core-- your integrity, your passion, your emotional and intimacy skills and really and truly discovering what you want and need in love and intimacy so that you can actually and joyfully create it whether you are single or currently in a relationship that you want to become more successful.

 

Phil: Tell me how YOU make it great!

 

Karinna: When I begin my day with meditation which is most days, they always go so much smoother and bring forth more fruit. In my meditation, I take some time to visualize the harmonious orchestration of things coming together easily and effortlessly during the day. I also dedicate time to strategizing and promoting my business on a daily basis via internet, press, speaking engagements, and developing new partnerships.

 

I have found that my most enjoyable and rewarding activity psychologically and financially is in developing new partnerships. As an entrepreneur it took me a long time to realize that interdependence is healthy. It is significant for all areas of our lives and very important in achieving business success.

 

Phil: Who are some of your inspirations, and what makes them so inspiring?

 

Karinna: I am inspired by people with great integrity and wisdom.

 

   

• Albert Einstein

   

• Lao Tzu

   

• Jesus

   

• Indian living female saint - Amma

   

• Riane Eisler

   

• Carl Jung

   

• Deepak Chopra

   

• Gandhi

   

• Dr. Christiane Northrup

   

• My teachers from both Eastern and Western traditions

   

• And many more

 

Phil: Please share some of your favorite books so we can learn more from you.

 

Karinna: Tao te Ching- adaption Stephen Mitchell, Chalice and the Blade-by Riane Eisler, Sacred Pleasure-by Riane Eisler, Women of Power and Grace by Timothy Conway, Yin Yang Butterfly by Valentin Chu, The Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks, Good to Great by Jim Collins, The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra and for fun Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and let's not forget my new favorite by Stephen Covey (mentioned above)

 

Phil: Your new book is called Intimate Wisdom The Sacred Art of Love. Give us a thumbnail sketch of this beautiful book.

 

Karinna: To create the relationships that we deeply desire in our lives we all need to have more intimate wisdom.

 

The Intimate Wisdom book is a great guide book. Sourced from Eastern and Western intimate wisdom it offers valuable information and practical exercises for each stage of a relationship and helps you move through tough challenges and toward new rewarding frontiers in your love life.

 

The book is divided into three parts to address three important areas of successful relating.  It begins with Part 1, The Sacred Lover, this is the process of leaving behind average and developing yourself as a great lover emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually and discovering how to choose a partner wisely. Then we move into Part 2, The Talent of Loving Another- understanding what talents it takes to love another well and how to apply them. Lastly we reach Part 3, The Art of Sacred Love-Making- which is cultivating the fullest expression of intimacy that is passionate, artistic and meaningful to both partners. Each part and skill set begins with a mythological, modern day story to activate the imaginative mind and inspire the inquiring heart to new possibilities in love and romance.

 

Phil: You know Karinna, this isn't the type of book I often review here at Make It Great! You reached out to me with such an authentic request that I knew would appeal to my readers. Please share why you're such a wonderful fit for the folks who read Make It Great!

 

Karinna: As you write about so well, relationships are the basis of success. I feel that relationships inside the home are equally (if not more so) important to the relationships you build outside –in business and in other interpersonal activities. If you are loved and nourished and supported at home by your personal relationships most specifically with a significant other you will feel more confident and prepared to create great relationships in business and make a greater contribution in the outer world.

 

Phil: If there was only 1 piece of advice you could give people, what would it be and why?

 

Karinna: When a relationship or your dating approach isn’t working, aim higher—higher in cultivating yourself as a lover and higher in the quality of person you are willing to choose as your partner.

 

Phil: Where can we find more about you and your wonderful book.

 

Karinna: For February Only -- I have a special offer at Sacred Love. When you purchase the Intimate Wisdom book you will also receive over 50 bonuses from renowned Self Help experts such as Dr. Wayne Dyer and Dr. Christiane Northrup as well as LOHAS businesses like Green Nest and Green Money Journal. This link will take you directly through to the amazing offer http://www.sacredlovepromotions.com/partners/Partner+0.html

 

You can also order Intimate Wisdom from www.Amazon.com and www.BarnesandNoble.com or from your local bookstore.

 

And of course, please stop by my Sacred Love blog and connect with me there!

 

Thanks Karinna! I learned a LOT from our time together.

 

How can you win a copy of Intimate Wisdom The Art of Sacred Love?

 

Leave your comment on what makes love and relationships great to you. I'll pick one person at random to win a copy of this wonderful guidebook from all the suggestions made by February 15th, 2008 at 5:00 PM central time, with the winner announced on Monday February 18th.

 

NOTE: Please leave a valid e-mail address or I can't contact you, which means you can't win!

Comments

[Book lover]

Thanks for the heart warming and inspirational interview. Got my morning off on the right foot. To answer your question: love and relationships are what make us human - they are the best part of being conscious. The ups and downs, that is what makes us human and what allows us to grow.

[Ram]

Phil,

In the "Interview with Karinna Post" there's a typo and I'd be glad if you could correct it please.

In the post under the question about "inspired people" you have Ghandi for Gandhi. Please have it corrected.

Thanks.

[Corinne Edwards]

Very intense and provocative interview, Phil.

Would love to see you do more of these.

I liked the comment that if you are not getting what you want, "Aim higher!"

[Mother Earth]

I can see that this book had personal impact for you and I can also see why you'd be so compelled to share your enthusiasm but also Karrina's

Have a loved filled week, just for the heart of it!

Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
www.bestwellnessconsultant.com

[Steve Shoemaker]

Phil:

A great interview and a great newsletter for Valentines day. The importance of love and relationships is commitment and the willingness to forgive.

[Tom]

Thank you opening our eyes to another source of knowledge, inspiration and wisdom.

As I read the interview, the following stood out for me: "relationships inside the home are equally (if not more so) important to the relationships you build outside –in business and in other interpersonal activities. If you are loved and nourished and supported at home by your personal relationships most specifically with a significant other you will feel more confident and prepared to create great relationships in business and make a greater contribution in the outer world."

As I think about my life and the successes I have had, they are in great part due to the relationships I have at home with my wife and children. They have given me the strength and confidence to carry on when things looked their bleakest. They are the first people I think about when things go well. They are the first people I turn to when things are rotten. It is their "sacred love" that inspires me to make things great. Both for them and those that touch our lives every day.

[Dan]

I haven't had the opportunity to read Karinna's books yet, but the idea of Sacred Love and committing to higher levels of love relationships certainly appeals to me.

A wise person told a congregation gathered for a friend's wedding: "You will do well to discover and remember that love does not sustain a marriage. Rather, it is marriage that can sustain love. For in living out your commitment to one another that you will honor your relationship more than self or things, regardless of circumstance, you are building the home in which love can survive and thrive. In the shelter of commitment, love can combine with all things - joy and pain, peace and strife, laughter and grieving - to grow from 'in love' to 'great love'."