Michelle Paisley Reed (born August 11, 1968) is an American author who lives in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She has published two

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s, four

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

books, and four

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

s focused on the psyche and spirituality.

Early life and education

Michelle Paisley Reed was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

on August 11, 1968. She attended high school in Fairfield,

, northeast of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, and graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

from California State University, Sacramento.

Career

After graduating from college in 1994, she worked as a reporter and features editor for the

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the ...

Herald and Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, CA. She then served as director of a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

enrichment program for children, program director for the

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

and finally as director of Renaissance ClubSport in Walnut Creek. In 2002, Paisley earned a Registered

Yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

Teacher (500 hours) certification from

Yoga Alliance The Yoga Alliance is a U.S.-based nonprofit membership trade and professional organization for yoga teachers. The organization is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Registered Yoga Teacher, a title in the United States that designates a yoga t ...

and launched her own studio, Yoga Junction. It was originally located in

Suisun City Suisun City ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 29,518 at the 2020 census. The city takes its name from the adjacent Suisun Bay, which in turn is named for the Su ...

before moving to Green Valley. In 2005-2006 she worked on her first book after sending dozens of

query letter A query letter is a formal letter sent to magazine editors, literary agents A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale a ...

s, eventually publishing ''Yoga for a Broken Heart: A Spiritual Guide to Healing from Break-up, Loss, Death or Divorce'' with Findhorn Press in 2007. In 2008, she was forced to change direction, so she obtained certifications as a Massage Therapist, Cranial Sacral Therapist, Bowen Therapist, and Hypnotherapist as well as studying

EFT A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aqu ...

alternative medicine Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

. In between appointments at her 2009-2010 job, she gradually wrote her first novel, ''All in Her Head''. Through what she described as a synchronistic

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

event, she completed an agreement with the Strategic Book Group (the only publisher she contacted) within one week. She has since owned a massage and yoga instruction studio, become a Reiki Master Therapist (Third Degree) and conducted a limited number of seminars entitled "Journey to Self-Love".

Near death experience

At the age of 22, Paisley had a

severe allergic reaction Anaphylaxis is a serious, potentially fatal allergic reaction and medical emergency that is rapid in onset and requires immediate medical attention regardless of use of emergency medication on site. It typically causes more than one of the follow ...

to a medication she was given and her heart stopped beating for several minutes. After this

experience Experience refers to conscious events in general, more specifically to perceptions, or to the practical knowledge and familiarity that is produced by these conscious processes. Understood as a conscious event in the widest sense, experience involv ...

, she threw herself into the study and practice of yoga,

hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy is a type of mind–body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention and increased suggestibility in the treatment of a medical or psychological disorder or concern. Popularized by 17th and 18th cen ...

and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

, searching for answers to her ordeal. After the publication of ''All in Her Head'', she studied P.M.H. Atwater's 2011 book ''Near-Death Experiences, The Rest of the Story''. Some of the motivation and themes in Paisley's novel were born from this life-changing event.

Selected works

Novels

* ''All in Her Head'' (2011) ''All in Her Head'' journeys into the psyche of Bridget Holiday, a 41-year-old freelance writer who is obsessed with her weight. She meets a beginning hypnotherapist who wants to help her confront her inner demons, but she instead regresses back to a time before her birth, when she is still in what the book describes as "spirit" form. Her yoga teacher guides her through this new

astral world The astral plane, also called the astral realm or the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical, medieval, oriental, and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions.G.R.S.Mead, ''The Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tra ...

, where she meets with her dead boyfriend. When faced with her own life-or-death crisis, Bridget realizes that her only hope is to embrace the life she is already living. Paisley describes the book's message as "learning to love your inner self... and (opening) yourself up to connect with your soul mate and with your dreams." * ''All Over It'' (2012) Returning protagonist Bridget Holiday thought she was at peace; she had reached her goal weight, met the love of her life, and found her life's purpose as manager of the healing arts center once owned by her former mentor, Rosalina. In fact, though, her weight progress proved ephemeral, her partner hadn't proposed after three years, and she was again broke and miserable. With her aging parents ill, Bridget has to struggle with deep emotions that she thought she had overcome, learning to "(remember) the eternal nature of spirit and her joy’s resilience."

Power of 10 books

* ''Manifesting Miracles and Money: How to Achieve Peace, Purpose, and Plenty Without Getting in Your Own Way'' (2017) * ''Peace is Power: A Course in Shifting Reality Through Science and Spirituality'' (2017) * ''Keep Your Spirits Up: A Simple Guide to Lift Your Vibes Sky-high Without Struggle or Pain'' (2018)

Guidebooks

* ''Yoga for a Broken Heart: A Spiritual Guide to Healing from Break-up, Loss, Death or Divorce'' (2007) The book teaches readers how to use yoga to cure the hurt caused by the loss of a partner through death, separation, or divorce. It seeks to offer positive therapy by focusing on the stages of emotion after the loss and articulating yoga techniques across the difficulty spectrum, and give comfort and a sense of community through personal stories. It has been published in English, German, and Italian.

Upcoming projects

Paisley is in the editing stage for a forthcoming third novel, entitled ''All She's Got'', adapting it for film as well as crafting an original screenplay. She is a featured collaborator/speaker in the upcoming international film and television project "The Difference."

References

External links

Official Website

Author’s Page on Findhorn Website (Non-Fiction Publisher)

2011 TV Interview
on KXTV (ABC Affiliate)
2011 Radio Interview on “The Difference Radio”

The Difference Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paisley, Michelle 1968 births Living people 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Writers from Seattle Writers from Sacramento, California California State University, Sacramento alumni American spiritual writers New Thought writers People from Fairfield, California 21st-century American women writers Novelists from Washington (state) American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers