Q1. Hello, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.
Hi, I am Karima, a holistic therapist and meditation teacher. I have been working with people for the past 35 years and have a successful practice in Sydney, where I live with my husband.
My passion is to ignite a person’s fascination with their inner world.
I love to support people in getting to know themselves on all possible levels.
My understanding is that a better world starts with healthy fulfilled individuals.
The work I do allows people to live a balanced life on all levels.
I was born in Germany, twelve years after the end of World War II into a country that had suffered the complex trauma of defeat, physical and psychological damage to the country, and damage to its sense of nationality.
The exposure to the ‘after-war-darkness’ created the drive in me to wake up and find the light.
In my early 20’s I left Germany and a promising career path as a psychologist to uncover the mysteries of the inner world. My search took me to India, where, for 20 years, I lived in a spiritual commune and joined their Mystery School where I was initiated into the Art of Inner Alchemy.
These last 44 years of my inner work and journey have had one singular focus; they have been all about searching for truth. I was born with the longing to find out how we tick and explore the true answers to the questions: Who am I, really? What, actually, is truth? What is the meaning of life? What is true nature? What are universal laws? What are the laws of transformation? What is real?
Of course, these are not small questions! Yet, I have a passion to make transformation and metaphysics simple and understandable.
My book is the outcome of 4 decades of inner exploration. It is designed to help a new client learn the art of inner transformation skilfully without wasting time. All the mistakes I made and misunderstandings I suffered led to how I am now presenting the tools in the book.
My author name is consciously chosen and reflects the 3 significant stages of my life:
Andrea reflects my first 21 years. My birth name is Andrea Hinterleitner. The most relevant information about my first two decades is that I had no idea of an inner world, I was only oriented towards the outside. In other words, I was in the world and unconscious.
Karima reflects my 20 years in a spiritual commune where I was given a spiritual name: “Prem Karima” meaning “bountiful love”. I kept the name when I settled in Australia and all my clients and friends know me as Karima even if this name is not in my passport. In this second stage, I was away from the world and becoming conscious.
Eames reflects the third stage of my life, my time in Australia and it is my married name. My husband is from New Zealand and I love the sound of Eames. People in Australia often struggle with pronouncing Hinterleitner. The third stage is about being back in the world consciously.
Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing your book “Becoming Whole: The Art of Inner Transformation”?
I had never written before. I was used to speaking in my work with clients not writing. I didn’t even journal much in my life.
I had to find my “writing voice”. I had been thinking about writing a book for about 7 years without it happening. It was obvious that I needed help and a friend recommended a writing mentor. I did different courses for 2 years, the last one being “Write your first draft masterclass” with Joanne Fedler. The outcome of that was my first draft.
After that, I engaged an editor for about a year to make the first draft into a finished manuscript.
I’d collected many different documents filed under chapter titles. It was a conglomeration of pieces that were never written in any specific order. We worked step-by-step on making the chapters coherent in themselves, joining all the separate pieces and resolving repetitions, allowing each chapter to “become whole”.
Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?
Most importantly Joanne Fedler, my writing mentor. She is a wordsmith and masterful writer.
Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now”
“Soul Without Shame” by Byron Brown. The structure of his book inspired me to mix real-life stories with teachings and exercises.
Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?
The beach! We live 15 mins from the beach. The moment I can see the beach my heart opens and I feel a sense of expansion. Sitting anywhere close to the beach or swimming in it makes me happy.
As a child, I was always dreaming of living close to the ocean. When I arrived in Australia, I couldn’t believe my luck. Our beaches are magnificent.
Q5. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?
I did a lot of research with clients before I started writing to find out what would make the book relevant. I made a whole list of questions and asked all my regular clients to answer. I received a lot of valuable input. Some of their feedback helped with the structural design and some of it ended up in the book as quotes.
Q6. How long did it take you to write your book ‘Becoming Whole: The Art of Inner Transformation’?
7 Years of thinking about it, 2 years of writing the first draft, 1 year to have the final manuscript and another 9 months till the book was published.
For the three years of creating the book, I witnessed myself in sessions. The writer in me watched what I did, named the tools and made sure they were in the book.
In the gathering process – the first two years – I would take notes at the end of the session about what needs to be in the book. And write a piece about it later. In the final year of writing, the inner witness was more like a secretary going through a checklist making sure all the important tools were mentioned.
Q7. On what platforms can readers buy your books?
I am self-publishing with BookBaby and as an E-book it is available on all platforms like Amazon Kindle, Booktopia, Apple books, Barnes & Noble and more.
Printed copies are only available in Australia at the moment as I first worked with an Australian publisher and then moved to self-publishing. I still have 100 printed copies for sale.
Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Becoming Whole: The Art of Inner Transformation’?
In a nutshell, the process of becoming whole is to
- understand and befriend the mind
- the right attitude for inner exploration
- to develop a healthy relationship with your physical body
- to connect with your heart and use its intrinsic qualities for inner transformation
- to understand and transform your emotions
- to heal the inner child
- to start trusting your inner guidance systems.
This is the part we can do to come out of fragmentation, separation and disconnection.
All of this is preparation for the most important discovery of inner work: knowing that we are already whole. Being whole.
True nature is always whole, undisturbed and indestructible. But all the steps to becoming whole are prerequisites to discovering and enjoying the truth of being whole.
That’s why we tried in the design of BECOMING WHOLE to show that BECOMING contains the word BEING by designing the letters ‘COM’ differently from the letters BE…ING.
The book cover was designed by a professional. We had a few different designs and this one spoke to me.
The designer chose a visual Mandala, which resonated with me as the book is like a written Mandala. The definition of the word mandala is:
“A mandala is a symbol of the universe in its ideal form, and its creation signifies the transformation of a universe of suffering into one of joy.”
The art of inner transformation is exactly that: to transform suffering into peace or joy or freedom, states of non-suffering. And it is an art as it needs to be learnt and practised.
The golden symbol we chose for the cover is the Celtic knot of discovery, which fits with the territory as this work is about discovering who we really are.
Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?
That’s all the stuff I learnt from my writing mentor: Don’t make your sentences too long, keep it distinct.
The book is an interplay of teachings, quotes, meditations, exercises and session transcripts. My personal story is woven into the book too. The research with my clients beforehand helped a lot to make the book relevant. They all said they don’t just want teachings, they want personal stories and applications too.
Q10. What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
This might sound a bit crass, but the best advice I got from my writing mentor, was to start writing without thinking too much about it.
The analogy she gave was like “vomiting into a bucket”. Let it pour out and throw the words onto the page. That helped me tremendously and the words started pouring out.
Sometimes in that outpouring some beautiful pieces of writing were born that didn’t need a lot of editing.
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