Vanessa Hurst was born and raised in German Catholic Ferdinand, IN and has always been an intuitive. In college she studied Forensic Studies and received a double major in Religious Studies as well. This sparked a lifelong study of studying and living different spiritual paths. After 13 years she returned to Ferdinand to work at the Sisters of St. Benedict Retreat Center. She worked there 14 years and learned about the desert fathers, became a Reiki Master, and focused on the Sacred and extraordinary in her life. She also trained in Healing Touch, Medical Intuition, Quantum Healing, 5 Element Form Tai Chi, and a Master’s Degree in Natural Health. Vanessa then began to facilitate programs in these disciplines, writing three Reiki Manuals in the process. From 2007 to 2012, she worked in Louisville at the Merton Institute for Contemplative Living, where she continued the contemplative lifestyle she learned while at the Retreat Center. She wrote her first book, “Engaging Compassion Through Intent and Action.” The book shares a template for living in awareness. Through mindfulness, we are able to respond compassionately to the world around us. Her second book, “A Constellation of Connection: Contemplative Relationships” focuses on the three elements of a mindful relationship: silence, compassion and communion. Vanessa’s third book, in process, will be on intuitive awareness, listening to our intuition. Vanessa describes herself as an intuitive, a contemplative and a mystic.