She calls herself a midwife to Gaia - an entity she sees as a living, breathing, conscious being - our Earth mother.

And at 73 she feels she has earned the right to claim such stewardship, through her lifetime of devotion and service to playing a part in birthing a new spiritual consciousness on our planet.

Estelle Myers has also been a midwife to countless women and was the person responsible for bringing the practice of birthing in water to the wider world, setting up the famous Rainbow Dolphin Birthing Centre in New Zealand in the 1980s.

¿I used the rainbow and the dolphin to create the heart-mind energy to help change the world,¿ she said.

Now living in Ballina, Estelle is anything but retired. In fact she has just completed her PhD at Southern Cross University titled: ¿Midwife to Gaia, birthing global consciousness: a reflective topical autobiography¿.

The PhD will be awarded at a graduation ceremony at the Lismore campus on May 8.

It tells the rich and complex story of Estelle¿s life journey, weaving her experiences of helping mothers to give birth in water with dolphin midwives, to children¿s theatre, from being a political candidate and activist to being a TV show producer and radio presenter, from completing a Master of Applied Science to completing a Doctor of Philosophy and so much more.

The PhD will be launched as a book at the Byron Bay Writers Festival later this year.

¿I have spent my life empowering others and travelling the world acting as a catalyst for change,¿ Estelle said.

¿My mantra as I have grown older has been: ¿if I can do it, then you can do it!¿

¿My aim is to inspire people to look beyond the gloom and doom. As humans we can do absolutely anything we set our minds on, we can turn around the current economic crisis just by letting go of the fear and focusing on the positive aspects of life, by being loving and happy. It is all in the mind.¿

Estelle Myers has lived through many great changes, not the least of which has been changes in attitudes towards working women. She remembers only too well being asked in a job interview ¿and do you really think you would be emotionally capable of holding down a management position?¿ When she assured her prospective employer her knowledge, skill and expertise would see her through, she was bluntly told ¿of course you can¿t expect to be paid the same as we¿d pay a man¿.

¿That was just how it was only a few decades ago,¿ she said with a broad grin. ¿Amazing, isn¿t it?¿

Estelle learned that to get anywhere you had to be able to network with men in power and so, seeking a career in the media, she set her sights on meeting one of the most influential men in the industry - Rupert Murdoch.

¿He wasn¿t afraid of powerful, intelligent women,¿ Estelle said. He hired me as his promotions and circulation manager for his New York Post operations.

¿That caused raised eyebrows within the organisation. What, a woman in the corridors of power? Goodness me! What should we do? Then the men employed in that department proceeded to freeze me out, despite my boosting circulation levels hugely.

¿I left to start my own public relations business. I realised the power of the media to change the world and I wanted to create miracles. I wanted to create a better world through sharing my vision and knowledge. If I couldn¿t use the media to change cobwebs into stardust then there was something wrong, I figured.¿

And changing cobwebs into stardust has been Estelle¿s trademark ever since.

This amazing woman has gifted so much to the world it is hard to know where to begin in listing her many accomplishments.

She was the visionary who brought the internationally famous ¿A Course in Miracles¿ book to Australia, which has not only sold millions of copies but has transformed millions of readers by helping them awaken from their spiritual slumber.

¿The book teaches the purpose of life, how we are all connected; it helps us understand that we are eternal spiritual beings, having a physical existence on this very special planet of ours, but that this existence is not the ¿real¿ world. It is just our current reality and the real life we live is in the realm of spirit,¿ she said.

¿Once people get this key message, it changes how they think about everything and how they relate to each other. It is a transformative process.

¿Every being with an open heart and an open mind has the ability to get in tune with Universal knowledge.

¿I have a formula I (ideas) + O (using all the options) + A (action) = co-creation - which is the new reality on this planet. It already operates for people who know how to use it.

¿Put simply, ¿if I think I can, I will and if I think I can¿t, I won¿t¿.

¿It all gets back to knowing we are one and living accordingly. I am celebrating the end of capitalism, the end of the industrial age and the birth of a new global consciousness. It¿s phenomenal and it is happening right now as a major grassroots movement across the planet.

¿We are all electronic cells of Gaia. If you want a better world, you have to be a better person. It starts in the heart. World peace begins with personal peace and people are making that choice right now.

¿I believe we have a healthy bouncing baby on our hands and I want to empower people to get excited about it, celebrate and join in!¿

You can read Dr Myers PhD at: SCU e-publications

Photo: Midwife to Gaia - Dr Estelle Myers relaxes at home in Ballina.

Updated: 08 April 2009