(excerpt)
<<back
to bookstore | read
reviews |
Recently
I had an urgent telephone message on my answering
machine from a man named Steven, saying, “ Sonia,
you don’t know me, but I was referred to you
by my massage therapist. I went to see her because
I’ve been feeling extremely drained and overwhelmed
lately and nothing in my life is going smoothly. She
told me it’s because my chakras are out of balance.
She tried to explain to me that chakras are energy
centers that we all have, but honestly I didn’t
understand what she meant. Finally she referred me
to you and said you could help! So, can you? I need
to know what these energy centers are and how to get
them to stop messing up my life!”
Receiving Steven’s call was not surprising.
In the past few years, I’ve had many phone calls
just like his, each one requesting guidance through
one energy crisis after another. More and more people
are discovering that what ails them is more psychic
and spiritual in nature than it is physical. Steven,
like many of my clients, had never even heard of energy
centers called “chakras.” To him it was
no more than a curious word, maybe a metaphor, but
certainly not something that was intrinsic to his
nature and essential to his overall well being. He
couldn’t imagine that an invisible energy center,
a chakra, could have anything to do with his problems
and, in fact, laughed at the idea when it was suggested.
But the truth is his energy worker was right. Most
of our problems can be traced to one or more of our
seven psychic energy centers, known to the metaphysically
savvy as “chakras” from their Hindi term,
meaning spinning wheel, which from an energetic perspective
is what a chakra actually looks like.
Here in the west we think of ourselves as solid bodies,
but in eastern thinking we are correctly perceived
as being more ethereal, made up of whirling bands
of energy that serve to usher in life force and assist
us in channeling our expression and creativity into
the physical plane. When a practicing Hindu visualizes
a human being, he visualizes our seven separate but
interconnected centers of energy, each maintaining
a certain center of human well being. To the rational
western mind, the idea of such energy centers seems
far-fetched yet our own language accurately reflects
our instinctive awareness of these psychic centers
in action. We say, for example:
· “He’s a pain in the neck"
of someone who affects our throat chakra by making
us speechless with rage.
· “She galls me, ” of the co-worker
who affects our third chakra by overriding our authority
and ignoring our decisions.
· “He knocks me off my feet,”
of the new lover who overwhelms our routine and threatens
our first chakra, our foundation, causing us to feel
ungrounded.
Our energy system governs our energetic and psychic
well being. This system includes our foundation and
survival instincts, our vitality and emotional sensations,
our will and personal sovereignty, and our ability
to give and receive love, our creative expression,
our psychic awareness and personal vision and our
capacity to connect with our Creator. It is the matrix
that channels our spirit into our body and allows
us to express ourselves freely on the physical plane.
When these seven centers of energy are balanced, we
feel grounded, emotionally safe, mentally in charge,
receptive to love and loving, effective and creative
in all forms of our expression, inspired and imaginative,
and intimately connected to and guided by the Universe.
This is the natural plan for human experience. Such
a life is exciting, satisfying, productive, fulfilling
and allows us to channel our best into the planet.
It is a life lived as the Universe intends. It is
life filled with love, creativity and blessings.
But when one or more of these seven chakras fall out
of balance, or fails to operate as it is designed
to, essential parts of our psychic and spiritual expression
become dysfunctional or shut down.
When this happens we become insecure or feel threatened
in the world. We fall out of communion with our emotions
and fail to interpret their messages correctly. We
find ourselves operating out of fear, with a reduced
capacity to give and receive love. We can lose touch
with our integrity and begin to express other than
what is in our hearts, coming to doubt ourselves,
or deny our value and importance. We can lose our
capacity to see the truth in ourselves and in the
world, and, in the worst case, become disconnected
from our source, God. Such a life becomes an overwhelming
attempt to avoid death rather than live Life! It is
a life filled with anxiety, terror, isolation, anger,
dishonesty, manipulation, and loneliness. It is a
sad and wasteful loss both to us and to the world,
for in this condition we are unable to bring our gifts
to the world and make our unique and essential contribution
to the whole. We suffer, and the world suffers as
well.
As an intuitive and healer, my fundamental task is
primarily to help people understand their spiritual
anatomy. I teach about these energy centers as well
as show my clients and readers how to stay balanced
and psychically aligned so that they can fully participate
in the natural plan. When I consult with clients,
I am able to discern intuitively which of their energy
centers are out of balance and more importantly, why
and what to do about it. I teach people how to perceive
and appreciate themselves as delicate, responsive
energetic beings that require the same care and attention
as any other creation in nature.
Like flowers and plants, we too need ground under
our feet, warmth and sunshine and food for our spirit,
protective boundaries, tending and care, freedom to
grow unencumbered and without limitation, and complete
support from the Universe to become our greatest possible
self.
Because the modern world has failed to recognize
that we are spiritual beings, with basic requirements
for maintaining spiritual health just as we have basic
needs for maintaining physical health, it is no wonder
that so many of us struggle with diseases and disruptions
of the spirit. When we ignore what we need to keep
our spirit in balance, we begin to suffer the consequences.
When we fall into doubt about our basic energetic
rights, and fail to meet our basic psychic needs,
we wither and languish. Like an unwatered potted plant,
neglected in the corner, we may manage to survive
but we will hardly reach our full potential to flower
and contribute to the world. Life lived like this
is a life lived in pain. And such pain is unnecessary.
The entire Universe is organized around our well being.
We are naturally and intrinsically designed through
our energetic body to freely receive all that our
spirits need in order to thrive. Our job is to learn
about our energy body and how to keep it in working
order. And for over thirty years, it has been my job
to teach this essential and greatly denied course
in spiritual and psychic well being.
After my conversation with Steven, a seed was planted
in my mind: what people like him needed was a practical
common-sense guide for understanding their chakra
system and keeping it in balance. Consequently I decided
to write this book explaining how our energy centers
operate, and how to keep them running smoothly. Because
I’ve counseled so many people over the years,
I have also come to recognize what people in our time-crunched
society are able to do in order to take better spiritual
care of themselves. Therefore I've created an easy-to-use
workbook that describes each of the seven energy centers,
and its characteristics both balanced and imbalanced,
as well as practical ways for re-balancing.
This workbook can be referred to whenever you are
feeling out of sorts or are in need of a psychic “tune-up.”
I’ve intentionally included a variety of rebalancing
suggestions that speak to every mood and temperament.
These are not to be interpreted as more assignments
to add to your endless “to do” list, but
rather as simple practices that require minimum attention
while bringing about maximum relief. Try one or all,
depending on your mood and your personality. Use the
ideas that appeal to you and ignore the others. Some
suggestions may feel right one day and not the next.
That is the nature of the energy body.
Because it is in a constant state of flux, you need
to experiment with the remedies to discover which
ones work for you. Besides, variety is the spice of
life. Once you begin to appreciate what different
energy centers need in order to be balanced, don’t
be surprised if you find yourself coming up with your
own remedies for restoring psychic equilibrium! |
