Book Review: "Vibrational Healing" by Jaya Jaya Myra

With a new habit I've formed of reading in the bath, daily, I've been making my way through books about spirituality and really enhancing my repertoire of knowledge. I'm hoping that, in sharing my opinions about the books I read, you'll have a better understanding of which books to select for your own spiritual reference library.

Review of "Vibrational Healing:"

Vibrational Healing is definitely a book meant for those serious for pursuing a path in energy healing, specifically when working with the subtle body energy. Despite being best for those serious about this form of energy work, it's incredibly easy to read and very insightful for those with even a small interest in subtle body energy work. I have been doing energy healing for around 4 years, and I still learned a lot from this book, but I also feel that a "beginner" in a spiritual healing practice could glean much as well.

This book is primarily about its title: vibrational healing. All matter, including the body, and all spiritual energy, like the subtle body, vibrate at specific frequencies. Myra explains that illness, disease, and stress often arise from imbalances in the vibrational frequencies of our bodies and spirits. Although this sounds very esoteric in summary, Myra goes in-depth in explaining just what she means and how it applies in both a spiritual and basic scientific sense. She also talks about how Western and Eastern medicinal techniques are best used in conjunction, and explains in a very logical manner why her belief is such. Her passion for mantra and sound-based healing (which has incredible vibrational healing properties: sound is vibration, after all) is obvious in this book, so for someone with a passion as such, I'd highly recommend it.

She talks about three basic subtle energy ideas: the chakras, gunas/temperaments, and the elements; and how to use these to heal and align yourself with your dharma (or life's purpose). There are small "quizzes" to help you digest the concepts into a practical application towards yourself, which you later use to understand what you are naturally inclined to react like, interpret like, and exist like, based on your temperamental and elemental inclinations. When doing this for myself, I found it to be incredibly insightful! I learned much about how I think, in a way that isn't just like a Meyer-Briggs personality test, but went deeper into my spiritual core. Through the self-reflection, I was able to realize new techniques of how to heal myself and others (as well as learning over 10 meditation techniques in the last chapter of the book).

Myra drills in many important ideas throughout this book. When talking about doing crystal work, specifically when placing a crystal in water to charge it with a certain vibration, she is conscious of the risks of not researching which stones can safely be placed in water to later be consumed. She urges all those to research before just picking a stone and intuitively placing it into water. Myra also discusses the less severe risks behind mantras and affirmations, like how affirmations can make you feel worse if you speak to something that you were unable to accomplish and that mantras--depending on the spiritual vibration of the chant--can overwhelm your subtle body and heal you in a jolting, less effective, way. She does a wonderful job instructing how to go about using these techniques in a safe and enriching way.

Throughout Vibrational Healing, Myra talks about many techniques for spiritual evolution, like visualization, meditation techniques, mantras, affirmations, color, chakras, sound, light (solar and lunar healing), aromatherapy, crystal healing, water healing, herbal healing, and self-actualization. Although the book does not go into depth on any of the concepts, it explains enough to help us understand which we feel the most drawn towards, or which will benefit us the most based on our temperamental or elemental affinity.

The structure makes it insightful and easy to digest, and Myra also has a beautiful personal story at the beginning. Her humility is apparent (which is something I haven't always found in spiritual authors), so it sets the book off in a wonderful tone. There is also a discussion in the end about becoming a spiritual healer of others, and the content of the book helps you to realize other's elemental affinities to grow your understanding of how to heal them, spiritually or just as a friend giving advice. I felt incredibly more evolved and aware after reading this book, and it's on my list of the top spiritual books I've read.

Cost: $15.99 US/$18.50 CAN
Number of Pages: 227
Publisher: Llewellyn Books

Food For Your Chakras: Citrus Mint Salad

Heal your root, sacral, heart, and third eye chakras with this easy recipe! Serves around 6-8 portions.

Citrus Mint Salad-adapted from a recipe by Valerie Winebrenner

The Recipe:

1. Wash 1 pint of raspberries and 1 pint of blueberries under cold water. Wash and cut 1 lb of strawberries. Peel 2 oranges and remove the pith (and membranes from the flesh of the fruit, if possible). Add all of these to a large mixing bowl.
2. Zest 1 lemon and 1 lime, add this into a smaller bowl you have.
3. In the smaller bowl, combine 3 T of Honey, 1 T of lemon juice, 1 T of lime juice, 2 T of orange juice and 1 T of freshly chopped mint to the lemon and lime zest.
4. Whisk the contents of the smaller bowl to make the dressing, then pour this over the fruit in the larger bowl. Toss the fruit, being careful not to crush the delicate raspberries.
5. Garnish with more mint or coconut if you wish. 

The Energetic Benefits:

• Foods that heal and restore the root chakra: strawberries, raspberries
• Foods that heal and restore the sacral chakra: strawberries, oranges, lemon, orange juice, lemon juice, honey
• Foods that heal and restore the heart chakra: mint, lime, lime juice
• Foods that heal and restore the third eye chakra: blueberries

To boost the energetic effects, spend a moment meditating to create a flow of white light coming out of your hands. Place your hands around the bowl of prepared food and imagine the white light swirling throughout it and cleansing it for around a minute. 

Enjoy~

My personal notes and thoughts: I loved this recipe, it was extremely sweet but bursted with healthy, natural sugars and flavors. I could feel the sensual fruit, perfect for healing and awakening the sacral, moving directly towards my lower chakras, as well as this sweet uplifting taste of mint. This was absolutely delicious, and I had it for both a dinner and breakfast! Fruit can be a little expensive, so this might be a recipe you want to budget for, but it was definitely worth it. A really delicious treat for your sacral energy, and the perfect meal for summer. 

The Sacral Chakra: An Overview

The Sacral Chakra is the second chakra in the seven body chakra system. It is located between the genitals and belly button, usually around 3 finger widths beneath the navel. This is the energy center that connects with your emotions and the sensual side of sexuality, as well as with femininity. The sacral chakra has many qualities and traits to it, so I'll be breaking this post up into easy to read sections.

General Characteristics: 
The Sacral Chakra is the second chakra in our subtle energy bodies. Through this energy center, we experience pleasure, emotional intimacy, and some forms of love and physical intimacy. This chakra, like the three lower chakras (root, sacral, solar plexus) connect us to our physical body and governs a state of physical will. Our physicality, and the energetic presence of such in this chakra, allows us to connect to the desires that our body has and our reproductive abilities. Through our body and the sacral, we channel our creative urges and allow ourselves to fully unfold our creative potential. This chakra is the second chakra, so both this and the root chakra must be healed to allow energy to travel up the spine. It has the capability to fully support your sexuality and creative and sexual expression, so it is ultimately important for all relationships to heal this chakra. Even in asexual identities, this chakras allows for the expression of personal comfort, intimacy with one's own emotions and other people (platonic or romantic), and comfort with one's sexuality (including asexuality). The sacral chakra allows us all to be passionate beings.

"Swadhistana" is the Sanskrit word for the sacral chakra. According to this source it means "the dwelling place of the self." The sacral is the source of all of our expression, and inspires the ways the chakras above it help us to express ourselves. The sacral chakra is beginning of our passion and drive to live, past the primordial needs the root chakra inspires us to seek.

A summary of traits related to this chakra are: sexuality, sensuality, creativity, self expression, womb, motherhood/parenthood, femininity, composition, giving, nurturing, enthusiasm, vitality, healing.

The sacral chakra develops usually in late childhood, when puberty is just about to begin and we all start to really understand ourselves as individuals existing the world, with wants, desires, and passions. Normally, by age 8-12, the sacral chakra is fully developed and active.

Elemental Connection:
Water

Color:
Orange

Physical Places it Governs: 

• Reproductive organs (also governed in part by the root chakra)
• Uterus, specifically
• Sacrum of the back
• Kidneys, urinary tract
• Aldosterone hormone production

Stones Associated to it:
Stones can be used for healing a chakra, often by meditating while holding or placing the stone/crystal above the chakra. It is often best to keep the stones wrapped in a colored cloth (silk if you can get it) that corresponds to the chakra color of the stone. For instance, keep these stones wrapped in orange silk or fabric. It tends to keep their energy less tainted and swaddles them for a little bit of compassion. It's also important to cleanse the crystal before using it. The short version would be to imagine white light around your hands and hold the crystal for a few minutes while the light swirls around it, but I'll go more in depth on crystal meditations in a later post. You can also wash the stone under warm water for a minute.

The more care and attention you put into the subtle details of energy work will never harm you or your practice. 

Here are some stones associated with the Sacral chakra and how they affect the chakra: 

• Citrine (activating)
• Fire opal (awakening, opening, activating)
• Carnelian (stabilizing, opening)
• Orange Calcite (opening)
• Yellow Topaz (Balancing, calming)
• Emerald (calming)
• Moonstone (Balancing)
• Aquamarine (Balancing, calming)

Scents and Foods Associated to it:

• Oranges
• Lemons
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Sugar
• Walnuts
• Carrots
• Orange Bell Peppers
• Pumpkin
• Sweet Potato
• Apricots
• Cantaloupes
• Mangoes
• Papaya
• Passion Fruit
• Salmon

Scents:

• Jasmine
• Bay Laurel
• Rosemary
• Rosewood
• Rose Absolute
• Sandalwood
• Neroli
• Cardamon

Things that can Negatively Affect This Chakra:

The universe throws a lot of things at us, sometimes really severe things. Our chakras are sensitive, so they are easily affected. When affected, they can really stop us from fully realizing the joy of being, but often we cannot control everything that happens to us. This is just an explanation of what could have caused sacral chakra issues, so that your awareness can be expanded and you can begin a journey towards healing.

Severe or Longterm:

• Sexual abuse: You reject your body or sexuality, or you feel like sexuality is unsafe. Sometimes don't experience sex with any sort of positive emotion, destroying the intimate emotional energy the sacral chakra thrives on.
• Feeling unsafe or rejecting emotional or sexual relationships: (Not necessarily more than platonic, but what you identify with wanting). This insecurity causes any passion in emotional relations or sex to be blocked as it rises from the root chakra to the sacral chakra.
• Dissociation: Rejection and unawareness of emotions for a long period of time can damage this chakra, or can be caused from damage from this chakra. 

Milder, More Common, Self-induced:

• Volatile emotions, especially stress induced: Uncontrolled energy, usually caused from the not paying attention to your natural emotions.
• Lust: Overactive chakra, seeking too much sexual release.
• Addiction to sex, pornography, or masturbation: Also seeking too much sexual release, over-expending energy.
• Intentionally getting into unsafe relationships: Consciously ruining stability, especially if it's an egoic call for attention by intentionally getting hurt (Granted, unsafe relationships that you are in are not always in your control, this isn't speaking about that type).
• Inability to swim/fear of water: The sacral chakra is water oriented, so rejecting this element can harm the chakra
• Embarrassment during sex: Rejection of natural bodily sounds, smells, and sensations. This rejection leads the energetic rejection as well. 
• Emotional attachment and imprinting: Dependence on someone emotionally, to a level that's toxic for both people.
• Using sex for something besides pleasure: Although some people can make a living from sex, unless you treat it as a sacred act each time (no matter what the sex is actually like), it can damage the chakra by rejecting the sacred energy behind intimacy with another person.
• Toxic relationships: Relationships that overwork the nurturer in you.
• Processed food, Preservatives, Food additives, Artificial foods: Toxic for all chakras.

Health Issues Associated to this Chakra:

• Malabsorption
• Digestive disorders
• Celiac's Disease
• Bladder tumors
• STDs/STIs
• Yeast infections, Bacterial infections of the genitalia
• Painful menstruation, menstrual issues
• Menopause disorders
• Miscarriages and some birth defects
• Sex drive/libido

Affects of an Overactive Sacral Chakra:

• Feeling a need to control the flow of life
• Ovarian cysts, heavier menstruation, pelvic pain
• Overthinking duality
• Dwelling too much into emotions
• Anxiety and dissociation
• Leading a dramatic life, getting too involved in drama
• Sex addiction, uncontrolled sex drive
• Unfulfilling orgasms
• Controlling or manipulating others
• Seeking to be the center of attention

Affects of an Underactive Sacral Chakra:

• Going with the flow too much, apathy to tasks that need to be completed
• Pelvic pain
• Thinking you can't change anything in your life, not wanting to take any control or responsibility
• Rejecting or not paying attention to emotions
• Dissociation and depression
• Never confronting people who are harming your emotional self
• Low libido for your natural state
• Unfulfilling orgasms
• Depression after sex
• Confusion
• Apathy towards changing or helping your own emotions (those which can be helped, of course). 
• Rejection of natural femininity or Yin energy

Ways of Healing This Chakra: 

Habitual Healing:

• Awareness of emotions: With each emotion, taking the time to get to intimately know what you're feeling. I highly recommend "Emotional Intimacy" by Robert Augustus Masters. 

One Time or Specific Method Healing:

• Color: Surround yourself with everything orange! Orange food, orange clothes, orange flowers, orange paintings, more orange! You'll be shocked at how aware of your sacral it makes you, and how quickly your root chakra heals as a result. 
• Crystal healing meditation: Using the crystals listed above and meditating while holding them or having them secured against your tailbone. 
• Yoga: Specific asanas for the sacral chakra include anything with hip opening and pelvic work.
• With the food you eat: Orange, fresh foods and fruits are great for this chakra. There's a list of great foods earlier in this post!
• Mantras and affirmations: Just say these as many times as you feel you need throughout the day, or for many days. 
• Chanting: Sing a long "VAM" sound, usually in repetition for a whole slow exhale (then a slow in breath). It's pronounced "Vah-m." Do it loud enough to feel it vibrate in your chest! Perhaps you feel it deep in your belly?

Mantras and Affirmations for the Sacral Chakra:

• "I honor my feminine side, it is a sacred part of me. It is full, functional, and complete."
• "I am able to let things go, knowing that I do not need to hold on to material objects and toxic relationships to feel complete."
• "I understand, love, and accept my sexual desires."
• "My emotions are able to be fully expressed in the healthiest way, and upon this expression, I can move past the source of any emotional pain."
• "There is a flow to the universe and a flow to my life, I graciously accept this."
• "I know my emotions are important, and I will take the time to feel each one." 

Image source here

What are the Chakras?

We are complex and layered beings. Almost all spiritual and religious cultures have some belief that we are more than just our body and mind. At the very least, we are made of three parts: body, mind, and spirit. Some beliefs state that we are an infinity of complex and intertwined layers. I'm more drawn to the last idea, since I think every action, thought, and atom in us allows us to become the complex selves we are. 

It is most commonly understood by spiritual practitioners that we all have an etheric or energetic body. This fabric weaves throughout our bodies, minds, and spirits, and both informs and responds every part of our existence. Building an awareness to these subtle energies can be one of the first, and most powerful, steps for spiritual evolution. I hope to explain the basic structure of our energies by covering the most commonly understood layers and structures in our energy systems: the chakras. 

The word "chakra" comes from Sanskrit word meaning "wheel" (or sometimes "turning" or "whirlpool"). It originated in Hindu, Tantric, and Yoga beliefs, but has spread to almost all major energy practices present today. The chakras are seven wheels or balls of energy along the midline of our body. They are considered absolutely vital energy centers, despite existing in the subtle (non-physical) body. Each chakra does tend to correspond to one or more bodily systems that are essential for a healthy human life. Often, chakra damage (cause by a variety of factors) contributes to physical ailments. I know when my chakras are closed or wounded, my body reacts almost immediately! This association, to specific organs, was most commonly expressed through Western adaptions of chakra beliefs, though I've found it to be insightful and intuitively true in my own experience! 

We all have energy and matter as a part of ourselves, the chakras are just a specific concentration of these energies. Our cells respond, electrically, to emotional and thought based signals (that's how signals travel along our nerves and to and from our brain!), so this energy is well accepted in the scientific community. The chakras are an energy specific body that functions in a similar way. It works with your physical body by means of energy, and this energy is affected by similar things like emotion and thought. Our energy bodies are similar to our physical nervous systems. 

The chakras themselves are the main points of integration between the physical, mental, emotion, and spiritual bodies we all contain. They are central organizations of these connections and vital parts of our complete selves. Chakras can become blocked if they are overcome with negative energy, and can reopen through many healing techniques. First, though, it takes a learned awareness of these energy wheels to begin to understand where you need to heal your subtle energy system. Since these chakras connect all parts of our being, healing them heals us completely. Your chakras are like flowers, they need nurturing and love to blossom. 

The Chakras themselves:

Beliefs about the chakras differ from practitioner to practitioner, but there are several generally understood concepts about them. There are usually seven main body chakras, which span the spine and up through the skull. Sometimes this seven body system is expanded to twelve chakras, some of which expand past the body and directly connect to more ethereal realms. Chakras are an essential part of the subtle energy body, and work with other energetic pathways (like nadis, vayus, meridians, even auric fields). The chakras usually correspond to the rainbow arrangement of colors, red at the bottom/root chakra and violet or white at the top/crown chakra. 

I'll briefly expand on the main principles of the seven body chakras, though I plan on studying each in depth in future posts. 

The Root chakra "Mūlādhāra": The first chakra of the system, located at the base of the spine. Generally known to be in charge of primal urges, safety, protection, and security.

The Sacral chakra "Svādhisthāna": The second chakra, located around 3 finger widths beneath the navel (generally around the womb). Generally known to govern sensuality, sacred sexuality, emotion, creativity, and femininity. 

The Solar Plexus/Navel chakra "Manipūra": The third chakra, located between the base of the ribs and the belly button. This governs willpower, strength, assertive behavior, and self-control. 

The Heart chakra "Anāhata": The fourth chakra, located in the middle of the sternum or towards the top of the sternum (wherever feels right for you!). This is the chakra of love, compassion, kindness, and harmony.

The Throat chakra "Viśuddha": The fifth chakra, located at the base of your neck under the Adam's apple. Generally known to govern communication, expression, speaking your truth, and talking. This chakra starts to relate to less physical states and more spiritual expression.

The Third Eye chakra "Ājñā": The sixth chakra, located between the eyebrows or on the lower forehead. This is in charge of intuition, spiritual sight, non-physical communication, visualization, and insight.

The Crown chakra "Sahasrāra": The seventh (and last!) main chakra, located at the top/crown of the forehead or right at the top of the head (sometimes even at both). This controls your divine expression, your connection to the Source/Universe, wisdom, completion with the world, and full potential through spiritual awakening. 

Each person's own energy system is variable. Often the locations of the chakras is not directly where the "textbook" location is said to be, and sometimes the colors shift hues. It's all about trusting your own energy system and learning from it. 

Things that affect the chakras:

The chakras are such a sensitive part of our being, and everything affects them. Our thoughts, emotions, diet, exercise, health conditions, the people we interact with, the place we live, the air we breathe, the energy we work with. The chakras control so much of our being, especially our connection from physical bodies to divine spirits; it is so crucial that we all begin to pay attention to even the smallest parts of our lives. We don't have to be perfect, especially with thoughts and emotions, but we do need to begin a path towards awareness. Understanding your chakras are being able to feel when they are negatively affected by something will start you on an intuitive journey to heal and protect your energy.

Ways to explore and begin to work with your chakras:

A great way to explore your chakras through a small creative endeavor is to whip out some drawing or painting materials. Use something with a lot of colors and pick what each of your chakras looks like, drawing them in sequential order from the top. Choosing your favorite colors for each chakra is an easy and enjoyable intuitive way of accessing the colors that your chakras actually radiate. If you're struggling to find a color, place your hand over the location of the chakra and breathe for a second, telling yourself that you know your energy and will be able to know which color is best, and that there is no pressure or permanence to choosing this color right now. Then open your eyes again and you may have a clearer understanding of the color you wish to place on the paper for that chakra. After all are complete, look at how beautiful your energy system is! Also, feel free to leave an image of your chakra system in the comments of this post, so we can all bask in how beautiful all of our energy is. 

When doing chakra work, it tends to work best when cleared/healed sequentially. They provide a stable base for your energy to rise through and around your spine, so if you open only your crown (if all other chakras are in a closed state), it might make you energetically "top heavy." Working from the first to the seventh allows you to work from the most physical planes of expression to the most divine, naturally raising your entire energetic system. 

A way of beginning to connect with each chakra is to place a hand over its location and taking an in-breath and imagining white light coming through your nose or mouth, holding the breath for a moment and watching the white light swirl and mix with the colored chakra, then exhaling and imagining any negative energy from the chakra being released. You can repeat this as much as you like, though I usually suggest between 1-5 minutes for each chakra. If possible, do this every day or night, it can really do wonders for your energy system. Naturally, if breathing meditation could be a health concern for you, adapt this to any needs you have.

You can also do healing or chakra guided meditations. I'm a huge fan of "The Honest Guys" on Youtube. Also, I highly recommend the books "A Handbook of Chakra Healing," by Kalashatra Govinda, "Chakra Foods for Optimum Health," by Deanna M. Minich, and "The Chakra Bible," by Patricia Mercier. 

Just to note, there are speculations about more than seven chakras, which I have also worked with and experienced, that I plan on talking about in later posts. :) 

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this article, and I really hope it was helpful and insightful for you!