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

Mindful Showering and Self-Love

I start every day with a shower, always. It could be my body, or just in my mind, but I always feel a little grimy after sleeping, and I want to start my day with the freshness I can only find in a shower. Showering itself can be a very cleansing process, for both the body and one's subtle energy, and it's also possible to foster extensive self love in the shower.

Self-love is so incredibly important to foster. It allows for a growth in confidence and self esteem and it starts increasing our ability to experience love and (when fostered enough) unconditional love for those around us and our life situations. Energetically, it empowers us to heal ourselves and others, to let compassion spring forward, to dive deeper into our faith or spiritual practice, and to feel content when understanding who we are and what we can accomplish in life.

Despite its necessity, self-love can be tricky, especially when we're experience the vulnerable state of nudity like we do in the shower. We are in our most bare state, and unlike when we are just dressing or undressing, we have to actually interact with every part of our body in the shower. With a society that teaches that one singular body type means "beauty," the majority of us feel left out when we experience our naked body. It's not an easy thing to teach ourselves to recognize our own innate beauty, but it oh so important.

When we become more confident in our body image, so many positive things happen. We feel that we have more control over our bodies (which means that, if struggling with weight that we want to change*, we can do so--under or overweight), we understand that we are all beautiful at whatever size and shape we embody, we are more grounded into our body (we don't try to dissociate and escape this sacred physical form we are in), and our general self-esteem and confidence increases.

While dealing with gender dysphoria, loving my body became an incredibly important concern. I did not have the body type I wanted, or am "supposed" to have as a man. Yet, I did have this body. I couldn't change my body overnight in any way, so I had to work towards self-love and acceptance instead.

Showers became incredibly important. Besides just cleaning me and waking me up each morning, it was a time to foster this much needed self-love, in a way that's easy for anyone to foster.

I highly suggest lathering the soap onto your hands, instead of a loofah or washcloth, so you can more directly interact with your body. I personally wash myself from the top down, but wash yourself whichever way works best for you. The important part of this mindful showering practice is to focus on what it feels like to wash your body.

There are so many interesting textures to our skin, so many interesting directions that our hands move when they go from the boney to the muscular to the fatty parts of our figure. Each section is totally vital to our well being, and is a part of ourselves. Paying attention to both sensation and sending love through the act of washing yourself creates a dynamic of mindfulness and compassion, two important characteristic for anyone with a spiritual practice. The only thing to do with this mindfulness practice is to slow down and love what it feels like to wash your body, love what it feels like to become clean.

Sometimes, if it isn't distressing, it can be very positive to spend extra time caressing the parts of your body you struggle to love--maybe these are wrinkles, scars, moles, even amputated limbs. Just make sure, when focusing here, that it fosters love, not a negative emotion. Sometimes we aren't ready to face a certain part of ourselves and just accept it, so then just focus on the self-love towards the rest of your body, it will allow you to grow total acceptance over time.

The energy of the element of water itself is an incredible healing force, hence why we crave hot showers and baths to calm ourselves when we're stressed or emotional. Water corresponds to the second, sacral, chakra, and is one of the most adaptable elements. Think of how water always fills whatever container it is placed in. Water, when you focus on using the element for emotional and spiritual healing, can teach you to flow in any circumstance, no matter how confining it seems. Water can also wash away negative thoughts and energies, and the act of washing increases this intention too.

For our temperaments and personality, water allows us to flow, change, and grow. The natural water of a shower can help love flow around us, especially when we make a conscious effort to intend that the act of showering is meant for self love. The energy of water will only enhance and empower our intention.

I always notice, when I remember to spend a little extra time in the shower focusing on this practice, I come out feeling much more refreshed, beautiful, and confident. Water and love are powerful tools for healing.


*Note: With fat-shaming being a current discussion, I wanted to address this sentence more in depth. I don't personally believe anyone has to change their weight or appearance in any way, though I do advocate health. Weight can cause health issues (if "under" or "overweight"), and this is often important to address, but it is completely the individual's choice whether or not to address this at all. I will always respect that choice and recognize a beauty in anyone at any weight or with any appearance. 

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