Chakra Clearing author: Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. Hay House Publishing 1998, 2004 ISBN #1-4019-0277-4 CD: text: Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. music: Randall Leonard Chakra Clearing is a wonderful little book (107 pages) with a wealth of information about the chakra system. It is accompanied by a very nicely done CD that contains both morning and evening meditations to clear the chakra's. It is very hard to know where to begin discussing this book. I will start with something that is often either overlooked or simply ignored, and that is the presentation of the book itself. The cover for the book is done in shades of yellow, moving into, green, blue and purple. There is a dark blue stripe on the top and bottom of the cover, with text in white. The highly spiritual coloring of this cover makes you want to pick the book up - it makes you feel good! The book itself is a dark purple - again, highly spiritual and immensely healing. The book size - 6" by 6 3/4" - is also a draw, as it is easy to handle and carry with you. The pages of the book are white, with the text done in deep purple. Very easy on the eyes, a very "clean" presentation. In Chakra Clearing, Doreen Virtue explains what the chakra energy system is, why it is important to us, and how to clear and balance it. While the human energy system consists of a multiplicity of chakra's, from a healing standpoint we are only concerned with the seven major chakras. There is a constant state of movement through our energy centers. If we hold negative energy patterns to us, through our thought processes, our chakras become clogged, and will not process energy. As a result, we feel a lack of energy and focus. As living beings, we are pure energy. If this energy is not allowed to flow freely, we impede our own progress and are unable to accomplish what we set out to do. Doreen Virtue does a wonderful job of explaining the sequence of the chakras (which are located along our spine), their purpose and the areas of life that they govern. The latter in itself is critical - we take our chakra system out of balance when we focus, or obsess, on any one area or issue in our life. There is a chart on pages 18-19 that lists the chakra's, their location, the life issues that they correspond to and their corresponding colors. Great reference material for anyone who wants to work on themselves and their issues, or to help a friend or family member do the same. Virtue goes on to give meditations that can be used to clear each of the chakra's. Actually, the clearing is a two step process: step one is clearing the chakra, step two is balancing the chakra (making sure that all of the chakra's are the same size). There are two basic meditations - a morning clearing meditation and an evening meditation that acts to release negativity that has built up during the day and clear the chakra's, so that each person goes into dreamtime ready to accept the wisdom that will be brought to them during the night. A third meditation is given to open the heart chakra. This is a very important chakra, as this is where many of the worlds fears and shadow issues reside. Looking over these meditations, I would suggest taping them, in your own voice, perhaps over soft background music. Don't fear falling asleep - you will not be casting aside the benefits of the meditation, as you will still be hearing it and assimilating it in your sleep. Virtue also covers several different visualization exercises that are used to clear the chakra's: working with white light; working with a series of colored globes; a quite interesting process that she terms "vacuuming"; breathing the colors (I use this one frequently, and to great effect); flying through the grids (I have to try this one - it sounds like pure joy!); healing temple; and third eye opener (an interesting exercise with cycling energy). There is also a section about working with the angels and clearing chakra's. Virtue also talks about cutting psychic cords, and working directly with the Archangels Michael and Raphael. The whole section on etheric cords is tremendously interesting! We are not done yet! Virtue also discusses using the techniques of toning and chanting to clear the chakras. Each chakra does carry a specific tone, and this is a very easy and fun way to work with clearing away issues. It is also something that lends itself well to group work. Forgiveness itself - the very act of forgiving, is also discussed as a technique that helps to clear our chakra's. There are very specific exercises here that anyone can do that will take away a lifetime of pain and heartache. Past life clearing through the third eye and recognizing the energies that certain foods bring to us discussed, as well as working with crystals, massage, flower essences, and sea salts. At the end of the book Virtue discusses chakra and aura scanning, and how we can train ourselves to do this. What a wonderful tool to have - to be able to locate blockages and understand the issues that are behind them. This is the first step to living a life of unconditional love and acceptance. For anyone who wishes to work on their own lives, or to do energy work with others, I highly recommend Chakra Clearing". We really have no idea how much healing power we have until we clear our personal energy systems so that we can recognize and work with it. February 2004 Bonnie Cehovet Personal Lifestyle Reading - I offer a Personal Lifestyle Reading using Tarot that looks at past, present and future influences in your life, at the energies that are currently available to help you along your path, and at those energies that are appearing as challanges. My goal is to offer you insight into your decision making process, as well as tools that you can use to both better understand your path and make conscious, choice centered decisions. Home Personal Empowerment links Personal Empowerment articles View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook Graphics by Art for the web