LAST DAY TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY OF THE CHAKRA DIARIES

Rather than a non-fiction encyclopedia of chakra attributes and signs of imbalance, the stories in The Chakra Diaries show the miracles that can happen through forgiveness, love and energy healing.

Download it and you’ll learn about:

• Chakra Meditation
• Chakra Yoga
• Affirmations for Chakra Cleansing
• Crystal Chakra Healing
• Mind-Body Healing

This is not a how-to book. As one reader said, “It’s what happens when you put ancient teachings and modern lives into the same kitchen and raise the heat while cooking up great emotion. The Chakra Diaries is a literary romance, but with emotional, intellectual and spiritual nuances that would appeal to anyone interested in love, especially enlightened love. The villains in The Chakra Diaries are ones we all try to avoid: cancer, lost love, false beliefs, but it is these very perilous obstacles that drive the stories and finally lift the characters into their higher spiritual states through chakra healing and balancing.”

“The best way to learn about the chakras is through fascinating real-world stories, tense with melancholy and wild with humor, and that’s exactly what you’ll find in the book.” ~ Honolulu Weekly

Whether you just love good storytelling, or want to be inspired, download The Chakra Diaries, and then listen to the CHAKRA MEDITATIONS from the book, so you can lie down and be guided to a place of relaxation and balance. I play these 10-minute guided meditation at the end of every yoga class, during Savasana.

Please share this giveaway with your friends – everyone can download it to any smart reading device.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries, Chakra Secrets, Balance Your Chakras-Balance Your Life, and The Chakra Energy Diet

www.thechakras.org

Man in Tibet Melts Snow with his Body Heat!

A recent story chronicled an amazing feat by a Tibetan man. An observer noted that the man’s mental concentration was so acute that he could sit outdoors in deep snow, nude and melt the snow around his body.

At the Hindu monastery on Kauai, we were visited by a guru from India who could breathe through his eyes.

These extreme results of the practice of meditation can result in what may look like miracles. But we can all achieve miracles in our lives through meditation, more useful ones than melting snow or breathing through eyeballs. For example, meditation can reduce stress and anxiety, enhance motor reflexes, increase motor control, increase exercise tolerance, sharpen perceptions, increase awareness, improve concentration, maintain health, provide a general positive outlook on life, and foster the development of a sense of personal meaning in the world.

Scientific studies reveal that meditation produces a specific physiological response pattern that involves various biological systems: metabolic, autonomic, endocrine, neurological, and psychological. Studies on how these mechanisms are involved in producing the final pattern of responses continue. The answers are so complex, the physiological response to meditation probably occurs on a multidimensional, interactive basis.

But why wait? We know the benefits of meditation, if not all the hows and whys. You can experience the benefits through simple sitting meditation, clearing of the mind with a focus on your breath. Or quiet your busy “chattering mind” with a guided visualization. To try a guided visualization that you can listen to lying down, try this Chakra Meditation.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaires

http://www.thechakras.org

Undercover Romance – A Great Love Life Starts Here

Dear Becca,

I feel odd writing you on this subject but I noticed that you were taking a journey to meaningful love, so here goes…

My fiancee (let’s call him Rhett) and I need to buy a new bed as the old one is as lumpy as yesterday’s mashed potatoes. Not sleeping well causes us to growl at each other from shower to cereal to parting kiss. Add to the mix the fact that we go to sleep at different times. Rhett is usually asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow while I read and re-read the fascinating tales in The Chakra Diaries. Many times I get hot under the covers in more ways than one and squirm around a bit (well, sometimes a lot), which wakes up Rhett, who then wants to watch SportsCenter to see if Atlanta will rise from the ashes. Becca, I want to be the only one scoring in my bedroom and so far I am batting zero, I have got to cure these “bad bed” hangovers.

I know the current rage is to buy a bed the size of Texas yet I am a romantic who feasts on Austen as well as Sparks and Crusie and I want my love to flourish in a small bed, hell, even because of a small bed. I want Rhett to carry me up those long, winding stairs (okay so we live in a brownstone and not on the set of Tara but a girl can dream can’t she?), and to give a damn about painting my cheeks with a blush of come hither and night-blooming satisfaction.

I read a quote “When love is strong, a man and woman can make their bed on the edge of a sword.”

Please help me Becca. I want to live on the edge of that sword, to know that love can cut very deeply but that it also can salve ills you didn’t even know you had. I know Rhett (secretly) reads your blog everyday on his Droid (he loved your book after I twisted his arm to give it a try), so sign me Frustrated but Hopeful in Soho.

Dear Frustrated:
Watch for my suggestions tomorrow along with advice from my other readers….

Dreams Confused with Reality?

“The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.” ~ James Michener

Dreams bolster and enable our vision, imagination and insight, revealing that which has been hidden, out of focus or not understand. Just as Deborah, a wondrous character in The Chakra Diaries saw herself in a different light when an anonymous admirer wrote of her anointing his dreams and igniting his imagination, dreams can communicate to us from the inside out. Deborah was living almost entirely in the past, isolated from her spouse’s physical affections and questioning her self worth until her new friend’s verbiage and focus enabled her to reopen her heart to love and all of its many splendors.

Will Deborah end up in the arms of love? Will her husband realize his mistake at leaving her and beg for her in forgiveness? Will Deborah’s new friend enrich her life as she had hoped and dreamed?

Read the whole story in The Chakra Diaries to find out more about reigniting the sacral chakra, passion and love. Namaste.

Love is the Heart of the Matter – Step Four – Heart Chakra

In my chakra balancing workshop profiled in The Chakra Diaries, one student’s fourth chakra was profoundly closed. He was as suspicious of others as a stray cat, resentful at life for handing him not that bowl of cherries that he felt he so richly deserved, but a crate of sour grapes and buckets of ill will filled with woe-is-me. No wonder that despite his rugged good looks and stable income he was having such a “hard time” finding a lover and soul mate. His inner peace was pockmarked and fragmented, it resembled a battlefield of negative feelings littered with remnants of squandered life force. He was in every sense of the unspoken word, a mess.

I suggested that he passively meditate at every opportunity, allowing his memories of love and relationships to surface so that they could be examined and balanced. He taped ten affirmations of self acceptance on his bathroom mirror and car dashboard to guide him in becoming more grounded and open to love and compassion.

Over the course of the workshop, I saw this delightful, yet challenging man grow into a balance of his internal and external worlds. He became more open and accepting of life and less apt to sling blame, point fingers and retreat into a fortress of self-pity. He led the group in a practice of saturation blessings and appreciations of abundance, reminding the group that blessings flow where attention goes and that all power comes from within. In the final tally, he gave to the group far more than he took and I am forever thankful that he crossed my life.

Mr. Heart, I miss you and wonder what your world has become. Please take a minute away from what I imagine to be an overflowing and abundant life and write to me soon. Namaste.

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall – Step Three – Solar Plexus Chakra

I begin my days by stretching cat-like on my futon, toenails to fingernails, arching and undulating my spine, inviting my physical body to join my consciousness in greeting a new day ripe with opportunity. Once I arise from my rainbow-drenched mat, I ball my fears into a small soft, mentally biodegradable box and give it a hefty kick into the heavens. In the evenings, I repeat this fear-banishing exercise, using it as warm milk for my soul, its soporific effect smoothly easing me into a relaxed state so that I may begin my nightly visualizations.

At some point during the morning, usually after my first cup of green tea, I affirm to the Becca in the mirror that even though I take risks in both love and life, I give myself permission to fail (or perhaps to alter my thinking or attitude so that “failures” morph into positive learning experiences.) Just yesterday, one of my chakra workshop participants was wringing her hands and likening her lack of a physical love life to that of a nun. I chuckled at her purloined quote that “Men are like parking spaces, the good ones are either taken, or are too far away.”

One of the males in the group suggested that Ms. Frustrated first take a hard, honest look in her mirror and assess (even writing down what she is offering to the world), those qualities seen and unseen that might or might not be attracting potential mates into her life. He reminded her to be realistic, but not to sell herself short and remarked that, for instance, he was attracted to her intellect and humor but often put off by her critical comments lightly veiled as wit. I urged her to practice enhancing the attributes on her “alluring” list and to discard or re-purpose the unwanted, much as I figuratively boot mine away.

Another workshop attendee who lost her lover to the thrills and spills of life, creating her own “private hell on earth,” said that simple positive thinking had helped her endure. Instead of grinding her teeth and stomping her feet at the “overwhelming” frustrations and mental plaque built up from being a modern woman, Ms. Optimism had hung a carrot on a stick in her kitchen, reminding her to concentrate on the rewards at the end of her journey, and not the countless, arduous steps in between. She ended her tale and gave our hearts wings when she said to stay tuned – that she knew meaningful, lasting love was on the horizon even though she has not yet even seen the boat it is sailing on.

If you are looking for love, a strong sense of self from a balanced solar plexus chakra will give you charisma and help you attract your soul mate. Good luck in love in the New Year.
Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

Finding Love at the End of the Rainbow – Step Two – Sacral Chakra

“Sex is emotion in motion,” said Mae West and she was an expert on that subject. If stress causes blockages of energy in the body, your sex and your love life will be out of whack. Accumulated stress in the body, whether emotional or physical, erects barriers to the natural flow of our life energy. So, too much stress may equal no love or even any prospects for it. Love doctors have for centuries recognized that moving in spontaneous and free-form ways not only demands flexibility but also the ability to change focus and let go of memories, trauma and pain.

Philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin has been quoted as saying that “Love is the most powerful and still the most unknown energy in the world.” In opposition to the Base Chakra’s links to fortress-like solidity and stability, the Sacral Chakra focuses on flowing movement and filling your need to sip, bathe, luxuriate or douse in the vivacious, unpredictable and dynamic stream we call love. Practicing the hypnotic hip swivels of oriental (belly) dancing or performing wu chi exercises may help you begin to experience the world of love that seems just beyond your heart’s grasp.

An imbalance of your Sacral Chakra may also manifest as an inappropriate focus on something or somebody that is inappropriate or unrealistic. Perhaps that new guy in the office does have a killer smile, great hair and a body worth giving up chocolate for, but he comes forth anointed with a ring finger wrapped in gold. We might practice the cobbler’s pose to encourage our life energy to flow throughout our sacral chakra or unleash and focus our creative spirits through painting or making music. Our skill level at this art is not an important measure but the fact that we are “doing it” and by doing so are diverting our essence around any barriers nesting in our bodies. As an expression of our joy of living, whatever we create is beautiful, skillful, breathtaking and encouraging. In becoming more sensitive and responsive to what is going on in the world around us, we also further the grounding that we fostered in our root chakra, allowing us to go boldly after what we seek in life, even a relationship that we can grow old with.

In addition to harboring pleasurable sensations, the sacral chakra can vacuum in and hold fast to pain and its attendant stress, damming up the free flow of energy and physically manifesting as infection and illness. We may be “going through the motions” in life, seeing the dust on the table and not the wondrous roses in the crystal vase. Our reactions to the world may vacillate widely from rage and aggression to breaking into tears at the slightest problem.

To aid in stress relief, esteemed authors and teachers Sue and Simon Lilly suggest placing three clear quartz crystals, points facing outward, in a triangle just below your navel. Next, place three rose quartz stones in an arc above your pubic bone and relax for 4-5 minutes. Repeat as often as is needed for optimal energy flow.

Namaste and Keep Focused on Love!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

How do I Use Crystals to Heal and Balance my Chakras?

Thanks for the question Laura.
When you’re seeking balance and a sense of well-being in your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual self, crystals can be simple, yet powerful tools.

Here is a simple Spectrum Chakra Balance you can do daily as a general balancing session, to reinforce your chakra energies and help them to return to normal functioning.

Choose a grounding stone (black, brown or dark red) to place between your feet. Then choose a stone or crystal corresponding to the different colors of the chakras, placing the red one between your knees, the orange right above your pelvic bone, the yellow right above your navel, the green over your heart center, the blue on your throat, indigo or dark blue on your forehead and a violet or clear stone on the floor just above the top of your head. Lie down with these stones in place for a period of about 5 minutes or until you feel complete, then remove the stones starting with the one above your head.
Relax for a few more minutes, still lying down, then enjoy a sense a well-being and balance, ready to face the stresses of the day ahead.

Adapted from Crystal Healing by Simon and Sue Lilly

Here is what author, Sue Lilly had to say about The Chakra Diaries:
“I just loved the book! Astonishing waves of chakra-linked emotion to each section. I became easily drawn in to the issues that each chapter dealt with, especially those most people shy away from – death, sex and pain. This is a beautiful way for people to begin to understand the emotional depth that each chakra corresponds to. I salute those brave souls who have shared their lives.”
Namaste.
Becca

How to Diet Through the Holidays and Stay Healthy Too

Dear Becca,
In addition to eating the right foods to balance an unbalanced chakra, can you offer any other advice on the right diet for optimum health, especially during the holidays when “poor” food choices and habits are the order of the day?

Dana in Denver

Dear Dana,
Using “food as medicine,” and diagnosis of the correct foods for each person’s constitution and body type is a major focus of Ayurveda and can help answer that question. Ayurveda, derived from the ancient Sanskrit roots, ayus (life) and ved(knowledge), is the traditional system of holistic healing from India. In Ayurveda, all aspects of an individual are considered and treatment is prescribed to bring balance to all levels of life: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
“One need not be sick to come for an Ayurveda consultation, as we suggest the proper diet to live 100 years without having diseases,” according to Dr. S. K. Kamlesh, a seventh-generation Ayurvedic doctor, and Founder and President of the International Society of Ayurveda. According to Dr. Kamlesh, the appropriate diet to balance the three physical doshas or energies of the body – Vata, Pitta and Kapha – can help to promote health and longevity.
Through the practices of Ayurveda, a person is requested to get involved more and take responsibility for their own healing. Seasonal cleansing and rejuvenation, as well as appropriate diet, are suggested to maintain health and to slow aging.
If you’d like to pursue that path, I’d recommend a personal health consultation with an Ayurvedic physician. After a diagnostic check to find any health problems in the body’s organs and determine an individual’s percentage of Vata, Pitta and Kapha energies in their body, you would be provided a personalized diet program, with suggestions of foods, herbs, spices, aromatherapy oils and supplements for healing.
Namaste!

How Can I Forgive When What I really Want is Revenge?

Dear Becca,

A friend of mine, or someone I used to consider to be a very close friend, was having sex in my bed with my boyfriend when I came home from work late, a few nights ago. Yes, I tossed them out on their ears (well, maybe not literally) but now I lonely, sad, frustrated and a few other things I won’t mention on here. I want to move on with my life and to put them both in my rear-view mirror, so please help me distance my heart from the hurt that is bruised and glowing there.
Signed,
Jilted Juliet

Dear Juliet,
Heart chakra balancing can help you release your anger to let love and compassion live there. First, you have to realize that forgiveness, even of something unspeakable, is necessary for you to live a healthy, loving life. You don’t have to forget or condone an action or behavior, you just have to let go of its importance in your life. As the Buddha said, “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.”

Most of the characters in The Chakra Diaries had to deal with forgiveness, of themselves and others, to release the tension in their bodies and allow the healing power of love to flow. Put your present happiness first, and forgive past transgressions – drop the hot coal.
Namaste!