I may have mentioned before on this blog that I love personal development books. I also love Carol Tuttle’s work, and I’ve had another great opportunity to read and review a new book from Carol. I agree that The Modern Chakra Guide: 7 Steps to Awaken Your Energy in Today’s World sounds a little “woo woo” at first glance. I’ve never read a book about chakra energy before and knew nothing about the concept.
However, “woo woo” sells it short in so many ways. This book, while it may have a spiritual aspect and an unconventional subject for many of us, is rooted in self help principles that are entirely accessible. It does give you the self help tools in a slightly different framework, but it is a useful and practical book in every way. Self help approaches resonate differently with everyone, and with its fresh view, this one may offer the exact perspective that you need, or support you in a different way than something you’ve seen before. I highly recommend it, as I certainly experienced this while reading it. Carol, as always, has given me new insight.
Carol has written multiple books in the self help genre and I can speak from experience that she always offers excellent analysis and advice that can help you learn more about yourself and to improve your life and your relationships with others.
As she is the first to point out, this book has nothing to do with supplanting your religious beliefs (or non-religious beliefs as the case may be) in her discussion of chakra energy in this book. Her aim is to provide a self help tool kit that will support you. She wants her reader to take what feels right from this book and set aside the rest. Ultimately, she wants to guide you in doing what is correct for you. And after reading the book, this is a question that will become part of my inner dialogue going forward.
Carol has years of experience and work in energy healing, and once again she is using it, along with a lot of personal stories to illustrate her principles, to help the reader move forward and live in their truth in seven areas where we might be blocked. They correspond to the seven chakras, although Carol actually gives a bonus chakra that even those who have read about chakras before may not be familiar with. She further interprets them through the lens of modern society – the “today’s world” from the title. So even if you are a chakra student, there will be something new for you.
I am going to guess most of us have at least two or three, if not more of these areas where we would love to see improvement. The areas include:
0: The Foot Chakra (this is the bonus chakra): Carol helps us learn how we can stand in our truth and take a stand in our life.
1: The Root Chakra: She wants us to learn how to be rooted or grounded in our truth so we can move forward in our unique identity and purpose.
2: The Creation Chakra: She discusses how you can take ownership of your creation energy and find more pleasure in life.
3: The Power Chakra: How many of us give our power and authority away to satisfy unmet needs or our limiting beliefs? She teaches us how to keep it, while still honoring those around us. The work she suggests we do here will improve our relationships dramatically.
4: The Heart Chakra: When was the last time you felt good for no reason? Would you like that experience more often? I know I would. Carol’s suggestions for working with the heart chakra energy are designed to lead you toward this. She wants to help us open our hearts.
5: The Throat Chakra: Of all the chakras she discussed, this is the one that resonated for me the most. I am a writer. I want to share my words with the world. But speaking my truth has always been an area of challenge for me. I have found myself with confidence issues in some settings. And I hold back in what I say. There was a lot here to support me. I was surprised however, to find that sometimes I still talk over others in certain situations. It’s my extrovert energy coming out when trying to relate to others’ feelings. But I fall into my introvert energy when I don’t share what I think.
6: The Intuitive Chakra: In this section, Carol invites us to think about our limiting beliefs. We all have them. She helps us to learn when our intuition is telling us something. I found this discussion invaluable.
7: The Crown Chakra: Carol wants to teach us how we can connect to God or the Divine (as we understand it) in a way that inspires us, rather than shaming us. The best bonus of unblocking our energy in this area (or improving ourselves in this area, if you prefer) is to move to a life where we are serving others. As Carol points out, when we serve others, we serve ourselves.
I am excited to use the tools in this wonderful self-help book to make positive changes in my life. If you are a devotee of self help, this is a wonderful book to add to your collection. It will be a great tool for you as we move into a whole new decade. And if you are looking for gifts for friends or family who enjoy the self help genre, it’s been released at a great time to give the gift of self improvement this holiday season.
Check out the link and get your copy today. The Modern Chakra Guide I was honored to receive an advance copy of this book to review, but I was not compensated in any way for the review.
