Enhancing Your Energetic Vibration

Cyndi Dale

As teenagers, my friends and I made our decisions based on “vibes.” We ate food that gave off a “good vibe,” dated people with the “same vibe,” avoided situations that had a “bad vibe,” and went to parties that would “raise our vibe.” We didn’t know it then, but we were tuned into one of the most important aspects of reality: vibration.

Vibration is one half of the formula that composes everything seen and unseen, or energy. Energy is information that vibrates, and everything and everyone is made of it, from flowers to thoughts. What makes a rose a rose, rather than a cupcake, is its unique imprint, or energetic code. Simplistically, a rose is an expression of its original formula, or code, as are humans.

If internal or external events are supportive of our original code, we’ll be able to articulate our authentic, or true and genuine, self. The result is vitality and passion, clear thinking, beneficial emotions, a happy body, and the ability to flow from situation to situation with ease and grace. The opposite is also true. When inner or outer factors don’t synchronize with this code, well, you can only imagine the results, including everything from poor health to disastrous relationships.

Many of us work hard to reinforce our authentic self and sustain its original code, even if we don’t use these words. We diligently diet, read self-help books, and buy shoes that support our fallen arches. So how come all this busyness doesn’t always leave us replenished or renewed?

There is a range of energy that is even more powerful than the everyday and concrete. It’s called subtle energy, and the good news is that we’re made of it as well as concrete physical energy.

Subtle energy is similar to physical in that it’s composed of information and vibration. It’s much less measurable, however, though that doesn’t mean it’s weak. In fact, it creates physical reality and constitutes the majority of our original code. Do you want to accentuate your authentic self? Change a harmful situation? You can leverage time and resources by focusing on your subtle energy, which, in turn, can transform physical energy.

Subtle energies emanate from and affect every part of our being—body, mind, and soul. Just as physical energies are housed in physical organs, subtle energies occupy their own subtle anatomy, a three-part structure that processes subtle and physical energy. You’ll meet the three members of the subtle anatomy in this chapter, although I will mainly focus on two components: the subtle energy field and the chakras. Subtle energy fields serve a vital protective function, and the chakras—subtle energy bodies anchored in the material body—perform physical, psychological, and spiritual functions. As such, the latter are ideal vehicles for healing, manifesting, and enlightenment.

Not all subtle energies are created equally. Ultimately we want to attract, process, and emanate the subtle energies that match our authentic self and its supportive energetic code. We want to refrain from interacting with those that don’t match our unique signature. When we hit the “right notes,” physical reality follows suit and we begin “living the dream” instead of just “dreaming the dream.” By “raising our vibration,” or aligning our subtle and physical energies with our unique spiritual code, we literally change our reality.

How do we accomplish this goal? In this chapter I present vibrational healing techniques aimed at helping you do just that.

Before outlining these processes, which include playing with color and sound, performing a fun Tibetan finger healing exercise, and interacting directly with the chakras, I will acquaint you with the issues surrounding energetic vibrations. First, I discuss matters related to vibrational healing, the overview phrase describing the means for enhancing your energetic vibrations. Using anecdotal and scientific evidence, I explore the relationship between our original code and energy, specifically highlighting the vibrational component. I also include a quick description of the subtle energy anatomy, highlighting the chakras.

Our next step on the yellow brick road leading to Oz, the empowerment of our “good vibes,” features ways to discern the difference between energies. How do we know when we are being positively or negatively affected by vibrational energies? A quick “cheat sheet” listing these factors will help you decide. At this point the chapter turns a corner and I lay out several easy and effective exercises, all designed to help you become the self that you really are. Once you’ve reached this stage, you’ll be equipped with techniques you can use any time to raise your vibration or align with your true self. You’ll be the star of your own dreams!

The Case for Vibrational Healing

A client, whom I’ll call Kelly, set up an intuitively based energy session because everything in her life was going wrong. “I’m being audited—again. I’m underemployed, and I only meet unemployed or married men. Besides which,” she sneezed, “I’m nearly always sick.”

Kelly admitted she had an unenthusiastic attitude toward herself and the world. Then again, who would greet the world with a grin when it’s usually raining on you?

Listening to her, I was reminded of an insight shared by an indigenous healer in Peru. When I complained about a malady I couldn’t shake, he said something like this:

“If the clouds are always covering the sun, the problem could be the weather. Then again, it might be where you are standing.”

My client was hardly going to move from Minnesota to China. That meant she needed to change something inside of her.

At first, Kelly refused this invitation to self-examination. “I want to eliminate the negative energy in people,” she demanded. “Better yet, I never want to meet anyone nasty again.” Apparently I was the magician with the magic wand who was supposed to help her accomplish these goals.

As I’m sure you’ve already learned, we can’t control others. We can’t rewrite tax codes or transform a toad into a prince or achieve a zero exposure to viruses. We can, however, alter our own energy and, by doing so, become our best selves. In turn, we make more effective decisions. Our intuition informs us who to trust or not. Our open heart might encourage kinder treatment from others. A new and improved attitude can influence the people and events around us. My goal was to help Kelly accomplish an internal energetic shift and learn to meet life like the adventure that it is.

Within a year, Kelly was a happier and healthier person. She was dating a great guy and hadn’t been audited the prior year. She was also being treated more respectfully at work, a desire that hadn’t made the initial list. Her health had also improved significantly, and she was enjoying the yoga class that was helping make the difference.

What did I help Kelly do? She used vibrational healing techniques to accentuate her authentic self and its signature energy. You’ll be learning all about these concepts and techniques in the following pages.

Your Original Code and Vibrational Healing:
The Formula for Increased Health and Happiness

As stated, I believe that we all have an “original code.” This is our signature programming, and it upholds the essential elements of our genuine self. Most of this code is subtle, but that doesn’t mean its goal is to assure a place in heaven. An enhanced energy code helps us open a little more heaven on earth.

There are three main subtle energetic structures that uphold this code. The chakras are subtle energy bodies; the meridians and nadis are subtle channels; and there are dozens if not hundreds of subtle energetic fields that surround and protect us.

The most famous subtle field is the aura, which extends from the chakras around our body, one layer atop the other. There are dozens if not hundreds of other subtle fields, which are distinct from but also married to our physical and measurable fields, such as our electrical, magnetic, and electromagnetic fields. How lovely if we could actually perceive ourselves as the beautiful assembly of complex and nonlinear energetic fields that we are. Combined, these fields create a cumulative biofield that coordinates all parts of our life, regulating our physiology as well as our ability to heal and manifest.65

I believe the auric fields are extensions of the chakras, in-body subtle energy centers that contribute toward our well-being. We have seven main in-body chakras, as well as several minor and out-of-body chakras. Each lies on a band of vibrating energy that determines the incoming and outgoing energy and governs physical, psychological, and spiritual functions. Person to person, our chakras share generic job responsibilities, just as do our physical organs, such as the liver and kidneys. Your chakras also resonate with memories, programs, and awareness unique to you. These special attributes contribute greatly to your original code. Because of this, your chakras are perfect vehicles for clearing issues and blocks and also activating your exceptional traits.

Following is a description of the seven main chakras. Included in this brief sketch is their Hindu name and bodily location, as well as the color that represents the vibrational wavelength running horizontally through and within a chakra. I’ve also provided a thumbnail description of their main job or task, which will help you apply vibrational techniques to the chakras later in this chapter.

First Chakra: Muladhara

Color: Red

Location: Base of the spine

Mission: Security and survival

Second Chakra: Svadhisthana

Color: Orange

Location: Lower abdomen

Mission: Feelings and creativity

Third Chakra: Manipura

Color: Yellow

Location: Solar plexus

Mission: Mentality, power, and success

Fourth Chakra: Anahata

Color: Green

Location: Center of the chest, heart area

Mission: Relationships, healing, and love

Fifth Chakra: Vishuddha

Color: Blue

Location: Throat

Mission: Communication and guidance

Sixth Chakra: Ajña

Color: Purple

Location: Forehead, above and between eyebrows

Mission: Sight (insight, hindsight, future sight) and strategy

Seventh Chakra: Sahasrara

Color: White

Location: Top of the head

Mission: Purpose and spirituality

Vibrational healing techniques are those that reinforce this original code, thus encouraging the expression of our genuine self. They do this by introducing vibrations into our physical and subtle system, frequently through our energetic fields, although they can also enter directly into the chakras. The vibrations that match our authentic self rebalance imbalanced energy, both physical and subtle. The correct vibrations will even linger long after a vibrational healing, continually adjusting our system. These “good vibes” counteract the vibrations we generate from negative thinking, emotional maladjustment, and unhealthy behaviors. They also counter­balance the destructive or harmful energy produced by others that is inherent in a world replete with toxins, loss, and war.

Vibrational tools are effective change agents because vibration affects all levels of our being. Of particular importance are our energetic boundaries, which is a term used to describe our subtle and physical energy fields. I believe the subtle fields are the most important, for when they operate in concert with our original code, they fulfill a vital protective role. They filter unnecessary information, alert us to danger, and communicate messages that augment our well-being. They also support, alter, and sustain our physical fields. Unfortunately, they can also operate on dysfunctional “software.”

Negative programming stems from many taproots, including our soul, which carries issues from past lives, “family of origin” beliefs, the culture at large, and our reactions to life’s events. This harmful programming causes “blocks” that inhibit our joy, health, and connectivity. Vibrational healing processes, especially those aimed at subtle energy, reinforce our positive programs and help clear the negative ones.

But, you might ask, do they really work?

Short of trying them, consider research from the Institute of HeartMath, which shows that certain vibrations are supportive to everyone. As well, certain vibrations are detrimental. For example, uplifting emotions, such as those equated with spiritual values, are beneficial on all levels. Concentrating positive feelings and attitudes in the heart results in increased energy, stronger cognitive abilities, psychological resiliency, and a bolstered immune system. Simplistically, positivity creates coherence, a state in which heart, mind, and emotions are balanced. In turn, all levels of our energetic self coordinate our immune, hormonal, and nervous systems. Conversely, negative emotions impair these same abilities, also reducing muscle mass, accelerating aging, and even causing brain cell death.66 Positive feelings, such as gratitude and joy, begin as subtle whispers and then instruct the physical fields. The heart is a powerful place for focus because it generates subtle energy and measurable energy. Its electrical field is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the equivalent activity in the brain. Its magnetic field is 5,000 times stronger than that produced by the brain.67 Utilize subtle energies that match your innermost self and collective goodness and the rest will follow.

How Do You Know If You Are Harmonizing?

Sometimes it’s easy to know if an energy matches your genuine self, therefore supporting your original code. Then again, sometimes it’s not. How can you tell?

Healthy energy, which matches the true self, does the following:

• Boosts your physical energy without leaving you frazzled or frenetic

• Can also relax and encourage peace and calm, allowing for down time

• Smooths out and soothes emotions

• Kindles creativity and innovation

• Builds self-esteem and self-confidence

• Invites connection within self, others, and the Divine

• Enhances sharing of personal truths, accomplished with compassion and kindness

• Bolsters personal and professional vision

• Ignites energy to meet goals

• Opens the gateway to intuition and safe mystical encounters

• Promotes boundaries, the appropriate separation between self and other

• Raises your sense of self to an optimum level

In contrast, energy that doesn’t vibrationally match our own can lead to the following:

• Loss of physical energy, sense of being drained, or illness

• Frantic or scattered feeling in body

• Illness, fatigue, or exhaustion

• Emotional challenges

• Muddled sense of self, goals, and desires

• Negative thinking, resulting in low self-esteem or, conversely, criticism of others

• “Can’t do” attitude instead of “can do”

• Difficulty in sharing personal truth or hearing that of others

• Self-hatred or hatred of others

• Hypervigilant psychic activity or the opposite, which is the inability to receive spiritual guidance

• Poor energetic boundaries, either too loose or too rigid

• Lowers your sense of self to the worst common denominator

Noticing which situations, people, feelings, colors, sounds, events, and more create healthy rather than unhealthy reactions will help you know when you are imbalanced and need to rebalance, a task that can be made easier because of the next section’s exercises.

Exercises to Enhance Your “Vibe”

The rest of this chapter is devoted to exercises that you can use anytime (and, with only a few exceptions, anywhere) to fortify your original code and genuine self. They can help rebalance you when you feel “off,” as per the signs we discussed earlier. But you don’t have to feel bad to make use of them. Even when you’re doing great, why not step it up?

Some of the exercises refer to the Divine, the Higher Power that sustains us all. You can substitute any name you would like for this being, such as Creator, God, Allah, Greater Spirit, Kwan Yin, Mary, the Goddess, or even Higher Self. The name is less important than the concept of being wholly and completely embraced by a source of eternal goodness.

As you practice these exercises, make note of which ones seem most powerful and under what conditions. Feel free to alter them as you wish. After all, they have been developed to support your unique self and can be done in the way that is perfect for you.

Exercise: Unlocking Your Intuition to Meet Your Authentic Self

Most energetic techniques incorporate our intuitive gifts. As well, the good life is guided by intuition. We are all intuitive; we’ve only to envelop and apply our gifts to benefit from them.

The following exercise will help you access the basic intuitive gifts, which are visual, verbal, feeling empathy, and spiritual empathy. It will also assist you in applying your intuition to better understand and embrace your genuine self.

1: Take a few deep breaths. Affirm your spiritual nature and acknowledge that the Divine is fully present to guard, guide, teach, and empower you.

2: Set the intention for this exercise, which is to access your intuition to gain insight about your authentic self that generates and is supported by your original code.

3: Concentrate on your heart and ask that your authentic self step fully forward. It is you; many of us experience this self most fully through our heart.

4: Ask for visual clues to your authentic self. The visual intuitive gift presents images or pictures in your mind’s eye. If you don’t psychically see anything, use paper and pencil and draw whatever comes to you. All images constitute descriptions, symbols, or revelations about your authentic self. Know that your visual gift is available whenever you need it.

5: Request verbal messages about your genuine self. The verbal intuition gift is usually available through internally heard sounds, tones, words, or communication. If you don’t hear anything, try writing, singing, humming, or talking. What messages do you express or tune into? What is important to this self? Acknowledge that your verbal gift is accessible whenever needed.

6: Breathe deeply into your body, which is the tool for your empathic feeling gifts. Your body speaks through feelings, smell, and touch, as well as sensations that could involve heaviness, flutters, twitches, pressure, and more. Link to your genuine self through the feeling gifts and get a sense of the emotions your authentic self resonates with or gravitates toward. Are there certain physical or emotional states preferred by your genuine self or, conversely, disliked? How does your authentic self alert you to people or situations that don’t suit you? Affirm the ever-ready presence of your body’s intuitive guidance.

7: Clear your body and ask what the Divine wants you to know through your spiritual empathic gifts, which instruct us through awareness, bursts of understanding, or streams of consciousness. In relation to your authentic self, embrace your full consciousness. When you focus on goodness, how does your body respond? Know that this gift is available to you at all times.

8: Now ask the Divine to merge the insights you’ve received through these four intuitive means—visual, verbal, feeling empathy, and spiritual empathy—into a complete whole. Request a final inspiration about your authentic self and what type of energies resonate with or repulse it.

9: Take a few more deep breaths and thank the Divine for assistance.

Finally, realize that you can trust inner capacities even if you can’t categorize them by style. Sometimes we simply know what is true or not.

Exercise: Meditation for Removing Blocks

A block is any physical challenge, belief, feeling, or spiritual misunderstanding that prevents us from living fully in the moment and acting—or reacting—from our genuine nature.

The reason that blocks are so harmful is that their energy doesn’t match our own. These impediments can therefore be said to degrade our natural expression, creating energetic and, therefore, physical, psychological, or spiritual disturbances.

There are two keys to releasing blocks or undesirable energy. The first is to do so with compassion and love. This allows us to gather the “pearl” from what was or is a destructive situation and move on, richer in knowledge and wisdom. The second is to substitute a new energy for the old, otherwise brand-new negative energy will refill the cleared area.

This second point is important enough that I want to underscore it with an example. I once worked with a woman who was fired from nearly every job, even though she had a PhD in her subject area and was friendly and warm. Previously, she had visited a healer who had removed a block from her family lineage. Both sets of my client’s grandparents had barely survived the Depression. Her grandfathers had, in fact, lost job after job because of the economy. One of the results was a belief that inserted into the family, framed in this way: “No job is safe.”

Certainly my client’s grandparents were subjected to this reality, but once it entered the family energetics, it remained as a belief that kept asserting itself. In fact, my client’s parents had also experienced several job losses.

The healer who first worked with my client had pinpointed the destructive belief but hadn’t inserted a belief that would prevent a fallback. Because of this, my client’s life hadn’t changed. We spent a single session unearthing a more positive belief from her heart and asking the Divine to “spread” it vibrationally throughout her system. Consequently, my client has enjoyed the same job for several years.

The following guided meditation will allow you to accomplish the goals of releasing a block and opening to a more fulfilling energy.

1: Take a few deep breaths and center yourself, resting your consciousness in the part of yourself in which you feel most at home.

2: Ask the Divine to help you pinpoint the most important block for you to work on. Your intuitive abilities will help you visually, verbally, or kinesthetically perceive this block.

3: Focus on the block and ask the Divine to show you what occurred to cause this disruption.

4: Ask the Divine to note the various negative ways this block has affected you. Then ask for insight about the gift inherent in the block. This gift is usually a teaching, understanding, or perception. Know that accepting a teaching isn’t the same as validating abuse or undeserved trauma. Taking the silver lining out of the black cloud will, however, allow you to move out from under the cloud and bask in the sunlight.

5: Ask the Divine to cleanse you of the black or stagnant energy.

6: Request that the Divine expand the wisdom that you’ve gained and add additional supportive energy, thereby filling in the empty area left by the release process. Continue this activity until you feel more whole and complete.

7: Ask, too, if there are any additional activities that would enable you to continue moving forward.

8: Own the courage it took you to complete these steps. Feel gratitude toward yourself and the Divine for the healing process.

Exercise: Prayers for Communing and Healing

Most of us think of prayer as a single action, an outreach to the Divine. It is, but there are also numerous types of prayer, each of which accomplishes a different purpose, but all raise vibration and enable you to more clearly express your original self.

The following outline will familiarize you with five versions of prayers. After describing a prayer and its purpose, I present a “cheat sheet” that might help you construct your own prayer. These clues are presented as statements to address sequentially; some are fill-in-the-blanks.

Prayer of Decision: Getting Clear on Choices

Are you confused? The Prayer of Decision allows will help you summarize your need and gain clarity about choices leading to a decision. You can create your prayer by paying attention to these statements:

Divine, I would like clarity on the following decision: __________.

I am open to any revelation that would reveal the need this decision would meet.

I would like to be shown the best possible choices and be supported in selecting the one that will yield the highest possible outcome.

Prayer of Petition: Asking for Higher Will

We often feel depleted or discouraged because we don’t know how to make a dream come true. This prayer aligns your will with higher will through a request for divine help. We can focus the petition this way:

Divine, I ask your assistance in meeting this need: __________.

I understand that you will ultimately decide the best way for this desire to be met.

I am open to the intuitive guidance that will shape my attitudes and actions.

Prayer of Forgiveness: Freedom from the Past

Resentment and bitterness squelch joy and stop forward movement. I define resentment as the belief that someone else “should” have been different. Bitterness occurs when we think we should have been different. Forgiveness frees us from should-haves, would-haves, and could-haves, and creates a point of change. This fulcrum is the present, the only place from which we can step anew into the future.

An effective prayer of forgiveness includes these four ideas:

I have been holding a “should” for the following reason: __________.

I beseech assistance, for I want to realize that I cannot change what happened.

I ask to perceive the silver lining in the situation, which is this: __________.

Divine, I ask that you keep my heart door ajar for new insights so I can live in the present.

Prayer of Healing: Asking for Transformation

One of the main reasons we pray is for healing.

Healing is complicated. Sometimes we ask and receive exactly what we requested—a better attitude, a new job, a reduction in the size of a tumor. Then again, it can seem that the particulars we desire are completely ignored, or at least our time frame is overlooked. Maybe we find a super mechanic for our broken-down car—five years too late.

Healing is often paradoxical because the Divine gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. As an example, I once worked with a client who had cancer. We prayed for healing. Over the next few days, her spine stretched and she grew two inches, which was not what we had requested. While she was eventually given a clean bill of health regarding the cancer, I can’t take credit. She was also undergoing chemotherapy. Maybe the Divine knew that she had that topic covered but was due for a new wardrobe or perhaps her spine needed to stretch to engage the healing properties in her body.

When we pray for healing, it’s important to know that our human perspective regarding the desired cure and its distribution date is merely that—a human point of view. The prayer for healing aids us in setting aside our limited opinion so the Divine can fling open the doorway of our genuine self. Now we can receive the “special deliveries” that are required.

A beautiful way to ask for healing follows:

I am experiencing the following discomfort: __________.

I am willing to release all limited perspectives so I can be shown what I’m supposed to do, as well as what the Divine wants to provide for me.

Divine, I now ask you to connect me with the healing power of grace to create wholeness within and around me. I am willing to follow your plan in all ways.

Prayer of Intercession: Asking for Help for Another

Through intercessory prayer, you serve as a spiritual proxy for someone else, requesting assistance for someone who can’t do so personally. I use it when seeking help for young people, animals, groups of people, the seriously ill, or even addicts.

Following is a lovely way to begin such a prayer:

From a place of compassion and surrender, I ask for assistance for __________. I also request that I be shown anything I can do to personally provide aid.

Exercise: Color Your Energy

Remember when you were a kid and selected your crayons with concentrated precision, most likely furrowing your brow? You innately knew that a teddy bear colored red was a different animal than one that was brown.

One of the simplest ways to enhance your energetic vibration is to use color. Colors can be chosen as clothing, accessories, or environmental design items, such as pillows and blankets. I use colored eyeglasses to alter my mood and even eat off certain colored plates to control my eating. (Blue, by the way, reduces appetite.) The easiest way to use color, especially if you need a quick cleansing or boost of energy, is to employ visualization.

Visualization involves tapping into your visual intuition. I’ll discuss a few ways to engage visualization for these purposes after presenting the ways the seven main chakra colors aid in cleansing and bolstering energy.

Color	Cleansing	Adding
Red	Burns out microbes, can clear causes of inflammation, reduces physical blockages and lethargy	Spices up life, stimulating passion and physical system; anchors you in present moment; empowers positive action
Orange	Washes away other’s feelings, clears feelings you don’t need anymore, erases blocks to creativity	Enhances feelings and your ability to share them, bolsters creativity, inspires appreciation of sensuality
Yellow	Dissipates negative thoughts and worries, dispels fears and prejudice	Sharpens mental acuity and ability to focus, raises self-esteem and confidence
Green	Disperses relationship confusion; cleanses body, relationships, and energetic field	Heightens healing powers, ability to love, and connection with self, others, and the Divine
Blue	Frees you from communication blocks, old messages, and interfering entities that keep you from stating your truth; can also reduce pain, inflammation, and heat	Activates inner truth and the ability to receive guidance, aids sharing of important thoughts, cools energies that are too hot
Purple	Dissipates causes of low self-image and confusion	Increases ability to clarify goals, attracts revelations, improves self-image
White	Purifies all levels of your being, exorcises negative entities and forces	Reinforces your sense of purpose and worthiness, enhances connections with higher guides and the Divine

For two easy ways to use this information, try the following:

Cleansing Blocks

Focus on the issue that is causing disruption and intuitively sense the color that will release the unwanted energy. Take a few breaths, visualize the color in your mind’s eye, and imagine it washing through your body from the top down. Let this cascade of cleansing energy flow through your body and also through your energetic fields.

Boosting Vibration

Allow your intuition to select the color that will galvanize you. You can focus on the part of your body requiring a helping hand or, if your entire system requires rejuvenation, you can work in the heart chakra, which can carry energy throughout your system. Ask the Divine to expand the animating power and let it increase until you feel pepped up.

You can also access colors through your inbreath, your hands, or the earth at your feet. The latter process is a fantastic way to boost your physical well-being. Along the same vein, you can breathe in cleansing colors and then follow with a “chaser” of a bolstering color—a great way to gain instant empowerment.

Exercise: Setting Energetic Boundaries with Shapes

One of the easiest ways to enhance your vibration is to work with the energetic field, and shape is one of the secret ways to establish a field that’s immune to others’ negative thoughts and attitudes, challenging events, and even illness. It is also one of the keys in creating reality. As explained in an article by Meinard Kuhlmann in Scientific American, physicists have long believed that particles and force fields underlie reality; instead, these energies might actually themselves respond to bundles of properties, such as color and shape.68

Two Siberian shamans taught me how to use shape to change energy with two basic techniques:

1: Visualize a shape on or in the person or inserted into the energetic field.

2: Trace a shape with fingers or hands on the person, through the energetic field or in the air.

Their practice incorporated only three shapes—circles, squares, and triangles—creating a vibrational method accessible for anyone. In my description of these shapes, I also explain specific ways to cultivate their power.

Circle: Circles embody wholeness, completion, and beginnings. A circle pictured around your body will return you to a state of wholeness if you feel scattered or frenetic. Imagine a circle of light between yourself and anyone you feel disconnected from. A circle around the self will encourage self-reliance. Draw a circle around your body if you feel unsafe and want to affirm the protective power of the Divine.

Square: Squares provide protection and security. Perceive a square shape in your energetic field to protect yourself from a threat or if you need to hold your own in a challenging situation. Imagine yourself standing on a square pedestal when you must communicate with authority. Do you have a secret? Put it into a square inside of you; it’s like hiding it in a pocket.

Triangle: Triangles symbolize change and wisdom. When problem solving, draw a triangle on paper and ask a question from each angle. The bottom right corner represents the masculine perspective; the bottom left corner accesses feminine insight; and the top of the pyramid shape is the eye of wisdom and assures a “big picture” point of view. Imagine a triangle or pyramidal shape in your energetic field to promote intelligence and quickness. If you seek intuitive answers, see a slowly spinning triangle around you. This triangle interconnects with various dimensions and planes of intelligence to deliver guidance.

Exercise: Tibetan Finger Healing

Sometimes we’re in a quandary and need a quick energy fix—a sort of instant vitamin boost. There are also times we can’t sit down and focus; maybe we’re driving the car. And sometimes we’re surrounded by other people and don’t want them aware of our healing practice. Tibetan finger healing is fast, effective, and easily hidden.

In Tibetan finger healing, each of the five fingers is associated with an element and a color. Elements are the fundamental energies that create physical matter. The meanings of the colors are explained on page 340. I will share a few ways to perform Tibetan finger healing after outlining the relationship between the fingers, elements, and colors.

Thumb: Space (like ether)/white

Index: Wind (like air)/green

Middle finger: Fire/red

Ring finger: Water/blue

Little finger: Earth/yellow

The quickest way to bring instant (and secret) relief is to figure out which finger needs clearing and to wrap the fingers of one hand around the selected finger. Squeeze three to six times. Repeat on the opposite hand.

For instance, you might decide that your greatest challenge is your bitter relationship with a former partner. Consider your feelings. If you are bogged down with grief, sorrow, and sadness, the predominant issues are “wet.” After all, tears are wet—and composed of water. You might focus on your ring finger. While holding the ring finger, focus on your sadness and fully own it. Then give permission to release these watery tears. Feel them flow out of your finger and back to the universe, restoring balance to your entire being.

On the other hand—pun intended—your predominate emotions might include anger, frustration, and rage. You can bring balance to yourself by selecting your middle finger, which manifests fire, the energy of passion and movement. When working with your middle fingers, first embrace your anger. You can even ask what message it can provide you. When you feel finished with the anger in each middle finger, release any leftover anger with the intention that it flows to a place in the universe that could use it.

Is there an energy you would like to activate or invoke? Select another finger and perform the same steps. Activating an energy is done in a similar way as releasing energy, but your intention is the opposite. Imagine that you feel bogged down mentally and need to clear your mind. What element best relates? Wind or air. Wind sweeps across the expanse, clearing whatever is in the way and delivering new energy. When you hold your index fingers, picture and feel the energy of wind wiping away your over-strained thoughts and delivering those that are clarifying. In general, the elements can be seen in this way:

Space: Relates to higher consciousness

Wind/Air: Refers to mentality and ideas

Fire: Pertains to passionate energies

Water: Reflects emotions and intuition

Earth: Relates to grounding and practical energies

You can also touch any part of your body with the finger that represents what you would like to clear. If you don’t want anyone to notice what you are doing, simply touch the palms of both hands in the same way.

Working with One or More Chakras

There are many configurations of chakra work, chakras serving as ideal focal points for vibrational tools. You can work with all chakras at once, a chakra at a time, or a specific chakra. This section will show you how to accomplish these goals.

Sometimes we want to work on the entire chakra system all at once. Maybe we don’t have much time; perhaps we can’t figure out which chakra is most responsible for a specific need. You can accomplish this goal by focusing on your heart.

The fourth chakra is the meeting ground for the chakras underneath it, which are material in orientation, and the chakras above it, which represent spiritual energies. There is a reason that most spiritual systems suggest the heart as the center of the body, mind, and soul.

You can also engage the total system by moving from one chakra to another, which I will show you how to do in the “Relaxation Response and the Chakras” exercise. As well, you can use your chakras to create a healing mantra and conduct an interactive meditation.

Exercise: Relaxation Response and the Chakras

This simple mindfulness exercise uses the chakras to compel a deep level of relaxation and, therefore, state of balance in body, mind, and soul. The first time you conduct this exercise, I suggest you conduct it with each chakra. This will familiarize you with every chakra. After that, you can work with the specific chakra that requires balancing. You can also set the intention to work with all the chakras simultaneously through your fourth chakra, which is the center of the energy system. What we do in the heart is shared throughout the chakra system. There are other configurations as well, such as working on two or three chakras. Follow your intuition and make the exercise your own.

1: Find a quiet and cozy place for meditation. Make sure you won’t be disturbed or interrupted. Sit or lie in a comfortable position.

2: Take several deep breaths. The word for “breath” and “spirit” are one and the same in several languages. Acknowledge that every time you inhale, you draw the Divine deep within you, also affirming your own eternal spirit. Decide that every time you exhale, you invite the Divine and your own spirit to release you from all toxins, whether they are physical, psychological, or spiritual.

3: Focus on your first chakra, located in the lower genital area and coccyx. Breathe in and through the front and back sides of this chakra and allow each inbreath to fill it with the energy needed for security and safety. Every outbreath releases energies that have been causing insecurity or a lack of safety. As soon as this chakra feels balanced, you’ll note a corresponding calm in your entire body.

4: Breathe into your second chakra, located in the abdomen area and lower back. With every inhalation, this chakra takes in emotional affirmations. On the exhalation, the breath unlocks repressed feelings and releases emotional energies you no longer need. When this chakra is cleansed and lit from within, feel the resulting boost of creative energy.

5: Sink into your third chakra, anchored in your solar plexus and mid-back. Every inhalation ushers in needed power and insight, and every exhalation releases data that no longer serves you. Acknowledge the resulting rise in your self-esteem and personal power, as well as increased clarity of mind.

6: Fall into your fourth chakra, located in the front and back of your chest. As you breathe into this chakra, revel in the unconditional love of the Divine. As you breathe out, release everything that opposes love. Settle into the peacefulness this process provides you.

7: Focus on your fifth chakra, found in the front and back of your neck. As you inhale, receive all the spiritual guidance you need right now. Exhale to release negative thoughts and falsehoods. Accept the ensuing calm, which promotes the receptivity of spiritual guidance.

8: Through your sixth chakra, located in your forehead and directly across from it in the back of the head, breathe in the light of truth. Through your outbreath, release all shadows and darkness. You can now see yourself as the beautiful being that you are.

9: Sense your seventh chakra. The front side is on the top of your head and the back side is at the base of your neck. Your inhalation fills you with the spirit of the Divine; your outbreath frees you from any evils. Revel in the divine presence that is you.

10: Upon finishing this relaxation meditation, take a few minutes and enjoy the resulting pulsation of love and grace throughout your body. When ready, take a final breath and give permission for the Divine to continue to inspire you, even as you return to everyday life.

Exercise: Making a Chakra Mantra

A mantra is a tone, word, phrase, or even a wish that can be chanted, sung, or internally sounded over and over. When focused on, it serves as a prayer.

You can use any sound as a mantra, but it’s especially powerful to employ the ancient Hindu chakra seed syllables, the sounds contained within and made by the energy bodies. Invoking these ancient sounds calls forth forces that have served the highest of intentions across time. After introducing you to the chakra seed syllables, I will show you how to use this information to personalize a chakra-based mantra.

Chakra	Seed Syllable
First	Lam (lum)
Second	Vam (vum)
Third	Ram (rum)
Fourth	Yam (yum)
Fifth	Ham (hum)
Sixth	Om (long O sound)
Seventh	None (recommend silence)

To create a special chakra mantra, start by coming up with an intention. You might want to affirm a healing, the fulfillment of a wish, or opening to guidance. You can then proceed in one of these two ways:

1: Select a single chakra. Choose the chakra most likely to assist you in this effort. Chant the related sound repetitively, either aloud or internally. You can also mentally focus or physically touch the area managed by the chakra while affirming your intention.

2: Formulate a full-chakra mantra by selecting several of the chakras and assigning them an order of importance. Then string the chakra seed syllables together in sequential order. For instance, if you require money, select the first chakra, which promotes safety and security, and begin your mantra with its seed syllable sound. Do you believe that relationship issues are inhibiting your financial flow? These are related to the fourth chakra. Add the heart sound to your first chakra sound, and so forth.

Following is an example of a chakra mantra created for money. I have put the rationale for the sequence in parenthesis.

Lam (First chakra: to underline money as a security need)

Yam (Fourth chakra: to ask for healing of relational issues causing security issues)

Ham (Fifth chakra: to ask for guidance in earning money)

Om (Sixth chakra: to perceive a future including money)

Vam (Second chakra: to feel happy about receiving money)

Ram (Third chakra: to be empowered to stay on task)

Silence (To show gratitude to the greater Spirit for assistance)

Repeat Lam, Yam, Ham, Om, Vam, Ram, and silence, over and over.

Exercise: Interactive Meditation Through a Chakra

Mindfulness techniques often involve holding a focus so you can better understand and then heal a life issue. You can also obtain information from a chakra or galvanize it for manifesting purposes. Your intuition is a key tool in these endeavors.

The following exercise covers all these options.

1: Set your goal. What is it you would like to achieve through a mindful exploration of a specific chakra?

2: Select a chakra. Decide which chakra is most appropriate to work with.

3: Relax in a comfortable and quiet place, and sit or lie down within it.

4: Breathe deeply into the selected chakra. With your goal in mind, relax into the chakra as if you were gently being lowered into its center.

5: Focus your intuition. Allow the wisdom of the chakra to communicate with you, sending feelings, awareness, sounds, or visions to help you figure out what you need to know.

6: Interact. What questions arise? Ask them of the chakra as if communicating with a person. Also ask if there is an activity to conduct to heal an issue, respond to an insight, or manifest a desire.

7: Gratitude. Send gratitude toward anybody on your mind—yourself, the Divine, even the person or people that might have created an issue within you. Gratitude for the lessons learned helps us open to the blessings from above.

8: Relax and release. Breathe deeply and return to full conscious awareness. Move slowly and be gentle with yourself for the next couple of hours.

As you practice these exercises, remember that they can be adapted to your own needs and style. Your genuine self knows exactly how to activate those “key codes” that define you. It also knows exactly how important “good vibes” are to your well-being. Ultimately, your authentic self also knows that the source of vibrational nourishment lies within an infinite wellspring of love that we’ve only to acknowledge in order to drink from.

Katie Cannon Photography

Cyndi Dale is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and healer. She is the author of eighteen spiritual books, including The Subtle Body Encyclopedia, which has garnered four publisher’s awards, and her most recent book, Llewellyn’s Complete Book of Chakras. Cyndi has conducted over 40,000 client sessions and presented training classes throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Visit her at CyndiDale.com.

[Contents]

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