★★★★★ 4
Fascinating, informative, but not for everyone.
Format: Paperback
The idea of a human energy field is not new; numerous books have been published on the subject, many of which I've seen on Amazon. I do think it makes sense, to some extent, that the human body should be surrounded by such a field or fields. As the author herself states, our psyche and spirit need protection just as much as our physical body does. The author of this book, Cyndi Dale, cites numerous scientific sources as evidence that these fields do exist. Of course, Kirlian photography has been around for many years now. For those who might not be familiar with this type of photography, it's basically a technique used to photograph the electrical discharges surrounding people and other living beings, including plants. Dale briefly discusses this process in the first chapter, "Energy and our Energetic Fields".
This book also deals with the subject of the chakras, which are centers of energy in the physical body, and are also part of what is known as "the subtle body". These centers of energy are a well-known aspect of Hindu beliefs, and specifically, the yogic tradition.
Although I do feel that much of New Age philosophy, psychology, and spirituality needs to be taken with a grain of salt, I nevertheless enjoyed reading this book. It's not one for casual reading, either; in fact, studying it will yield more food for thought than just one reading will provide.
The author introduces the concept of energy balancing with an exploration of the four basic energy boundaries -- the physical, the emotional, the relational, and the spiritual. These are actually comprised of several of the twelve auric layers surrounding the physical body, and each has a different color, when viewed clairvoyantly; the physical is red, the emotional, orange, the relational, green, and the spiritual, white. She also discusses what life events can have detrimental effects on each of the boundaries.
Next, she presents the eight specific boundary issues that most people will typically encounter. These she calls "spiritual syndromes".
The first of them is named "The Paper Doll Syndrome", the basic manifestation of which being an endless repetition of the same troubling pattern in at least one area of a person's life. This might be, for example, a substance addiction that the person can't seem to break, or a pattern of getting involved in abusive relationships, also persistent in spite of therapy.
The second boundary issue is named "The Vampire Syndrome". This one deals with the curious phenomenon of feeling energetically drained after being around certain people. It can manifest as a feeling of exhaustion, frustration or lack of motivation, as well.
The third boundary issue, known as "The Mule Syndrome", is related to being a workaholic, of feeling duty-bound to take up the slack for others. It even involves worrying about others' concerns, to one's own detriment. Of course, physical exhaustion, as well as anxiety and depression, are also part of this boundary issue, which is related to co-dependency.
The fourth boundary issue is named "The Psychic-Sensitive Syndrome". This one is specific to those people who are psychically gifted. It includes those who are highly empathic, as well as those who are able to sense supernatural beings. Admittedly, this sounds a little scary to me.... Physical symptoms such as anxiety and insomnia are typical of this syndrome, unsurprisingly enough!
Dale mentions three other boundary issues -- "The Healer's Syndrome", which afflicts not only those in the medical or intuitive healing fields, but also those who are extremely kind-hearted; "The No-Boundary Syndrome", in which people are constantly hyperactive, as well as hypervigilant, and "The Environ Syndrome", which involves extreme sensitivity to environmental surroundings.
Dale offers various solutions to all of these syndromes, starting, of course, with one's own self-diagnosis to see which one(s) a person might be affected by. From there, she discusses such things as visualization, guided meditations, color and crystal therapy, and sound therapy.
I must admit to some skepticism as to the validity of using crystals for psychologically therapeutic purposes, because it just seems too "way out there". Some of the qualities Dale claims for crystals just seem to have no basis in scientific fact. Colors, on the other hand, do have valid psychological associations, although I'm not totally convinced of the therapeutic benefits thereof.
Subsequent chapters deal with working on boundary issues to help in specific areas, such as work and success, financial issues, relationships, and parenting.
Specific techniques that I do think are useful are "Uncovering Your Storyline", which is a means of digging into one's psyche in order to discover the origin of one's boundary issues, the use of sound therapy (music has scientifically been proven to profoundly affect the brain, and therefore, moods), visualization, and prayer. Although the author refers to God mostly as "the Divine", she does have a rather Christian-sounding tone in these sections of the book. I especially like her reference to "streams of grace" coming from God to take away the symptoms of the above-named syndromes.
Again, this is a book that can be best appreciated by studying it, and putting its techniques into practice. While perhaps not everything will be helpful to individual readers (this depends on each reader's beliefs, as well as degree of skepticism), there is much to reflect on here, psychologically as well as philosophically speaking, not to mention the spiritual sense. Each chapter in the book is annotated, with references to scientific research articles on the Internet, for instance, as well as spiritually-related ones. There's also a bibliography for further reading.
The tone of the writing is very soothing and peaceful, yet, the concepts discussed will ensure the reader's full attention. Dale never talks down to her readers, nor doe she engage in filling her chapters with any kind of jargon; in fact, she explains potentially new or confusing terms in clear, easy-to-understand language.
In short, this book will not only be appreciated by veteran New Age adherents, but also by those who are open-minded enough to investigate a field of knowledge that might not entirely be sanctioned by the scientific establishment, yet, remains totally fascinating!
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Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2014
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