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Mentally traumatized and physically crippled by an auto accident that also killed her brother, author Patel suffered for years, barely able to stand for more than a few minutes at a time, and needing surgery every few months. At last, desperate, she began to “pray for a miracle” and, serendipitously, started to learn about healing techniques that do not rely on Western medicine. Meeting a Qigong Master, she began to explore the use of that discipline’s inner energies of yin and yang, transforming both her emotional life and her ability to stand and walk. Her recuperative path began with journaling to recoup her positivity and regular Qigong exercises to restore her natural balance and strength.
Still, she suffered from memories of her brother’s violent death, so she turned to EFT (emotional freedom technique), a strategy that she calls “acupuncture without needles.” It uses certain specific physical “tapping points” to evoke emotional blockages and to let them go. Patel characterizes her healing process as finally, at age forty, finding her “inner child.” Her journey of discovery led to her practice of the Spring Forest Qigong method, which involves the channeling of yin and yang energies and, later, to her understanding of the Eastern mysteries of chakra healing. She describes these techniques and highlights with illustrations each of the seven chakras, their locations, associated colors, and characteristics when in balance and when imbalanced.
The long-term result of Patel’s self-examination and self-healing has been her newfound dedication to guiding others to access these transcendent restorative processes. Her book serves both as a memoir and as a teaching and sharing tool for reaching out to others who may have been similarly traumatized or who feel an inability to live life to its fullest due to deep-seated psychological barriers. She effectively analyzes the causes of stress and recommends ways to relieve it. She offers practical suggestions such as creating a journal, employing an inner mapping diagram, making a vision board for one’s dreams and goals, and vocalizing encouraging affirmations at the beginning and end of each day. Her own experience has led her to communicate with the energy of angelic beings through a technique known as integrated energy therapy, or “getting the issues out of your tissues.” This, in turn, inspired her belief in the power of the cosmos and, in particular, the attunement to Gaia, Mother Earth.
Patel offers this well-organized work to anyone who must deal with stress and physical ailments and who is seeking both simple and profound relief. Her counsel, based on her having overcome excruciatingly tough circumstances, seems especially appropriate in light of modern stresses and offers proven strategies for dealing with inner and outer health. The book helpfully includes two pages for notes at the end of each chapter and a list of online resources for the methodologies she recommends. Her well-considered vision opens the way for readers to see themselves as part of a universal process of improvement and harmonious living. Patel advises readers first to heal themselves and then join in the angelic task of healing the world.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review