Balance Your Life E-Book Sample

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SAMPLE (This is ghostwritten. I do not own the rights to this material. This is for portfolio showcasing only.)


PROJECT SUMMARY

REQUIREMENTS This is a ghostwritten chakra balancing e-book under the pen name, Samantha Singh with a 25k word count. Needed to provide a beginner level explanation of each chakra, their role, and methods for balancing and healing them.

CHALLENGE This is not the only beginner's guide to chakras out there. The unique challenge came with ensuring that this book rose above its competitors. I incorporated a 'Getting Into the Mindset' chapter to assist the Western mind in absorbing and relating to the information on a deeper level (sample provided.) I also included more detailed balancing methods than the competitors and closed the book with many healing modalities that readers could pursue if they were interested. I offered information about each modality, how they differ, and issues they are best at solving. My highest priority was value - I provided authentic, and digestible information with simple language to ensure the largest actionable takeaway possible.

CLIENT FEEDBACK "Rahim is easy to work with. He's a great communicator. He made sure all my needs were met for the project and delivered a fantastic final product. I would definitely recommend working with Rahim."


Getting Into the Mindset If this is your first time tuning into your energy body, don’t worry! It’s so much easier than you think it’s going to be. After all, we are spiritual beings having a human experience, not the other way around. Yes, a shift needs to be made in order to pick up on the subtleties. Energy at the ethereal level has no physical mass, so it’s much more gossamer and refined. That being said, it’s still there, and it’s part of what makes you... well... you! Still, I’m going to cover the best approach to tuning in with your chakras so you can go enter this experience with confidence and clarity. Setting Intentions The first stage of getting into the mindset is ​setting an intention.​ Intention is the initial spark of all spiritual work. When you set an intention, you are sending a little wavelength of energy to whatever it is that you’re wanting to do. That wavelength of energy then becomes that little push that changes potential energy to kinetic energy. Imagine you are a runner that is posted on your mark and waiting for that starting bell. Once that starting bell goes off, your mind sends the intention to the rest of your body that it’s time to start running. Once your body receives that intention from your mind, you’re off to the races. This happens in a matter of milliseconds, but without the intention, your body won’t run. Say you decided to sit down on your mark instead of run. That is because your intention shifted. So, intention is everything! Where your intention goes, everything else follows. Because of this, simply setting the intention that you are going to explore your chakras already sends your energy there. I’d dare to say that setting an intention is more than half the battle, which is great news because it’s ​easy! If you want to explore your chakras, simply decide to! It really is as simple as that. Practice Mindfulness There are many misconceptions about ​mindfulness,​ so let’s clear it up. Mindfulness is taking an observational approach to your thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Most of us take a perceptive approach to our experience. In other words, we get very involved. With every


thought, feeling, and sensation, we tend to analyze, rationalize, judge, or react. Often, all of these things can come on at the same time, and they usually contradict each other. This is when we get confused, overwhelmed, or agitated. This isn’t a bad thing! It’s totally human! But when we make the mindfulness shift, instead of getting caught in a line of our own mind’s traffic, we stand on the sidelines and watch the traffic instead. Now, this doesn’t mean there’s an absence of thought. What is really happening is a change in ​relationship​ to the thoughts that we are experiencing. Say, for instance, that you’re experiencing anger. It’s pretty normal (especially for women, unfortunately) to not only feel the anger but to also feel all the judgments that may be placed on that anger. We come by this honestly, usually. Somewhere down the line, we might have either been directly or indirectly punished for experiencing anger. (One thing that I often hear from clients is that they were told, as children, that their feelings were too much.) The problem here isn’t actually the anger itself - it’s all of the judgments that are being placed on the anger. Here are some common examples when reacting to feeling anger: “I shouldn’t feel angry.” “If I feel angry, it’s going to scare people.” “People will like me less (or not at all) if I show anger.” “I don’t deserve to feel angry.” “Feeling anger is bad, therefore I’m bad.” Do any of these resonate with you? If they do not, can you identify the dialogue that you ​do​ experience when you feel anger? When we shift into mindfulness, we can watch the chaos unfold from the neutrality of the sidelines. For instance, you might experience anger, judge that the anger is bad, and that you are bad for feeling it. Following that, you might feel guilt or shame because you’ve judged another part of yourself as bad. This guilt or shame may lead to sadness, and… guess what comes next? Queue sadness judgments!


When we observe this tumultuous process from a mindfulness mindset, we don’t get swept up in the swirling parade of thoughts, feelings, and messiness. Instead, we just watch it happen. A good way to get into this mindset is to understand something very essential: you are not your thoughts, feelings, or sensations. These are all simply things that you are experiencing, and they are transitory. You ​are so much more. You are so much bigger than any of those things. How do you know? Because you can be an observer. If you can be an observer, how can you be those other things too? Is the reflection that you see in the mirror actually you? Of course not! It’s a reflection! It’s the same thing with your thoughts, emotions, and sensations. You are the watcher, therefore you can just allow these experiences to move through you effortlessly. Why is this important? It’s important because the mind is noisy. Mental chatter can seriously distract you from tuning into your inner landscape. If you are too focused on what is going on in your head, then you can’t really listen to your physical body, let alone your energy body! Entering your inner landscape with the intention of being mindful can be a big help for the overall process. Next, we’ll get into why these pesky emotions are important. Engage In Compassionate Curiosity After approaching an emotion with mindfulness, we enter a state called ​compassionate curiosity.


This allows us to start a real dialogue with our emotions. Let’s stick with this anger example. So, let’s say you feel anger and immediately make one of the judgments I listed above. Instead of feeling anger and immediately making a judgment, such as “​anger is bad,​” we can bring compassionate curiosity into the equation. In place of “​anger is bad​,” we can say, “Hmm, isn’t it interesting that I feel angry? I wonder why I feel that way!” Of course, there are a number of reasons to feel angry. And sometimes, people or situations are unfair and do cause a healthy anger response. However, there is almost always a component of older, unresolved anger contributing to whatever is triggering the current anger. The more overwhelming the anger feels, the more likely this is the case. Because of that, it is often helpful to dig a little deeper and find the true source of the anger. One we begin exploring our chakras in future chapters, the way to do this will become much more clear. Feel Your Body The first step in doing this is to feel into what part of our body is having an emotional response. Believe it or not, emotions are actually stored in our physical bodies, not our minds. Our minds react ​to the emotions, but what the mind is reacting to are the physical sensations. So, if you’re feeling anger, you might feel a tightness in your chest or belly, for instance. From there, you can determine what chakra rules that part of your body. Then, after feeling into that chakra, you might be able to determine the true source of that anger. Replace Reaction With Response Once the true source of the anger is identified, we can then say, “I wonder what is needed to shift this anger.” Then, we can explore a little more, if we wish too. Since we now know which chakra is holding the anger, we can now identify the remedy based on what that particular chakra needs to be healthy. When we make it a habit to take a step back from our emotions, engage the mindfulness mindset, and then identify the source and the remedy, this is when we begin to ​respond​ to our inner and outer worlds instead of ​reacting​ to them. When we respond in the right way, we can


act in alignment with our true needs. This allows us to discern real meaning in our lives. We can trust ourselves more fully, engage in healthier relationships, and feel better in general. Mindfulness Meditation Now, down to the process of tuning into your inner landscape! A great way to start is to get into a meditative state. With meditation, the important thing to keep in mind is that, like cultivating any skill, your meditation ability will improve over time. It’s easy to get frustrated when you first begin meditating, but it’s important to drop your expectations of what it should be like. This will enable you to truly feel into your inner landscape and what is happening there. Having an expectation of how it should be is just asking something of yourself that simply might not be true, and is therefore very unhelpful. If you feel frustrated, remember to engage with the mindfulness mindset that I talked about. In fact, any emotion that you experience while meditating can be approached this way. I’d recommend sticking with it through the frustration that will most likely occur (I still get frustrated.) That being said, you can pretty easily see results before you really even know what you’re doing. A notable thing about mindfulness meditation is that the practice is very simple, but it is infinite in its multitudes, because this an exploration of ​you​, and you have the entire Universe within you! So, you never really get to a point where you reach “the goal.” The goal is being in the present moment and exploring the vastness of your own nature, so it’s about the process. You’re already engaged in “the goal” just by doing it! Congratulations! So, don’t feel any pressure to attain a specific thing. From a spiritual perspective, meditation brings us in greater touch with the divine (however we understand it,) opening our capacity to feel a greater sense of protection, compassion, and oneness with all things. From a purely scientific perspective, meditation calms your brain down and puts your awareness in your body. This results in a whole host of benefits, such as reducing anxiety, depression, and


mental distractions. It can also increase emotional regulation and emotional awareness, and can even regulate body functions, keeping you in better physical health! So, regardless of personal ideology, everyone benefits from meditation. That being said, to get the true benefits of meditation, you have to make it a habit. You know how we don’t really benefit from brushing our teeth once? Brushing our teeth is something we do every day, right? It’s the same with meditation! The more you do it, the more you get out of it. Calming the mind is something we simply have to do in order to keep it calm. Just like teeth don’t just stay clean, the mind doesn’t just stay calm. It can feel intimidating at first, but it really doesn’t have to be. I recommend starting small with a really attainable daily goal. You can choose 10 minutes, 5 minutes, or even 1 minute. And you can always move up when (and if) you feel ready. Right after you wake up, or right before bed, is best. That is because this is when the brain is the least encumbered by the hustle and bustle of the day. But if that doesn’t work for you, just find a consistent time that you can easily stick with. Anything will do just fine, as long as ​you​ are comfortable with it! If you’re wondering what to do, don’t worry! I’m going to walk you through the simple step-by-step process so you can get started as soon as you want to! Ready? Step One:​ Sit comfortably, preferably with your back straight. Bare minimum, just don’t lay down (you’ll fall asleep!) Step Two:​ Shift your awareness to your current surroundings. Look around, listen for any sounds, and when you’re ready, close your eyes.


Step Three:​ Breathe with your lower belly (not your chest) and just watch your breath. Don’t try to change it, just observe its natural rhythm. Every time you trail off into a thought, just gently come back to the breath when you remember. This is how you’re rewiring your brain to settle into better body-mind-spirit alignment. At first, your mind is going to trail off more often than not. That is okay. Observe any emotions that DO happen, including if you get frustrated or beat yourself up about it. Step Four:​ Bring your awareness into your whole body by feeling how every part of your body feels as you’re watching your breath. Note any pain points or points of relaxation. Another thing to keep in mind is that you’re going to show up a little differently every day. Each day, you’ll have some different thoughts and different feelings. Some days, your mind might naturally be quieter. Other days it might be very hard for your mind to settle down! And if it doesn’t settle down, that’s okay too. “Progress” isn’t linear. The idea is to take the present moment as it comes, in whatever way that it shows up, without judgment or reaction. You are just observing what is currently present for you, whatever it may be. Tapping into mindfulness meditation is a great way to get into a deeper connection with your chakras. This is because as you start to tune out of your mental noise and external awareness, you can tune in deeper to your subtle energy centers. Once you are able to do this, you can feel the sensations of your chakras with great clarity. Enter Your Inner Landscape Finally, it’s time to tap into those chakras! In the next chapters, I will break down each chakra individually, what it does, what it represents, and the steps that you can take towards healing them. But first, I will just go over examples of how to enter your inner landscape, which you will be able to apply to each chakra as you learn about them. At this point, your eyes are closed and you’ve entered a state of mindfulness! Now, picture yourself as a little mini you (or as just a little ball of consciousness if that works better for you.) Picture that mini you going into your body. You can enter anywhere you choose. I like to enter into my heart! Then, open yourself up to a visualization. Allow yourself to explore your inner space.


If nothing happens at first, that’s okay. The more you let your conscious mind relax, the easier it is to explore your inner space. Each chakra might appear to you very differently. And what you’re doing is allowing your imagination to interpret your energy landscape in a way that your mind will understand it. Maybe your second chakra is a vast and glorious ocean. Maybe your third chakra is a tall and mountainous landscape! It could be anything! It’s unique to you. Make sure to engage all of your senses when you explore your inner landscape. Your intuition is entirely your own and there’s no one way to feel into your chakras. Some people are more visual, some are more kinesthetic, some simply have an inner knowing, and everything in between! Most of us can engage all of our senses (including smell and hearing) to some degree within our inner landscape, but some senses can be more clear than others. This is a great opportunity for you to get in touch with how your intuition speaks to you. Remember, it is your right, as a human being, to be able to access your chakras. Just set your intention and know that you can do it! Enjoy the adventure!


How to Find the Right Alternative Healing For You Exploring your chakras on your own is a wonderful and uplifting experience! If that’s all you’d like to do, then by all means, just do that! But if you think you might want to seek a practitioner to go even deeper, there are a plethora of options available to you. However, because of the sheer number of options, you might have a few questions, such as: What is alternative healing anyway? What are all these healing modalities and what do they mean? What’s the right healing modality for me? How do I choose the right practitioner? How do I integrate this kind of healing into my daily life? All of these questions will be answered! I will break down the different options you can choose from, what they do, and how to select the right one for you. What is alternative healing anyway? First things first: alternative healing. ​What​ is it, exactly? Alternative healing is a form of healing that focuses on the ​human energy system. Now, it’s important to bear in mind that alternative healing is essential for healing your spirit and bringing your body-mind-spirit alignment into better balance. However, alternative healing does ​not​ replace healing modalities that work on other parts of your system. Biological medicinal practices are for your physical body, therapy is for your mental/emotional body, and alternative healing is for your spiritual body. For instance, a cancer patient might visit their medical doctor for medicine and their therapist for finding more emotional peace with their condition. But, they wouldn’t visit their therapist for physical treatment, nor would they ask their doctor for emotional treatment.


The same is true for alternative healing. Alternative healing does not treat physical or psychological symptoms. What alternative healing ​can​ do is heal you on an energy level, which may help speed up the healing processes of other modalities. Therefore, alternative healing should work in tandem with other healing methods that may be required. Your energy body consists of: Grounding Cord: ​The meridian that runs from the center of the Earth to your root chakra. Center Channel: ​Your core meridian that aligns your grounding cord and core chakras with the highest power in the Universe. It runs from the center of the Earth, through your crown chakra, up through the sky, and into the infinite Universe. Boundary: ​Your boundary is your energetic protection from energies that do not belong to you. It forms an egg-shape around your physical body. Auric Field: ​Your auric field is the energy that emanates from your core. It extends beyond your boundary. Primary Chakras: ​Your primary chakras are the seven core power centers that run through your center channel. Secondary Chakras: ​Your secondary chakras are the minor chakras that run through the other meridians in your body, such as your hands and feet. Other Energy Meridians: ​Your other energy meridians are channels that transport energy through your entire system, akin to how veins create blood flow. There are so many alternative healing systems and they all come from different parts of the world. So, there may be slightly different names for the energy system, depending on that particular modality. But every energy system works with these basic principles, regardless of the names. Alternative healing modalities focus on aligning all elements of your energy system so that you can live in harmony with the Universe, your mind, and your body.

What are all these healing modalities and what’s the right one for me?


There’s a wide variety to choose from, which can be daunting if you’re not sure what everything means! I’ve listed some healing modalities below, with brief descriptions of what they do and how they help. Acupuncture A staple of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture consists of positioning tiny little needles through the surface of the skin at various pressure points (it feels a little weird at first, but it doesn’t actually hurt.) This generates the flow of life force energy at various meridians that may be stagnant by stimulating the nervous tissue. It is best for pain and stress management. Reiki Reiki is a hands-on method, where the practitioner places their hands on the client and transfers universal life force energy to the client. Reiki is a wonderful method for people that feel stagnant or depleted. Shamanic Healing Shamanic healing offers an in-depth variety of options that, in my opinion, makes the most lasting (and sometimes permanent) impact on the client. Shamanic healing forms include (but aren’t limited to): Soul Retrieval: ​Soul retrieval is a universal need that makes the biggest lasting impact on health and holistic wellbeing. In soul retrieval, the shaman journeys on behalf of the client to find lost soul parts that have split off from the body due to trauma or deep fear. It is very common for soul loss to happen at some point in childhood when the child feels threatened. If you feel on an overarching sense of depression, emptiness, or anxiety that never goes away, you may be a great candidate for soul retrieval! Ancestral Healing: ​Unresolved ancestral trauma can seep through the family bloodline and impact descendants. The shaman can journey on your behalf to discover the source of the trauma and negotiate with the ancestor to resolve the issue. If you have a family history of physical/mental illness or struggle with dysfunctional family dynamics, then ancestral healing could be a great choice for you! Clearing: ​A clearing is a simple cleaning out of old energies that are no longer serving your energy body. If you feel depleted or stagnant, this could be a great option for you. Extraction: ​Extractions are rarely needed, but they are available for a reason! If you feel that you are being attacked by outside parasitic energy, the shaman can remove it for you.


General Energy Healing: ​Any other forms of maintenance and healing, such as alignments and energy circulation are included in this category. Yoga Originating in India, yoga is probably the most popular alternative healing method! Yoga is a wonderful option for general wellbeing. For people that like to take matters into their own hands, yoga teaches you how to align your spiritual center by working with your physical body. Various yoga poses circulate your life force energy, opening blockages and creating new and higher baselines for your energy body. Tai Chi / Qigong Originating in China, tai chi works with the universal yin/yang balance of nature to bring your body in perfect alignment with all of life. Yin and yang energy are the polarities that are in constant motion around the central spark of existence - the Tao - which contains them both. In tai chi, you work to discover what yin and yang energy feel like in your body in order to balance them as the Tao. In this way, you discover how to replenish your life force energy (yin) and exert your life force energy (yang) so that you are never in excess or depletion. Sound Healing Sound healing tunes your various chakra centers by absorbing your body in certain frequencies that correct the vibration of that chakra. It is a great option for people that are responsive to audio frequencies and need a quick tune-up! Massage Now widely used in the Western world, massage can help soothe muscle tension, clearing life force stagnation that is stored in your muscles. This also opens us up to where we naturally hold tension, which is a good indication of what chakras may be holding energies that no longer serve us. Reflexology Reflexology specifically works with pressure points in the feet that link to all other parts of your body. It is a wonderful holistic option with good grounding effects as well. Alternative healing methods are not limited to this list, but these are the most common ones. How do I choose the right practitioner?


Something to keep in mind with energy work is that the standard methods to test for authentic practice are not applicable. This can be really confusing for people seeking alternative healing to know where to look or who to trust. There are certifications, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Sometimes highly intuitive, but naive people decide to pursue healing work before they are ready and this can be a bit of a problem, especially in shamanism. Shamanic practitioners need to be called by spirit to do healing work. It’s not something that they can just decide for themselves! We also need to look at the difference between divinatory methods, such as tarot and astrology, and healing disciplines. You can be an amateur tarot reader/astrologer and not cause any harm. However, posing as a healing practitioner without the necessary skill set can be a big problem. The best that can happen is no results. The worst that can happen is further harm to the energy body of the supposed practitioner or their client. With energy healing, you're looking at a variety of disciplines, such as shamanic healing, reiki, acupuncture, tai chi, yoga, and many more - some of which the Western world accredits, like chiropractic practice, and some of which most don't know much about, like reiki. The less common knowledge, the more likely there are to be hacks in that field. So, when finding an authentic practitioner, it depends a great deal on the field you're looking at, and who is held in esteem in that field.


Where did this practitioner study? Who did they study from? Best to get a referral from somebody who knows their stuff Choosing the right practitioner is all about social proof. There are many practitioners out there, and many are certified. Yet, because of the nature of alternative healing, certifications don’t always indicate a good practitioner. The first thing to consider is going to a friend or acquaintance that you trust for a recommendation. If that won’t be a resource for you, that is totally okay! Consult the internet to find somebody with a plethora of positive reviews and testimonials. If a number of people have had a good experience with this person, then that might be a good way to go. Comfortability with the practitioner and results are an indication that working with this person will be a positive and healing experience. So first, find the healing method that works for you based on the list above. Second, find a practitioner that comes highly recommended by people you trust, or by people that multiple other sources find trustworthy. Another important thing to note is to trust your intuition and gut instinct. Even with a reputable practitioner, there is a slight chance that they are simply not good for you. Make sure that the practitioner you choose resonates with you. If you have a feeling that they


are not a good fit, then find someone else! You will know instinctively when you’ve found the right one! How do I integrate this kind of healing into my daily life? Immediately after your healing, you’re most likely going to feel good. ​Really good. Now, that’s not always the case. Healings can also stir things up quite a bit, which might require a big adjustment period. So, if you don’t feel good, that’s okay too. Now, if you’re in the “feeling good” camp, you are potentially in what is called the ​peak experience. The peak experience is the height of ecstasy, where everything is exuberant and perfect. It most likely won’t stay there. The human experience is a mess of emotion and change. You will most likely have a better baseline, but that does not mean that difficult experiences won’t come up. After a healing, you’re going to re-enter your daily environment. Your daily environment is going to throw the same kinds of energy that it usually throws at you, and your old energetic habits are at risk of coming back. When integrating a healing experience, you need to make a conscious decision to make a change in order for your healing to stick. Otherwise, you will very likely fall back into old conditioning. So, depending on your healing, you need to decide what that change is going to be. You can work with your practitioner on these changes as well, so you’re not alone! For instance, say you get a soul retrieval, and the soul part that you got back is a sacral chakra energy.


The sacral chakra needs movement in order to be healthy. So, in order to integrate the return of this soul part, you may need to take a dance class, a yoga class, or some other form of movement that will allow you to establish a new energetic habit. Here’s another example. Say you get a reiki healing. That reiki healing teaches you what it feels like to truly be grounded and connected to the Earth. If your energy habit is to keep most of your life force in your head, you will quickly become ungrounded again. So, you might choose to do the root chakra grounding visualization that I listed in the “Root Chakra” chapter of this book! This will, over time, establish a new energetic habit of grounding that will allow your reiki healing to truly stick! Make sense? This is how we truly make changes in our lives that serve us in better ways. When we make energetic upgrades, we need to make upgrades in our physical/material worlds as well. These upgrades can be small things or big things. It’s up to you! The important thing is consistency and dedication to your healing and wellness. Now that you have a strong foundation for working with your chakras on your own, as well as a list of information on how you can get additional support, there is nothing in your way of achieving your infinite wealth of happiness and wellness! I’m so excited for you!


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