From Surviving to Thriving is the first of a seven-book series by teacher and energy therapist Mark Lorentzen to introduce people to the world of energy psychology. The body’s energy system, claims the author, is responsible for all aspects of mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well-being, and this energy system can be healed by learning about the energetic patterns that keep us in survival mode, and moving them into thriving mode.
Using the ancient wisdom of chakras, Lorentzen provides a basic introduction to the root chakra, which controls and governs survival-based energy. He talks about how an unbalanced root chakra manifests certain behavioral and emotional patterns that can keep you stuck in a rut, living in fear, or just barely making it in life. By making better choices, the author states that you can heal the root chakra and redirect its energy in a positive and empowering manner, taking you out of fear mode and into living life with more energy and presence. In fact, the author claims that by changing your energy, you can change your life.
The author describes the chakras and their relationship to our overall sense of well-being in a very easy-to-understand manner, and he provides some actual exercises for grounding your energy and getting a better sense of the tribal mentalities that might be controlling you, as well as increasing self-worth and letting go of abandonment issues. But later chapters, which are supposed to provide different ways to increase root chakra energy fall far short of giving any real information that is usable.
As the first in a series, From Surviving to Thriving does provide a basic introduction to the idea of balancing chakras, one at a time, to achieve optimum well-being and balance, but it could have been a little more detailed and often left me hanging, wanting more information or at least more techniques for revving up my root chakra energy. I enjoyed the book and learned about how this particular chakra keeps me rooted to the ground, wanting to survive, but also wanting to really live. The problem is, when it came to really changing my energy level and thriving, as the title states, there just was not enough information to get me from point A to point B.
A fine introduction, but you may want to turn to other more extensive books about chakras and energy psychology for a more well-rounded education on the subject.