Linda Linker Rosenthal - The Seven Chakra Sisters: Make Friends with the Inner Allies Who Keep You Healthy, Laughing, Loving, and Wise

Copyright 2013

by Linda Linker Rosenthal

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Hampton Roads Publishing, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

Cover art masevich/shutterstock

Interior designed by Jane Hagaman

Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-57174-692-4

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request

Printed on acid-free paper in the United States of America

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For all of us... and our team of inner allies.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

LAO TZU, TAO TE CHING

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

KAHLIL GIBRAN

Part I

Part II

Part III

My deepest gratitude goes first to my favorite storytellermy dad, Bob Linker, for teaching me how to sharpen my brain by using humor and word games with a quick wit. And to my mother, Bea, who put up with our nightly lobbing of puns across the dinner table as I was growing up, often having to excuse herself because she was laughing so hard. Thank you for birthing me. I love you both!

Thank you God, for blessing me always, in all ways, especially for my joy-filled children and their families who are resilient and brilliantBrian, Jen, Jenny, Michael, Jodi, Steve, Lisa, Stu, Jacob, Lyla, Dena, Marc, Joshua, Gabby, and my amazing crystal granddaughter Roxie who, like her dad, has her own weird way with words.

I have also been blessed with wise teachers everywhere who have opened the doors to my imagination: authors, wisdom keepers, and storytellersClarissa Pinkola Estes, Lynn Andrews, Julia Cameron, Osho, and Lao Tzu; evocators and visionariesJean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and Bruce Lipton; and soul teachers who validated my inner knowingsKahlil Gibran, Sri Aurobindo, Neale Donald Walsch, Michael Beckwith, Marianne Williamson, and Don Miquel Ruiz. Thank you to the educators who enlightened and impassioned my initial understanding of the chakrasCyndi Dale, Anodea Judith, Ambika Wauters, Alan Sealeand the teachers and healers at Delphi who brought transformational RoHun healing into my life. Thank you Yvonne and Laurelle for initiating me into the art of Reiki. I humbly and respectfully thank you all for sharing your knowledge, wisdom, and experiences so others can awaken.

I want to acknowledge the teachers who have no names but have given me endless moments of inspiration, support, and encouragementGrandmother Tree, the family of owls who talked to me over the course of one mystical summer, Panther medicine, spirit guides, celestial beings and angels who transmit insights while they visit my dream states, and the intuitive voice that expressed itself as God on the pages of my journals. And, of course, my seven chakra sisters, who do have names now!

My appreciation goes to all the clients, students, friends, healers, lightworkers, and circles of wise women who have come into my life for the past eighteen years and still show me the meaning of unconditional love every day. You know who you are.

I have immense gratitude for this new adventure with my Hampton Roads Publishing team. Randy Davila, Caroline Pincus, Addie Johnson, and Vanessa Ta, thank you for believing in me and helping birth the seven chakra sisters into the world. This might never have happened without Liz Dawn and the Mishka Productions family, who gave me the opportunity to grow and share my purpose by teaming up Celebrate Your Life with Hampton Roads to offer a writers workshop and contest in the summer of 2011. I am forever grateful to you. This book is the result of following my intuition and saying yes to what might be possible. It was beshert (destined)! I also want to acknowledge the new writer friends I met in Phoenix who continue to give me the courage to break through my fears and embrace the process. Thank you for holding that sacred space for me Eric, Elmdea, Jayelle, and Marilyn.

Finally, I am in awe of my soul's eternal wisdom which is guiding me to gracefully maneuver through this human experience on earth. Thank you for loving me.

My heart knows there are many more who I haven't mentioned, but I'm as complete as I can be for nowexcept to thank you, readers, for coming into my life to meet the seven chakra sisters. We appreciate you the most!

On a muggy August day many summers ago I was particularly distraught about the negative energies that were consuming my household with three young, active children and a husband whose health was spiraling downhill with his addiction to pain medicine. I locked myself into my room and privately prayed onto the blank pages of my journal, asking for helpno, screaming for help!

I used my pen as a mighty beacon of light, sending a query out into the universe for my guardian angel to appear... or my spirit guide... someone or something who would simply introduce themselves to me and let me know that I was not alone. I had known since I was a child that God was always with me, but I wanted something more immediate. It makes me laugh to say that now.

My prayers were answered in a way that I least expected. As I wrote, I kept hearing, team of seven. That's all. Team of seven. This was very confusing. Seven what? Seven days of the week? Seven letters in my recently deceased grandfather's name, Solomon? The seven dwarfs? Was I so blessed as to actually have seven guardian angels? Names, please! But nope, just team of seven.

My healing journey took many twists and turns to finally get me to see that I was the one with the problem. I needed healing as much as anyone with an addiction. I was asleep. I could not see or recognize that the spell of dis-ease was not only consuming my husband, it was also killing my whole family and me as well. As I continued to seek help through various holistic therapies, I was eventually introduced to the concept of the chakra system.

Chakra is an ancient Sanskrit word that means spinning wheel, or wheel of light. The chakras, or energy centers of the body, according to Western science, function as points along the spinal cord that process chemical and electromagnetic information between the cells. The location of each chakra corresponds to a particular part of the endocrine system, which manufactures the hormones that stimulate the cells into action.

But it is the more esoteric and metaphysical understanding of these energy vortices that interests me the most! The chakras are interdependent emanations of light and consciousness that each has its own color, shape, and intensity determined by their movement and rate of spin (frequency). Information from the world around us enters through the chakras. Likewise, energy and information from within us are also sent forth into the world from the chakras.

As part of my healing practice I did standing yoga poses in front of my colorful chakra banner to keep my physical body strong during those years of my family's challenges. I began to learn how the energy that kept me alive and functioning came through these seven spinning portals that corresponded to every internal organ system of my anatomy, even though the chakras are not a physical form. It wasn't until years later that it hit me.