"A hidden energy crisis threatens our world. Our high-tech, volatile society thrusts many of us into chronic physical, emotional, and spiritual depletion," writes Judith Orloff, assistant professor of psychiatry at UCLA and pioneer of what she calls "energy psychiatry." She sees this new field as a sub-specialty of energy medicine, which views our bodies and spirits as manifestations of subtle energies. Chinese medicine calls this force chi or qi, to Hawaiian kahunas it is mana, and to Indian practitioners it is prana.
In this very accessible work, Orloff presents a daily program of positive energy for unifying spirit, emotions, and body. Those familiar with her last book, "Dr. Judith Orloff's Guide to Intuitive Healing," will recognize her special blend of lively illustrative material, practical exercises, and testimonies by those who have used her revivification techniques and opened their lives to new possibilities.
The first prescription establishes that intuition is one of the key resources in bringing a surge of positive energy: "It offers a direct line to your life force and also, as I experience it, to a divine intelligence." Developing a heart-centered spirituality is another way to rejuvenate yourself and bring forth your best. Another prescription recommends opening yourself to the flow of creativity and inspiration: "Creativity frees energy by connecting you with joy, getting stagnant life force moving, bettering health and mood, and providing a break from problems."
One of the most practical prescriptions covers ways to protect yourself from "energy vampires," those difficult individuals who suck you dry, including the blamer, the drama queen, the fixer-upper, the go-for-the-jugular fiend, and the unintentional sapper. In a time when people of all walks of life feel drained and worn down, this illuminating resource has many good suggestions for the spiritual process of rejuvenation. Orloff makes zest for life into an achievable goal.
