The Chakra Meditation Kit is an infomercial in a new format, with Farber and Zerner touting their accomplishments throughout this short book. The constant reference to their other work makes more like a sales tool than an informational tool.
The book provided doesn’t really explain how to work with the chakras. It has good correspondences pages overall, but only about half a page is devoted to giving details on each chakra, instead spending most of its time telling the reader how to meditate. The authors state that people using this kit should sit with a straight back and do the meditations which is good advice but Farber spends so much time telling the reader to trust him that you become suspicious.
The CD contains a meditation for each chakra, as well as a chakra tune up and cleanse. Sadly, the individual chakra meditations seem to have ADD because the tempo is so fast they are not meditative but make the participant want to get up and march. Perhaps as a walking meditation this might work but I found it incredibly annoying and stressful. This tempo does not create the mood and tone needed to reach a successful meditative state which could be very discouraging, especially for a beginner. Moreover, the tone of voice used is grating and harsh. Of the seven meditations, the third and seventh chakra come close to having a tempo to induce a meditative state but don’t quite make the right speed. Even the last two tracks, the tune up and cleanse, are difficult to listen to for meditative purposes.
Also included in the kit are Chakra Contemplation Cards which are (admittedly) beautiful photos of Zerner’s fabric collages. These collages are in a diamond shape rather than a circle or spiral. Since chakra means “wheel” or “vortex” the diamond shape isn’t appropriate. The symbolism within the pictures does not adequately represent the chakras either.
Overall Zerner and Farber seem to have a good grasp of meanings of the chakras but the CD does not provide a good meditation tool. Additionally the cards are not good representations of the chakras, therefore, do not provide a meaningful focal point. Finally the book, while giving a very brief overview, is more infomercial than chakra tool.
0 broomstick out of 5
~review by Eileen Troemel
Authors: Amy Zerner and Monte Farber
Sterling Publishing, 2007
