Chakras for Beginners

Published Mar 6, 2019, 8:00 AM
In this week's episode, Eliza Boquin, MA, LMFT, joins us to give us an introduction to chakras. Eliza and I talked about what chakras are, how you can tell if one of yours is blocked, what this means, how our chakras can impact what our relationships look like, and she shared how she uses this in her clinical work when requested. And of course she shared all of her favorite resources for anyone who wants to learn more. 

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Welcome to the Therapy for Black Girls Podcast, a weekly conversation about mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. I'm your host, Dr Joy hard and Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information or to find a therapist, visit our website at Therapy for Black Girls dot com. And while I hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, it is not meant to be a substitute for a relationship with a licensed mental health professional. Hey, y'all, thanks so much for joining me for session of the Therapy for Black Girls podcast. Today, I'm joined by Elisa bo Keen to learn more about our chakras and how they're related to our mental health. Is one particular chakra more responsible for something like anxiety? Yes, so that would probably be the root, right, The root would be because you know you're feeling anxious about your survival, you're belonging. But before we jump into that incredible conversation, I want to say thank you to our sponsor for today's episode, Naturalcious. Natural Sious is the world's first vegan high performance hair care line that delivers the results of twelve products in only three. It's designed to reduce time it's been on hair care and it's proven to save up to eight percent of time on wash day. Natural is Sious was founded by innovator Gwin Jamir, who was the first and only African American woman to hold a patent on a natural hair care product. These products are great specifically for busy women with curly and coily hair also known as forcey hair, and they're all natural, their sulfate, parabine, mineral oil, petroleum, gluten and cruelty free. I've now been using the Naturalicious products for three weeks and am totally in love. First of all, the Moroccan Russele five and one clay treatment did exactly what it said it would do in terms of cleaning the tangling and moisturizing my hair. I had far fewer tangles and finished my twist out in record time. Since then, my hair has continued to be tangle free and I've retwisted a few sections using the grape seed hair Missed combined with the Divine Shine Moisture Lock and Frizze Fighter. I love the volume and shine this combo left me with and I've only had to take my hair out of a pineapple in the morning and fluff it into place. I'm so excited I discovered these products, and I hope that you'll love them as much as I do. So if you want to cut down on the amount of products you use and get some time back into your busy schedule, then I definitely recommend that you try them. You can find the Naturaligious products in over twelve hundred Sally stores nationwide, or you can buy them online at save time on wash day dot com. Now let's get back to our conversation with Eliza. Elisa is a licensed psychotherapist and sex therapists in Houston, Texas. She's also the owner and founder of the Flowing Ease Healing Center and co founder of Melanin and Mental Health. She specializes in helping women heal from trauma, shame, and low self esteem in order to have healthier, mutually satisfying, pleasure field lives. Elisa and I talked about what chakras are, how you can tell if one of yours is blocked, what this means, how our chakras can impact what our relationships look like, and she shared how she uses this in her clinical work when requested, and of course she shared all of her favorite resources for anyone who wants to learn more. If you hear something while listening that really resonates with you, please make sure to share it with us on social media using the hashtag TBG in session. Here's our conversation. Thank you so much for joining us today, Alsa, Thank you for having me. Yeah, I'm very excited for you to chat with us in our conversations. Before I told you, I wanted you to come and give us like a chakras for beginners kind of class. So can you start by just telling us what our chakras? Yes, So, there are seven major chakras that make up our energy system, and each chakra is sort of responsible for a certain type of energy. And so the chakras are located at different points in our bodies and they're really sort of responsible for for example, when we talk about our root chakra, which is our first chakra, that's sort of the chakra that's responsible for feeling grounded, for belonging that sort of energy. So there are different points throughout our body that sort of are the storehouses of energy for different types of energy. Okay, so we have root what are the other series. The first is your root and it's associated with the color red and it's located at the base of your spine and um. That one, like I said, is is really associated with survival, with security, belonging. Then your second one is your sacred and your sacred is located um right below your belly button, and that one is associated with the color orange. That is associated with um. Sexuality, with um fluidity, with you know, our ability to kind of balance our giving and receiving, our creativity. It's where creativity begins. Then you move up to your solar plexus, which is located in the stomach area, and that is associated with the colored yellow, and that is really sort of our empowerment, our drive, our ambition. That's you know, when you're doing those bullet point lists of everything, that's where that energy is sort of stored. Then you move up. We have our heart, which is associated with the color grain and sometimes with the color pink. And of course this is relationships. It's love, love for others, love for self and really being able to feel like you belong to something sort of greater than yourself. And then we move up to our throat um, which is associated with the color blue, and that is responsible for our communication, our creativity, vocation. And then we're going to move up to the brow, which is associated with the color indigo. The brow is really the storehouse for intuition, for insight, for wisdom, kind of like you know that you know, you don't know why you know, but you know. And so that's that's the brow. And then the crown, which is located at the top of our heads, that is associated with the color purple, and that is really our connection to a power greater than ourselves, to the divine, to enlightenment, to sort of this universal truth. So those are the seven major ones that we have throughout our bodies. And at leasta, what is the origin for this? And can you tell me more about like the colors that are are associated with each one. Yeah, So the origin it's really goes back to really just ancient sort of practices and medicine. It's believe the word chakra in itself, which it's pronounced chakra, it's an ancient sanscrit word. And because of the velocity that it said that these chakras are spinning sort of the end rate the energy spin. So different colors um are then associated with that sort of that velocity that it's been. Okay, so it is very sort of ancient type of like there's a lot more talk about it now, but this is not new information. It's just you know, kind of something we are hearing more about these days. And what do you think is that's related to like the rise in us hearing more about it. I think it's associated kind of like within our therapy world, right because I'm I'm also a psychotherapist. There's this sort of shift in how people are talking about healing. Right even within the therapy world. Now we're able to kind of say, you know, therapy is okay for you to go to and it's a good thing. And I think people are really moving towards wanting more and more avenues towards their healing. And I think they're being more open. I think with the introduction of you know, people being more receptive to yoga, being more up to rap. The more and more people I think are just looking for additional ways to heal. H And do you use this in conjunction with your therapy at least? Yeah, So that's kind of how I came upon this world, you know, where it's like I am a psychotherapist, and I always say I'm not just a psychotherapist, I'm also a client. I love having my own therapy and in my own healing process. I had always loved. I love psychotherapy and I also love these other alternative, you know, ways of healing. And I came across a psychotherapist who was somehow integrating both, so that caught my attention and did some research. I went in was able to experience it for myself. So now I wasn't just having the talk therapy piece. Now I was able to integrate this other piece that's important to me um as part of my feeling. And as I was going through that process, I was like, I need to learn how to be able to do this. So I just recently completed a two year program through the Integrated Healing School where my teacher is also you know, a license psychotherapist supervisor. But we're able to now integrate these additional modalities of healing for people that I feel like it gives us this additional piece that isn't always present with the traditional psychotherapy model that we have. Yeah, and it feels like it would be something that's really good for people who at super verbal maybe, um, you know, because of course, our traditional talk therapy is based on you needing to be pretty verbal, which I think is difficult sometimes when we're talking about like black women maybe going to therapy because you know you're going to the stranger and you may not want to talk about everything immediately, right. But something like this where you can get at some of the issues in a way that doesn't involve you actually talking at first, my be a good alternative. It's so true, you know. It's what we know about trauma, you know, and how it gets stored in our bodies, you know. And so some of the training that I have also around trauma is like with the somatic experiencing and how you know you're able to sort of release trauma without having to do a lot of the talking, because you know, that's one of the sort of residual effects of trauma. Sometimes we can't express ourselves maybe as much as we like. So you're so right, it's it's a way of how can we clear some of this stuff out, um, where for example, trauma doesn't just get stored in our bodies, it gets stored sort of in our energy systems. How can we get rid of this, like I said, it was just so effective for me that I felt like I wanted to be able to offer this in a very ethical and informed way for my clients if that's something that they you know, chose that they wanted to explore and again sort of incorporate this additional parts of us that sometime, you know, goes beyond the talking. So at leasta, how can we tell if one of our chakras is blocked? Oh? I love that question. So for example, in relationships, right, so, how can you tell if there is some sort of block? Because chakras can either be overactive or underactive. So if there is a block, you may have, let's say, with your heart chakra, have difficulty connecting with others. You might struggle with having compassion or empathy for others, or really just struggle with relationships, struggle feeling like you can really not just romantic relationships, but friendships. It can be the other way. Also, if it's overactive, is where you're kind of like the saying goes the bleeding heart, you know, where you just kind of wear your heart on your sleeves and you're always getting hurt and you're always putting yourself out there. So it's really about having our energy systems really balanced where we're have an open heart, but we don't have kind of this leaky heart. M Okay, okay, what do you do about it? Like if you realize, like maybe somebody is listening to you now and they heard you say like, oh I am somebody who wears my feelings on my sleeves and I'm easily impacted in those kinds of things, what could you do about that? Yeah, So there's different activities that you can do. For example, an underactive one, let's say you're very guarded with people, and so spending time with people that you love. Um and for some people maybe it may not be people you know. For some people, maybe it's it's pets, maybe it's an animal. Maybe that's doing some sort of charity work, anything where you are able to tap into that feeling of love of connection. Sometimes. What's interesting about certain chakras that they'll kind of have special relationships with one another. So for example, let's say your heart chakra, maybe you are kind of this bleeding heart. Well that might be because that one, let's say, is overactive. And maybe your solar, which is the one that is responsible for kind of like your confidence, knowing who you are, maybe that one's underactive, So sometimes it's about knowing if other ones are maybe underactive. So if your solar was underactive, what are some activities that you could do to begin feeling more confident putting yourself out there. You know, going to therapy certainly is a modality that you can go and kind of work on these different aspects. But if you are also interested in these alternative methods, for example, yoga yoga, you know a lot of times if you take a yoga class, you will hear them say there's different poses, there's different postures. They'll say, this is a heart opener. So different yoga poses are intended to sort of balance out some of the different chakras. So you can do yoga, you can do activities associated. Like I said, there's different energy within each chakra. So if let's say your solar is underactive, doing more activities where we can build your confidence, you know, kind of focusing in on these maybe these deficiencies, so to speak. In therapy you have people who are also able to do energy balancing, so be that through raiky or chakra healings. There can be a multitude of different ways that you can begin to sort of strengthen and balance it all out, and at least are there resources or information that you know about like the chakras in relation to maybe different mental health diagnoses, Like is one particular chakra more responsible for something like anxiety? Yes, so that would probably be the root, right, the root would be because you know you're feeling anxious about your survival, your belonging something. As far as a resource goes. There's a great book that was written by actually the woman who trained the woman that I learned from, was actually a psychiatrist. That's what really drew me into this particular sort of modality was the woman that her name is Brenda Davies, and she was a psychiatrist and she was able to blend these two so she had the mental health background and then being a physician and then incorporating sort of these ancient techniques. So that book is called The Seven Healing Chakras, and it's a great intro It also has a workbook that people can do because what you will learn is that there's different points in your life when these chakras are being formed, and if something happens to us, which we know from the mental health field, right, like during certain years of development, if something happens, something traumatic happens during that time, that really can impact our develop same thing. So that's a great book for people that are really interested in learning more about this whole energetic system and we maybe want to dive into their own history with that workbook. Yeah, it's interesting that you say that because when you were talking about the root chakra, I imagine like the Meslow's hierarchy of needs. So it sounds like in some ways it is a parallel to you know, like okay worthy things overdeveloped or underdeveloped as something in your life, and how can you kind of rework that narrative? Now, yes, yes, yes, you got it, love it um, you know, using the words like overactive or underactive. Is there some kind of like assessment that you're using with your clients, like how can you tell whether it's something is overactive or underactive? The first part of it is us going through their chakra history. So for example, a first session would be about two hours because we're gonna go from you being in utero to today, like what was your mother's pregnancy, like who was in your life? What was going on at that time? So We're going to go through all of that, and as I'm going through that history with you, I'm sort of forming a hypothesis what might show up. So when the actual chakra healing is done, you know, there's there's no touch involved in it, but I'm sort of scanning the energy system. So it's similar to raiki. If people are familiar with raiki, it's similar to that. The different one of the big differences is the training. Like I had to do my own process right like I had to. I had to go through my own sort of history and clearing and all that out. But they're very similar. And so when I'm in the system, so I'll go in and then i'm checking, like I'm checking to see what the chakras feel like that will then give me a better understanding. Oh yeah, like maybe the heart was really active, but your solar felt really light. And so like when the healing is then sent in. The goal is really for us, you know, just like what we talked about all the time, being balanced, feeling balanced, And what this really offers is a way for us to just kind of do this energetic sort of self care that we don't always pay attention to. But it's really not that far off. I think we've all experienced if you've ever been in a room, or if you go into a room and there's two people there and all of a sudden you walk in. They're not saying anything, they'll look at you and they're like hey, and you can just feel like you can feel something is off, right, like you don't know what it is, but do feel something is off? Or you meet somebody for the first time and you're like, I don't know, like something you know, or I really I was really drawn to them, or I just I don't, Oh, I don't I didn't really vibe with that, right. So we're aware of our energy and other people's energy that I just think sometimes we don't even realize how a where we are of it. Yeah. I think that's a great point because you're right. I mean, how often do we hear people talking about like, yeah, I just didn't feel the vibe or wasn't with this person, And I wonder how is it like the energies interacting or is it something about like is it my energy or is it their energy? Or is it the interaction? And it's it can be both because some people are a little more sensitive to it than others. I think as therapists, I think we're just kind of naturally more sort of pick up and pathic on other people's energy, right, and then we sort of developed that as we go through our our careers. Um, but I think some people are just naturally kind of can pick up, you know. I I stopped apologizing for that a long time ago. You know where it would be like me, I like, yeah, no, you know, and I would have people like you just met them. I'm like, I know it just it wasn't there. I don't know what it is. And so it's really sort of as being able to trust that part of us that I think too often we dismiss, right, and some of these things, you know, our intuition are knowing. I think, especially for women, were talked out of it at a really young age. And part of it, I think is because it's not necessarily tangible. You don't really read it in a book. It's something that's sort of like you can't put your finger on it, but you know that you know and the people that you meet. I think too often we're also conditioned to be polite, We're conditioned to give people a chance, and that sort of thing that too often, I think we dismiss it. Yeah. I often credit mother for like a lot of the success I have as a therapist, because she always drilled into me like that little feeling that you have, like you have to pay attention to that. I feel like that, you know, makes me like really able to show up in the therapy room in a way that like I can kind of really feel what's going on with you know. And I know that there's been a lot of research and some books that talk about you know, like how trauma kind of cuts that off for us, right, Like so your intuition maybe really intact, but then something happens and then that whole system goes haywire absolutely, And I think as a therapist, I think clients can really appreciate that because even if you've never been to a therapist, but you know the people who they're speaking to you from the heart, so to speak, they're genuine, they're sincere, and then you know the people that are talking to you from a book, right, And and we have to have both, you know, as as clinicians, we have to have both. And that's why I always say therapy is such an art, right, because you only learn some of it from the books, but the other piece, that's that's that part that you can't necessarily teach. It's that vulnerability, it's your own life experience, it's your heart that you're bringing to it. Which is why I loved therapy. You know, That's why I'm not an accountant because you know in grad school when they would ask well what about this, and I remember it would drive the type A personalities crazy when the professor would say, well, that depends, you know, and I love it depends right, like you know. And and so it's getting more comfortable with that which we can't put on a piece of paper, and just trusting that it's part of that internal compass that we come into this world with. Yeah, so what would you say, a Lisa for somebody who baby does have that that intuition, So that's the round a shocker, right, you know, like they have met somebody and something feels off, like I just don't know about this person. I think, like you said, a lot of times, as women, we will try to like bend and shift, you know, I don't want to hurt this person's feelings. What kinds of strategies maybe do you suggest for like managing when you kind of pick up on the energy of somebody and you be like, Okay, this is not gonna be somebody without you know it being like a real issue. Yeah, I think that goes more into you continuing to develop your confidence, so your solar right, like you just trusting yourself, because how often do we sort of outsource our power to others to give us reasons to trust them versus I trust that if I feel this is off, this is off. And so sometimes that's just a matter of us doing our own work, you know. And I think also relationship wise as women, too often we we love somebody's potential, but we see them stepping into being and recognizing I always tell people what if this is as good as it gets? You know, ask yourself, what if this is as good as it gets? Because one, it's unfair to the other person, right, they don't want to be a project, But more than anything is unfair to you. And so what if this is as good as it gets? Can you live with that? And a lot of times the answers no. And so I think it's a matter of continuing to work on our confidence, knowing who we are, our own self awareness and development that we have to continue working on. So that feels like a great kind of leading because I know you have recently done and I know you have one coming up, a new webinar around like chakras and sexual relationships, and like, what does this look like when you're talking about you know, when you're talking about like dating and those kinds of things. Can you say more about like what this looks like and how you can kind of be more open to this process in your dating and sexual relationships. Yes, And so chakra, sex and relationships, how they all play off one another. So really sort of understanding the chakra system and how that shows up in our sex lives. And so an example might be, let's say you you struggle enjoin sex because of shame, because of trauma, or just because of a lack of education around it. And so could that be that your solar chakra there was there was something that happened in the development or at some point that impacted the energy to flow throughout your body, and now your your solar chakra maybe underactive. So really being able to kind of be in tune with your chakras and then look at the relationship, look at the aspect like maybe you're really jealous. I know that's nobody listening. I know that's none of your listener or or or are very controlling, right Like, that's not that's nobody that we know. But there's people out there like that who are maybe very controlling, And so could that be because your solar is overactive? Right Like? So it's really kind of this additional sort of measure that you can be aware of your system and how that might be impacting your sex life, how that might be impacting your relationships and how you show up in those relationships. Is there a point then where you like, Okay, I'm aware of like by Chakras and what I have going on, and then you start doing that for other people like so that you are then choosing partners based on kind of like what you're reading from them. M yes, yes, it's so funny because I think it's sort of like like as therapist. I don't know about you, but when I was taking my class, I was diagnosing every day, Oh this is my aunt, Like I know she's got this going on, right Like, I'm diag So you can't help but be more aware. But you know, there's actually another ancient practice contra it's really sort of based on this idea of how our energy systems connect and how the chakras kind of do play off one another, because we all know when you spend a lot of time with somebody, and especially if it's your significant other, your romantic partner, and especially during sex, like you know that you are really combining and blending your whole life, not just your whole life, but your energy systems also. I mean, we know what it's like to be around somebody who you know brings us joy or or really brings us down, and so you begin to become more aware. I drive my family, you know, like I'm like, oh, yeah, energy is off today. And you know what though, I think what it does also is that you learn how to protect your energy. If you are in the helping field, or if you are just in any field where there you deal with people all day long, if you're just human and you go out into the world, you know that different interactions with people can have an impact on on your mood, on your spirit, and so learning, especially when you're in a field like you are a therapist, or you're a nurse or doctor, whatever, a teacher, people are draining, you know, like the profession people are taking from you. And if you don't learn how to protect your energy and not take on other people's energy. In the therapy world, you know, we're we're like, okay, countertransference and transparence, right, same thing. You also have to be aware of am I taking on your sadness? Am I taking on your anxiety? So really sort of learning how to protect yourself and how to be aware of um when you're being sucked in. There's another great book by a physician. I forget her name, but the book is called Energy Vampires, and that's the author of this one. Energy Vampires. She's a physician and she's talking about how she would have people come in and there was no real sort of clinical reason why they were sick, and she's like, and the more that I did my research, it was the people in their lives that were literally sucking the life out of that. So she talks a lot about how to know when you have energy vampires. We all know that one person that like, oh my godness, like they always in a bad mood or they're always you know, just upset about something and you just feel kind of just limp after the interaction with them. So it's really kind of like this idea of energy hygiene also, you know, and are we sometimes the energy vampires to people in our lives? Are we looking to others to kind of like get what we need and versus us doing our own work, we want to kind of get it through them? Yeah, So what kinds of things might you do with your clients to help them to recognize this? Like, let's say they recognize there is an energy vampire in their life, Like, what kinds of things might you work with them on to to be able to better manage that. So one of the you know, the psycho education piece would be around boundaries, right, like, so what healthy boundaries look like and sort of exploring their history on why boundaries may even be an issue recognizing them. But the other part, a big part of the work that I like to do with clients is really bringing them awareness to what's point on with them physically, right, because I think too often we are not even aware because we're sort of on autopilot. We're not even aware sometimes when our body is giving us clues. Right, So maybe you're in a conversation with somebody and you just start feeling tense, like are your shoulders tightening up, is your stomach maybe starting to to turn, Like pay attention to what your body is saying. I sort of before I even start my day, I share with them that before I start my day, I try to be real intentional about it, and so I sort of have this visualization where I go through where I'm sort of envisioning you know, kind of clearing my energy out, getting rooted, really just even envisioning roots coming out the bottom of my feet so that I really feel like I'm being supported, and then having sort of like this visualization of like a beautiful goal and light around me, like that's my protection throughout the day to where I can still be open to connecting with people, but I'm not taking on their stuff. So I might offer them, you know, some of those visualizations and to really just monitor themselves, like kind of notice how you're feeling in those conversations and when you start to feel like, oh, I don't like how this feels, like even in vision, like okay, I had I once had someone say I'm not a big Star Trek follower, but I guess there's in Star Trek that would say shield go up or something like that. And so they're like I'm gonna say shield go up. I'm like, I love it. Yes. So it's really like this ongoing monitoring of yourself and sometimes being able to just say this is the max that I can do here, I gotta go Yeah. So what does this look like in therapy? A Lisa, You know, you mentioned that like the first session would be like two hours, Like what does the ongoing process is of this look like, you know, when you're like doing a combination of the chakra work and therapy. So the first piece is just traditional psychotherapy, just to talk therapy. So let's say you're already the ongoing um, So the first hour is we're just what's been going on the traditional psychotherapy piece. The goal is kind of like let's get those emotions kind of bubbling and then once they're they're they're present, then that's the last half hour would be when we do the healing piece. And so at the end I would say, okay, well this is what I felt, you know, um, you know, your root was light or everything felt really balanced, or once we got to the end, so then I would kind of tell you what it is that I felt in the energy system, in your chakra system, you can then give me any feedback that you had at that point. You know, different people have different experiences. For some, um, it could just be very relaxing. For some, they might feel like I just feel like crying. I don't know why. And sometimes that's just the release, right like sometimes you just I don't know about you, but after I have a good cry, really good um. And and then for some they might feel like a real sort of that was like I feel so energized now. So it's really it really depends on the individual what type of experience they might have. So is this a one time thing. It can be for some people. For some people, it can be a one time thing. For some people, UM, it might be sort of like therapy is kind of like an ongoing thing. I know when I was doing you know, I'll speak for myself. When I was doing this, it was at this point in my life, but there was all these changes going on, and for me, I was like, Okay, this is my therapy, right, so I'm having my therapy and my healing is at the end. And so it was something that I was doing regularly, you know, like twice a month, and then like now I'll go in like oh, yeah, I might see her once a month or so. Okay. So for people who are listening and think like, oh, I think I would like to try something like this, what kind of practitioner would you be looking for? Because this also sounds like the kind of thing where you would want to make sure that somebody has done like the proper training, you know, that kind of thing. So what kinds of like credentials and you know, what kinds of things should people be looking for? Yeah, so it really you know, I'm excited about more people learning how to integrate the two. There is a Association of Energy Psychology is one place where you can find practitioners who who sort of combined energy psychology and traditional sort of psychotherapy. But depending on where you live, you may not have the luxury of having practitioners to do both. So for some people that maybe that they go do a reiki feeling or a chakra feeling, what I would find out is this, like with your therapists, call them up, ask them where they got their training, what was the program, like, you know, what type of personal work did they have to do? Who were they trained through? So you might have to do your due diligence as far as really just calling them and asking them, you know, all of uh the work that they had to do in order to become you know, is it a certified raiki healer or what happened? Like I said, I don't do reiki, but I think for a lot of people, that's the closest thing to it or chakra healers. If you are in Texas right like, because that's where I'm at. Um the Institute for Integrated Healing is where I got my training at and it's growing. I'm really excited about this next batch of people that are going into the school because more and more women of color are going into this field, which I'm so excited about their going into learning how to do this. So my vision and my dream is that this will spread, you know, throughout But for right now, there may be some limitations depending on where you live. But they can contact me and I will do my best to try and connect them and you know, give them any feedback that I can. Okay, so you've already given us two incredible books. Are there other resources that you would suggest for people who want to know more about this? Like that may be good for maybe beginning people. So that book especially The Seven Healing Chakras is a great place to start. Like I said, what I love about that is because it does have a workbook that you can kind of go through your own history and learn. Again. The Association for Energy Psychology is also a great place. There's so many different resources, but I would say it can get a little overwhelming, and a lot of times there's a little bit of variation in how people teach some of this that. Um, I would say, start there. It's so funny. Once you start pulling the thread, you'll be surprised at how many other resources pop up. Oh I can imagine. Yeah, I'm ready to jump on Amazon. Uh yes, yes, yes, yes. Like I said, what I what I really appreciate about that one in particular is it's interesting to me. And that's what drew me to this particular training was that it it did have someone who had the experience in the mental health field, that she was a psychiatrist and kind of her sort of scene how she was only able to take people so far, and then what happened when she started integrating this additional piece into it. So so yeah, you know, being able to marry both of those both of my loves, right, but drew me to it. Yeah, it sounds very interesting. So where can people find you online? And Lisa, what's your website as well as any social media handles you want to share? Yes? Oh and one more book I just remember because this this one is so great if you go on Amazon. It's called Chakra Healing, A Beginner's Guide to self Healing Techniques that balance the chakras. And that one is like really sort of intro yoga poses gives you essential oils, foods, all that stuff. That one's also a really great one to start with. So how they can find me, you can find me. I've recently rebranded, and that was what this year was about, being able to come out of the chakra closet, is what I'm telling people. So what are you kind of like hiding this before? Like it? Because I feel like I remember you talking about this a little bit maybe, but as you know as much as you are now, Yes, I started to kind of intro it because I knew that this was the path I was taking. But you know, as in this field that we have, you know, it's it's it's very sort of traditional sort of psychotherapy, and so there's any time you're gonna make a change. You're kind of like vulnerable. I mean, just being on here with you today, I'm like, I'm so excited and do it scared right right? Yes, doing it scared. So this year I've introduced I've rebranded and so it is now the Flow and Ease Healing Center. Because my vision, Dr Joy, I will tell you my vision. I tell everybody I know, because this is what I'm trying to manifest, is to have a healing center by the ocean, overlooking the ocean, where there's all types of modalities of healing, including the talk therapy, the chakra healing at your puncture, you know, yoga. That's my vision. It sounds like a glorious please. You're gonna get v I P open. You're gonna have v I P. I appreciate it. Yes, And so with that vision in mind, the Flow these Healing Center. And if you can find me on Instagram, on Facebook, Flow and Ease with e and is the website flow in Easy Healing Center dot com. Yes, yes, you can also find me at e l I z A g b o q u I n Elsa g bo king. But I am sort of transitioning over there. I'm still sort of in this transition, trying to flow with these you are living out your work. Yes, I'm trying. I'm trying. Thank you so much at Lisa. I really appreciate you sharing this with us today. Oh, I appreciate you. I appreciate your using your platform for this. I appreciate you giving me the opportunity, and I had a great time chatting with you. Thank you. I'm so thankful Elisa was able to share her expertise with us today. To find out more information about her practice, or to check out the resources that she shared, visit the show notes at Therapy for Black Girls dot com slash session, and don't forget to show some love and support for our sponsor for this episode, natural Issious. It's the world's first vegan high performance hair care line that delivers the results of twelve products in only three You can find the products in over twelve hundred Sally stores nationwide or online at save time on wash day dot com. Remember that if you're searching for a therapist in your area, check out our therapist directory at Therapy for Black Girls dot com slash directory, and be sure to visit our online store at Therapy for Black Girls dot com slash shop where you can find our guided Affirmation Track, break Up Journal, or Therapy for Black Girls, sweatshirts and T shirts. Thank y'all so much for joining me again this week. I look forward to continue in this conversation with you all real soon. Take good care. I Doctor poctor I WoT oft I oft Pert

Therapy for Black Girls

The Therapy for Black Girls podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a license 
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