Book on Chakras

Harmony in Chakras

Dr. Armitstead is fortunate enough to have collaborated with other healing professionals in writing a book about Chakras.  Here is a short excerpt from the chapter she wrote in Harmony in Chakras:

I will never forget the first time I worked with chakra energy in my office.  Sarah was a 34 year old woman suffering from anxiety and depression.  I had been working with her for about 6 weeks on dietary and lifestyle changes and designing a clinical nutrition program with whole food supplements to help her.  She was reporting a little improvement but it wasn’t the progress I was expecting.
In my healing work I use muscle testing as a tool to help identify what nutritional support the body needs to heal.  Using muscle testing I screen for heavy metals, heavy chemicals, immune stressors like bacteria, viruses, fungus, and parasites and food sensitivities using homeopathic vials. Any of those things can cause an imbalance in the body and can lead to symptoms; in Sarah’s case, depression and anxiety.  
Muscle testing is based on quantum physics. E=mc2. So if energy equals mass times the speed of light squared then anything with mass has energy and we are using that energy and muscle testing to get a response from the body. This response allows us to know what energy is disrupting the body and make very specific lifestyle and supplement recommendations for that person based on the muscle testing. 
I had been using this technique for years and seen great results with depression and anxiety so when Sarah came in that day and wasn’t getting the results I expected I wanted to go deeper into the emotional component with her about her anxiety and depression and since muscle testing is my tool I decided to muscle test the chakras for the first time and see what would happen.  
Up to this point I knew what chakras were from a very superficial point.  I knew they were energy centers in the body each correlating with certain emotions.  The red one had to do with feeling safe and being at home in your body, the orange one had to do with our sexuality…and so forth.  I wasn’t even sure of the proper names, just the colors.  I had seen pendulums used before in testing chakras so I thought if pendulums can pick it up then maybe muscle testing can too.  So this time instead of muscle testing the organs, with Sarah’s permission, I put my hand in the energy center just a half-inch off the body to see what would happen.  To my surprise, but I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising, the body responded!

To get your signed copy of the book and learn more about Chakras and how I muscle test them come to the book launch on

Thursday, August 9th, 530-7pm
Skinny Bar and Lounge at
174 Orchard St, NY NY 10002
Event details

Book details

Is Your Heart Chakra Balanced?

What even is a chakra and how do I know if my Heart Chakra is imbalanced?
Written by guest blogger & Healing Arts staff, Jaci Pearse.

The literal translation of the word “chakra” is wheel, or disc. On an energetic level, these wheels are swirling centers of energy, tied to massive nerve centers in the body. Each chakras contains bundles of nerves and major organs as well as our psychological, emotional, and spiritual states of being.

The Heart Charka is tied to the lungs and the cardiovascular system, including the heart. You heart is one of the hardest working organs in your body, constantly at service to pump vital blood through your whole body. The lungs are both voluntary and involuntary, which is actually really cool if you think about it, in that we can control their movement, but we can also allow them to function outside of our conscious thought.

On an emotional level, the Heart Chakra is tied to feelings of love, connectedness, and sanction between the earths and the heavens. Its the bridge between the three upper chakras and the three lower chakras, symbolizing the union between the physical and the a-physical.

We could spend days, maybe even weeks, learning about and exploring the chakra system and the implications if has on our physical, spiritual, and emotional health. But for the sake of an introduction, let’s focus on the key points of the Heart Chakra, and what practical things we can do on a daily basis to bring it back into balance.



Ask yourself these questions:

Do I trust others?
Can I make good of any situation?
Do I have close, loving relationships in my life?
Is my cardiovascular system healthy and strong?
Am I prone towards upper respiratory infections or chest colds?

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, or yes to the last question, chances are your Heart Chakra is imbalanced. Let’s break down four simple practices you can create in your daily life to rebalance the fourth chakra:

1)Take 5 deep breaths: Really deep breaths. And exhale just as completely and fully as you inhale. Count to six as you breath in, pause for one second, then count to six as you exhale on the same tempo. If you’re not able to make it to six, start where you are able. As you breathe, notice your heart beat. Notice the self love you are generating by considering the lungs and their need for and relationship to air.

2) Practice Love: If you are usually the receiver, practice being the giver - of love, of affection, of compassion. And on the reverse, if you are usually the giver, allow yourself to receive. Acknowledge that both giving and receiving can take effort, and that you are worthy of both. Even self-love counts, and it covers both giving and receiving!

3) Open your chest: If you practice yoga, spend a little more time in the heart opening poses like Camel Pose or Fish Pose. Practice you breathe in theses poses for a double hit. If you’re not familiar with yoga, lie down on your back and prop a pillow under the upper back. If its comfortable for your neck, let your head tilt back slightly and your arms splay out to the side. You can even do it in bed!

4) Oils: Rose, Ylang Ylang and Helichrysum are three very powerful oils for the heart chakra. Apply a few drops in your bath water, dilute and spritz in your living space, or even apply directly to your sternum. Slightly to the right of your sternum, just below the collar bone is an acupuncture point called “Spirit Retrieval.” Applying oils to this point has been known to help draw back the severely detached and reclusive spiritual feelings of those effected by an imbalanced Heart Chakra.

Chose one or all four of these exercise and take a few moments throughout your day to practice bringing back balance and harmony to your Heart Chakra. Most importantly, keep going. Keep taking steps daily to balance and enrich the heart chakra, and create a life of connectedness to others and love for self.

Want to learn more about the chakra system? At Healing Arts NYC, chakra therapy as well as applied essential oils are just two of the many services we provide to help spread the Joy of Health. Talk with your practitioner next time you’re in!