Customer Reviews

Energetic Boundaries

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am still listening to this set and so far have found a few useful ideas, such as visualizing roses as a way to create a protective boundary. I can see where that could possibly be helpful. But as a therapist with many years of experience the audio is a bit elementary, and McLaren's delivery leaves me feeling talked down to at times as if she is a 4th grade teacher addressing a rather slow classroom.

One of the things she does is help the listener discover "what kind of person" they are by using various schemas such as Chinese astrology. Umm, hello? I don't need to pay a premium for a set of audios to learn that I am an astrological goat or rooster -- I can read that on any Chinese restaurant menu. And so what? Seems a bit contrived.

Potential buyers should be cautioned that each audio segment opens and closes with McLaren singing "Kum Ba Yah" in harmony with herself. That is an energetic boundary that I would rather not have to cross even once, much less twelve times! McLaren has also at least temporarily abandoned her metaphysical standpoint, so you have to wonder how much merit her work has. I've tried to keep an open mind but can't recommend this set based on what I've heard so far. The area of energetic boundaries remains one that needs to be addressed. Usually materials from this publisher (Sounds True) stand head and shoulders above the rest; I was disappointed.

This is a tape set I listen to over and over again. I always glean some new information when I listen. Karla McLaren has a way of imparting her 30+ years of study and wisdom in a clear, balanced, repsectful, fun, and genius way.

If you are a counselor or in a healing profession, I highly recommend this tape. It will guide you in taking care of yourself which in turn benefits your clients/patients tremendously. You then become the guide supporting their healing, not the "doer" as Karla suggests.

If you are a sensitive person and sometimes cannot tell what is yours and what is someone else's, this tape set is for you too. Karla helps you understand why this may be happening and how to maintain your own energetic boundaries.

Each tape, each section and each sentence is thought provoking. I will not tire from listenting and learning from this full, enriching tape set.

I highly suggest reading an article that Karla wrote recently for Skepitical Inquirer magazine before you purchase any of her materials. She is now a full advocate of "skepticism" which is not the healthiest form of "critical thinking" either. While the "New Age" culture can be overly steeped in fads, shams, and naivety, the skeptical culture is often saturated with excessive intellectualism and fear-based fact. Neither in the extreme is healthy or grounded. She makes some clear points in that, yes, it is good to question things. There would be no point in life if we had the answer to everything--but so called "real science" is not the Holy Grail of answers either--it's just another way, albeit more culturally acceptible way, to describe what we perceive through a "human lens." Quantum physics, for example, can give you a pretty good taste of how much we don't know and also how beatuful it is--just as much as opening up a book of Rumi poetry can. We are limited as human beings by our own perceptions and experiences of consciousness and the ways we can describle/translate this experience--our very language limits us in this. We need mystery to help propel us forward with passion and purpose. Yes, we need intellect and intuition in sync. While Karla is by nature a very intelligent-intuitive person, she seems more confused on finding the appropriate balance within herself, and it seems to have pulled the rug right out from under her. Here is a sample quote from her article:

"My voice was an important one in my [New Age] culture; therefore, I've got to take responsibility for what [damage] I've done. I need to educate myself and come back into the fray in a healthy and respectful way. Maybe by the time I've organized my thoughts, a bridging culture [between Metaphysical thinking and Skepticism] will already exist. Maybe I'll find a way to be heard - or to translate the skeptical lexicon in such a way that people in my culture can access it without being insulted or shamed. One thing I'll be sure to stress is the fact that there is actually more beauty, wonder, brilliance, and mystery in science than there is in the mystical world."

Skeptical Inquirer link:
http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-05/new-age.html


See my review of Emotional Genius for a list of some suggested reading.

Karla was uneasy with the guru seat many tried to place her in, so she stepped down. The backlash began. Just because she questioned being made into a guru does not mean her techniques are useless.
If you are in need of some techniques for grounding and replenishing your psyche these are still very VALID. There are not many places where you can get this info or learn these techniques.
Single biggest thing is you will learn simple imaginative ways to focus, ground and hold your own in times of great stress.

I like Karla's presentation and she has some great ideas that really help. Others seems so complicated. But perhaps necessary for those of us who are hypersensitive.

My only concern was when I went to her web site and found that she had "called a halt to her metaphysical/spiritual career" and was studying sociology and behavioral sciences so she can do solid research on the metaphysical work she's been doing. She still has faith in metaphysical healing, but she wants to combine it with what is standardly accepted...? Don't trust my summary - read her announcements at EMOVERE.COM.

I'm just wondering what the outcome will be....

Her tape, "Healing for Healers: How to Give Without Giving it All Away" is also available through Amazon. In my opinion it has all the best ideas from the CD at less than a quarter of the price.

I recommend this series to any highly sensitive, spiritual people who work in the fields of therapy, teaching, or bodywork. Her work is very grounded in the five elements, thus the incorporation of three separate cosmologies. Highly effective in helping the listener create 'sacred space,' heal and do grounding/boundary work around trauma, and just manage our own boundaries and energetic fields. Sound, helpful, practical advice delivered with compassion, insight, and humor.

I am finding the cds very helpful and enjoyable as well. Different personality types are fully explicated across an array of typing systems. The benefits and risk factors for the types are explained. Steps for healing (e.g., from burnout) are the focus of the series. I've find the author's "voice" to be highly compassionate, toward self and toward others. The examples from her own life make the teachings highly accessible. I enjoy that she appears to practice what she preaches: her "type" needs many artistic and creative outlets, and each cd begins and ends with her singing. If you tend to do or give "too much" and feel "drained" afterwards, these practices are for you! You will learn to give to yourself, as well as others, so you don't "give out".

As a sensitive person strongly affected by other people my whole life, this was yet another confirmation of the ignored obvious: that we are all far more complex than we are given credit for and can be damaged when part of us we don't own continue to affect us and others in a variety of ways. Other great resources include the The Highly Sensitive Person and energy books by Barbara Ann Brannan.

As a new massage therapist I understood energy but couldn't vocalize what was happening in the session. Now I have skills to release the energy and save my own self. Thank You!