I recently had a conversation with Becca Chopra, a yoga/meditation instructor, holistic counselor and most notably the author of the Amazon best-seller The Chakra Diaries.

This quasi-autobiographical book revealed Becca to be a slightly wild child of the new yoga-spirituality movement and left it up to the reader to determine, in her words, if she was “a saint or a sinner.” (I say both!)

Now Becca has a new book out titled Chakra Secrets. It’s a compelling, sexy and often times educational read that details the ups and downs of her own personal story, as it weaves in her involvement with the chakras. Becca refers to herself as “a wounded healer” who uses yoga and chakra balancing tools to help herself as well as others find their personal paths.

For starters, what’s love got to do with the chakras?

A lot. I believe that if you want to become more centered, creative, energized, forgiving, inspired, clear, and connected…then you’ll want to pay attention to the health of your seven major chakras.

The chakras are energy centers that whirl within the body and affect our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. As a lovely and sexy consequence, balanced chakras lead to a more emotionally nurturing and physically fulfilling love life.

For example, if you are feeling insecure, it’s hard to have a good foundation for a relationship, so you’ll want to strengthen your first or Root Chakra. If you feel needy, crave touch and sex and want to feel more passionate and creative, you should work on unblocking your second or Sacral Chakra.

All seven of the chakras have an impact on our lives. In Chakra Secrets, I show how each of my chakras was blocked and share how I was able to move forward through chakra healing techniques that anyone can use to find love and happiness.

Early in the book, you lose your husband in a car crash and wind up blaming yourself. Was it hard to revisit this difficult time in your life?

What I learned by placing my story on the pages in front of me was that guilt was ruling my life, and was a hangover, an uninvited guest from a past life that refused to leave. So, it was cathartic to say good-bye and to release it, just as the participants in my chakra workshops found healing through journaling in my first book, The Chakra Diaries.

You open your own yoga studio, which feels removed from your original career choice to be an actress. How did you make the transition?

Yoga kept me sane as I moved through my unhappy years vying for fame and fortune. Once I realized what would truly make me happy, I wanted to share what I learned with others and yoga asanas and spiritual practices fit the bill.

You talk about your own health issues in the book. How did chakra balancing help you overcome them?

Each chakra corresponds to different organs/functions of the body. My Sacral Chakra was so far out of balance, as was my love and sex life, that I developed an ovarian cyst. Not one to sit back and just accept allopathic medicine as the only option, I adopted a macrobiotic detox diet and followed Sacral Chakra balancing techniques, and soon the cyst was gone. And I still practice what I preach. When my lower back hurts, I work on my Root Chakra. A headache? I know that’s my cue to work on my Third Eye Chakra. There are so many ways to approach holistic healing…chakra balancing, for me, is just a great starting point.

You have a foray into Tantric Sex but wind up feeling abandoned as your partner strays. What’s your take on tantric sex today?

Well, I wouldn’t throw out wonderful techniques just because I practiced them with the wrong partner. Tantric Sex, when you breathe together, move your energy together, can only lead to greater intimacy and a better relationship…if that is what both partners want. It can certainly add some sizzle, as well as spirituality, to your sex life.

You talk about experiencing past lives with the two people that are closest to you. What do you say to people that are skeptical of past life regressions?

There is so much we don’t know about time and space and the meaning of life. I’m now open to trying most any type of therapy that can provide some illumination. All I can do is report back what I experience.

I was intrigued by the Third Eye Chakra which basically lets you perceive and visualize the future. Is this a skill everyone can access?

The Third Eye Chakra is the gateway to our inner knowing, our intuition, our psychic powers…which everyone can develop. I don’t think anyone can really see the future, just possibilities, but they can be guided by opening their vision to more than the basic five senses.

What’s next for you?

I’m working on a book and DVD on using Dynamind, a mind/body healing technique to balance and tone the chakras. I’ve found that Dynamind can get to the root of chakra imbalances. It’s an amazing energy healing technique – you tell your subconscious mind what patterns are no longer working and what you want instead. Its use of tapping and breathing aid instant relaxation, and thus a free flowing of the body’s innate healing energy.

As I’ve been spending too much time in front of my computer screen, I also plan to spend more time swimming in the warm ocean pond near my home on the Big Island. Aloha!

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