It took me several weeks to slowly work my way through this remarkable book and I feel as though I have barely scratched the surface. This tome is the culmination of the author’s decades of study and experience as a psychology professor and psychotherapist. But it is so much more than an exploration of the human psyche - for as it integrates spiritual principles and practices, it is an invitation to pursue the truth of what it means to fully embody spirit-in-form as a human being.

According to the author, the greatest block to this embodiment is the fear/terror held in the root chakra. Most people hold unrecognized tension in the pelvic bowl due to this fear often related to trauma. While many practices have and do focus on opening the heart and clearing the solar plexus, the pelvic area remains largely unexplored in Western culture. Yet, the author proposes that this deeply defended energy center leads to our deepest ground of being, thus opening to a greater sense of “inner safety and stability,” and our true nature.

The book is filled with wisdom and insight reflected in the author’s personal experiences, dialogues with clients, Inquiry Exercises, and Meditation Practices. All that is required is a dedication to discovering Truth and a willingness to embrace vulnerability. No small task, but with great reward.

This is a book well worth revisiting providing the opportunity to go deeper over time in expanding from the personal perspective to the Universal ground of being.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

This is one of my favorite spiritual framings that often gets overlooked. It evokes Adyashanti who is my spiritual guide and mentor.

Definitely a deep book that takes several weeks (rotated with other books on my shelf). Content seems to be a culmination of the author’s lessons and epiphanies in life, which I greatly appreciated. Some parts really resonated deeply, and the inquiry exercises are useful in guiding one to contemplate within for the answers (and not just go to google as a reflex).
Good contemplative read

I'm so glad I found this book. It's intelligent, insightful, filled with opportunities for reflection, deep work and healing. Author John J. Prendergast presents a synthesis of transpersonal psychology, spirituality/non-duality, somatic awareness, understanding of the etheric body and energy systems - and how all of these can come together to create room for a deeper sense of core grounding and embodied expansiveness.

The idea of "grounding" is pretty common in spiritual circles, and is a practice used to come out of the head or spiritual ethers and back to the self, the body, the present moment. The author takes this idea much further, working with the idea of the lower energy centers, but also helping the reader recognize and release held tension, false beliefs, and survival programming that keep us superficially grounded and still cut off from our deepest ground, our true inner knowing. He addresses the "existential terrors" we might carry - loss of self, loss of belonging, loss of safety, loss of life - and how to connect with these fears that we spend so much time resisting/avoiding and find deeper ground - a true sense of connection and safety that transcends the everyday - rooted in nonduality and a sense of transcendence and greater connection.

This book is so eloquent and insightful and really brought some things together for me in a potent way. I've spent years in spiritual and religious practice, many years in therapy recovering from trauma, and more recently exploring somatic healing practices and trauma-sensitive mindfulness. This book is situated at the intersection of all of these things and I deeply appreciate it. This book is definitely one for my personal library - to keep, go back to, reflect on, and actually use. I think it will be personally valuable in working through deeper layers of trauma recovery,  spiritual development, and healing the energy body. Highly recommended to anyone who's personal healing journey has been rooted in a combination of traditional therapy and personal spirituality, holistic therapists, individuals further along their ptsd recovery path and/or exploring somatic healing, or spiritual seekers and practitioners looking to establish a deeper sense of safety, connection, and personal peace.

I’m still reading this book, but I don’t want to wait to leave a review because it might take me longer than the publication date! I say this not because it is a difficult subject or beyond my capabilities to understand, but because the writing and content is so deep and so rich that I can only savor chapter at a time.

I have read the first three chapters and I can see my work for the new year laid out in front of me… To feel truly grounded in spirit and my own inner strength is going to take some time and this author’s experience will help me on this journey.

Having had a chaotic and tumultuous year, I find that I have let my spiritual practice slide. As a result, I have been feeling ungrounded, although I wouldn’t have named it this until starting to read this gorgeous book. I can truly see that if my focus can be on my root chakra and on grounding myself in Spirit this way, it can bring me back home to myself so that I feel more on solid ground and truly at home with myself.

Thanks to the author and publisher for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.