Dear Lisa,
I saw your suitcase on the Anniversary Review page and thought I'd drop in to honor this occasion, your 3rd WDC Anniversary!
This item has no reviews yet so I just have to give it one! However, much as I'd love to give this 5 stars and expound about it from the mountaintops telling every one they should read and adhere to what you provide here, I can't. This needs a bit of editing TLC, and I hope that my comments will help you, should you choose to edit this.
As you may realize, this dwells on a subject that I bet many can't relate to. I wonder how many people would be able to tell you what a Chakra is if you asked them. Until I read this, I had heard of Chakras, but I doubt I could have answered the question well. That doesn't mean every one is like me, it just means I couldn't answer the question very well. But, I'm willing to bet that the majority of adults (in America at least), either have never heard of Chakras, or can't tell you much about them. So what does this mean to you as the author who feels we should make better use of our Chakras? It means you have to lead people to them, you have to educate them in what a Chakra is, etc. You did very well in writing this really, other than a few grammar issues. But I feel you jumped in to this rather quickly, and rattled off a lot of data early on. If I may, I will show you a few suggestions on how you might edit this, should you choose to do something like that.
Title: Excellent for this article.
Description: Good for the article, but I think this is where you could introduce a reader to Chakras. Perhaps something like, "Learn what Chakras are and how each can help you attain a spiritual balance in life."
Grammar: There are a few places you might want to look at. I will point them out in general comments, not to pick this apart, but to help you improve this article.
General Comments:
1. I feel you jump into the Chakras too quickly as I've said. I would give more background on Chakras, how they can help one live a bit healthier, and their benefits. I did a quick search on Google, and found quite a few interesting short articles you could read to form your own thoughts to start this off. Or, quote them, and provide a link for the quoted text. An example would be something like this.
Chakra is a Sanskrit word that literally translates to wheel or disk. Imagine these disks in your body (your 'Subtle body'), constantly turning, channeling our energy throughout. Each Chakra contains bundles or nerves and major organs, as well as our psychological, emotional, and spiritual states of being. With all this motion around and in us, it's imperative that we are well balanced. It is believed that by balancing our Chakras, we can balance our lives. So besides being a Sanskrit word, what is a Chakra?
In Eastern philosophy and living, Chakra is an ancient Eastern wellness belief based on seven energy centers of the body. These energy centers govern all organs and work together as one, yet at the same time, work independently. These energy points are part of the 'Subtle Body', not your physical body, and are the meeting points of energy channels known as nadi. These energy channels move your life force and vital energy throughout your body. There are many Chakras in the subtle human body, but seven are considered to be the most important ones.
Now, I paraphrased (and I truly hope I didn't speak any lies here in writing those two paragraphs) my thoughts there from a couple of sources. Wikipedia (I know Wikipedia is a person's opinion more than it is technically correct), Mindbodygreen.com, and Chopra.com. I just feel that something like that will set the stage to educate someone on what a Chakra is, and the benefits of being aware of your Chakras.
2. There are a few places where your grammar is a little off. I will show some of them in the next comments.
3. The seven main chakras are found from the crown chakra which is found at the crown of the head and Root Chakra which is found at the base of the spine. You don't need the second usage of found. It is redundant, and makes a reader pause when they get to it. The biggest problem with that (at least for me) was that it's at the beginning of this article.
4. When one chakra is out of balance, it throws all of them off balance because one is working harder for the other. This might be better worded as, When one chakra is out of balance, it throws all of them off balance. This is because one or more of the rest are working harder to compensate for the one not in balance.
5. We can help ourselves in mind, body and spirit through the chakras. Maybe something like, By balancing our Chakras, we can balance ourselves in mind, body and spirit.
6. I'm not sure how you might do this on WDC, but it seems that showing the Chakras in a table type format would be better than listing them as you do. I felt like I was being inundated with information while reading this. Too much information might turn off readers, causing them to quit reading before they are through. We both know you don't want that! Maybe a listing of the Chakras, how they work for us, and what is affected by them. I think if you did an Excel spreadsheet, then did a screen capture of it, or used the 'Snipping tool' in Windows 7 and above, you'd get an image you could then imbed in your article.
Chakras
Root Keeps us grounded Makes us feel secure Lower body & sex organs
Sacral Sensitivity/Sexuality Emotional needs Spleen, Urinary Tract
Solar Plexus Energy/Vitality Self control Digestive System
Heart
Throat
Third Eye
Crown
What I've tried to do above is use the {indent} function in WritingML to space the information on each apart. The problem is, if someone uses a different size window, it won't balance at all. So to me, using an image is much better.
7. Your description of meditation is good, but again, you jump right in without really educating someone on what meditation really is. In any kind of writing where you intend to educate someone on a subject, think Baby Steps. Start simple, and build from there.
I think you get the idea of what I'm trying to say here. It's a good article full of excellent information. I just feel it could be formatted better to cause someone to read it more readily. There's a lot more to this that I could comment on, but I don't want to seemingly tear it apart.
Overall impressions: A very informative article on Chakras, what they are, and how balancing them can lead to spiritual balance, and harmony in life. Makes me wish mine were better balanced....
Sum1
WDC POWER RAIDER
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