Wednesday—the middle of the week. For some, this is a wonderful day, and for others, the week feels like it’s dragging. This week has not been bad, but it has been slow lately in our metaphysical shop. We have had new customers online and in-store more recently, though, so that is great news! I even signed up to sell a few crystals at an upcoming psychic event. I even have a new Shamanic Reiki client that will be scheduling sessions soon. Times are tough for small businesses, but I know that our store and services can help people navigate this new, difficult world as it continues to change around us.
Enough about that, though. Let’s talk about our ancestors! Do you have an ancestral veneration practice? I would love to know a little about things you do for your ancestors to honor them and if there are any you don’t honor…why?
In this book, we learn how to release family patterns that may be preventing us from reaching our full potential. I was excited to read this book, and I was not disappointed. Before I get too far into it, let’s take a look at the book.
Heal your Ancestral Roots 
Author: Anuradha Dayal-Gulati
Publisher: Inner Traditions (Findhorn Press)
Published: March 14th 2023
Book Length: 288 Pages
Genre: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Self-Help
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (4.5)
Buy the book: Amazon, Inner Traditions
*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for my honest, unbiased review*
• Explores the principles that govern your family energy field and the many ways this ancestral field can support you as well as how it can hold you captive
• Provides exercises and tools to help you recognize and release negative family patterns and heal ancestral trauma
• Discusses the importance of honoring your ancestors, sharing suggestions about altar creation, prayers, and the Vedic ritual of Tarpanam
Many people find themselves feeling stuck, unable to reach their goals. The same problems keep showing up in jobs and relationships no matter how much they try to make changes and overcome obstacles. What if the patterns that repeat in your life and relationships didn’t originate with you? The source of your challenges could be rooted in ancestral trauma calling out to be healed. Experiences and wounds of your parents or grandparents as well as more distant ancestors can affect you; sometimes themes reappear in a family for several generations in a row—patterns of financial distress, sibling rivalry, divorce, or conversely long happy marriages, good health, and good humor.
An energy practitioner specializing in ancestral and emotional healing, Anuradha Dayal-Gulati provides exercises and tools—such as journal practices, visualizations, mind mapping, and the Vedic ritual of Tarpanam—that can help you recognize and release negative family patterns and enhance positive ones. She shares her own healing journey and her experience with family constellation therapy, explains how to honor your ancestors, and explores in depth the use of flower essences to transform emotions and release generational trauma.
Teaching you how to recognize the patterns that manifest in your daily experiences, Heal Your Ancestral Roots shows how you can lift the unconscious, invisible barriers that keep you from creating the life you want.
When it comes to family, I am not one to honor those who have caused pain and trauma…especially my deceased father. I do love my dad, but he was abusive both physically and verbally until the day he passed away in front of me. However…this book challenged me to face that and learn that those wounds must be healed, not ignored. It also made me consider family patterns among my ancestors and compare them to patterns in my own life. Thinking of family, many feel the heavy responsibility of carrying on the legacy…making something of themselves.
“You are the flower of your family tree. How do you find the capacity to bloom?”
I took time to really consider this question posed by the author. The best part of this book is the included journal exercises, pushing the reader to truly dig deep into their healing work. To take things even further, Dayal-Gulati promotes Flower Essences. I have heard of Bach Flower Essences in the past, so this was not completely new information to me. The back of the book has an appendix that contains more information about these, but you don’t have to wait until the end of the book; there is a short list of essences that are associated with the lessons in each chapter.
The beginning of the book reads very academic-like, which may be off-putting for some, but as someone who enjoyed learning, I find it very off-putting.I enjoyed it. The writing style made me feel as if I was in a professional setting, learning from the author, chapter by chapter, as we moved through thick bits of information and helping me to blossom.
The first section in this book that really challenged me was when the author spoke about honoring those in our family who were dysfunctional or abusive. My first reaction was, “yea fuck no!” However, give the author time to explain, and your mind may change as mine did.
“To reject your parents is to remain tied to expectations of what you would have wanted from them and to remain a victim of fate or circumstance.”
I have known so many who blamed their parents for the unsuccessfulness of their lives. They blame their shortcomings on the past, etc. However, what they do not understand is exactly what this book proposes. Dig into these pages and really heal…move forward…bloom, and become a gorgeous blossom for the rest of your tree to follow.
“Your relationship with your parents affects your capacity to love others and be loved in return.”
While this segment of the book caused deep contemplation, there was a section that I admittedly flipped through. When the author spoke of their personal experience and history, it read very much like a biography, and I lost interest quickly.
“You arrive into this world entangled in the story or karma of your family.”
It is hard to describe what I experienced while working through the journal entries. One might think that this book is all about learning to accept those ancestors in your past regardless of how they treated you…not necessarily. It is more about allowing yourself the gift of healing and freedom. Near the end of the book, we finally see a section about self-care and self-compassion by restoring the connection to yourself and Mother Earth. This is a wonderful book if you are ready to move past the patterns of your family and finally be your own person, shining brightly for the world to see…healed and blossomed into your individual beauty.
Are you ready to heal and change the patterns your family carries with them?
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