B EFORE SCIENCE came to dominate medicine, the spiritual and the metaphysical were a part of almost every culture''s therapeutic practice. People knew that all living things had energetic consciousness, as did the food and drink derived from them. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs were seen as gifts from the divine that contained universal life-force energy. Sages and ordinary people, therefore, turned to the natural world to find cures not only for the body but also for the soul. These traditional cultures often used liquids for medicinal purposes, as they were easy for the body to digest and absorb. Shamans and practitioners of Chinese medicine, jamu, and Ayurveda used tonics and teas in healing and religious rituals, as well as in daily life. Clearly, people understood early on the vital importance of fluids. Today, science tells us that our bodies consist of approximately 70 percent liquid in the form of water, our blood 94 percent and our brain 90 percent.

Moreover, water is an essential element of all life on Earth, covering nearly three quarters of the planet. The water element is often taken for granted, yet it is crucial to every function of our body. We can live without eating for up to a month, but without drinking we die within days. Since our bodies depend on liquids, what we imbibe greatly affects our physical and emotional health--and also our spiritual well-being. Fluids, the first nourishment we receive as babies, naturally bridge the gap between the ethereal and physical planes. Many popular drinks consumed in Western culture are depleted of vitality. Coffee, alcohol, sodas, some processed juices, and even some types of filtered water are lifeless as well as detrimental to the physical health of the body. In the scientific approach to health, drinks are not evaluated in terms of chi, or universal life force.

Instead, it is the amount of calories, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals they contain that matters. When examined from a mystical point of view, on the other hand, beverages are found to be either potent vehicles of life-affirming power or transporters of soul-deadening energies. Both approaches to the question are of value. Indeed, properly applied, science can indicate health-giving properties of food and drink, as well as validate the life-enhancing abilities of many ancient practices. Chakra Tonics utilizes scientific research and ancient wisdom to create delicious vital elixirs for the modern body and soul. In the Vedic tradition, we believe that we are all souls attempting to have a human experience. The chakras, which are energy portals located within the body (or in close proximity to the body) through which we process universal life-force energy. They are our link to divine origins, constantly translating the immense and immeasurable properties of the soul into our human experience.

There are seven main chakras located along the spine, as well as other minor chakras located throughout the body and several out of body chakras as well. Each recipe in this book combines ingredients that relate to and focus on the functioning of a specific chakra. Chakra tonics are healing elixirs that benefit the physical body and assist in raising the vibrational quality of life. Chakra tonics contain powerful superfoods, herbs, minerals, and pH-balanced liquids designed to affect the body''s foundational energy system, the chakras. Each recipe possesses many healthful and balancing qualities and is intended to affect a certain chakra or mind-body vortex, while at the same time affecting the entire interrelated energetic body. Many of the chakra tonics in this book are alkalizing, oxygen rich, and full of universal life-force energy. The ancient Indian sages noted the subtle influence of foods and drinks on the emotions and the spirit. Science would agree that our bodies are electrochemical laboratories in which the charge, or acid and alkaline balance, of the fluids we drink makes a tremendous difference in conducting energy through our cells, eventually influencing overall physical and psychological health.

Scientifically speaking, one of the reasons that cola, coffee, and alcohol are so detrimental to our systems is that they are acidic. The body tolerates and sometimes benefits in some cases from the consumption of acidic food and drinks; however, they must be balanced with alkaline foods and drinks. Spiritually, most processed drinks are acidic and block universal life force and leave a residue of unconsciousness that can hinder higher awareness Many people are coming to understand that their connection to a higher power beyond the physical is intrinsic to emotional and physical health. In fact, Dr. Theodore Baroody, author of Alkalize or Die, says the single most alkalizing thing we can do for our body is to feel the power of the divine or "holy spirit." The Chakra tonics in this book for the most part are incredibly alkalizing and life affirming. Acid foods, drinks, and emotions must be balanced with disproportionate amounts of alkaline foods, drinks, and emotions; fresh juice; love; and herbal tea. We are at a crucial turning point in our collective spiritual evolution.

Degenerative diseases, which thrive in hyperacidic conditions brought on by stress and a Western diet, are reaching epidemic proportions. The vibration on the planet is accelerating. Now more than ever, the challenge of slowing down, taking time for a cup of tea or vital, fresh juice, is essential to those of us seeking peace and clarity or who wish to follow a more spiritual path. Instead of reaching for a prepackaged bottled tea or can of juice, take the time to prepare fresh homemade chakra tonics, which will nourish, replenish, and enthuse body and soul. Change the habitual beverages that you imbibe for the better and you will impart dramatic and extensive changes in your health, mentally, spiritually, and physically.