What This Book Does Best
As the title suggests, the concept of vital force is the biggest takeaway from this book. The idea that we have a power within us waiting to be accessed. This book discusses what drains it, how to recharge it, and how to reshape your mind to cultivate it. The author, Rajshree Patel, blends ancient Vedic traditions with modern science to share techniques for increasing our vital force and using it to fuel our purpose. Rajshree, a former federal prosecutor turned international coach and speaker, has a grounded and pragmatic perspective. But despite her logical approach, the book definitely leans into what others would call “woo-woo”, therefore bridging the gap to skeptics in a way that feels relatable and credible.
The Short:
You have a power within you, your vital force, that can fuel your dreams and turn them into reality.
The Long:
Vital force is the idea that we have an unlimited potential within us waiting for us to access it. This book is a guide on how to access and nourish your inner power. Rajshree emphasizes that this isn’t a traditional self-improvement book, but rather a guide to reconnect to who we truly are. I appreciated how she weaved science and spirituality together to help explain not only what depletes our vital force but also how to refuel it.
She explains, one of the biggest drains on our vital force is the thinking part of our brain. The part that never stops worrying, over analyzing, and wondering what others are thinking of us. All that mental noise consumes a tremendous amount of energy because it takes real energy to process those thoughts that keep us stuck in the past and future, away from the present moment.
“It’s the unnecessary chatter in the mind, the negative emotions, the limiting beliefs that are sapping life focus and draining the whole system.”
We all have programs that run in our heads. Maybe you keep telling yourself you don’t make enough money, you might regret not starting a business, or feel like you’re not good enough to have a partner. These ideas are built in our heads, and then we keep repeating them, making them true to us. Being able to recognize the thoughts as stories is the first step to changing them. Once we can see they are in fact stories we can begin to change the way we think about ourselves, and help to reduce that inner resistance against our vital force.
The mindfulness trap is another concept in this book. Rajshree states that trying to be mindful in the way of eliminating all thoughts can actually be a bad thing, and it could train you to repress certain thoughts and emotions, giving yourself the idea that they are bad thoughts. She offers instead to do the opposite. She suggests guiding the mind into deeper states of relaxation with the use of mantras and breathwork allowing yourself into a nondoing state of total relaxation. She does offer some breathing exercises that can help you to get there but mostly refers you to other resources to learn those.
Overall I rated this book 3 stars because it is full of great concepts and inspiration, however I was looking forward to being able to learn a specific breathing practice or two that I could implement. I was a bit disappointed to not find those, but assume maybe it’s something that you have to learn in person and not through a book. I also believe it was a bit on the long end, there were some down sections, but definitely still worth a read. I really liked the approach of, we don’t need to fix or improve ourselves but instead get back to the essence of who we are. It is very spiritual and I liked how it uses ideas and knowledge from Vedic traditions. A time period approximately between 1500 to 500 BCE during which Hinduism was born.
Who needs to read this now?
This book is for someone who feels they don’t have enough energy and are too stressed in their lives to create the things they truly desire. It reveals how our own thoughts are often what’s keeping us stuck, creating an inner resistance that holds us back. Through practical insights and strategies, this book can help you recognize this resistance and start to decrease it.