Produced in 2008 by Sounds True, Inc. of Boulder, Colorado, Laura Alden Kamm’s Color Intuition blends Eastern spirituality, elements of Yoga, mysticism and the author’s own personal observations and experiences in crafting a holistic healing and self-awareness program. In some areas the effort succeeds remarkably well; in other aspects Color Intuition is rather gray. Priced at $27.95, this kit contains a booklet, two audio CD’s, and 34 “Healing Cards.” The latter consists of eight chakra cards (the seven primary chakras or spiritual centers essential to Yoga, and an extra, all-encompassing one) and the remaining cards themed with inspirational topics accompanied by sayings. Examples of the latter include Clarity (#13), Harmony (#24) and Invocation Of Spiritual Guides (#31).
Kamm is a self-proclaimed “intuitive,” meaning someone who simply senses or knows things without the usual empirical or experimental processes that most of us employ to acquire knowledge. Kamm maintains that the energy of color helps her -and others who would follow her example- awaken spiritual insights and achieve remarkable restorative effects, both physically and psychologically. She relates in the aforementioned booklet how her awakening came when she was a young woman and had a nasty brush with death, a brush which left her half-blind but better able to see than ever before (in a manner of speaking).
Color is perfectly acceptable as a meditation motif, but Kamm is not totally convincing in her assertion that colors govern so wide a domain. Certainly color has the innate potential to affect our moods and enhance or detract from our environment, depending on how it is utilized, but Kamm seems to ascribe almost magical properties to simple chromatics. On page 10 of the accompanying 47-page workbook, she assures the reader that “. . .you don’t have to see in order to intuit the color of the energy. . . [that emanates off everyone and everything]. I will share with you tools to develop you inner sight.” But delving further into both the workbook and the CD exercises demonstrate that this is easier said than done.
There are several conspicuous gaps of information throughout the program, which Kamm does not do enough to bridge. One is particularly disturbing if would-be intuitives accept the premise that Kamm’s healing methods can function remotely as well as in person. If people can send restorative energy and thoughts to someone who is injured or ill, can they not also do the opposite? And if so, what are the ramifications? Granted, this sounds a bit like witchcraft or voodoo, but the premise is plausible.
Despite its inherent flaws, Color Intuition has its plusses, particularly concerning the CD guided practices and meditations. The mind has a natural tendency to wander during meditation exercises, and during the prolonged Vipassana meditation (35:57) on track four of the first CD, Kamm repeatedly re-focuses the listener with gentle reminders. She stresses concentrating on one’s breathing, which is essential to the process, and dismisses the distractions of wandering thoughts which may traipse across the mental threshold. Her advice is quite sage. In one of the guided practices, Opening your spiritual sight, Kamm takes listeners to a deeply-wooded forest, and from there to a placid pool. There she soothes them with positive, if not always understandable, affirmations. The overall effect is very positive.
The background music consists of gentle, unobtrusive compositions which obediently defer to Kamm’s spoken instructions. The sound possesses a soft, synthesized quality that is reminiscent of New Age. A short, sharp, clear bell calls the listener to attention at start of the Vipassana meditation; the other exercises and practices on the CD’s are gently ushered in with a lilting wave of euphony.
Some of Kamm’s commentary during the audio portion of the program is awkward and even paradoxical. While there may be listeners who are too deeply entranced to really pay attention to the exact verbiage, others may find the following odd: “You know the many aspects of who you truly are: the adventurer, the rebel healer, the compassionate savior, and the whimsical, innocent spirit.” (Guided Practice: Finger painting with living energy, CD 1, Track 2). Do these descriptions complement, or contradict, one another? Or from the aforementioned Opening your spiritual sight: “You know as an infinite being of spirit that the answers intuitively come even more strongly now in your seeing way and you can still feel, hear and know the answers.” Even hearing these remarks in context begs the question “What does that mean?”
Several preparatory exercises are in the workbook, following some of Kamm’s autobiographical information and the necessary -if not completely sufficient- explanations of Color Intuition, and descriptions of the seven basic chakras and the areas of the body, as well as the colors, with which they are associated. The best of the exercises is Entering Into The Light (32), which combines deep breathing and centering on the heart, or fourth chakra, which Kamm maintains is a “beautiful emerald green (19).” The first part of Entering Into The Light, the deep breathing, is easy and peaceful. But incorporating one’s emerald green heart chakra takes patience, persistence, and probably luck. The Chakra Enhancement exercise (45) begins with taking one to seven cards, but whether or not to include the chakra cards of just pick from the inspirational cards is not stated. Kamm’s aspirations are noble, and maybe some individuals do intuitively “get the hang of it,” as Kamm assures will happen. But probably not too often.
Photo by Allan M. Heller