Caroline Myss's book is a guide to understanding how self-awareness and spirituality can impact healing and health. Borrowing from Hindu chakras, Christian scripture and the Kabbalah, the book examines the connection between health, emotional well-being and spiritual development. Despite its holistic approach to healing the body, mind and spirit, I struggled with the text. Still, while it's one of the more challenging books I've covered on this journey, I was able to extract value.

This week's footnote is quite long, so I've balanced the post by focusing on only one aspect of Anatomy of the Spirit. Essentially, I hope to convey that one can benefit from religious texts without being religious.
The Seven Chakras, The Christian Sacraments & The Tree of Life
Please bear with me. The first quote from Anatomy of the Spirit will explain why I included this in my post.

Eastern religions or philosophies (such as Buddhism) teach that the human body comprises seven energy centres, each containing a life lesson we must master before attaining higher consciousness. So, if the first chakra ('Muladhara' or root chakra) relates to the material world, the seventh chakra ('Sahasrara'/'Thousand Petaled' or 'The Unqualified Absolute') relates to spirituality. Between these two, what I consider the beginning and end are lessons related to desire, the ego, love & compassion, will and wisdom or insight.

In early Christianity, the church recognised seven sacraments. Now primarily associated with the Roman Catholic Church, symbolically speaking, these seven ceremonies serve as a level of assent that draws the Divine into a person's spirit. The first sacrament is Baptism, which represents gratitude for one's life in the physical world. The seventh sacrament, Extreme Unction, represents the completion of unfinished business - not just before death but as a daily practice. I know very little about this because my experience with Christianity ended after Baptism. However, much like Eastern philosophies, the Christian Sacraments also suggest a beginning and end.

If I know a little about Christianity, I know even less about the Ten Sefirot or Tree of Life of the Kabbalah. I understand from reading Anatomy of the Spirit that, in Judaism, the Ten Sefirot are the ten qualities of the Divine Nature. Myss writes that, given that three of the Ten Sefirot are partnered with another three, they can be grouped into seven levels. The Ten Sefirot are the qualities of the Divine inherent in the quintessential human being. They are considered the essence of God and how humanity can return to God.
Myss adds that:
"The chakras, the sefirot and the sacraments all speak of interacting with power and taking control of our own power in gradually more intense processes... Gradually, we learn to manage our minds, our thoughts and our spirits. Every choice we make, motivated by either faith or fear, directs our spirit."
Caroline Myss doesn't mention Islam, but the Prophet Muhammad ascended through the seven heavens before uniting with Allah. So, much like self-help books, there is a common thread running through religious texts as well. At this point, I have to leave religion behind and focus instead on the faith I mentioned in last week's post. If faith is defined, in part, as having 'confidence or trust in a person or thing', then my shift is toward having faith in this journey I am on. I believe that whether I extract value from what is written in the sacraments, the seven chakras, the Kabbalah or any of the self-help and/or motivational books, I can heal myself. Myss goes on to write that:
"Healing is, above all, a solo task. No one can heal on behalf of another person. We can assist others, to be sure, but no one can, for instance, forgive someone on behalf of someone else. Nor can any of us cause someone to release the painful memories or experiences that he needs to release in order to heal"
In my opinion, the author has perfectly defined 'self-help' with the above quote. In Chapter 6 of her book, 'The Sixth Chakra: The Power of the Mind', Myss writes about "... learning to act on internal direction; and discriminating between thoughts motivated by strength and those by fear and illusion." She is writing about mindfulness and cognitive behavioural therapy despite the underlying religious themes. My Dad used to say I should do whatever I could to ease my burden in times of struggle and strife. This is why I wrote about my cousin Zelda's faith in my previous post - it transcends her Christian beliefs and shows her open-mindedness. Inspiration is like a generic medicine without the patent of an original drug. No matter how it is packaged, inspiration has the capacity to affect change. Myss herself writes, "All truth is the same at the level of truth itself... How can we work with our own minds to refine our mental perceptual system and become skilled at penetrating illusion?" "Illusion" is, of course, the mental images we conjure up when going through overthinking and/or a period of anxiety. If, as the first quote above states, we slowly "learn how to manage our minds, thoughts and spirits", I will take those lessons wherever I can get them.
What's Up Next Week
I originally planned to work through Dennis Greenberger and Christine A. Padeksy's book Mind Over Mood, but the books haven't entirely aligned in the way that I'd hoped, so I will save this one for next year. Mind Over Mood is a practical guide through cognitive behavioural therapy, so I think I'll approach it as I did with the Atomic Habits footnotes and detail my CBT journey over the weeks it will take me to work through the book. For now, I'll choose a shorter book to work through for my second-to-last post before taking a two-week break for the holidays.
FOOTNOTE: Atomic Habit 10

I've written (ad infinitum) about my challenges around motivation - particularly regarding exercise, so it pleases me to write about exercise as my new atomic habit. Near the end of his book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson writes about how motivation is an endless loop and that we can only really feel motivated when we're emotionally inspired. He adds that there is a knock-on effect in that our actions create emotional reactions that lead to inspiration, which then leads to future actions. Then, as if inspired by a famous sneaker brand, he writes:
"If you lack motivation to make an important change in your life, do something - anything, really - and then harness the reaction to that action as a way to begin motivating yourself."
In much the same way we're inspired to run when chased by a bear, moving house will make you get off your keister and do something. And not just anything - everything.

This is a screengrab of my smartwatch on move day. Boy, do I love to close those rings. The author continues, "You can become your own source of inspiration. You can become your own source of motivation."
The remainder of the week fluctuates, but I wanted to point out Wednesday and Friday because I walked on those days - by choice. Moving house equates to changes in circumstances that are not limited to locale. I moved closer to the beach but further from the office and am reminded of what my Dad said: "It's not where you go in the morning; it's where you come home to at night".
Given the horrendous Auckland traffic, I've decided to use public transport when I don't work from home. It's not only better for the environment and less stressful, but it means that I walk to the bus depot and the office. Mark Manson says, "Your actions create further emotional reactions and inspirations and move on to motivate your future actions." I opted to "do something, " and it made me feel good physically and mentally. In terms of exercise, I aim to take the advice from The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by harnessing that feeling of accomplishment and choosing to care a little more about exercise as a means to improve my overall wellbeing.
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