Page 249 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

t he s ev e n c ha kr a s
body and the lower six chakras, connecting the entire physical body to
the seventh chakra. The energy of the seventh chakra influences all of
the other major body systems: the central nervous system, the muscu-
lar system, and the skin” (Myss 1996:265).
The seventh chakra contains the energy that inspires and gener-
ates devotion, prophetic thoughts, transcendent ideas, and mystical
connections. It is reported that this chakra contains the purest form of
the energy of grace and Love; it safeguards our capacity for insights,
vision, and intuition beyond ordinary consciousness. It is the mystical
realm (Myss 1996:266). It can also be considered as closely aligned with
the basic human need for self-actualization, but it goes beyond that to
the realm of the Divine, the mystical, opening to infinity.
According to Myss, the primary fears associated with the seventh
chakra relate to spiritual issues of the “dark side of the soul”: fears of
abandonment, loss of identity, and loss of our connection with life
and those around us. The primary strengths of this chakra include
faith in the presence of the Divine, having faith-hope in that which is
greater than self, a divine ordering in one’s life and experiences, a pro-
found trust that order is unfolding in the midst of chaos, confusion,
crises, fears, and so on. This trust, faith, and strength of spirit help one
overcome ordinary human fears, to seek devotion, silence, prayer, and
patience to cope with unknowns.
The color associated with the seventh chakra is white.
The seventh chakra is the one that allows nurses and others to be
“open to a miracle” for self and other. Thus, the Carative Factors/Caritas
Processes most closely associated with this chakra are numbers 1: prac-
tice of loving-kindness and equanimity; and 10: opening to spiritual-
mysterious and existential dimensions of one’s life and death: “allow-
ing for a miracle.”
Once nurses and other health and healing practitioners connect
with their own energy source and attend to evolving their conscious-
ness to a higher/deeper realm, they open up sources of energy for
different aspects of their life force and Being-in-the-world while simul-
taneously uniting with an infinite source of energy, allowing them to
transcend any situation. They are then awakened to a greater sense of
self, of community, communion, spiritual evolution, and so on.

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