Written by: Kathleen Ginn
16th March 2025

Studies of highly successful people demonstrate they have embraced habits which are known to support successful outcomes. This is perhaps more widely known and visible within sports. However, in business it is said that if you want to be successful follow the ‘footsteps’ of others in order to achieve the results you wish.

In terms of the healing business, success is not something well written about. However, there are clues available from the traditions of Ayurveda and Yoga along with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Qi Gong and Tai Chi.

Each of these ancient traditions has a clear and definitive pathway to develop the integration of the mind, body and spirit for healing and spiritual inner peace. The practices aim to prepare the mind, body and spirit to embody the Soul consciously. What many of us would consider enlightenment.

Each of these traditions uses exercises which are body centred, mind centred and spirit centred. These exercises and practices are multi-sensory and help to develop the primary senses of the human form as well as the sixth sense, intuition.

Humankind is naturally multi-sensory. However, depending on upbringing and natural preferences, individuals will have their own preference map for sensory learning. By way of example, one individual will be more visual than another who is more auditory. Another may be more kinaesthetic and a further individual may be more intuitive.

However, studying the ancient traditions which promote ‘enlightenment’ as the end result, one can clearly appreciate they encouraged development of all the senses because they understood by developing all the senses equally resulted in better psychology (i.e. management of thinking, emotional states and behaviours) and a compassionate philosophy.

Growing Awareness & Higher Thinking
Both psychology and philosophy play crucial roles in our understanding of conscious awareness. Here is a breakdown of their respective contributions:

What is Psychology?
The word “psychology” comes from two Greek words:
• ψυχή (psychē) meaning “breath, spirit, soul”
• λογία (-logia) meaning “study” or “research”

Therefore, the word “psychology” literally translates to “study of the soul” or “study of the mind.” While the concept of the “soul” has evolved over time, psychology today focuses on the scientific study of the mind and resulting behaviours.

In the 21st Century mental-emotional health is an important part of health and wellbeing. There are several approaches practised.

• Scientific Investigation: Psychology approaches conscious awareness through scientific methods.
o   Cognitive Psychology: Focuses on how we perceive, process, and store information, exploring the mechanisms of attention, memory, and decision-making.
o   Neuropsychology: Investigates the brain’s role in consciousness, studying how brain injuries or disorders affect awareness and cognition.
o   Behavioural Neuroscience: Examines the neural aspect of consciousness; seeking to understand how brain activity gives rise to subjective experience.

• Clinical Applications: Psychologists apply their understanding of consciousness to diagnose and treat mental health conditions.
o   Psychotherapy: Helps individuals become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours, enabling them to make positive changes.
o   Hypnosis: Explores altered states of consciousness to address various psychological and physical issues.

What is Philosophy?
The word “philosophy” comes from the ancient Greek words:
• φίλος (philos) meaning “love” or “friend”
• σοφία (sophia) meaning “wisdom”

Therefore, the word “philosophy” literally translates to “love of wisdom.” Philosophy is the pursuit of knowledge and understanding as a core aspect of philosophical inquiry. Philosophy has different ways of exploring the concept of conscious awareness.

• Conceptual Exploration: Philosophy delves into the fundamental nature of consciousness, asking profound questions:
o   What is consciousness?
o   Is it a physical phenomenon, a mental state, or something else entirely?
o   What is the relationship between consciousness and the physical world?
o   Does mind emerge from matter, or are they separate entities?
o   What are the implications of consciousness for our understanding of self, free will, and the nature of reality?

• Ethical Considerations of Philosophy: Philosophy explores the ethical dimensions of consciousness, such as:
o   Animal consciousness: Should we consider the suffering of animals in our ethical decision-making?
o   Artificial consciousness: What are the ethical implications of creating artificial beings with consciousness?

Key Interconnections between Psychology & Philosophy:
• Shared Ground: Both psychology and philosophy grapple with the same core questions about the nature of consciousness.
• Mutual Influence: Psychological findings inform philosophical debates, while philosophical ideas guide psychological research.
• Complementary Approaches: Psychology provides empirical evidence, while philosophy offers conceptual frameworks for interpreting that evidence.

In essence, psychology and philosophy offer complementary perspectives on conscious awareness. Psychology provides the scientific tools to investigate its mechanisms, while philosophy provides the conceptual framework to understand its meaning and implications.

Ancient traditions which focused on becoming spiritually aware, believed the integration of these two approaches helped to develop conscience and awareness of our interconnectedness with all life on Mother Earth.

Somatic Descent & Embodiment of Consciousness
Conscious awareness is the interplay of psychology and philosophy which is ever-evolving through the practice of specific habits. An individual’s conscious awareness is totally dependent on how much effort that individual puts into developing and integrating the mind, body and spirit as the foundation for living.

The ancient pathways of seeking to promote health within mind, body and spirit knew the importance of developing daily habits which become a way of living. They also understood success in the healing business is about the power of compounding these habits.

Very simply enlightenment, which Reginald A Ray states in his book “Somatic Descent” appears to have three aspects: “(1) It opens up an unconditioned, experiential space in our own being to receive and witness all the realities of our life and death, and those of others – the world we have to be in and interact with; (2) It bring us to an intimate, powerfully somatic, felt experience and connection with what this universe is, including all its realms and beings; and (3) It unleashes the natural and spontaneous responsiveness, the unconditional love, that is an integral part of our awakened nature and that, alone, can be of most benefit to this world of ours.”

Therefore, based on recognising how the ancient cultures of the East developed pathways of learning to train the mind, body and spirit and looking to modern times and neuroscience and how it is used in sport and business, in order to be a highly effective healing practitioner, one needs to embrace, practice and compound habits which become embodied and a way of living.

Accelerated Multi-Sensory Learning & Spiritual Embodiment
Traditions from the East used sound, colour and movement along with psychology to train the mind-body to connect spiritually. In more recent times the West has embraced accelerated learning practices in order to create productivity and successful outcomes in the work-place and/or sporting arena. The one field, which desperately needs to catch up on this is the field of healthcare and healing.

Multi-sensory practices demonstrate a clear mind, body, spirit theme.

Body Centred Practices:
• Stretching and muscular strength
• Good Nutrition
• Breathwork
• Rest and Relaxation

Mind Centred Practices:
• Meditation
• Contemplation
• Creative Visualisation
• Releasing techniques
• Reading and studying sacred scriptures

Spirit Centred Practices:
• Grounding
• Centering
• Presence techniques
• Prayer
• Reading and studying sacred scriptures

The 7 Habits of Successful People
The 7 Habits of successful healing practitioners are ones which embrace and embody behaviours and thinking patterns of highly effective people and principle centred leadership.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, outlined by Stephen R. Covey in his book of the same name, are:

1. Be Proactive: Take responsibility for your own life and choices. Focus on what you can control rather than dwelling on what you can’t.

2. Begin with the End in Mind: Define your goals and values. Have a clear vision for what you want to achieve and live in alignment with that vision.

3. Put First Things First: Prioritize and manage your time effectively. Focus on the most important tasks, even if they aren’t the most urgent.

4. Think Win-Win: Seek mutually beneficial solutions in your interactions with others. Believe that everyone can succeed.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood: Listen deeply to others before trying to make your point.

6. Synergize: Value and leverage the strengths and perspectives of others to achieve better outcomes together.

7. Sharpen the Saw: Continuously improve yourself in all areas of life – physical, mental, social, and spiritual.

These habits provide a framework for personal and professional development, emphasizing principles of integrity, service, and continuous improvement. They are also very much part of being able to develop compassion and unconditional acceptance of another person.

The 7 Habits & Self-Care Practice
This is about motivation and commitment to practising the rituals and exercises which are known to align mind, body, spirit and soul daily.

By embracing the 7 habits of successful people and using mind, body and spirit centred practices for self-care, one is able to lay a strong foundation for the embodiment of the ‘soul’ onto Mother Earth.

Having a regular self-care practice one becomes a life-long learner in knowing, loving, healing and freeing the self from attachments and mental-emotional stories of the mind into living and being in the present moment.

A regular self-care practice will enable you, the Spirit Keeper, to live and be the change you wish to experience (see, hear and feel) in the world.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION:
By way of reminder, the root word of health or healing is “haelan” which means “to make whole, sound and well.” The multi-sensory mind, body and spirit centred practices, encourage a return to feeling whole, sound and well. These practices are self-care in action which will lead one to feeling connected to Creative Intelligence/Source and feeling inner joy and peace.