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Summary: Not enough understanding of profound damage
Review: There is much to commend this book. But as with many wise, insightful books of our time (Chopra, Majid Ali) it betrays an ignorance of the truely devastating nature of abuse -physical, psychological and sexual - on our deepest energies. It is quite impossible for the truely traumatised to apply Caroline Myss's principles, precisely because the trauma is so great that many stages of healing need to be passed through before this sort of "letting go" philosophy is applicable. Ms Myss writes superbly for the confused, the gloomy, the angry. But not for the most wretched, in pain among us. If your emotional baggage is modest, this book is good for you. If not, I would look elsewhere, although there is sorely little comfort to be found for us amongst the New Age/Enlightenment/Eastern movement. Whilst they make speak truths, they are indeed only partial truths.
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Summary: Thought provoking New Age philosophy....
Review: This well written and compelling book is one of the best I have read this year..It ties in a number of New Age related philosophies including the eastern Charkra and energy centres, speaks of the toxic effects of anger and resentment.. I read it three days but found it didnt answer all resulting questions..
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Summary: One of the Best Books of the Decade!
Review: Part of learning process is applying the things you have learned. Caroline Myss teaches some wonderful things about the Mind/Body/Spirit and by applying those things I am healthier than I have ever been. I don't even catch the cold anymore!
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Summary: Excellent opener. Steadily looses steam after 100 pages.
Review: Thoroughly impressive in the beginning. Helps the reader understand that physical health is directly related to their mental health. Her impressions of how the chakras indicate health problems are fascinating. I really think she is onto something but not quite there.
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Summary: anecdoctal, boring, and harmful
Review: I couldn't even get half-way through this stange blend of spirituality, mysticism, anatomy, and theology. I was most offended by the idea (supported only through stories) that people give themselves disease. I do not doubt the existence of the body-mind-spirit interactions, but she seems to neglect the fact that physical disease can just as easily cause emotional and spiritual distress.
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Summary: An interesting book but little depth would not hurt
Review: This is an interesting book that will certainly evoke very different responses in public. For someone who has only embarked on a spiritual journey the book may be just too much to absorb at once. I recommend reading the preface at least twice, in which the author says, "it is only through years of practice that you will fully develop your own intuitions". Well written and clearly formulated, the book's contents are perhaps too concentrated to be immediately convincing. The case stories are a bit simplified and therefore the conclusions drawn from some of them appear too simple to evaluate. It seems as if the author had to quickly lash out most of the knowledge she acquired, and as if the book was written honestly and passionately. She appears very self-assured and not the least in doubt on the anatomy of the human spirit. A lot of emphasis is put on personal responsibility for our own health and well-being, which is good, and certainly necessary in today's society. This creates, however, a danger of forgetting that this responsibility goes both ways. At present time, there are a number people employed to take care of that responsibility, but who neglect it to a point where what they do is a kind of parody of what it should have been. We have to heal ourselves before we can do anything else, but we must also make an effort to make this society do the same. (Not meant as a political manifesto, just a warning to potential readers. People take often things so literally, that I am afraid they might interpret this book as " become aware, heal yourself, be forgiving and kind and everything will work out fine, for just about anybody". This is not what the book's message is, but I am afraid that some people, who cannot imagine that it might take a lifetime to achieve something that appears like a formula on 300 pages, might just do so.) Warning for the people who are just recovering from any kind of abuse or trauma: Even though the author justly states that one should not perpetuate oneself as a victim, she seems to be ignorant of the depth of struggle the abused people have to go through, the length of time it takes for such people to heal, and even the dramatically different levels of energy that divide the abused from the unabused. While justly criticising self-victimising, she does not register that for most of those people it is only a stage that they eventually get through. She shows surprisingly little compassion. She also appears, quite naive in what she proposes. I laugh at the idea that the seriously "wounded" people can just brush it all off with a shoulder shake. It can all be done, but it takes time. A long time. At the end a long recovery process, or well after it, a former abuse victim might read this passage and nod approvingly, nut not necessarily. In the middle of a process, it will only hurt the people who have already been hurt more than the rest of us can imagine.
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Summary: GREAT BOOK, I COULDNT PUT IT DOWN.
Review: VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND, AND THERE'S NO COMPLICATED WORDS TO LOOK UP. AS YOU READ YOU FIND YOURSELF NODDING IN AGREEMENT. ONCE STARTED YOU CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT THE NEXT STAGE IS. I EVEN BROUGHT IT INTO WORK WITH ME. I WANTED TO SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE. THIS BOOK CHANGES THE WAY YOU PERCIEVE THINGS. THE CHANGES ARE ALL FOR THE BETTER. YOU WILL NEVER REGRET BUYING ANATOMY OF THE SPIRIT.
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Summary: Information on easily applying and maintaining daily energy.
Review: This book defines "energy" in a new way for me. The many examples demonstrated a practical application of the principals of renewing and spending the energy each of us awakens with each morning. I found it easy to read and understand. Myss uses three different sets of "truths" in her analogies and shows the parallels in all three. I could identify with at least one of the three all the way through the book. I'm finding the information to be easily applied in every area of my daily living. The book has become a valuable resource in my library as well as my work place.
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Summary: "Anatomy of the Spirit" is misguided and misleading.
Review: Rarely do we find someone qualified enough to speak intelligibly about several fields of study at once, even more rare when these fields happen to be as esoteric as energy intuititionism, psycho-therapy and spirituality. Regrettably, Ms. Myss is not one of those rare individuals. Her book, "Anatomy of the Spirit," for example exhibits those characterisitcs that torture an educated audience. If people did what she herself does (or even what she says!), our lives would be more chaotic instead of more whole. To give an example, at the heart of Ms. Myss' doctrine one finds a carelessly selected combination of seeingly similar, significant and central elements from three of the major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism. Regarding Christianity, Ms. Myss chooses to use the seven sacraments because she sees in them a "symbolic meaning" to the total disregard of the actual meaning of the sacraments, not to mention, the significance of Christ who is at the heart of those sacraments (which she pejoratively sets aside as the "religious significance"). She, however, under the self-proclaimed authority of "symbolic significance" feels priviledged to manipulate these truths to suit her own program. This example is by no means isolated. On the contrary, she manipulates otherwise significant theological and philosophical ideas so frequently within her book that a careful reader is left with nothing but confusion at the end. Such behavior hardly qualifies as either reasonable or professional. If her audience actually adopted her method, not to mention, her confusion, we would not witness a more harmonious lifestyle among human beings but rather a return to the cacophany of Babel. An educated reader would do well to spend her or his money on something else truly worthwhile.
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Summary: Very applicable, common sense info on sources of illness
Review: Easy to understand, not a "way out" presentation of what makes our bodies tick (and not tick). Insightful, useful awarenesses that one can be cured by others but can only heal himself. Enlightened by the parallelism or chakras, sacraments and kabbalah, all which are very practical applications of the spiritual to the physical. Many praises for Dr Myss and look forward to reading the books that follow. Have spread the word to others, including doctors.
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