Drop Anchor Weigh Anchor

Most people connect the idea of an anchor with holding a ship in place against the flow of water. Anchors also can hold back or keep us on course in the flow of life. Anchors have come up in conversation the last week and have much occupied my thoughts. An anchor causes something to be fixed in place or a source of stability and security. My thoughts have made me look at what my I look to for security and what holds me back from life.

Why has this come up?

In the Yogi Detox Course taught by Cate Stillman, she spoke of certainty anchors. (www.yogahealer.com) Certainty anchors create change for the better, and cement healthful habits into our daily routines. This detox focuses on self care that becomes a certainty anchor, as you change food and uplevel your vibration.  Ayurveda based self care becomes a wonderful default go to in a world that doesn’t support self care or health.

In my mind the idea is to keep anchoring into the best you know. Be free to learn, pull up anchor and drop anchor again in my best and brightest understanding. Ground my new habits in connection and certainty. At each anchor point consciously acquire habits that support my highest vibration. Certainty and routine free us. Healthy habits elevate us. The combination contributes to an upward spiral of behavior and vibration spurring growth.

Jonathan Fields author of the book Uncertainty speaks to certainty anchors, “They provide just enough of a foundation to allow you to free up that part of your brain that needs permission to run encumbered in the quest to create the greatest possible something from nothing.  Some of the most creative people in the world are attached to rituals and routines in their everyday lives.” https://dculberh.wordpress.com/2014/11/05/certainty-anchors/  

Is this not a wonderful way of thinking about habits freeing your mind up to explore possibilities?

Then last Saturday at my meditation group with Ellen Tadd, she spoke on attachment anchors. Ellen defines attachment as desire contaminated by fear. (www.ellentadd.com) Attachments driven by fear or anxiety settle deep within our psyche. These anchors direct our behavior at a level below conscious decision. These subconscious fears hold us in a lower vibration, deepen the groves of unconsciousness and keep the wheel of Karma turning. It is clear to me that unknowing attachment anchors have perhaps a deeper sureness than those of conscious choice like a certainty anchor. When you have an intense reaction you don’t understand, look for an attachment anchor. The opportunity is there to detach from and dis-empower habitual attachments by working with them from a spiritual perspective.

Habits are held in the brain in clusters of cells that maintain their association to make the habit nearly automatic. Once formed current information suggests that the associations are somewhat permanent. Old attachments and habit loops never really go away. We can change their power in our lives and demote them from the go to response.

After hearing these wonderful thinkers speak on anchors, I really started looking as what I want as certainty in my life. One thing I understand I am seeking certainty in my connection to my health, my growth and my spirit. I am building habits and rituals that free me from the ordinary and support my exploration of the things that make my heart sing, the extraordinary.