The Body is the Temple of the Soul-Daily Meditation 6.22.23
Today’s quotation:
Remember that the body is the temple of the soul. Those who mistreat the body tend to mistreat the soul within. Observe vital health laws, such as exercise, a healthy diet, and self-control.-Susan Santucci
Today’s Meditation:
These bodies that we’re using are vital to us, for they are the vessels that allow us to experience everything there is to experience on this planet. The bodies provide sensory experiences that let us know things like cold and heat, wetness and dryness, textures and surfaces, illness and health, ecstasy and agony. If we treat these bodies well, they do everything we need them to do for us. If we mistreat and abuse them, then guess what? They will be the source of much of our discontent on this planet.
I think Susan’s main premise, though, is fundamental: if we mistreat the body, we’re likely to mistreat the soul. If we don’t try to keep the one healthy, how likely are we to keep the other one healthy? I want to think I’m doing things that keep my spirit healthy—helping other people, looking for the good in life, and sharing love as much as possible. And I want to do this because the idea of leading a good life is essential to me, and if I neglect my spirit and my body, my life will always be limited in scope.
If we care for our bodies well, they will serve us well. That doesn’t mean adopting a stoic lifestyle–I eat quite a few donuts, to be honest, but I do so because I know that I run a lot, and I’ll be running those calories off each day. If I didn’t exercise a lot, I wouldn’t eat the donuts, though I would look for something I enjoy eating just because. I wouldn’t eat it to excess (chocolate comes to mind).
Our bodies are in constant contact with our spirits. We know when we haven’t drunk enough when we need to eat, when we need to take it easy and favor one leg for a while. We must take those messages seriously, for we won’t get a different vessel to carry us through this life. Take care of your body, and many other things will fall into place as they should.
Questions to consider:
What are some things that your body has told you recently?
Why do so many people ignore the messages that their bodies send them?
What have you done recently for your body that’s very positive?
For further thought:
It is widely recognized that being negatively sensitive about one’s health through worry-imagery and pessimistic self-talk can make and keep one sick. What is not so widely recognized, however, is that being positively sensitive about one’s health–“listening” to the body, avoiding damaging influences, imagining and directing healing energy, visualizing perfect health, and so on–can make and keep one well, as an increasing number of people are discovering, some of them through curing themselves of “incurable” illnesses.-Benjamin Hoff
The Te of Piglet
If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.
