Do you consider yourself a spiritually-connected person? I do, and yet I sometimes find myself falling short of caring for my physical body in a way that best serves me.
Skipping breakfast or the morning workout so I can cram in one more errand before I start work; committing to more than I can comfortably deliver and short-changing my time for spiritual practices and meditation that I need to rejuvenate myself; or eating too fast or not getting enough sleep because someone I care about needs me…
We lead busy lives. We work hard, we care for others, we have a lot to do – too much to be so selfish as to take time to care for our own bodies. And yet, what are our bodies? And what has caring for your body got to do with your spiritual well-being?
Your body is a miraculous system of life that transports your spirit through its journey while on this earth. What is your body without your spirit? When your spirit leaves, your body dies; your body has no more life. While you are alive and traveling on this earth, your body is the bridge for your spirit to this material existence. Through your body, you sense, see, hear, feel, taste, experience, reason and analyze. Through your body, you learn the important lessons that your soul has come here to learn.
Through your body, you manifest the purposes for which your soul was brought here and you experience the challenges and fulfillment of those manifestations. And through your body you can bring forth new life through which another soul can travel and experience and learn.
Your body is much more than flesh and bones. Caring for your body means caring for your soul and spirit. Self-care is a vital part of ensuring your soul’s ability to receive what it needs from its limited journey in this plane of existence.
Here are 7 Self-Care Tips for the Body and Spirit:
- Allow yourself to feel all of your emotions. – Emotions are a rich part of life. They give important messages for navigating your life journey. They are meant to be in motion. Stifling them blocks energy in your body and creates physical tension. Allowing yourself to feel your emotions gives them freedom to flow through you so you don’t hang on to them and carry them around long after your need for them has passed.
- Relish quality time with yourself. – Take yourself on a date, or treat yourself to a special evening at home. If you were someone really special who you truly loved, what would you do for you? Wait – you are someone special! Make a date and do that.
- Hug a tree, smell a flower, listen to the waves or a babbling brook. – Connecting with nature is deeply nurturing. In fact, you are a part of nature, designed to live in harmony with the natural rhythms of the earth. Spend time with nature’s symphony. What instrument are you?
- Indulge your senses, enjoy nature’s bounty. – Nature gives us a cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds that delight the senses of sight, smell, taste and texture. Foods of the earth are meant to bring pleasure to the physical body. It is said this is a way the Divine brings love to the human being. Bring nature’s delights to your table, take time and allow your senses to take in the gifts of love designed specially for them. Receive and enjoy!
- Laugh over spilled milk. – Stuff happens. We are alive to make “mistakes.” Love yourself and others through the mistakes. Learn from the mistakes, clean them up and carry your lessons forward as you move on. Don’t take yourself too seriously. No matter what life deals you, you are still a being of Light.
- Practice meditation daily. – Meditation is communing with Source energy – the Universal Life Force energy that flows through you connecting you with your origin and all that originates from Source – and all originates from One Source. We are one with All That Is – Divine Love. By human nature, we tend to forget this. Meditation helps us remember and return to the Love we know and yearn for. Learn more about Healing with Heart-Centered Meditation.
- Every act of self-care honors your body, heart & spirit. – You can’t separate your body from your heart, soul or spirit. Everything affects everything else. Love yourself and care about yourself with every act. You are made of Love, and by nature of your birth into physical form, you are worthy of love, honor and respect. Even from yourself!
To truly care for ourselves, we must be connected to our hearts, our souls, our spirits, and God’s intention for us on this earth. To be truly connected to our hearts, souls and spirits is to place optimal self-care at the top of the priority lists. After all, this is all part of the journey – the “why we’re here.” It’s a journey of illumination and illumination of a journey.
