Exploring our different bodies

Loving our Physical body

I am starting a series of blogs to shed some light on our different bodies because indeed we have more than just one body. Yes we can perceive the physical body with all of our 5 senses but this is not all we are. We have a lot of subtle bodies that are integrated into each other. But I will talk about the 5 major bodies and how they are all connected. These 5 bodies are: physical body, energy body, mind body, intellectual body and divine body. Today I will talk about the physical body. It is needless to say that we all are familiar with our physical body – the vehicle we move around with in this day and age. The human vessel, that allows us to move around and carry out activities to sustain life like eating, digesting, playing sports and communicating. And these are not even a drop in the ocean of what our physical bodies are capable of. For those of you that are familiar with the physiology and anatomy of the body, it is very clear that we move around in vessels that are so extraordinary. After how many years of investigating the human body, there are still a lot of things we as humans still don’t understand about it. We know that molecules work together to form cells. Cells work together to form organs. Organs work together to form systems. And systems work together to maintain life. One thing is clear, that everything is interconnected and this can’t be denied. We only see the big picture. If our brain tells our hand to move it does that without struggle. But what really happens in the body in order for that to happen? So how can we use this physical body every single one of us have to its optimal? Why do we have so little time for ourselves? Let’s look at feeding our physical body. It is much easier to grab something to eat out of a can or to buy junk food, in order to go back to serve others quicker. Not paying attention to your body and what it needs. This will drain your energy and never lead to satisfaction. Your body will always crave more in order to feel that the nutrients you put into your body is enough for it to operate optimally. If you are faced with a question, whether you should eat that or if it is good for you – The answer is really simple. Anything that is not close to earth and nature will harm your body. It is due to a lack of willingness that we harm our bodies. You have a new body every single day. Every morning that you wake up you have the choice what to feed it. Taking care of yourself is only your responsibility. So the key is to become aware. When you become aware you have the power. And this doesn’t suggest at all that you should deprive yourself from the pleasures in life. It doesn’t mean you should become a vegetarian and only eat satvic food. But the main thing is moderation. The body can detox itself. It is designed to keep itself

in homeostasis and if something is throwing it out of balance there are mechanisms to get rid of it. But over consumption is what rots the body. It has gradually come to my awareness that there are so many people that are practicing violence against themselves. And this is one of the greatest denials of our time. This can be identified easily by looking at your experience of the body in your daily life. We all know that stress creates problems in your body. It arises when you want to blame something and are dissatisfied with something. And this will make more sense when I talk about the other bodies and how they are connected to your physical body. But when we look at the physical body, stress and illness might be signs of violence against yourself that you don’t want to take responsibility for. And yes we have all wanted something so bad that we are willing to take a chance to hurt our bodies to get it. But being conscious about a short term goal you want to reach is not usually what causes violence to yourself. It is usually the long term signs and signals of imbalance that we disregard as nothing that is a cause of violence. Once you disregard your inner values for your outer driving force it is your mind’s imaginary creations. Inner development is a result of acknowledging yourself and what you really need instead of what your mind thinks it wants. To a certain extent you can even practice a form of violence against yourself in a yoga class. Have you ever found yourself getting lost in the willfulness of getting into the full expression of the pose and putting extra tension and strain to your body, rather than freeing the muscles from movement? No one person will have the same expression of a yoga pose. It is good to challenge yourself and to hold a pose for longer and to try to go into a pose deeper but not if it results in tension and compromising in another form of the pose. A good way to analyze this is notice your facial expression in a pose. If you can’t get your face muscles to smile in a pose you are not in your body’s optimal pose. Even though your muscles under your skin are engaged, your skin should still be soft. So let’s make a point to become aware of our bodies. Let’s become aware when we are being violent to ourselves and then we have the power to change it for the better. If we learn how to love our bodies it will be so much easier to look after it in a way we optimize this one vessel we have to carry us though this lifetime.