| Strength of Body |
| Once again, primarily for continuity, I begin with the physical body. This may be because I am a very physical person. I love being in this body, even with all its faults, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. A good friend once told me that "Life is the greatest expression of success the Universe demonstrates." If that is true, and I believe it, then physical existance is one of the cornerstones that makes life possible. I believe there are many levels and/or planes of existance and consciousness, but physical life is still one of my favorites. It allows us to interact with a complex, beautiful, and terrible world in a very direct and immediate manner with an intensity of experience that seems unique in the Universe. One prerequisite for successful physical experience is strength of body. While this existance can be beautiful and wonderous, it can also be incredibly difficult and painful with many powerful challenges. This truth is obvious to anyone who has suffered through disease, to anyone who has studied nature, even to anyone who pays the slightest attention to the events of the world around them. While there are many characteristics that allow us to overcome obstacles, a healthy and strong physical body is one whose importance cannot be ignored. Regular exercise and proper nutrition may seem like very mundane elements of life, but any saint, guru or shaman could have their spiritual practice cut surprisingly short if these elements are ignored. I will not even try to cover all the ways in which the body may be strengthened since there are hundreds of entire books on the subject written by people who know much more than I about it, but I will attempt to cover a few reasons why I believe it is so important. I hold a couple of very basic assumptions that explain, in part, why I feel physical health is important to spiritual practice. The first is my belief that the physical and spiritual are inextricably intertwined. Wicca and Thelema express this idea in the adage "As above, so below." While it is certainly not the only way to strengthen one's spiritual power, keeping one's body healthy and strong is a relatively simple method to understand and practice. In today's society, it is also a strong element of living intentionally. It takes thought, planning, discipline, and awareness to stay healthy in a society that values convenience, speed, and mindless consumerism. I also make a strong connection between the focus one puts on their physical health and the idea of gratitude, the valuation of the gift of life we are experiencing. I love my body, not because I think it is perfect or anything like that, but because it allows me the opportunity to express my spirit and to interact with all the other spirits who share this plane of existance. So, what should we do to strengthen our bodies? When I speak of strength, I am not simply talking about body-building, though I don't see anything at all wrong with building up our muscles. I try to look at the whole picture--to strengthen every aspect of my body that is under my control. This includes eating the proper foods, supplementing necessary nutrients that are not commonly found in our diet, doing what I can to improve my immune system, making sure I get enough of both aerobic exercise and strength training, coordination training to keep my body working efficiently, building up my personal stamina, protecting my body from likely sources of injury and/or infection, and more. There are many elements of daily practice that go into ensuring that our bodies are able to perform at their optimum level. It is not easy and can be quite a hassle, but I feel it is not only worth it, but necessary. |