Taking Care of The Spiritual Body
This second week highlights The Spiritual Body. Let’s get more specific on the details of each body and the practices you can follow to maintain their health. Keep reading below to learn more about how body, mind and spirit all influence one another.
This article looks at simple practices you can do each day to maintain the health of the spiritual body.
What is The Spiritual Body?
The spiritual body is your connection to energy.
For some, this may be more closely tied to religion than spirituality. For others, it could have more to do with the atoms in the body or the quantum energy that science refers to. Whichever way you choose to view the source of your energy is perfect.
Energy trickles down from the spiritual body, from source, or the universe and first enters into the mental body. To fully access the spiritual aspect of your being, maintain a daily practice (see below) that keeps this connection open.
If a blockage occurs, energy and information are unable to flow freely from the spiritual body down through the mental, emotional, and physical bodies. This is why a daily spiritual or religious practice is so important to maintain this open connection.
To be in a state of harmony between each of the layers of our being, we need to develop our intuition and spirituality as much as we do our mind and emotions to create a solid physical foundation.
The spiritual body denotes your higher self, your essence. There is something bigger than your little self; something that transcends the “I, me mine”. We call this the “spiritual body”. Oftentimes this is referred to as the soul, but this term is used in many different ways in various cultures.
Would you know your spiritual body? Practice, then, the observer in your mind. You are more than just your ego. If you very consciously monitor your own stream of thoughts, without acting on them, who is watching? You are not your ego; you are an observer and decision maker. Each and every choice you make, each moment of the day, is always a choice between ego (conditioning, separation) and love (non-condemning, joining).
Each of your tens of thousands of thoughts each day come down to a choice between these two options. Choosing love means, for example, realizing that all living things are equally worthy of love, and that in the end we all share the same deepest desire: to live a life of love.
As your ego advises you of your individual interests, your higher Self advises you about sharing, withholding judgment, kindness, and reciprocal communication.
This ‘voice of love’ is known as many names in spiritual traditions. To name but a few: Inner Teacher; Inner Healer; big mind; Holy Spirit; Intuition. This voice never condemns. This voice echoes eternity and Oneness. Moreover, in practice, this voice always has the best answer.
Adopt Practices for the Spiritual Body:
There are many ways to develop your spirituality. Adding some of the practices below into your daily routine are a great place to start:
- Practice meditation daily
- Learn to work with energy (through practices such as Huna, Reiki, chi gong, and acupuncture) as a way to keep the energy channels open
- Study consciousness, religion, or philosophy
- Attend a silent retreat to deepen your connection to Self
Challenges for The Spiritual Body
1) Take a 5 minute break for yourself during the day to pause and let go of everything
We want to challenge you on the domain of your beliefs, desires, values, and goals on a deeper level. This challenge is about setting yourself up for the week.
2) Take the initiative to open up a new community for yourself
This could be signing up to that book club you’ve been meaning to join, or volunteering at your favourite organisation. Making the effort will be rewarding!
Humans are communal by nature. Unfortunately, the lifestyle that you lead today does not often support this way of life.
Connection, laughter, exchange of ideas, emotional support, and strength to persevere are some of what you can experience through community.
3) Identify what is currently bringing you the most amount of happiness and fulfilment, then identify how you can get more of it
Are you able to shift time spent on less valuable activities towards ones that reward? Stay updated on an iyarn wheel and track your scores in these areas.
The spiritual body denotes your higher self, your essence. There is something bigger than your little self; something that transcends the “I, me mine”. We call this the “spiritual body”. Oftentimes this is referred to as the soul, but this term is used in many different ways in various cultures.
4) Send them a message letting them know, make plans to hang out to get those creative ideas going
This one is about fulfilling your soul. who is the person in your life you know has your back? The person you’d call to break you out of jail – your soul sister or brother?
Check in by creating a wheel together and make note of how you feel post activity.
Taking time for spiritual selfcare is soul-fulfilling. It encourages introspection and offers clarity and comfort. Studies have shown how cultivating a spiritual life can have numerous health benefits.
5) Put technology aside
Set time aside during dinner or before going to sleep where all phones are put away. Or try choosing a day where you will detach from texting, checking social media, and responding to emails. You will begin to experience a richer life.
While technology is a blessing, it also has the downside of being extremely distracting. You likely constantly check your devices, even without noticing. Setting time aside to unplug from technology, especially from your smartphone has amazing benefits.
6) Grab a friend, loved one, or pet and go for a walk. Take your time and enjoy it
If you’re an early riser make the effort to see the sunrise or chose to watch the sunset – no matter what you chose take the opportunity to leave your phones at home and feel the nature around you.
Walking is undervalued. Research shows that people who suffer from mental health conditions can benefit from going on walks.
Any form of physical activity is beneficial, but walking is different. It allows you to press pause on life and just be in the moment. Breathing in the fresh air, feeling the pavement under your feet, and seeing the wide-open sky are subtle ways that ground and nourish the senses.
Mindful walking is a practice that has many great benefits that might surprise you.
7) Reflect on how you went with the challenges above
Write 3 sentences on either a post-it note, in your journal, even your phone on what you achieved whilst focusing on the spiritual body. Make sure to complete your iyarn wheel to see what your strengths and weaknesses were.
It’s important to stay present and accept pleasure and pain as part of your journey to spiritual health and balance. Your ego naturally leans toward pleasure and comfort.
It takes concerted effort and discipline to begin exploring the truth of who you are and creating a stronger connection to your true self. The most important thing is that you stay true to yourself while implementing any self-care plan.
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Today we are reflecting back at the fourth week which was the spiritual body. We learned that we are made up of energy that links us to a more ephemeral level, the very source of what makes us, well us! It is something larger than our physical bodies – something that transcends our every day lives. Some cultures would call this your soul. We challenged you to push the boundaries of your spiritual body, so here’s a quick recap of the challenges in case you missed any:
1. Discover or explore new communities
2. Focus on the things that make you happy and more importantly the people that make you happy
3. Detach from technology!
4. See the sunrise or sundown
5. Pursue connections with people you’ve drifted away from and make them count!
How did you go with the challenges? Send us a direct message with your comments, thoughts and feedback!
