The mind is a powerful and wonderful instrument. When it’s balanced with the body and spirit a certain peace and harmony take shape and guide one’s life. Being fully in the body means experiencing the sensations of the five senses fully. In some spiritual practices, asceticism has been a practice to deny the body and disconnect from it. But the senses bring information of hot and cold, dark and light, bitter and sweet. By moving fully into the body, the intuition can be fully activated. For very often, when we live deeply connected to Spirit, the body tells us when something is very right, very wrong or when something is going on that needs attention. 

By relaxing into the full physical experience, the mind, spirit and heart also benefit. How often is the body ignored and a serious problem or physical illness is not discovered until it has grown into a major crisis? By paying attention, relaxing into the physical body temple, breathing deeply, meditations can become deeper and more integrated. Check in with your body and listen to what messages it may hold. The body is a beautiful work of art that deserves to be properly cared for, but not to excess.

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.