Spiritual Awareness: Awareness of Ourselves as Spiritual Beings Leads to Better Physical Health

From a spiritual perspective, when we talk about physical health, the question arises: are you your body or are you something other than your body?

And you may ask why should we consider the spiritual aspect when looking at physical health?

The answer is simple. Without a focus on our spiritual health, as well as on our body, the latter will not shape up as well as it could. A more holistic approach to the self is vital on the road to physical health. This article seeks to explain why this is so.

As implied above we are not our body, but rather we are spiritual beings who are simply caretakers of our bodies whilst in the physical vehicle. The body is the temple as they say, and it houses our spirit but it is not our spirit, or essential nature. This is why Sri Ramana Maharshi, a great Indian sage who became enlightened at the age of 16, said, "To identify oneself with the body and yet seek happiness is like attempting to cross a river on the back of an alligator. In truth, you are Spirit."

The key is to be conscious of this truth, and focus both on healing ourselves of any illness and conditions, as well as healing those aspects that hinder our awareness of the spiritual being that we are. And what does the latter mean? It means enquiring into ourselves, questioning ourselves at a deeper level, and as we do, we start the journey towards wholeness of body, mind and spirit. Through the spiritual perspective we begin to see how we view ourselves with a vision that is fragmented which leads to, at best, fragmented health. But with knowledge of the greater Self that each of us is, we begin to allow this Self to take the helm and bring wholeness into our life. You could say that the real Self pulls all the strings of the balloons we try to keep in the air together into one hand, whereas with a fragmented view of life (mind, body and soul as separate compartments) the strings are in separate hands and may even be tied to our legs or arms!

So as we open our mind to the spiritual dimension of life, we begin to develop what is known as Qi (pronounced chi) or Chi.

But first of all, what is Chi and why should we develop it?

In Oriental traditions, Chi is the life force, or vital energy, that permeates the world, all beings, and even places and buildings. In yogic traditions it is known as prana. In its proper balanced state, Chi moves through the space it occupies, whether a body or a place, freely and unhindered. But if there is some blockage then it is hampered in its flowing and the imbalance can lead to ill health or an uncomfortable environment. In western countries now also, the concept of balancing this vital energy is seen as important in achieving a life of calm and happiness. I was recently very heartened to see that a T'ai Chi course I attended in London, UK, had a high number of attendees, most of them participants over 50-60 years of age, some over 70 years of age, who had been attending for 2-3 years continuously.

Another similar practice is Qi Gong (pronounced Chi Gung), which is similar to T'ai Chi, as well as acupuncture and acupressure which are said to unblock the flow of Chi in a person's body.

Each of us has a limit to the energy we have available during a lifetime.  This is proven by the fact that we will all someday die! Our bodies are not immortal.  However I believe that we were meant to, and are capable of, living longer lives if we care-take our spiritual life as much as we care-take our physical life.

From a physical perspective, we can make choices about how we live, our lifestyle, our diet, and our emotional wellbeing, all of which will use up more or less energy depending on these choices. Thus for example, if we eat junk food with few nutrients, we can expect to shorten our life span and illness will be a more frequent visitor. In this scenario you could say that the body is having to work harder and to fight harder than it should for its survival. On the other hand, if we eat nutritious, fresh foods and keep active, then we can reasonably expect to have a longer life. Of course there may be other aspects at play, such as hereditary factors, but you get the general gist.

Well, this is all well and good, and logical, isn't it? Most of us know what is good for our health and what is not, but is it easy to pay heed to this advice? No. This is because if we operate our lives from the level of the mind by telling ourselves what we should and shouldn't do we are ultimately in a losing battle because this only works for the short-term, and constant effort to ‘keep going' is required. Yes, we can have discipline. Yes, we can have will power. But have you noticed how much effort this all involves and how difficult it is to maintain? Even if we do succeed to adopt a healthier diet or lifestyle through primarily will power, the effort involved takes it toll. This is because there is usually always a feeling of some negative emotion underneath, some guilt, or fear about ourselves, and this is the spur for us to change. But negative emotion as a motivational factor has its negative impacts. One being the energy required to maintain the ‘corrective actions' and another that the negative emotion is never usually appeased so satisfaction eludes us. Have you noticed that even when we do achieve something (a health benefit, improved lifestyle or whatever) it's never enough? There's always something else that is ‘wrong' and needs to be ‘dealt with'?

Thus the question arises: how can we live a life of health and satisfaction given that we are human beings with many challenges and stresses, especially in the difficult times we find ourselves in thesedays?

The answer is to focus on our spiritual life. This means going beyond the mind, the ego, and into the space where the real Self resides, and finding out who you really are. There are many resources available to help us in self-enquiry, not least http://www.soulalert.com, which I helped to launch recently, but also many books, and other online videos and articles that can springboard our whole life into a fresher, more holistic dimension.

As we progress along this path of self-enquiry, greater peace and satisfaction are experienced, and ultimately we begin to see that there is nothing wrong. The Universe and all that it contains is perfect as it is. With greater insights into life as it really is (rather than as we think it is) our Chi becomes more free-flowing and health improves. This may require practice and yes, some will power. But gradually as we raise our Consciousness, this becomes the director of our lives (rather than mind or will power) and we naturally align with our own good, making instinctive choices for our well being. We begin to simply know what we should be doing, and the choices we should make, and conflict and confusion subside. Life begins to flow more, with less effort.

Where illness is experienced, we may be able to accept more readily the difficulties and suffering this brings, rather than resisting it and fighting it. If we are sick, it is far preferable to accept it, than to fight it. Why fight something that has already happened? Moreover we are not providing ourselves with a fair fight, but one which cannot be won, since we cannot turn the clock back and undo what is already happening. As Byron Katie, the Founder of ‘The Work', says, "Arguing with 'what is' is like teaching a cat to bark." When we fight illness, we are essentially fighting ourselves and robbing ourselves of peace of mind. When we accept ‘what is' we have a far better chance of healing.

So we come back age-old wisdom of accepting ourselves first, on every level, and in that space, we learn to be kinder to ourselves, and forgive. This is the spiritual journey. And this is also the foundation to greater physical wellness.