Uniting the Physical and the Spiritual

While many will categorize “spirituality” as something that you do or a set of beliefs that guide how you live your life, to me, that misses the mark.

From my perspective, just as physicality recognizes the reality of having a physical body that has physical needs, spirituality recognizes the reality of being Spirit and having spiritual needs.

Do you see the difference? From spirituality being something that you do or learn, to being something that you are and remember through experiencing life.

So when any one of us practices spirituality, whether it be through religion, meditation, prayer and/or ritual, it is actually a means of reminding ourselves that our physical body is a vessel, or instrument, for Spirit/God/Creator/Source to exist in the physical world. Plugging us back into something greater…the Bigger Picture, if you will. And through finding our own ways to practice spirituality daily, we learn how to exist as BOTH a temporary physical being and an eternal spiritual being at the same time in a symbiotic, harmonious relationship. Consciously seeking to meet both our physical needs and our spiritual needs so we can make the most of life and fulfill our purpose on Earth.

Now, if this line of thinking is a jump for you and it’s pushing your buttons or bringing up trauma around organized religion, that’s okay and it’s natural. It did for me when I first heard it, so I get it.

And to be clear, my expectation is not for you to believe because I say so. But rather to open the door for you to consider what I’m presenting and to hold it in your awareness without immediately judging it or putting it into a box. Which is key to expanding your human consciousness and undoing dogmatic thought patterns. Resisting the urge to cling, attach or remain rigid in what we believe is right or wrong, true or false, good or bad. But to continually allow ourselves to question, to doubt and to debate within ourselves and with one another so that our beliefs and choices are free to continually update themselves as we experience life. What if this is true? What would that mean? And why might this be triggering my defense mechanisms and firewalls? What could that be about?

And if it’s not pushing your buttons and this resonates with you already, I would still encourage you to engage your critical thinking and healthy skepticism. Do you really believe this? Is it really true for you? If so, why? And how is your belief translating into your thoughts, your words and your actions? Are they in integrity with one another? Or are there exceptions in your life where the belief in your spirituality is less tangible?

So try it on for size. Experiment with allowing it to simply rattle around in your mind, to ask questions about it with both yourself and others you trust, and to focus less on making it fit into what you already know and instead letting it be simply what it is. An idea that in order to truly make the most of life and to live our purpose, that we must find ways to nourish, support and strengthen ourselves as both physical and spiritual beings. To not get trapped into rejecting spirituality as woo-woo or pie in the sky and focusing solely on the physical, the mental or the world below as all there is. Or conversely, bypassing our physical needs as base or unimportant and focusing solely on the spiritual, the esoteric and the world above. But rather to create a bridge between the two through ourselves. To unite your physicality and your spirituality like two pieces of a puzzle. To allow them to meet and reunite in your heart so you can elevate your physicality and ground your spirituality.

You are not your physical body; you have a body. And you do not have a spirit; you are Spirit.