Honouring the Spirit
For some, honoring the Spirit can come from attending and having faith in a guided religious spiritual experience. Honouring spirit can be simply taking the time to sit and breathe. Take that bubble bath! Or close the door to the world and take a moment to sit and read that book you have put off. Relaxing your inner-self enough to begin breathing deeply. For those who choose to honour their spirit with organized religion, there is a lot of singing: that singing can really get you breathing right.
Honouring the Body
Honouring the Body can done through eating right, drinking enough water, exercising, and taking the time to respect sleep. Better breathing will help you come out of the “fight or flight� response we live in, triggering our brain to release hormones, decreasing stress held in muscles and organs, and improving digestion. Breathing diaphragmatically especially increases the mix of digestive enzymes, giving you more nutrition from even less food. Also, the diaphragm, when fired properly, assists in pumping lymphatic fluid, as well as assisting in the drainage of the venous systems below the diaphragm. These are not new concepts and the health benefits are well documented. By doing these things we learn what it is our bodies are really capable of. Our bodies and brains take a lot of daily abuse and they really can take a beating before asking for help. How many of you have a 30-year-old car, computer or batteries? We need to learn how to respect our bodies’ needs, listen to its cues , not give in to the cravings mental stress can bring on and to give our spirit the room it needs to be itself. This is why meditation is key. By practicing meditation you learn to control your stress, empowering you to respect your sense of self. Being able to clear the mind through learning to meditate will make you less rash about bad food choices over indulging to compensate for the stress held within it. By having a clear mind we can listen better to our bodies, making smarter choices about what it is our body mind and spirit needs. By becoming aware of these things your body will confidently carry your awakened consciousness to new frontiers with your mind being better able to process these new experiences that will grow your spirit stronger increasing your life force, extending your ability to continue expanding your sense of self.