In episode 76, I introduced a spiritual practice for praying in the body. Today’s episode is a related spiritual practice on honoring the body in which we live out all of life, including our spirituality. This spiritual practice is rooted in the earliest writings of scripture.

Humans are created in the image of God, and this truth should inform not only the way we treat other humans, but also the way we treat our own selves. Today's episode, therefore, explores the spiritual practice of honoring the body we've been given by God. Listen in!

Genesis 1:26

Today's spiritual practice:

• Close your eyes, and pay attention to your breathing. Paying attention to your breathing is one of the simplest ways of getting in touch with your body.
• Notice if your breathing is shallow, and take time to breathe deeply. Allow your breathing to release any tension you are holding in your back and your shoulders. Allow yourself to relax into your space as a physical expression of your trust in God.
• Now, gently turn your attention to your body, and invite God to speak to you through it.
• Think about what happens inside you when you consider the idea of honoring your body or meeting God in your body. Does this idea excite you? Scare you? Confuse you? Intimidate you? Just sit with that feeling for a moment, and don’t try to judge it.
• Next, consider, what is the condition of your body these days? Have you been caring for it consistently by eating right, sleeping and resting enough, exercising, attending to medical issues or concerns, or have you been ignoring it or even abusing it in some way? Sit with your awareness and talk to God about what comes to mind. Listen for His response.
• Next, listen to what your body might be trying to tell you. Is there any place of tension or discomfort that you’ve been ignoring? Any medical issues that need attending to? Are there feelings of dis-ease that are vaguely unsettling? Listen to see if there is anything you have been keeping outside your conscious awareness.
• Talk to God about your body, reflecting on what you have discovered in this exercise, and how you are caring, or not caring, for it. Ask Him if there is anything He might be calling you to do now as an act of honoring your body as His dwelling place. Ask Him to show you one practical way you can grow in the area of honoring Him by honoring your body as made in His image and as the dwelling place of His Spirit. Then, respond to His leading.

Stephanie Paulsell books

Ruth Haley Barton books

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