The Body As A Sacred Temple
 

I just wanted to post and see how others think of their bodies? I look to mine as a sacred temple and try to treat it that way.

I will admit I do things that are not good for it, such as smoking, and drinking caffeine and a few other things, but, I do try to take good care of it otherwise...I am also trying to quit smoking right now.

How do you view your body in a spiritual aspect? And in looking at it this way, how do you work towards making it the best it can be?

Blessed be my feet, that have brought me to these ways.
Blessed be my knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar.
Blessed be my sex, without which we would not be.
Blessed be my breasts, formed in strength & beauty.
Blessed be my lips, that shall utter the sacred names.

I've always loved this blessing, and had the opportunity to perform it in a women's circle at festival last weekend. It really speaks to my heart about the sacredness of the body. It struck me after the ritual how different this is from the way women normally relate to their bodies in our culture. We're always so concerned with what's wrong with them that we often forget to celebrate them.

I am slowly treating my body better all the time. In my younger days I smoked, drank...and partook in some recreational pharmacudicals. I gave up the latter many moons ago, drinking was never much and still isn't and the smoking I quit in March. Since then I have put on weight and already needed to lose some so here I am. I love my body, I have always been incredibly healthy and was carded until age 42! Not sure why I have let myself slip as I have but trying to get back into appreciation and respect for what I was blessed with by nature. :shrug:

I treat my body with alot more respect then I did when I was young. I do think of it as sacred and try to only put into it health and wholesome foods. I don't always succeed but I keep trying :-)

What a beautiful and inspirational twist on the Five-Fold Kiss! I've performed that blessing with my husband many times and it is very powerful but I never thought to turn it around and use it just for myself. That's awesome, thanks for the idea.:hug:

I have begun to dedicate all of my work-outs to Aphrodite. I usually do bellydance or yoga so they lend themselves beautifully to the idea of body as sacred temple. In particular, there is one move on my Belly Twins DVD that has you bouncing backwards and forwards, with your arms well up in the air and it such a spiritual, joyful movement. I usually use that as a pecise moment to call out to Her and say my body is the temple of Aphrodite and in Her name I'll care for it. I don't always do/say this because, as you all know, sometimes the mood is right and sometimes it's not but there have been quite a few times when I quit thinking of it as a work-out and start to feel it more as worship. If worship is the right word...maybe sacred is a better word, I dunno.:^:

Oh yes that's what brought me to this point. I am doing the Ovates course with the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, and part of the Ovate's role is healer. I'd got attuned to Reiki, and one day it clicked that what I was supposed to be about was mind body and spirit. I'd spent years on mind and spirit - forgot about the body! I didn't think a fat, unenergetic body would serve myself or other people very well and so realised I had to start spending as much effort on my body as I had my mind and spirit. It's not so much a worship thing for me as just a practicality.

Pheonix - your right, taking care of the body as well as the mind and spirit is important :)

I think I am currently in the mindset of treating the body with the respect it deserves - feeding it properly with good food, exercising to be at optimum health and resting when I need to (without feeling guilty for "doing nothing";) )

Thread bump!

I can relate to the topic, despite not being pagen. As a Christian, my body is a sacred temple, too and I am responsible for treating it like one.

I forgot about the body too! I was so focused on my soul and spiritual growth that I was neglecting to see a different kind of growth... sideways! "May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless..." Easy to work on and meditate about the spirit and soul while forgetting the body.

I was attracted to this thread too, also being a Christian rather than a pagan. But I agree with the thoughts of the thread that my body is a sacred temple and it is wrong for me not to treat it as one. And YES PhatPhoenix... it is so easy to focus on our minds and spirits as we let our bodies fall apart.

Thanks for all the thought shared on the thread... I am interested to hear what all of you have to say and your further comments on this.

Speaking of Reiki . . .I saw this on a reiki website:


"Today I give thanks for my many blessings.
Just for today, I will let go of worry.
Just for today, I will let go of anger.
Just for today, I will do my work honestly.
Just for today, I will be kind to my neighbour and to every living thing".

It did not have a note as to who the quote is from but I thought it was a good one :)

I don't treat my body as nicely as I should. :(

I am treating my body better now than in the past. I am now more conscious of what I eat and as a result I feel better.
Losing weight for me is a health thing, I have problems that would be lessened if I lost weight.
I am working on the Gi diet and hopefully this time I will succeed and lose the pounds that cause me problems. I lost a pound so far and I have only bed doing it for 4 days :carrot:
I have never smoked and now do not have any caffine either. As for alcohol I have a glass of wine at celebrations like birthday, anniversary, Yule, that type of thing apart from that I don't drink.
That makes seem a rather boring old thing but I am not honestly.