Our bodies are apt to be our autobiographies.  ~Frank Gillette Burgess 

The body is the most incredible instrument. It is self-regulating. There’s no need to ask it to digest the sumptuous meal you just digested. The lungs seek breath of their own accord and the blood flows through the healthy heart at a regular beat. It can repair itself if it gets nicks and cuts and with proper nutrition it will give a lifetime of joy and pleasure.

Feeding it with healthy, nourishing food is a minimum requirement and giving it regular exercise will assure vitality. This most elemental aspect of human existence is often ignored or put aside until the body falls ill. In ancient times, the Greeks considered the body a temple. If the body was sound the mind could be sound, serene and healthy too.

I’ve started to work with a trainer and nutritionist and become more aware of the foods I’m consuming. I’m a vegetarian and have been for over fifteen years, but I still need to check in regularly to make sure that I’m getting the right nutrients, keeping sugar and fats low and getting enough exercise. The result when I do this is a feeling of strength, energy and radiance. And who doesn’t love to look at a healthy body?

Over the past couple of weeks keeping a “food journal” has helped me to keep track of what goes into my mouth. Talking about it with the nutritionist gave insights about how to better nourish this body temple so that my mind and spirit will be well housed. I encourage you to take an opportunity to reflect on the foods you eat too. “You are what you eat,” is mostly true. I love Peace Pilgrim’s words: “I don’t eat junk food and I don’t think junk thoughts.”

Bio: Debra Moffitt is author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she’s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices at the Sophia Institute and other venues in the U.S. and Europe. Her mind/body/spirit articles, essays and stories appear in publications around the globe and were broadcast by BBC World Services Radio. She has spent over fifteen years practicing meditation, working with dreams and doing spiritual practices. Visit her online at http://www.awakeintheworld.com.