Restoring the temple of the soul

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Each religious movement in human history has established a sacred place of worship; except for Christianity. For many Christians, the temple is our physical body. These beautiful and ornate buildings took hours of labor and sacrifice to build. Recovery is not merely a journey to transform our lives; it’s a journey to restore our most valuable possession. Our physical body, our spiritual essence, and our mind.

Along with temple worship, in ancient and modern human history, many religious beliefs also have a dietary plan for healthy living. The focus is on one’s physical health and well-being. Following these dietary guidelines, individuals may retain longevity and prevent life threatening illnesses. Modern medical science confirms that the best prescription for healthy lifestyle comprises:

• Healthy and nutritional meals
• Adequate hydration
• Regular exercise and weekly active physical exertion
• Adequate and regular sleep cycles

Medical practitioners recommend limiting caffeine and process sugar. They also appear to recommend abstinence from processed foods and nicotine use (cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and nicotine deliver products).

Integrating exercise, changing present diet, becoming active, and working to restore our overall physical well being may improve our ability to be emotionally, physically, and mentally resilient. This requires great sacrifice, extensive labor, and commitment to restore our temple. A place where our soul and mind are nourished and sustained.

Begin with seeking medical and dental care. Follow all medical recommendations, discuss with one’s primary physician one’s ability to integrate exercise, and take things slow. Small changes lead to greater results. Set goals, work with an accountability partner (or sponsor). Track changes and progress. Implement rewards when milestones are reached.

Here are some simple ways to begin integrating healthy living as part of our recovery process. This comes from the Simple Luxurious Lifestyle blog.

Take in productive fuel

We already established the need to move from processed foods, limit and cease energy drinks, moderate caffeine intake, quit smoking, and move away from processed sugars. What is interesting is the type of information we take in. Moving toward a healthy lifestyle also begins with monitoring and change what we are reading, listening too, and visually seeing. One of the best recommendations is to read something that is inspiring, uplifting, or focusing on personal growth and influence. For those within a faith based community, begin to develop a routine of scripture reading, meditation, and prayer (morning and evening).

Just Listen

Another interesting principle the author brings up is learning to listen to our own body. Become in tuned with it. Recognize the messages we are receiving. Whether our bodies are telling us we are tired, hungry, stressed, relaxed, or aching.

Let it rest

We need rest. Scientifically speaking, our bodies require the need to rest.

Our bodies all require long periods of sleep in order to restore and rejuvenate, to grow muscle, repair tissue, and synthesize hormones.

Allowing our bodies to get back onto a regular sleep cycle helps facilitate it’s ability to begin repairing and rejuvenate.

Challenge yourself

Establishing a regular and routine time of 15-20 minutes of stretching and exercise helps facilitate increase on our metabolism, get us moving, and increases our ability to challenge ourselves. Like substance use, we develop tolerance where we increase frequency and amount of the substance to achieve the same effects. With exercise, this is the same concept. We may only due 2 push-ups, a couple of sit ups, basic stretching exercises, and walk only half a lap. Yet, when we are consistent in our routine, those 2 push-ups now become 6, a couple of sit ups increase, basic stretching becomes more natural, and our half a lap of walking may turn into running a lap. The key here is establishing consistency and challenging ourselves to push our body.

There are other simple ways an individual is able to implement into a healthy recovery lifestyle.

When we move from treating our bodies like a woodshed and start treating our bodies like a temple, we begin to develop a strong support for our soul and our emotional and mental well being.

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Mindful Thoughts for Today

Today, I will begin to work on improving my physical and nutritional well being by making small changes. Establishing goals, seek medical and dental care, and work to restore overall health and wellness.