During a meditation that I was doing as part of the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Group Session I'm attending, I was being present in my body, being very concious of all the parts. It suddenly occurred to me that unlike what I've thought for years, I'm not a spiritual being 'trapped' in a physical body for the duration. Actually, my body is a manifestation of my spiritual being. It's what I've created to interface wiht the physical world. As my creation, it can be anything I want and spiritually need it to be. I can let my joy and love manifest through my body - in the way I move, in my posture, how I dress and adorn my body, and my treatment of my body.

Treatment of my body includes exercise and eating. Exercise for me is joyful movement: spiritual and physical joy, and includes walking, dancing, yoga, and weight lifting if I'm so moved. Eating is interesting. I've come to realize that I eat what makes me happy for the optimal manifestation of joy! I eat only enough to keep my body satisfied, any more is superfluous.

This is not a change in my relationship with my body, as my body is not separate from "ME". It's a total change in perspective!