
As I start writing this, a quote flashes in my mind: "The body is a temple."

True to the essence of this quote, a lot of attention is paid to the soul or the divinity inside during guided meditations. However, I feel that the physical form is as divine as the soul that resides in it. For that matter, I strongly feel that it is because of the element of inner divinity in our physical form that we, as a species, were chosen to have this power of self-reflection, which no other species does. They are guided by instincts, whereas we are guided by our awareness. Depending on whether it’s less or more and how informed we are about it, we reap its harvest as pain or happiness.
We get so used to this miracle that we reside in that too often we take the complexities it holds within for granted. A typical example of desensitization, but in extreme circumstances, when we 'let go,' we can truly see what this miracle is capable of.
My blog today is inspired by a documentary I saw on the Discovery Science Channel—"Human Body: Pushing the Limits"—and how it helped me feel immense pride towards my own body and made me see the Ashtanga concept of 'letting your body guide the mind' in a new light. The documentary presents a series of examples of how the bodies of normal human beings act with superhuman strength and speed in dangerous circumstances, thus unleashing the real potential of the energy and endurance stored up in our muscular tissues. It reminds me of that part in the Ramayan where Lord Hanuman is made to remember his potential for strength and power and how he then crosses the sea to Lanka.
It shows how resilient and adaptable our bodies are. It mentions that something as solid as bones also goes through transformation, making it strong as well as flexible. Bones are constantly adjusting to suit our needs. For example, a runner grows stronger leg bones than a swimmer, and a tennis player has bigger bones in his racket arm. It shows cartilages and ligaments are the world's best-designed shock absorbers, ready to act at a flash second's notice if you encounter a potentially harmful circumstance.
There's an example in the documentary about a rock climber, Sinjin Eberle, and how during one of his climbing excursions that went badly wrong, he was pinned under a 1,200 lbs (that's 544 kg for you) rock slab that came off and fell over him. Not only did his muscles manage to generate enough strength to hold it off, but as he was sliding towards a cliff, he managed to summon enough strength to push it off himself. That's one and a half times the world bench press record. So THIS must be true too...

But too often we don't consider our bodies as temples. We're so busy looking around and onto the outside world through the glasses of the elusive imagery that urges us to grab and own that perfect hair, perfect waist, perfect legs, and perfect body—that we forget the miracle that each one of us truly is. If anything, we put our bodies through shame and neglect. We forget to appreciate the superhuman that's residing inside us, eager to be unleashed.
So the idea is that you take care of your body. Period. Learn to say NO to anything that doesn't improve or nurture it. When you start loving your body, it will shed all its defense mechanisms and love you back, transforming into this power-packed superhuman that is strong, flexible, and balanced not just from the outside but from within. It will make you invincible. It will put you in touch with the God-like power within—the divinity that resides inside.
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