Take Care of Yourself Spiritually, Mentally, and Physically

The fullness of our spirit, mind, and body make up our presence. These three are interwoven and inseparable from who we are as people. Jesus cared for His whole self, and we should follow His example.

Every one of our breaths, thoughts, and moments with God is divine mercy. Each depends upon the others. The tender love and kindness of our God invites us to care for ourselves. His grace and mercy found us as we were, and not as we might be. The path we walk with Jesus will challenge, stretch, and grow every part of us. We are not sprinting through this life. We carry our cross as we follow Jesus.

Take care of yourself. You are responsible for yourself. No one else can do the work needed to care for your whole self. We take care of ourselves so we can more fully embody our presence. Then, when we are present with God or others we show up in spirit, mind, and body. The fabric of our presence is woven from the threads of each of these three elements. Within the life we have been given, let us care for our whole self.

We should care for ourselves in a balanced way. Discover how to care for each part of you, and for all of you. We should expect this will look different for each person, and in different times of our lives. Amidst the differences, our goal is the same. Let us focus on being fully present by giving our whole selves attention and care.

Your Spirit

Your life of prayer, reflection, and meditation cares for your spirit. This care brings us face to face with the best and worst of ourselves. Let us be gentle and kind as our Lord helps us see ourselves with truth and honesty. The best care for our spirit is to bask in the grace and mercy of God. Allow this redeeming and refining light to shine throughout your spirit. This light will shine through every crack and envelop the pieces of your spirit. Seeing oneself clearly is essential to caring for one’s spirit. It is within the spaces between ourselves that we see God’s presence within us. Life will break each one of us.This is not the end, but the beginning of life with our God. Our Lord Jesus holds the brokenness of our spirits together with His tender love and grace. Many find the practice of spiritual direction fruitful in helping them see and discern the movement of God within themselves.

Your Mind

Let us care for our minds so we can be increasingly present with ourselves. It is hard for us to see ourselves with honesty and clarity. Some of what we will discover within will conflict with how we currently see ourselves. With time, we can rest with our emotions and fully experience them. With time, we will become less fractured, more integrated, and more whole. We understand that our emotions are an interwoven part of ourselves. This requires us to accept and be present with our thoughts and feelings. We should work towards being calm and disciplined in their presence. We should work towards being able to feel our emotions without being swept away by them. This is not natural for us. We struggle to experience God’s love, grace, mercy, and freedom woven through our every thought and feeling. It is normal to want to flee from parts of ourselves. Let each of us do the work so we are able to self-regulate emotionally in all situations and engage in self-reflection. We focus on this work, for when our thoughts and emotions come, then we are able to feel and see while remaining present.

Be kind to yourself on this journey. Look for people you can trust to guide you and seek professional support when needed. We are on a journey to a place where we are comfortable with who we are. It is possible to experience life without the seas of our minds raging. We can meet every thought or feeling with a confidence in who we are, and remain present with ourselves and our God. Jesus experienced everything from joy, happiness, and redemption to despair, agony, and grief. As we care for our minds, we must expect to experience and live within all that life will be. We live this life together with God.

Your Body

The resurrected body of Jesus retained the marks and wounds of his life and crucifixion. Like Jesus, our bodies hold the wounds of our lives. This is the one body we have. Our world tries to sever our bodies from our minds by telling us only our thoughts matter. We would not be ourselves without our bodies. As children of God, we are embodied in our world. Within our flesh we live, breathe, and experience our lives. Accept your body as it is, and take care of it for the gift that it is. Be kind with your body as you care for it. With time, each and every body will become frail and will return to dust. Be present with your body today and tomorrow, for our God delights in you as you are. We should enjoy our bodies and what they can do. Your body is good. Do good things for your body.

• Reflect on how this invitation to care for yourself, being fully present with your spirit, mind, and body, is different from other ways you hear care spoken of.
• Reflect on what is most difficult about caring for your spirit. Your mind? Your body?
• Celebrate with God the body that you have as it is today.
• Celebrate with God the mind that you have as it is today.
• Meditate on what ways you care for yourself that help you be more fully present.
• Celebrate the highly emotional moments where you are able to regulate your emotions and stay present within yourself.
• Meditate on what is difficult about seeing and accepting the brokenness of your spirit.
• Reflect on how humility and honesty intermingle with caring for your whole self.
• Take time to be quietly present with and in your body. Acknowledge all the ways your body feels and what you can see. Praise God for all you notice about your body as it is in this moment.
• Grieve the ways your mind or body are not what they once were.
• What is different about caring for yourself when it starts from a place of God’s tender love and kindness?
• Contemplate the ways our God loves all of you as you are today.
• Meditate on how the Fruit of the Spirit informs the ways you care for your body as you age.
• Reflect on how your lack of care for a part of yourself has hindered the fullness of your presence.
• Contemplate the ways God has invited you to care for yourself today.
• Meditate on the ways your spirit, mind, and body are interwoven.
• Reflect on how monastic practices and rhythms help you care for yourself.
• Reflect on the tension you feel today between caring for your body and your body returning to dust.
• Come up with a list of ways that you enjoy your body and give God praise for each one.