For many of us who step onto the path of self-discovery, there’s a tendency to prioritise one domain of life over another. Some people focus almost entirely on their careers, health, or relationships, while others, like me in recent years, find themselves pulled deeply into the spiritual domain.
For the last five years, my life has been about inner exploration – meditation, study, emotional healing and transformation. I can honestly say I’ve learned more about myself and the nature of life during that time than in all the years before it. My nervous system has softened, my emotional stability has grown, and my baseline happiness feels anchored. Storms still come, but they pass quickly. They don’t leave scars. Instead, they move through me, leaving me clearer and lighter.
But here’s the catch: while I was strengthening my inner foundation, I was neglecting my physical form. My body, the vessel through which I act, move, love, and serve wasn’t getting the same attention. And sooner or later, that imbalance catches up.
The Gita’s Timeless Reminder
The Bhagavad Gita offers such a clear teaching on this. When Arjuna collapses on the battlefield, paralysed by doubt, Krishna doesn’t say: “Withdraw completely, renounce action, and sit in the cave of your mind forever.”
He says: “Establish yourself in Being and then take action.”
This is crucial. Many modern interpretations of spirituality lean too far in one direction. They romanticise renunciation, saying that the highest aim is to transcend the body and abandon the world. At the same time, the glorification of looks in the modern pop culture commercialise embodiment, reducing life to appearances, fitness regimes, or the perfect wellness routine.
But the Gita is not calling for 50/50. It’s not half spirit, half body. It’s 100% of both.
Why the Vessel Matters
Our bodies are not an inconvenience. They are sacred vehicles through which consciousness expresses itself. The way we eat, rest, move, and breathe all determine how well that vehicle can carry the wisdom, the compassion, and the purpose (dharma) we are here to live out.
When the body is neglected, when we push it aside in pursuit of spiritual highs, it eventually demands attention. Fatigue, illness, pain: these are reminders that the vessel itself must be honoured.
When the body is worshipped above all else, when we obsess over looks, trends, and the performance of the physical, it becomes easy to forget the infinite, universal essence that animates it. Then we are trapped in individuality alone, missing our connection to universality.
Integration: Grounded Conscious Action
True integration is not a compromise. It’s not “a little of this, a little of that.” It’s a full embrace of both: the depth of the inner world and the strength of the outer form.
Meditation grounds us in Being, in the silent, unbounded field of awareness. From that stillness, action flows naturally. It is the action that is not forced or reactive, but conscious and aligned. And to carry that action into the world, the body must be strong, nourished and well.
Think of it like this:
- The spirit is the current of electricity.
- The body is the lamp.
- Only when both are in good condition does the light truly shine.
My Own Realisation
Lately, I’ve been investing more into my physical health. What feels different now, compared to years ago, is that it’s not driven by fear, comparison or the desire to look a certain way. It’s driven by love. Love for the vessel that allows me to meditate, to teach, to serve, to walk the dog, to cook dinner, to laugh with my partner, to be here, alive.
A Reflection for You
Where might you be over-investing right now? Where might you be under-investing?
Are you tending deeply to your spiritual life but neglecting the body? Or are you perfecting the body but forgetting the vastness of your inner nature?
The invitation is not to shift into the other extreme, but to bring both into fullness. To live as both universal and individual, both infinite and embodied.
The Vedic View
The Vedic view is simple: life is lived most fully when the Self and the body are equally cherished. The body is not to be renounced or idolised, but it is to be cared for as the sacred vessel it is.
So let’s live 100% in spirit, 100% in body. This is where wholeness is found.
Love,
Natalia Paklina