Real Life Real faith Journey to Wellness January Issue | Page 22

KNOW THYSELF
Zaji

Intrinsically we know who we are. It is embedded in our DNA.
The challenge then becomes accessing that which is a natural
part of our physical and spiritual constitution. To have a
fundamental understanding of self has been a known aspect of
our human growth and psychological and physical health for
well over 5,000 years in Africa. Above reliefs carved in stone are
the words, Know Thyself. Our ancestors understood the
importance of this so well, that they wanted it to be a public
daily reminder. Time has worn those words dowThey remain as
a keen reminder that in order to be holistically healthy, we must
know ourselves, which includes having an innate understanding
of our bodies, our minds and our souls.
What is the self? In first world cultures such as African, Native
American, South American, Indigenous Australian, East Indian
and virtually all islands, there is no separation between body,
mind and spirit. The self is encompassed in all of these.
Therefore, who we are and who we become is a compendium of
everything we drink, eat, learn, think, believe, see, touch and
feel.
The journey to discovering self therefore begins with the most
basic question, what is my body? The answer. It is my temple.
The body houses all the energy we carry with us throughout our
lives. Our body houses that which we call spirit and soul. The
body houses that which we call

mind and thought, which we connect to that which we call
brain. The body houses ideas and memories, those intangible
things that live inside our tangible powerhouse, which we call
up and use as lessons, or simply to make us smile. For some, the
body is a prison when sick. For others, it is the medium through
which we are creators of everything humanity now uses to
enhance their lives. For others still, it is a mystery still
unfolding. Whatever varied ways we see the body, the one thing
we know for sure is that we are in it.
So what do we do with it? We move in it. We move things
around with it. We create in it. We think in it, love in it, need in
it, hate in it. We seek the truth of our existence in it. A list of
things could be created to express the many varied ways in
which we live inside our temple. But the most important aspect
of living inside this temple is to live inside it in health.
Without our health, nothing that we do inside our body can be
done in comfort. A sick body immobilizes our limbs and our
mind. We become less joyful and thereby less productive. We
cannot think clearly. We cannot effectively connect to spirit.
As we embark on our journey to know ourselves, we must
ensure that our body temple is clean, so that our mind and spirit
can be clean, and we can move and create without hindrance.
This