The parts that make you YOU!

One way to grasp an understanding of how we are made is to be able to recognise that there are three parts of us, which are all perfectly interconnected. Firstly, we have a material part, which prevents our blood, bones and organs from simply becoming a pile of ‘mush’ on the floor, we call this our Body.

However we also have two immaterial parts, which we’d call our soul (where the thoughts come in) and our spirit (which gives us our conscience). The following is my best possible effort at explaining our design and how the Spirit, Soul and Body are all interconnected.

Indeed, we are a race of cleverly constructed and highly complex beings!

Our Body

It’s by our Body that we function. It’s made up of organs and cells, which consist of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Our body contains our nervous system with nerves and the brain. It’s through our bodies that we connect to the physical world with our five senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and feeling).

The science is clear. Stress, especially that which stems from feeling of low confidence and low self esteem, is not good for your body. Most people have no idea how adversely stress affects us physically. The American Psychological Association estimates that 75 – 90% of visits to doctor’s offices are related to issues of psychological stress and insecurity.

Behavioural Symptoms of Stress

Many people turn to food as a way to cope with stress. Others turn to the use of drugs. Some turn to alcohol. Still others light up a cigarette. Some burn the midnight oil surfing the Internet and pay for it the next day because they have had inadequate sleep. These are various coping mechanisms that people often turn to in an effort to cope with the stress or challenges in their lives. Independent of our behaviour stress can affect our body physically and cognitively.

Our Soul

Our Soul is what gives us our personality and it’s also through the Soul that we learn to interpret the world and our experiences. Our soul has three major components to it; our mind, our will and our emotions. Our mind has a conscious part and a subconscious part. The conscious mind is where we do our thinking and reasoning. The sub-conscious mind is where we hold our deep beliefs and our attitudes. It’s also where we have feelings (our emotions) and retain our memories.

Our will (free will) is what gives us the ability to make choices and either react or respond to the circumstances and situations that we find ourselves in. Through a very complex way which scientist have attempted to understand for centuries, our mind, our will and our emotions ARE connected to the body through our endocrine, nervous and immune systems, however they are still trying to understand HOW!

“The mind and body communicate constantly. What the mind thinks, perceives, and experiences is sent from our brain to the rest of the body.” Herbert Benson, M.D Institute for the Mind & Body

Our Spirit

It’s in our spirit that we find the meaning and the purpose for our life. At the deepest level our spirit gives us meaning and purpose and our spirit enables us to love one another connect with other human beings (the Spirit is where attraction and intimacy comes from). Our spirit gives us intuition between right and wrong (our conscience).

Our spiritual health (demonstrated through confidence, self esteem and pride in self) will have a significant impact on our emotional health, which will in turn have a major influence on our physical health. The inter-connection between the spirit, the soul and the body is certainly a complex connection; nevertheless, the connection is very real.

The Interaction Between Spirit, Soul and Body

Many of us will be influenced by how we handle the stresses that life brings us. If chronic stress is left unchecked, over a period of time our bodies will bare this toll. A strong faith (in God, The Universe or anything/ anyone greater than ourselves) enables us to b(continued)