How To Heal The Body

Imagine if you had a two-wheel drive sedan and you took it on a four-wheel drive track. What you're doing is using something outside of its intended purpose. The two-wheel drive sedan's purpose is to drive on paved roads, while a four-wheel drive vehicle is designed to handle rougher terrain. If you keep driving the sedan off-road, it will eventually begin to malfunction and break down—not because it's “bad,” but because it's being asked to do something it was never designed to do.

In the same way, we—as extensions of God's being—are designed to extend and express God's love. When we act outside of that original intention, we are doing what we were not designed to do. From the perspective of A Course in Miracles, whenever you engage in attack, pride, or pleasure as substitutes for love, you are misusing the body, and breakdown (physical, emotional, or spiritual) becomes inevitable—not as punishment, but as a signal that correction is needed.

The following lists are intended to help you identify subtle forms of attack, pride, and pleasure that you may be unconsciously engaging in.

With awareness comes the opportunity to choose again—to return the body to its rightful function: extending love.

Disclaimer:

This is not medical advice. If you are experiencing physical illness or body-related distress, please seek appropriate care according to your best judgment. The reflections here are not a replacement for professional help, but a spiritual supplement rooted in the teachings of A Course in Miracles.

These teachings invite a deep inner reflection about how the body is used. They may help you discover new peace and healing through forgiveness, love, and a repurposing of the body from egoic goals to divine ones.

Attack

Attack is not just physical violence or yelling. In fact, most attack is subtle and unconscious. It is any attempt to make someone else guilty, wrong, small, or separate.

Here are hidden forms of attack you may not recognize:

Avoiding or ignoring someone

Speaking ill of them behind their back

Overlooking others’ needs or presence

Passive-aggressiveness

Silent judgment or mental criticism

Withholding love, touch, or affection

Making others feel “less than”

Competitiveness or comparison

Correcting others harshly or “educating” them to assert superiority

Needing to be right at the cost of peace

Pride

Pride, in the ego’s sense, is not healthy self-worth. It is the attempt to inflate the self-image by comparison, separation, or superiority. It disguises itself as confidence, but it is based in fear and defense.

Hidden forms of pride include:

Believing you are “more spiritual” or “more advanced” than others

Taking pride in suffering (“I work harder than anyone else”)

Being offended when someone doesn't recognize your value

Needing to correct others to feel knowledgeable

Thinking “I could never be like that person”

Boasting—even inwardly—about your accomplishments

Avoiding help to appear self-sufficient

Measuring yourself against others to feel “enough”

Pretending to be humble (false humility)

Refusing to apologize or admit you were wrong

Pleasure

In the Course, bodily pleasure is not condemned, but it is clearly distinguished from divine joy. Pleasure pursued for its own sake, especially to fill inner emptiness or avoid facing guilt, becomes a substitute that does not satisfy and ultimately reinforces the body as an identity.

Subtle misuses of pleasure include:

Using food, sex, or entertainment to numb uncomfortable emotions

Over-indulging in sensory gratification to avoid stillness

Confusing comfort with love

Seeking validation through attractiveness or seduction

Getting excited about “special” experiences as a means to feel worthy

Using physical stimulation to avoid inner inquiry

Needing constant stimulation (noise, scrolling, busyness)

Treating the body as a shrine rather than a tool

Trying to “look good” rather than be truly helpful Making decisions based on “what feels good” rather than what serves love

The goal is not to judge ourselves for how we’ve used the body in the past, but to become gently aware of how often we’ve forgotten its true purpose. We were not created to compete, defend, impress, or isolate. We were created to extend love, just as God extends Himself through us. When the body is given over to this holy purpose, it becomes peaceful, useful, and light. Even if symptoms persist, suffering begins to fall away. The correction is always available. We need only be willing to ask:

“Am I using the body to extend love?”

And if the answer is no, we need not feel guilty—we can simply choose again.