About two weeks ago the main building where I live burned down during the San Diego fires, making my own room not much more than a smoky campsite without water, telephone, gas, or electricity. I was living mostly out of my small Jeep and in the homes of different friends.

There were lots of reasons not to exercise. Simply finding my sneakers was one of them! My body, mind and emotions were also going through quite a ringer. My ego kept saying "you're excused, you need rest, this time you're excused".

However, as exhausted as I was, there was also another part of me that knew the importance of keeping moving, of breathing deeply, of strengthening my willpower, and of taking care of my body. Two events strengthened this knowing.

First, only a few days after my home burned down, I went to a group meditation led by a man whose presence strikes me as one radiating with profound love and wisdom. Before we began, another participant asked, "Brother, how do we strengthen our willpower?" Without hesitation the Brother replied, "Use it."

Everyone laughed, but his words struck deep. I began to see more clearly that the adversity of the fires was not a reason to back off my positive habits, but an opportunity to strengthen them. It was an opportunity to anchor myself that much more deeply in the practice of prayer and meditation, in service to others, and in the proper care of the mind and body. In fact, staying centered in the midst of chaos is the essence of the spiritual path.

My own personal life coach agreed. This second event was the clincher, and I committed, after having slacked off for about three days, to getting back on my exercise routine. Making a promise to my coach did more than strengthen my intuitional knowing that this would be "right action", it required that I organize my days, in the midst of considerable clutter and reorganizing, around the things that mattered most.

However, I did not yet know how powerfully affirming this could be. When my time for exercise came, even with my intuitional knowing and my commitment to my coach, my body and mind fiercely rebelled. I've trained for very high levels of athletic competition, but I've never had to deal with this kind of physical and mental rebellion. My feet were heavier than heavy. They felt rooted a long way into the earth. In spite of breathing exercises and my best efforts at concentration of my energy through my spine to my third eye, this rooting persisted.

And so I did the only other thing I knew how to do, I reached down beneath the roots of who I am and tore them from the ground. I said to my body, "if you want to be a tree then you're going to be a jogging tree." It was amazing. I knew through yet another unique experience that "I" was something more than simply this body and the mind and emotions that tried to strangle it. I "knew" this because I lugged the whole rebellious package up and down the streets of Encinitas for a solid thirty minutes.

Two days later, the next time I went for a jog, I experienced something similar, but it was easier. An act of will had created a new identity, a stronger, more peaceful, more loving and joyous identity, and there was freedom in it.

Currently, I am experiencing the blessing of this new level of emotional freedom and find myself quite grateful for the fires. A beautiful new energy has been coursing through me for days. But do not let me wander too far.

The point of sharing this story is to offer an exaggerated example of the opportunity that lies within every time we are challenged to get up off our butts and move. Our bodies and minds and "circumstances" will try to convince us otherwise, but we must not be defeated!

If you cannot jog, then swim. If you cannot swim, then bike. If you cannot bike, then stretch. Jog, bike, swim, stretch, or wiggle your finger. And if you are completely immobile, then exercise mentally. If you knew me, you'd know that I was not kidding.

Taking care of our bodies is important and we should do our very best to do so in a regular way. However, even more important is the opportunity to create an identity that is constantly strengthening and spiritualizing its willpower. Be inspired when your mind and body say no. Reach deeper and say yes. You can expect blessings to follow.

Peace. I'm taking my body for a jog.