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The Role of the Physical Body in the Spiritual Sadhana · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  A human birth is considered to be an important and valuable
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  step in the growth of the soul and in the evolutionary
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  development of consciousness in furtherance of the divine
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  manifestation. It is not to be wasted.
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  The traditions of India indicate that even the gods, who are
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  static beings, would have to take birth in the body in order
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  to evolve, change, transform and develop.
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  Considered in this light, it becomes clear that abuse or
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  weakening of the physical frame is counterproductive and not
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  indicated as a path forward, particularly for those who take
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  up the integral Yoga, which aims to transform life, not abandon
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  it. There is a considerable ascetic
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  tendency leading toward renunciation of the body, based
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  on long historical precedent in spiritual traditions throughout
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  the world. This tendency developed due to
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  the difficulty of overcoming the forces of vital desire in all
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  its forms and manifestations and reactions, including greed,
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  jealousy, envy, anger, lust, cravings and passions that drive
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  the being out of balance. Sri Aurobindo proposes to
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  transform, not eliminate the vital being and thus when it
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  comes to dealing with the physical body, he recommends A
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  balanced approach without craving, desire or avoidance.
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  The body should be maintained, kept functional and in balance,
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  even developed to reach its higher potentials, without the
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  seeker falling into the other side of the issue by becoming
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  attached and thereby grasping for physical results.
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  To do this, the seeker must overcome the limitations of both
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  the materialist fixture on the external world and its
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  manifestation, as well as the limitations of the refusal of
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  the ascetic to participate fully in the divine manifestation by
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  seeking an escape from it. Shiobindo writes quote.
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  It is a mistake to neglect the body and let it waste away.
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  The body is the means of the sadhna and should be maintained
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  in good order. There should be no attachment to
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  it, but no contempt or neglect either of the material part of
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  our nature. In this yoga the aim is not only
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  the union with the higher consciousness, but the
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  transformation by its power of the lower, including the
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  physical nature. It is not necessary to have
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  desire or greed of food in order to eat.
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  The Yogi eats not out of desire but to maintain the body.
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  End Quote. Reference Sri Aurobindo, Faces
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  of Yoga, Chapter 4 Desire Food Sex, pages 67 to 68.