The principle: “you are not the body” lies at the foundations of true spirituality. Yes, you’ve noticed – I’ve used the term “true spirituality.”
Why? Because in the contemporary spirituality, the one that has enough room for tarot and trickery, shamans and gurus, secret rituals and initiations bought for a price, truth and honesty are so unimportant, that it is necessary to bring in the term “true spirituality.” Particularly, when dealing with the subject of such a great importance as your perception and understanding of yourself.
Every aspiring student of spirituality knows that: “you are not the body, you are not the mind.” And whilst many keeps on parroting these words ad nauseam, only a very rare one will have his or her perception of reality based on that profound principle.
For the most humanity always treasured their bodies as the visible proof that they “are.” Hence, the never ending pursuit of the perfect bodily image directly related to the belief that “as we see you, so we shall value you.”
Those with the so-called “image problem” are the living proof; for they have given disproportionately high importance to their bodies, at the cost of their minds. Still, it doesn’t matter; whether you divide the error proportionately or not, you still are dealing within the realms of illusion…

Although, it is not entirely your fault. All your life you’ve been conditioned to believe that you are the body. Do you remember your mother admonishing you, and asking to “look at yourself in the mirror” and feel ashamed at what you’ve done? Even then, being just a child, you probably had some suspicions: would this nice boy looking at me from the mirror, be the same naughty boy who did those nasty things that so angered my mother?
Later, you have developed a new paradigm: the body is not only me, but more importantly, it is the holding vessel of my mind and my soul. In its totality, the visual proof of your existence. Or is it?
Do you really believe in yourself being the more-less shapely chunk of meat, with four limbs and a head as its governor?
All these are just a result of the foodstuff that you feed your body with, and used to build and maintain. And the way it happens, right from the conception, leaves very little room for any wilful actions. Considering that you are not the “doer”, and “things happen as they happen”, your body lives its own life, and you only imagine that you’re in control…
Your body is inert and unconscious of itself; yet, you still give it the highest honor and treat it as your self. How amazing!
Don’t you sense some kind of a con job here? Don’t you think you’ve been deceived?

Here are two, of many ways, to claim back the truth about your body and your self. Doing either of them will help you to realize that you are not the body.
1. Meditate. Forget what you’ve been taught, or what you’ve been told, and ask yourself, what is behind the skin boundary of your body. Do you sense any “presence” behind the skin? Do you feel a “something” there? There is nothing in the sack defined by the visible skin boundary.
2. Go on a trip inside your body. Use all the concepts acquired through your education. Identify all these muscles, blood vessels, bones and tendons. Listen to your liver working; hear your lungs and your heart. Get electrified by the current pulsating in your brain. Do you see a “you” somewhere there? Better still, ask any surgeon you know if he saw a soul inside a body, or how he brings news of a “self” reduction to a patient whose legs had to be amputated. Does he say: ‘You know, we had to get rid of your legs, and now you’re only 80% of what you were before. Sorry, but I mean, “you are” only 80% of what you were before.’

You are not the body, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you’ll start living to your full spiritual potential.
It’s got nothing to do with your believing in it. As you already are not the body, all you have to do is to know it, and be the knowingness!