Is your gym your place of worship?
More and more, religious and nonprofit organizations are including health and fitness in their programming. Often beginning with simple events, some go on to build entire fitness rooms. As a result, you can often blend your strength training into a traditional religious service. Or offer yoga sessions themed to liturgy or forest-bathing prayer programs. Religion and wellness combine well to reinforce the connection between the physical and the spiritual.
Time your reps with prayer
SoulCore, a Catholic-based movement program, pairs stretching and functional movement with the prayers of the rosary. It counts more than 100 parishes across the US! Or accompany your workouts with mini-sermons and Christian music with Faithful Workouts. We need to take care of our bodies as well as our souls!
Other franchises include CrossFit F.M.S. (For My Savior) and Females in Action (FIA), a free and peer-led bootcamp for women that closes each workout with a prayer.
It doesn’t look like a church…
Religion and wellness can live together in more boutique fitness studios. For instance, the women-only Nawal Haddad gym for hijab-friendly exercise. And observant Jewish men in Jerusalem can combine evening prayers and a kosher café.
Strong relationship between religion and wellness
The body-soul connection is inherent in religious texts and traditions. They include monastic diets, spiritual fasting, pilgrimages, and ritual bathing. At the 2019 Global Wellness Summit, theologian Martin Palmer quoted the apostle Paul. “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. . . Therefore honor God with your body.” It is mankind’s duty to maintain good health. So these health initiatives can be a crucial part of tending to parishioners’ wellbeing.
Anxious and overworked? Look for a fitness ministry
Fitness teaches getting stronger and self-care, both physically and in one’s spiritual life. And these more health-conscious lifestyles are also affecting our approach to nutrition. It is more than simply traditional halal meat, kosher foods, and ditching junk food and soda. For instance, Revelation Wellness Christian network includes streaming classes, events, and a podcast. Revelation stresses clean eating and a 21-day sugar fast. Some US synagogues also suggest monthly vegan or meat-free challenges.
Mental health and therapy can combine religion and wellness
Our psychological wellbeing can benefit from mindful prayer services in the outdoors (see again Forest Bathing!). And churches, mosques, and synagogues often offer workshops and training for leaders and volunteers. The National Alliance on Mental Illness created an interfaith resource network to help religious leaders to better address community needs.
From organized religion to wellness-focused faith
While religious affiliation has declined, wellness-focused faith really appeals to younger people. Sometimes surprising spirituality and wellness practices include crystal healing or astrology. Aspects of new gym concepts may adopt secular versions of communal rituals. So personal bodywork can combine many facets of modern fitness with basic characteristics of a religion.
But at the same time, religious institutions increasingly are adding attractive wellness-focused activities.
You can find your religion and wellness in many corners of your life.
Source: Global Wellness Summit
