Faith in Fitness

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

02 Mar 2006 07:00 PM

I read the greatest article today and it really caught me off guard by how surprised I was when I read it. The article was about an exercise program that incorporates scripture in their movement.

Scripture.

From the Bible?

Yes, from the Bible.

Now you may be wondering why was I so surprised? Because honestly, the idea of it never occurred to me. But as I read more and did a little research on it today, I see there is a growing grassroots movement in several cities where fitness and scripture are being joined together.

All I can say is how cool is that?

Yoga's spiritual side may not always be explored in the modern fitness center, but this scripture-based exercise program incorporates similar ideals from yoga spirituality. For example, as described in the article from RedOrbit, a class at California's Pepperdine University performs the cat pose from Yoga. This requires you to be on your hands and knees with your back rounded, like a hissing cat.

The instructor says: "Imagine God's arms are around your waist and pulling you up. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."

They call it FORM - Faith-Ordered Rotational Movement. It's a fitness program developed by Kathryn Linehan and it integrates the psalms of King David into strength and flexibility exercises.

Mixing faith and exercise is an ideal way to not only overcome stress in a person's life, but to just find a closer place to God while honoring the body. After all, exercise is about fitness and toning the body. The body is a temple and should be honored. I find it a celebration of life to see this combination of scripture and fitness and hope it grows.

Granted, scripture and exercise may not be for everyone. I do not honestly see myself taking such a class, but I really do feel a warm place in my heart that it exists. I believe fitness is a lifestyle and for Christians, being able to embrace that lifestyle in a manner that combines their faith with their physical selves, I don't think it gets much better.

So check out your local area if you're interested, you may just find that fitness and faith are a lot closer than you might have imagined.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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