Cedarville Magazine, Summer 2013

Cedarville Magazine | 21 In the health and wellness industry, the philosophical debate has morphed into three corners: mind, body, and spirit. A H e a lthy P hi los o ph y As the program coordinator of the exercise science program at a faith-based institution, my 21st-century philosophy integrates mind and body with spirit. A big part of my job is to help students understand the role of lifestyle choices in human performance from a biblical worldview. Daily choices of how we care for our bodies manifest in howwe feel, our energy levels, how our bodies function, and our appearance. For example, the body uses what we eat each day to move, play, work, and worship. If you choose foods that provide energy and vitamins and iron, you will feel well, move well, and look well. If you eat too many carbohydrates (or fat or protein), your body will store those extra calories as fat and you will feel sluggish, move slower, and have a bit more belly than you may want. The body was designed to retain those extra calories in case food is scarce. Deep within the muscles, God also created a pathway to use those calories to fuel our daily movement. Carbohydrates fuel short bursts of quick energy for tasks like sprinting from the building to your car when it is raining. Conversely, fat provides energy for low intensity activities that take longer, like pushing a lawnmower through your backyard. We don’t see the incredible chemistry happening inside the body that makes all of this happen, but we do see — and feel — the result of not eating a healthy, balanced diet. Integrating the knowledge of nutritional information, the daily decision to move your body for at least 30 minutes of physical activity, and the belief that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit is a philosophy that has caught on at Saddleback Church in California. Rick Warren has led his congregation in The Daniel Plan (danielplan.com) in an effort to make healthy eating and daily physical activity a community effort. The plan is based on the story of Daniel and his friends, who chose not to defile themselves with the royal food and wine of the king but to eat only vegetables and water. Adapted for today’s food culture, The Daniel Plan has six simple core principles that include relying on God’s power, eating whole foods, and exercising. Warren challenged his congregation to join him on the program starting in January 2011. After one year, 15,000 churchmembers who took up that challenge had collectively lost 250,000 pounds. What a testimony! Each of us can embrace the integrated mind, body, and spirit philosophy by deliberately choosing to grow as Jesus did — in wisdom (mind), stature (body), and in favor with God (spirit) and man (Luke 2:52). It is not a philosophy in which the mind wars against the body or the soul fights against the mind. It is an integrated approach that allows us to live out a philosophy that is healthy, holy, and honorable. April Crommett is an Associate Professor of Exercise Science in the Department of Kinesiology and Allied Health. She holds a Ph.D. in exercise physiology fromThe University of Mississippi, and she is certified in personal training, health fitness, and group exercise instruction. You may contact Dr. Crommett at adcrommett@cedarville.edu. For further reading: Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas; The Maker’s Diet by Jordan Rubin; The Seven Pillars of Health by Don Colbert; firstplace4health.com by April Crommett I f you’ve ever said “It’s what’s on the inside that counts,” you’ve chosen a side in the centuries-long philosophical debate often referred to as the “mind-body problem.” This is not the “I tell my body what to do, but it won’t mindme” problem, but rather the heated debate of the great philosophers like Descartes, Plato, and Aristotle. They argued whether the mind and body are one inseparable unit or separate entities that influence one another. In the health and wellness industry, the philosophical debate has morphed into three corners: mind, body, and spirit. The mind and body are cared for in spas, fitness centers, and hospitals, and the spirit ... well, we don’t do “spirit.” And if you were to peek inside the church doors, you may conclude that the church doesn’t do “mind or body.”That’s at least what researchers fromNorthwestern University found in a 2011 study — evangelical Christians weighed in as the heaviest people group in America!