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
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
.
For further reading:
Every Body Matters
by Gary Thomas;
The
Maker’s Diet
by Jordan Rubin;
The Seven Pillars of Health
by Don
Colbert;
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!
