Holistic Exercises

UV 910/10,000 Holistic Exercises and Experiences For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. I Timothy 4 v 8 St Paul acknowledged the limited value of physical exercise to the extent it makes us fit and healthy. But, he upholds the holistic value of godliness. Godliness implies that we should be like God in His holiness, love, mercy and grace. The Lord wants man to be like God in terms of His character but man wants to be like God in terms of His power and position. We become godly by obeying the Word and by imitating the actions and attitude of Christ Jesus. He is the ultimate model of perfection for all mankind and for all leaders. All the blessings of the Lord are holistic and not split into different neat categories. Spiritual exercises are good for our bodies, minds and spirits. The spiritual exercises I have practiced are meditation, prayer walks, spiritual breathing wherein we breathe in the qualities of God and breathe out our negative values and qualities. Even our simple physical exercises can have spiritual connotations. When we raise our hands, we are praising the Lord. When we touch our feet, we are acknowledging our sinfulness. When we turn to the right we are thanking the Lord for the blessings of grace and when we turn to the left, we are thanking the Lord for the blessings of peace. Lying still and knowing that “ I am not God but He is God”, communicating heart to heart, mind to mind with the Lord is another holistic exercise we can practice on a regular basis to increase our connectedness with the Lord. To lie still and to know that “ I am not God” implies that we recognize our limitations. To acknowledge He is God is to recognize His infinite goodness, knowledge, understanding and wisdom, His awesome power, His grace and His mercy, His deep peace.. Eqthinking a method of meditation that I evolved from a study of scripture improves our physical fitness, mental agility, immunity, spiritual wisdom or intelligence, emotional intelligence, persistence and creativity. When we breathe in oxygen, we can command ourselves, be wise like Christ. When we breathe out, we can command ourselves, beat folly. Similarly, we can breathe in each of the fruit of the Spirit and breathe out their opposites. We can practice these exercises repeatedly at different times of the day. The Lord desires that we profit or gain in all things. We need to experience all round improvement in our lives. Jesus said, “ Be perfect because my Father in heaven is perfect.” Godliness is aiming for the perfection of God. When we aim for perfection, we catch up with excellence. Spiritual, moral, intellectual, creative, professional and social excellence will enable us to fulfil God ‘s will and our potential both in this lifetime and in the hereafter. Prateep V Philip