Core Strength
Faith and Fitness . . . how do they relate to each other?
A friend invited me to check out a new women's bible study group. While I've always had a very strong faith, I was weary and anxious (touchy-feelie is not really my thing), but decided to check it out. If bible study isn't your thing, please bear with me and read on because there's more to the story.
Since my separation (which subsequently ended in divorce), I made a commitment to myself to continually step outside my comfort zone and at least try ALL THE THINGS that life has to offer. With the support of some amazing girlfriends, I started to venture out a little bit . . . alone. I embarked on a girl's weekend and even went (terrified) snorkeling. I tried new foods, made new friends, went places I'd never been, changed jobs, took out a loan and began renovating my home, went back to church, started eating right and working out again, and so much more.
As a wellness advocate and health coach, I've always explained to clients and potential clients how fitness is not just about looking good (tho can't we all use a good dose of self-confidence?). There are analogies to be drawn between working out and how you want to live your life.
Huh?
Allow me to explain . . .
So during a difficult workout, it's easy to quit when your muscles get tired, right? I mean, who's going to know if you didn't finish that last set? Answer? YOU ARE! Our bodies can handle so much more than we think they can. "Mind over matter" is not just a cliché. We give up on finishing a set because we think we can't push ourselves any further because we're tired. In reality, we CAN, we've just been feeding ourselves this false narrative for so long that we actually believe it.
And isn't that true for the rest of our lives too? How many times do we take the easier road, the more comfortable road? Working out and building strength is important for physical health reasons. Strong muscles protect our joints and prevent injury, we can do more and enjoy life more if we're stronger and FEEL better, we have more confidence, etc. But working out is also good for our mental health. It relieves stress, helps us to push ourselves to be in a state of constant improvement, and teaches us that we are stronger (physically and mentally) than we believe ourselves to be.
One of the most important areas to build strength? Your core! Why? Again, sooooo many reasons! Your core is where all of your strength comes from. It's what connects your limbs to each other and supports the rest of your body. It's your abdominal muscles, your back, your hips, your pelvis. And where all movement stems from.
So how does this all relate back to the bible study I mentioned earlier? Well, the bible study that I was participating in was about the Armor of God. If you're Christian, you've probably heard of this. And if you're not or you haven't, allow me to explain just a little.
Like a soldier (and picture a Roman soldier for these purposes), we are called to suit up. A soldier's armor consists of several pieces. One of these is, for these purposes, a belt (the belt of truth).
So I'm reading and studying about this and I started to think how it's ALL related! The world around us is struggling and it's chaotic. Our bodies struggle sometimes just to do the most simple tasks (do you snap, crackle, and pop when you get out of bed like I do?). We struggle mentally because we are constantly bombarded with all the negativity and all the battles we must fight every single day. We, as a society, need to get back to basics, to the TRUTH. We need to rebuild our core. Just like we all need core strength for our bodies to function properly.
We are constantly being hit with things we don't anticipate and we need to be strong in our core (mental, physical, and spiritual) to combat them. Step off the sidewalk wrong and lose your balance? You need a strong core to regain that balance before you end up with scrapes and bruises or a broken limb. Lose your job unexpectedly? You need a strong "core" not to lose your s#*t but to update your resume and move forward. Someone comes at you with hate? You need a strong core to understand that it's not that person who is the enemy but it's whatever hurtful thing is going on in their life causing that hatred.
It all comes back to CORE STRENGTH!