Walking and Meditation – Darlene Hull

Our summer series of articles from guest bloggers continues with Darlene Hull of PraiseWalker

Have you ever thought of combining your workout with meditation?

When I first started walking seriously, I was often bored by the lack of stimulation walking provided. I started in the early morning in the dead of winter, and there was nothing to see. Listening to music was awkward because it was all different beats. Listening to nothing caused my mind to wander in a thousand directions (I'm ADD) and I found that frustrating and exhausting.

I had recently heard about the Anglican Rosary and as someone who is fascinated by all things contemplative, I had begun to explore it. Unfortunately it was hard to find the time to sit and meditate with it.



I finally landed on the idea of praying the Rosary while I walked. I typed up the prayers on business cards, filed them in a business card wallet with lots of pockets, and headed out the door.

At first, it was awkward because I needed to read the cards. In the dark. Without tripping over something and killing myself. After a while, though, I began to memorize the prayers, and as I memorized, I added new ones to the list. Soon I had a system of prayer that took 5 kilometers to walk out. Not only that, but I found the rhythm and repetition of the prayers helped my mind focus and stopped the constant flood of “vain imaginations” that tended to fill my mind. I also found that when worries or concerns popped into my head, I would just allow them to co-exist peacefully with the prayers I was chanting. Often the problem would be solved or erased by the prayer I was chanting at the time. Usually I found that I was able to simply give God the issue, and the simultaneous verses and prayers I was reciting would allow me to truly let the issue go, allowing God to deal with it as He saw best.

The Anglican prayer beads are prayed with prayers you can make up yourself by putting Bible verses together, or by formatting ancient prayers of the church. The series that I use has a combination of both. If you're interested, you can check out these sites:

· King of Peace
· Prayer Beads for All
· Gigi Beads


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Darlene Hull is an “ever-morphing mom”, passionate about her faith, her husband (married 18 years), her kids (two teenagers whom she home schools), and all the wonderful facets of health. She is currently working towards a ministry degree, in addition to getting her qualification as a fitness and nutrition coach. You can read more about her adventures with walking and prayer (along with other topics!) at her website


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Blessings on the road to health!

True Health -- Rachel Curtis

Our summer series of articles from guest bloggers continues with Rachel Curtis of P31 Fitness.

True health begins internally and should be exemplified externally. The balance of Spiritual, Physical, and Emotional well-being needs to be our goal in this life. Health is a matter of peace, balance, and contentment with ourselves, our surroundings, and our life.

We must take care of ourselves physically, so as we can be at our best emotionally for others. Many often think that this is a selfish approach, but that is the far from the truth. We are designed to be “whole-body” beings, and everything works in harmony. If one of our pieces in our lives is out of balance, it effects the other parts of our lives.

I believe that taking the call from the Lord to take care of the “temples” He has given to us is the purest way of fulfilling our true purpose in life. We must aim to find a balance in living as a Christian in this world even when it comes to health, fitness, and nutrition. Although this may not seem like an important area, it is vital to our attitudes, thoughts, actions, and overall well-being. Our spiritual lives are directly connected to our physical walk as well. God made so many parallels in the Bible about our bodies, exercise, and how to best serve Him, that it is something that can’t be ignored in the Christian life.

Taking the time to be healthy with the Lord, be healthy with our food choices, be healthy with our activity level, and be healthy in our relationships will make lasting impressions on our health and the health of those surrounding us each day.


To learn more about P31 Fitness, please visit www.p31fitness.com

How do Physical & Spiritual Fitness go together? - Donna Wilken

Our summer series of articles from guest bloggers continues with Donna Wilken of Christian Aerobic Resource.

Whoever coined the popular expression, “you are what you eat” was a very clever fellow. Physically speaking, we know that everything we put in our mouth will either give life or take life. For example, fruits such as strawberries are an excellent source of potassium which our heart needs to stay strong. On the other hand, processed foods such as doughnuts typically contain more Tran’s fats than any other food which can make the heart sluggish.

In terms of fitness, proper exercise fuels our bodies where as being a couch potato drains it. It’s easy to see in physical terms why it is so important to feed our bodies properly through diet and exercise.

Spiritually speaking, “you are what you eat”, too! I have been thinking alot about this lately. It seems every new season brings new challenges and with that the battle of the mind rages. Right now we are on the brink of summer which means shorts, tanks, and a woman’s worst nightmare: standing in front of a well-lit dressing room mirror trying on swimsuits!

I must admit, my mind is tempted to start feeding on garbage at that point. Even though I know it’s unhealthy to berate my body, I find I need “spiritual” intervention to conquer the negative and sometimes tormenting thoughts. Perhaps you are struggling with your own body image, an addiction, or even sexual temptation. It would be wise to ask yourself one simple question: Are the thoughts and activities that I am feeding on now moving me towards health and vitality or sickness and death? Let’s not be deceived, it’s either one or the other!

I love the Message translation of the following scripture: Romans 11:16

Behind and underneath all this there is a holy, God-planted, God-tended root. If the primary root of the tree is holy, there's bound to be some holy fruit. Some of the tree's branches were pruned and your wild olive shoots were grafted in. Yet the fact that you are now fed by that rich and holy root gives you no cause to crow over the pruned branches. Remember, you aren't feeding the root; the root is feeding you.
Take note! “You are what you eat” whether in mind, body, or soul!


By Donna Wilken
CEO / Christian Aerobic Resource, Inc.
www.faithfullyfit.com

How to give up soda pop

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