Faith-based wellness

For many people, getting started with a health and fitness program can be a daunting task. Most people struggle with the day-to-day demands of a busy schedule and limited income — making time spent at the gym, acquiring a membership or hiring a personal trainer difficult, if not impossible. However, there is one area that many of us do make time for and that would be our faith. We often allow time in our busy lives to seek the fellowship found in our spiritual pursuits.

One of the many new trends happening in and around health and wellness is faith-based fitness programs. These programs tend to be low-cost or no-cost and are scheduled at convenient times. Now I refer to this as a new trend, but in reality faith based wellness has been around for as long as people have gathered to support each other and their faith.

What is different within today’s faith-based fitness is how many mainstream churches and other faith based communities have started to promote exercise and overall wellness. Faith-based communities are becoming a great way for people to share health and wellness values that also support their spiritual beliefs. In recent years, faith-based fitness programs have seen increases in attendance that surprise many of the organizations that sponsor these activities. It is very common to see faith based communities offering exercise classes, nutritional advice and even wellness coaching to help people improve their physical body along with their spiritual well-being.

It should be no surprise that health, wellness and fitness should be tied to faith. Fitness and faith goes back thousands of years and touches all the various religions of the world. The Greeks and Egyptians both believed that their body’s health and wellness was an integral part of their many faith based practices. Early Christians also practiced many aspects of health and wellness, acknowledging their body is a temple and to treat it as such.

Over the years, many faith based organizations have been promoting health and wellness. One group in Southern California brought faith-based fitness to the forefront with many mainstream churches. Back in 2011, the Saddleback Church and Pastor Rick Warren triggered a fitness trend in it’s own right when Pastor Warren asked his congregation if they would join him in losing weight. From that humble request, Saddleback church saw 15,000 join their fitness efforts across the world in just a few months. This lead to a wellness program called “The Daniel Plan.”

Fast forward to 2016 and faith based fitness is still going strong. There have been a number of faith and fitness books written on the topic that range widely with various levels of exercise information. All of the information is designed to support and reinforce people to achieve their health and fitness goals by leveraging spirituality and the supportive nature of faith based communities.

Many churches have gone as far as to build and develop activity centers or repurposed areas in their churches to accommodate programs. Depending on the group, you can find fitness programs that range from Aerobics, CrossFit, Tabata, Yoga and even Zumba classes.

Another fitness area that is growing in popularity is Christian-operated fitness facilities. In some cases, these facilities are affiliated with faith based organizations or community centers. A good example of this is the Salvation Army, Ray and Joan Kroc Community Centers. The Kroc centers can be found locally and across the country and their programs follow a Christian based approach to improve yourself spiritually and physically.

In most cases, Christian-operated fitness facilities have a staff of qualified fitness professionals and run their programs very similarly to privately operated gyms and fitness facilities. Most of these Christian centric fitness facilities are open to the public for memberships and differ only in a few programs they offer, for example playing Christian music or having faith based inspirational messages within their workout areas.

Faith based fitness and wellness programs are not without their controversy. Some groups are restricted to just members of their given faith. Other groups place a greater focus on the spiritual side of your health and wellness making their approach more faith centered and aligning it with a life changing ministry aspect. No matter which track, faith based or faith centered, weaving health, fitness and overall wellness into the fabric of your daily life and lifestyle is essential for lasting health benefits.

In this modern world of convenience, fast food, busy schedules and sedentary lifestyles, finding something like faith based fitness to support your health and wellness efforts is a welcome trend. We are very much in a dire health crisis with worldwide obesity. Health care costs continue to skyrocket out of control and for many, their quality of life has diminished due to a lack of physical activity.

If you are struggling to find time to exercise or can’t afford a regular gym membership or fitness class, check with your church or community center to see if they offer a program that fits you. If you’re a church or faith based organization, perhaps you should look to see if it makes sense to organize health and wellness activities within your congregation or group. Become part of the transformational change that adds physical well-being to your mission of spiritual well-being.

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Judd Jones is a director at the Hagadone Corporation in Coeur d’Alene.