A Spiritual Foundation is a Wellness Foundation
I grew up going to church every Sunday, and to be honest, I blanked out in there. The mood was somber and no one smiled, so for the hour-long service I’d enter into a sort of trance, where I didn’t really think or daydream, I’d just become completely still while my eye and ears didn’t take any outside information in. I’d snap out of my trance at the same distinct point every time, when, like clockwork, the priest said, “May peace be with you,” and the churchgoers would in turn respond, “And also with you”. (For all my non-Catholic friends, this is part of the regular ceremony.) May peace be with you…so simple, but wow, what a statement for life but also for fitness. I’d say May peace be with you was my repetitive “Aha Moment” over and over again, every Sunday morning for 18 years.
When peace is with you, you don’t overdo it. (You don’t under do it either.) When peace is with you, you eat in moderate ways, neither depriving yourself nor over indulging. When peace is with you, exercise and diet truly become spiritual practices because you are honoring the body bequeathed to you. “May peace be with you” is my number one wellness motto thanks to Catholicism (but it’s “so yoga”, right?).
But back to that trance-like state I entered at St. Ann’s Church in snowy Manlius, New York. Here’s what I realize now – it was actually full on meditation in all its glory. And I took it all for granted! Yup, I was a little yogi and didn’t even know it. Do you know how hard I “work” at finding that meditative state today? I enroll in fancy workshops, fly to far away places “off the grid” and do green juice fasts, all in the name of meditation. Lately, it has dawned on me that the space created in that church was truly sacred. It was conducive to meditation, to listening to your soul and the universal soul. I thought I was a Catholic scofflaw zoning out to what the man in the white robe was saying, but in retrospect, I think what I was doing was just as valuable. I even think Jesus would give me a thumb’s up! (And that’s a relief because carrying all this Catholic guilt for 20 years was becoming stressful.)
The interdependence of spirit and true wellness is undeniable, which is why I’ve witnessed meditation leading to weight loss and the cessation of smoking for my pal, Mary. It has single handedly cured an ulcer in my client, Darla. And it has kept me firmly on a happy and healthy track for all these years (and it all started on those rock hard pews).
For most of my 20’s and 30’s I spoke ill of my church-going days and I thought I wasted a lot of time. My Dad made us go to church and I was mad at him for dragging my brother, sister and I to mass all those years. Well, “I was blind, but now I see”. Thank you Church and thank you Dad! A spiritual foundation is a wellness foundation and while it has nothing to do with religion, religion can give it to you. At the end of yoga class it is standard protocol for the instructor to say “Namaste” and then the class responds with, “Namaste”. It’s exactly the same thing as “May peace be with you….and also with you”.
Exactly! Don’t you think?
About the author
Ellen Barrett, M.A., is a best-selling exercise DVD creator and book author, known internationally as a go-to expert for women’s wellness. Her latest DVD is Fusion Floor Workout. For additional information about Ellen, her workouts and retreats, please visit her website or you can friend her on facebook and follow her on twitter .
