Made a resolution to improve your health this year? Try these health/faith improving methods to strengthen connection with God

Women hold a position through the recitation of a Hail Mary while doing SoulCore—a rosary-based, core-strengthening exercise—at Our Lady of Fatima Retreat House in Indianapolis on April 29, 2015. (Criterion file photo by Natalie Hoefer)

By Natalie Hoefer

Raise your hand if you made a New Year’s resolution to shed some pounds or improve your health in 2016.

I paused a moment to raise my hand, too, before resuming typing. I stand—and walk, and jog and stretch—in solidarity with those seeking to improve their health this year.

There are many sound reasons for pursuing such a goal—feeling better, breathing easier, enjoying life, not having a hate relationship with your wardrobe.

But the Catholic Church teaches that there is more to health than improving one’s physique. As St. Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God …?” (1 Cor 6:19)

Referencing this Scripture passage, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “The human body shares in the dignity of ‘the image of God’: it is a human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple of the Spirit: Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity” (#364).

To improve one’s health by focusing only on the body addresses just a part of the equation. As the catechism states above, one can’t be healthy bodily if one is not healthy emotionally and spiritually.

With this in mind, I’ve compiled a list of resources I’m familiar with that seek to improve at least two if not all three components of the body/mind/soul connection, particularly uniting exercise with prayer and improving your relationship to God. This is hardly an exhaustive list—a Google search on “Catholic exercise” and “Catholic weight loss” provides more ideas.

Perhaps one or more of these or other body/mind/soul-related resources is just what God is calling you to this year, so that your walking, hiking or jogging will draw you closer to him, as well as improve and nourish the temple he gave you.

May God bless your efforts. And for those wishing to lose weight, as John the Baptist says in the third chapter of the Gospel of John: may Christ increase while you decrease. (Jn 3:30)
 

• Tending the Temple: 365 days of spiritual and physical devotions by Kevin Vost, Shane Kapler and Peggy Bowes. A book that offers a saint biography, physical and spiritual exercise for each day of the year. Example: March 17—do a set of sit-ups, one for each item in the “St. Patrick’s Breastplate” prayer: “Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me … .” Say the phrase as you rise, and meditate on it as you slowly lower back to the floor.
• The Rosary Workout by Peggy Bowes. A book that provides instruction and guidance on praying the rosary while walking or jogging, with varying levels of workout intensity based on one’s level of health.
• SoulCore Project workouts by Deanne Miller and Colleen Scariano. A workout that combines mat-based, core-strengthening moves with the prayers of the rosary. For more information, a list of classes or to purchase a DVD, log on to www.soulcore.com.
• The Light Weigh and One King by Suzanne Fowler. A 12-week, Catholic faith-focused group Bible study and DVD series that uses saints, Scripture and science to teach “peace with God, peace with yourself and peace with food.” To learn more or to start a group, log on to www.lightweigh.com.
• Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst. A Christian book geared toward women, using Scripture to encourage turning to God for help while making healthy lifestyle choices.
• Overeaters Anonymous (OA). A 12-step program for those suffering from compulsive overeating, binge eating and other eating disorders. Not just about weight loss or gain or dieting, the program promotes turning to God—with the help of other tools like attending meetings, reading OA literature and developing a food plan—to address physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. For more information or for a list of meeting sites and dates, log on to www.oa.org.
• Check to see if your parish has a parish nurse ministry. According to the archdiocesan Parish Nursing webpage, a parish nurse combines her or his medical knowledge with the practice of the Catholic faith to serve as “an advocate, an intercessor, and a representative of God’s healing love.” A parish nurse would likely know of local resources to help achieve your health and spiritual goals.