The Wellness Equation: Exercise Body, Mind AND Spirit
From Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., 1/28/2012 4:17:48 PM
With the holiday season definitively over, I’ve had more than one friend moan to me: “I really need a vacation from my vacation.” Somewhere, in the midst of revelry, many of us inadvertently exhausted ourselves. We may have crossed the transom into 2012 physically fine and mentally sharp: but we know, in our heart of hearts, that something’s off.
If this is the case for you, consider that the definition of true wellness is a three-legged stool consisting of body, mind AND spirit. While most of us resolve to start the new year with a renewed commitment to cardio, stretching and mental fitness programs, we should be thinking about what it is we can do to rejuvenate our spirits, as well. The notion of spiritual exercise is at once thousands of years old and cutting edge, with researchers increasingly citing the impact of a healthy spirit on one’s overall health and well-being.
You don’t need scientific research to validate this finding, however. I’m sure you caught a glimpse of The Christmas Carol over the holidays. Ebenezer Scrooge is an excellent example of what I’m referring to. Even before his transformative night, Scrooge was technically a healthy man. His body was strong enough to chase away a street full of noisy children with a cane, and his brain was sharp enough to account for every lump of coal doled out to the wretched Bob Cratchit. But until his final visitation with the ghost of Christmas future, nobody would call Scrooge “well.” Instead, he had allowed himself to become consumed by life’s setbacks and disappointments. Over time, his spirit literally gave up the ghost.
But giving up in the face of life’s disappointments isn’t the only way our spirits can fall into disrepair. In good times, too, like the vacation break from which we are emerging, we can also become distracted from matters of the spirit by the sheer busyness of the season. If the choice came down to taking a quiet walk in nature or partying, for instance, the eggnog and mistletoe often cast the deciding vote. Our holiday joy rides more often than not ended up with us crash landing come mid-January into the challenges of everyday life. No wonder so many of us say we need a vacation!
What was missing for many of us, just as it was missing for Scrooge, was a commitment to exercising our spirits on a daily basis. In Scrooge’s case, it took a metaphysical shock treatment to remind him of all that he had to be grateful for, to rediscover compassion, regain perspective and feel part of something larger than himself.
Hopefully, we can avoid his fate by making the commitment to exercise our spirits day in and out—in good times and in bad. The way back to spiritual wellness can be as simple as reading from sacred text every morning, writing in a journal, listening to inspirational music or praying. Whatever your practice, if your spiritual exercise has the tendency to slip to the bottom of your to-do list, here’s a tip. Not only make the commitment to tend to your spiritual life every day, but to do it first–before you open your emails, do your sit-ups or your morning chores.
That means, of course, you may have to get up a little earlier, lest your spiritual practices be accompanied by worrisome thoughts such as my own recurring: “Dear God, please help me hurry this along as fast as possible because the dog is scratching on the door and needs to be taken out.”
Spiritual exercise is, indeed, a commitment we need to take as seriously as remembering to do our cardios and puzzles. Make the decision to add spiritual practices into your routines, and you will not only be healthy, but well.
