{holy} exercise

In January I tried yoga for the first time. I signed up because of a Living Social deal and because I figured variety was the spice of life and if I wanted to make a go of this exercise thing I needed all the help I could get.

I went and I really liked it. The only drawback was the extra effort it took to change "life force" (their term) to "Jesus" (mine), however, I appreciated the link between the physical and the spiritual.

When someone started up Holy Yoga at our church a few weeks later I got very, very excited. Jesus + an amazing workout = one very happy girl.

I soon figured out that Jesus wasn't just showing up at yoga.

I found Him in the beauty of the snow covered trees while we cross country skied.

And in my prayers while I ran along country roads. My old running thoughts: Ihaterunning Ihaterunning (gasp) Ihaterunning. My new thoughts: Thank You for the gift of exercise. Thank You that I am even able to run.

And a few times I've even spotted Him beneath the water at the Hudsonville High School swimming pool. The first time I swam with goggles this winter, I started my first lap and put my face in the water - the way the water was lit up, the way the bubbles came up around my face, and the rhythm of my body working together was enough to take my breath away (along with the fact that my head was underwater in an icey cold pool at dawn).

The point is everything we do is connected. We like to compartmentalize our lives but the truth is our physical self is connected to our spiritual self which is connected to our mental self and so on. What we do (or don't do) in one area of our life affects all the other areas.

This has been a turning point for me. It's something I have heard before and even known already but it's an entirely different thing to be living it out day in and day out.

Holy exercise.

Thank you, Jesus.