In my role as a personal trainer, I spend a lot of my time talking about taking good care of our physical bodies: engaging in movement that makes us stronger, steadier, and healthier; eating nourishing and nutritious foods that fuel and energize us and keep us functioning well; managing our stress levels so that we sleep well and ultimately feel our best.
These are all good things, but if we focus solely on the physical, we’re only dealing with part of the equation. While we may live in a body, we are spiritual beings, first and foremost. We have a soul, and its tending and care matters just as much as the care we give our physical bodies. It is essential, in fact, to balance both.
Of course, balance is often easier said than done. I have a natural bent toward fitness and nutrition; it’s something I’ve been passionate about my entire life. For me, neglecting my soul health comes more easily. Life throws curve balls at all of us in different ways, and I’ve learned firsthand that if we don't prioritize soul care along with physical health, we will suffer.
For me, this looks like instilling several practices that I am just as committed to as regular physical workouts. Things like getting up an hour early in the morning to have time for stillness, bible reading, prayer, check-in with myself, to-do list making. Regular counseling. Fighting the good fight for time to connect with Brian and actually talk about more than logistics in the midst of an incredibly full season Friends who I can be real with, share, pray with. When I’m doing this well, I feel confident, secure, at peace, clear on direction, and like I have something to offer the world. When I'm not, I feel more critical, self-protective, insecure, anxious, and paralyzed in making every day decisions.
Of course, there are things I have to sacrifice to give my soul the care that it needs. I’m pretty protective of my early bedtime, and I also no longer schedule personal training clients for super early in the morning. Putting guardrails around the beginning and end of the day helps me with intentionality and ensuring I’m not just hustling from one thing to the next until I collapse at the end of the day.
Just like consistency is the key to sustained progress in any fitness plan, so too I’ve found with my spiritual health. Even on days or seasons where I don’t prioritize it the way that I should, I find there’s always grace for picking it back up again.