Seriously Souled 10-day journey - Fitness by Beatie Deutsch

what's most important to you in life your health is being neglected the truth is that 75 of americans say exercise is important to them and yet only 25 are actually exercising the way that's necessary for their health how's that possible because so many of us struggle with consistency don't realize that change is accomplished through small steps or don't even believe that change is possible yet the truth is that with hard work consistency baby steps and a willingness to endure a little bit of pain we all can achieve the amount of exercise needed each week so i ask you a simple question is exercise a physical or spiritual act i think at surface level we'd all agree exercise is something physical we're working out moving our bodies getting sweaty and yet from a jewish perspective exercise goes much deeper exercise can perhaps be one of the most spiritually elevated acts you perform each day i want to share with you three ways you can elevate your exercise routine this year let's start with the basic commandment we have as jews we actually have an obligation to take care of our body to prioritize our health the torah tells us in deuteronomy you should guard your body and your soul very much now it's interesting the word that the torah uses is nefesh which is the most basic level of our soul it's the will to live but it doesn't use the word goof body because it's teaching us that really our body and soul are one package and the reason that exercise is so important is not as an end in itself but as a means to an end our soul can only accomplish what it needs in this world through our body they're a package they're one they go together like a horse and rider and if we don't take care of our body our soul can't exist and if we don't take care of our soul there's no purpose to our body but we have to recognize the value that our body has as the vessel for our soul as the holy temple for our nashamah and we need to take care of it in the best way we can doing everything we can to guard our health that's number one it's a spiritual act number two let's take it a bit further i always like to say exercise is not a punishment of our body it's a celebration of the miracle that our body is so often we take for granted the fact that we can even take a step when you exercise when you begin to move your body you become aware of all the moving parts that have to work together in beautiful harmony for us to exist [Music] and the more that you exercise i as the runner always say the more i run i just uncover how many muscles ligaments tendons all have to work in synchronization exercise gives us an opportunity to appreciate the miracle that we are every single day to give thanks to god for our body it's a spiritually charged act and the last thing i want to share with you is that beyond physically working out what exercise does is it teaches us to tap into the power of our mind each time we learn to push past our perceived threshold of pain what we think we're capable of our perceived limitations we're tapping in to the power of our neshama to the power of the divine spark that we have within us and recognizing that we can go further that we can do more when we work out physically we're actually channeling our mental state and we're challenging ourselves and learning to become the best version of of ourselves on a daily basis i like to say that when the power of exercise and pushing ourselves can spill over into every single aspect of our life and cause us to want to strive to become better it's a character building act so now that we know all these amazing benefits besides of course for the health benefits you know prevention from heart disease obesity diabetes cardiovascular disease so much let's figure out how we can set goals in our own life and i want to share with you two keys for setting your goals this year accountability and awareness i think it's really important to be aware of what's going to motivate you to choose the goal that excites you and challenges you not too much just a step beyond where you are today but realistic and something that you love there are so many forms of exercise so many ways to move your body it can be running swimming jumping biking you name it there's just so many creative ways find the journey that fits you it's hard to do it alone if you have a mentor if you have a friend you have a group to support you it's so much easier to achieve your goals so as we approach the new year and take this fresh start challenge i want to wish you a lot of success on your journey towards health [Music] you