Better than a “wonder drug” for body, mind, and spirit …

Who God created us to be has been wondrously encased into a physical body, and it’s that body that is the mode for being able to exist and experience our humanity. How we take care of that body directly impacts our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health.

May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, and whenever talking about mental health and mental illness, you must include exercise (and nutrition – this post focuses on exercise) into the conversation. That’s because exercise is better than a “wonder drug” for body, mind, and spirit! Research studies clearly and emphatically conclude that exercise has a dramatically positive impact on our mental health, and is one of the single best treatments for multiple mental illnesses.

Yet, both inside and outside the church, we make the topics of exercise and nutrition a laughing matter. Some might counter they’re just joking, but we’ve made the idea of physical exercise such a joke that our “humor” shouts down the message of the essential need. And sadly, too often it’s unfit or obese preachers who regularly fill their sermons with anti-exercise humor; not only are you not doing anyone any good by doing that, but you may be directly contributing to the wall of excuses people apply for failing to exercise (if in no other way than being an influential person who publicly devalues exercise).

When it comes to doing what we know we should do — and that includes physical exercise — we’re all too good at talking the talk but not walking the walk. For example:

What is the percentage of Americans who own running shoes but don’t run?

Eighty-seven percent!

We’ll put on the appearance of an active person, all the while clutching to a sedentary lifestyle. And we exercise this charade to the tune of billions of dollars, according to a report adapted from Moria Weigel, “Pajama Rich,” in Real Life Magazine:

The size of the market for athleisure — a coinage officially adopted into Merriam-Webster’s lexicon this April — grew five percent each year between 2009 and 2014, from $54 billion to $68 billion. The trend accounted for nearly all growth in the apparel, footwear, and accessories sector during this period. People in American cities were wearing [fancy athletic clothing with brand names like] Lululemon, Lucy, and Lorna Jane; Gap Body, Athleta, and Nike everywhere, including to the office. According to an article in the New York Times, the market may hit $100 billion by the end of 2016.

But there’s a strange twist in this growth of athleisure. Most people are just wearing it, not actually working out in it. The same article continues, “For many wearers, the athletic part of athleisure remains aspirational. [For example], sales of yoga clothes increased 10 times as much as [actual] participation in yoga classes over the 2009 to 2014 span.”

Apparently we like the workout look; we just don’t like the workout lifestyle or the workout practices.

Beyond the overwhelming benefits of exercise for our physical health, exercise is important for our mental health, and an effective and needed part of treating mental illness. There are a plethora of articles reporting research data on the benefits of exercise for mental health, such as this post by Helpguide.org that you can find by clicking here. To start exploring the topic of how nutrition benefits your mental health, check out this article from Harvard Medical School by clicking here.

Let me encourage you to get serious about developing an active lifestyle that incorporates a regular personal exercise regimen. Before starting any new exercise program, consult your physician about any limitations for such a program. Not only will developing an active lifestyle and adopting a personal exercise program build, improve, and maintain your physical health, you will also experience direct benefits to your mental health. Exercise is no laughing matter, for both your physical and mental health.

Scotty