Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at 1:01am
Spiritual fitness and your path to perfection
Column: PERFECTBALANCELIFE
Devoting your time and energy to a spiritual fitness exercise program is without doubt the most important discipline to adopt into your daily life. Spiritual fitness is the key element to be nurtured and maintained on our path to perfection. To be successful in this fitness program, you do not need to pay any membership fees. By virtue of being born into the human family, you are automatically afforded a lifetime membership card, renewed every year on your birthday.
You do not need a specially designated gym or club to hone your spiritual fitness level. As a qualified member of the human family, you have 24/7 access to every available support system the universe has to offer. To perform your workout routine, you do not need to have any specially designed equipment. Any exercise equipment needed to improve your spiritual fitness level is readily available within the essence of your essential nature. What does this unique program look like, and how do we know when we are improving and accelerating our spiritual fitness level?
Since the publication in 1989 of Stephen R. Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," we are more and more aware that in order to live a productive and successful life the whole person — mind, body, heart and spirit — must be nurtured and developed. Covey maps out a program to enable any person to achieve a well-balanced and sound relationship with self and others, in both the personal and professional arena.
This whole-person paradigm is reinforced and powerfully supported through the work of Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, co-founders of the Corporate Athlete Training System. Through their research and work with thousands of professional athletes and business executives, they have uncovered the reality that peak performance and positive long-term sustainable results are possible only when a person draws upon and manages energy in the following four areas: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Such energy capacities must be continually balanced in daily life. These brief examples show us that when we embrace all aspects of our humanity, we can be assured of a prosperous and fulfilling life.
I believe that spiritual fitness is the key element to be nurtured in order to achieve your most cherished ideals, and I hope to see this reflected in the spiritual and religious products industry in years to come. The American fitness industry generates around $18 billion in annual revenue, and the diet and weight loss industry exceeds $40 billion. Supplements related to weight loss and vitamin nutrition is more than $20 billion a year. Although there is a very steep rise in the sales of major spiritual and religious products, spiritual books, inspirational merchandise, gifts and audio-video software, totaling around $7 billion in 2005, this figure pales in comparison to the current trends in the physical fitness industry.
Being spiritually fit means that we are never at the mercy of any behavior, thought or attitude that can adversely impact our life. This can be accomplished only by a moment-to-moment awareness of how we are responding to every circumstance that life presents to us. Such awareness must be intentionally cultivated in the same way we can create a stronger and more fit heart muscle through correct cardio-vascular exercise. The daily practice of meditation is one effective way to increase this awareness. To maintain spiritual fitness, one can practice peace by not committing acts of violence against self or others. All valid faith traditions emphasize the necessity of developing one's capacity to be a conduit of the universal power of love. To be love, we need to continually purify our mind and heart through prayer, the speaking of holy words, the thinking of holy thoughts, and the doing of holy activities.
I encourage you to set up a spiritual fitness program specifically tailored to strengthen your unique gifts. If you can dedicate yourself to this kind of fitness program with even more energy and excitement than to a physical fitness program, you can be assured of a safe and secure walk along your spiritual path to perfection.
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Jack LaValley is a practitioner of the martial arts, physical cultivation exercises, and sitting meditation. Although currently working in the hospitality industry, he spends much of his free time helping and working together with those who are pursuing the spiritual path. Jack and his wife, Wha-ja Oh-LaValley, a native of South Korea, reside in Westchester County, New York, and are the proud parents of three beautiful children. Jack is completing his book manuscript, "A Perfectly Balanced Life: Living Each Day with Wisdom and Strength," and expects publication to be in October 2008. You can reach Jack at: perfectbalance1@optimum.net © Copyright 2008 by Jack LaValley.
You do not need a specially designated gym or club to hone your spiritual fitness level. As a qualified member of the human family, you have 24/7 access to every available support system the universe has to offer. To perform your workout routine, you do not need to have any specially designed equipment. Any exercise equipment needed to improve your spiritual fitness level is readily available within the essence of your essential nature. What does this unique program look like, and how do we know when we are improving and accelerating our spiritual fitness level?
Since the publication in 1989 of Stephen R. Covey's "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," we are more and more aware that in order to live a productive and successful life the whole person — mind, body, heart and spirit — must be nurtured and developed. Covey maps out a program to enable any person to achieve a well-balanced and sound relationship with self and others, in both the personal and professional arena.
This whole-person paradigm is reinforced and powerfully supported through the work of Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, co-founders of the Corporate Athlete Training System. Through their research and work with thousands of professional athletes and business executives, they have uncovered the reality that peak performance and positive long-term sustainable results are possible only when a person draws upon and manages energy in the following four areas: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Such energy capacities must be continually balanced in daily life. These brief examples show us that when we embrace all aspects of our humanity, we can be assured of a prosperous and fulfilling life.
I believe that spiritual fitness is the key element to be nurtured in order to achieve your most cherished ideals, and I hope to see this reflected in the spiritual and religious products industry in years to come. The American fitness industry generates around $18 billion in annual revenue, and the diet and weight loss industry exceeds $40 billion. Supplements related to weight loss and vitamin nutrition is more than $20 billion a year. Although there is a very steep rise in the sales of major spiritual and religious products, spiritual books, inspirational merchandise, gifts and audio-video software, totaling around $7 billion in 2005, this figure pales in comparison to the current trends in the physical fitness industry.
Being spiritually fit means that we are never at the mercy of any behavior, thought or attitude that can adversely impact our life. This can be accomplished only by a moment-to-moment awareness of how we are responding to every circumstance that life presents to us. Such awareness must be intentionally cultivated in the same way we can create a stronger and more fit heart muscle through correct cardio-vascular exercise. The daily practice of meditation is one effective way to increase this awareness. To maintain spiritual fitness, one can practice peace by not committing acts of violence against self or others. All valid faith traditions emphasize the necessity of developing one's capacity to be a conduit of the universal power of love. To be love, we need to continually purify our mind and heart through prayer, the speaking of holy words, the thinking of holy thoughts, and the doing of holy activities.
I encourage you to set up a spiritual fitness program specifically tailored to strengthen your unique gifts. If you can dedicate yourself to this kind of fitness program with even more energy and excitement than to a physical fitness program, you can be assured of a safe and secure walk along your spiritual path to perfection.
— — —
Jack LaValley is a practitioner of the martial arts, physical cultivation exercises, and sitting meditation. Although currently working in the hospitality industry, he spends much of his free time helping and working together with those who are pursuing the spiritual path. Jack and his wife, Wha-ja Oh-LaValley, a native of South Korea, reside in Westchester County, New York, and are the proud parents of three beautiful children. Jack is completing his book manuscript, "A Perfectly Balanced Life: Living Each Day with Wisdom and Strength," and expects publication to be in October 2008. You can reach Jack at: perfectbalance1@optimum.net © Copyright 2008 by Jack LaValley.