Oratio on the Third Beatitude

#3 Spiritualize your Exercise 
How about exercising as a part of your spiritual practice. Exercise as an act of worship. Consider the exercise your prayer time. Carry one Bible verse with you to the gym or on your walk. Memorize it. Contemplate it while you exercise. For the duration of the Sacred and Fit Program we will be focusing on the Beatitudes of Jesus. Memorizing them and thinking about them are critical to this program....However, you need not limit yourself. What scriptures can you find that encourage a change in behavior based on the empowering presence of Jesus the Christ. --From Day 6- Exercise

“Spiritualize your Exercise” was introduced back in the first week of the program. Lectio Divina now provides a time period during the day that you can focus on your verse of scripture. How about combining the two activities?

I have tried to make a habit of using my exercise period as a time to come back to my verse from wherever the hectic pace of the work day has taken me. Now it is time for me to got to my 4:30 Yoga class. Using Lectio Divina- Oratio, I plan to “spiritualize my exercise.” Now granted, this would be hard to do if I were playing raquet ball or tennis. But because I engage in a solitary activity on a regular basis where sometimes my mind tends to wander, I have decided to try this approach.



It may take some effort to fully associate exercise with a prayer time but one benefit is that it adds to my reasons for exercise. Sometimes, getting to Yoga class merely for my health is not enough. There is also the chance that I will have a breakthrough, inspiration or revelation as I spend more time thinking about spiritual things.  I believe that as I consciously incorporate Lectio Divina into more and more daily activities I will  get closer and closer to becoming someone who “prays without ceasing”.



Today I started praying while seated in 115 degree heat waiting for the class to begin.  My prayer was for the “Softening of everything in my body, my life and my mind that is rigid and may be hindering my health.” I repeated this prayer throughout the Yoga session.

In between each of the 26 postures there is a time of rest. The rest time lasts anywhere between 2 minutes and 20 seconds. The rest period or “savasanah” was my cue to repeat the prayer again and again.



I noticed that the Yoga session seemed to go faster and afterwards, I didn’t feel so exhausted, like I usually do. I actually felt energized. This effect may be totally coincidental but it seems strange that the coincidence occurred during the session that I devoted to prayer.
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Choose an exercise period and include one component of Lectio Divina while focusing on your version of the third Beatitude? Write about the experience, including any unusual occurrences, in your Notebook.