How exercise helps me love myself as God loves me
Today, my devotional is the featured blog on my friend and fellow Christian author Alexis Goring's Devotionals for the Heart "God is Love" blog.
By Jessica Brodie
A few months ago, worn down by tension headaches, I was frustrated. Nothing brought relief—not medicine, sleep, or even massage. I was desperate for relief. I decided to try an experiment: do some simple stretching exercises daily for a few weeks and see what happens.
After a week, my headaches were much improved. One afternoon after a hard deadline on my newspaper, a headache began to rear its ugly head. I slipped into something comfy and started my routine. Within five minutes, my headache was gone.
I kept my stretching up daily, and soon I noticed more than just headache relief. I was becoming more in tune with my body and more appreciative of it. I was learning to focus on deep breathing and allowing myself grace. I was calmer, happier. I felt stronger, too. Soon, I added back in a daily walk, another something I’d let slip. This week, I’m adding in some arm weights and pushups, too.
For I’ve noticed something significant: All this attention I’m paying to my physical body, the care I’m giving myself through stretching and other exercise, is helping me grow as a Christian, too.
