John 10:10 ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.’

We live life to the fullest when we are serving out our purpose in Him:

Jeremiah 29:11: ‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’

By looking after our body, spirit and soul we are putting ourselves in the best position for God to work through us as our bodies are the home of God.

1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 ‘Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour God with your bodies.’

As a team of Health Professionals (Doctors, Nutritionists, Coaches, Personal Trainers etc.) we know that God is not a killjoy; He knows the pressure that our body, spirit and soul will face in life (tiredness, stress, ageing, illness, injury, and more).

• It can be harder to hear from God when we are tired, stressed and worn down.
• It can be hard to value ourselves as God does when we feel rubbish about ourselves and also harder to love others.
• It can be hard to make space to listen when we feel overwhelmed and overburdened.

We want to be vibrant, energetic and passionate to run our best race so that Jesus can do what he wants through us.

We know that we can do anything we want with our body, spirit and soul but we also know that not everything is recommended!

1 Corinthians 10: 23 ’I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.’

We need to make wise choices about what suits our body, spirit, and soul so that we can live our best life. We want freedom and balance in this area and we want to support others with this too.

JOIN US ONLINE

At Fitfish we have a large online community for support and encouragement, regular insightful videos and blogs about all kinds of topics.

For those who want to become members, we have online exercise and recipe packs and the popular Healthy, Whole & Free Course which supports Christians to break free from dieting and get healthier in a natural and balanced way.

Hundreds have passed through this course and here are some thoughts from a couple of them:

“I have incorporated changes to my diet and lifestyle that have improved my health, fitness and relationship with God. By just committing to turning up and implementing the advice given my health continues to improve. My strength, fitness, energy levels, mental health and sleep have improved! I can now tie my shoelaces again and my Diabetes diagnosis has been reversed!” – Caroline

“The difference Healthy, Whole & Free has made to me has been really significant and fulfilled my hopes for lasting change. On holiday I loved knowing I was lighter and healthier and felt so much better about myself. Usually, we really overeat on that sort of holiday but this time we were able to have sensible quantities of treats, and even exercised together 6 times in the fortnight in our hotel room! All of this would have been unthinkable a year ago! Many thanks to you and of course all praise to God!” -Gill

JOIN US AT OUR RETREATS

We also run retreats which enable Christians to step away from their normal surroundings and experience a programme of worship, talks, workshops, exercise, prayer, 1:1 consultations, great food, company and surroundings.

Here are some comments:

“I return home tired but happy and healthier”

“The retreat reminded me that in all situations God is there. Pause. Praise. Pray!”

“I love the holistic experience that helps me to focus on my mind, body and spirit.”

“An amazing experience that everyone should try”

“Fitfish has been instrumental in helping me get fit and eat more healthily”.

“Fitfish weekends are always brilliant. God knows what we need and the team are brilliant at helping us receive it!”

We are incredibly blessed to serve God in this way and witness what He is doing in people’s lives through Fitfish.

The post Fitfish Online And Retreats Support You In Every Area Of Life appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

WINTER GETAWAYS DISRUPT – YOU NEED THAT

What’s your stress level these days? How does your body feel physically? Do you find yourself being depleted even though you may be eating well, staying relatively active and getting adequate rest? Maybe the transition to the new year is once again causing you to think about where your future is headed even though you’ve been working incredibly hard to get there. We all need to press the reset button, pursue God and passionately desire for His Spirit to disrupt what we’re doing, who we are, how we think, what we prioritize — everything! THIS is how God rejuvenates our body and spirit.

WINTER GETAWAYS CAN AND SHOULD HAPPEN – HERE’S HOW

Determine how much time you will allow for your retreat. We recommend 5 days which builds into the schedule a day on each end for travel etc. thus giving you 3 solid days. BUT – you have to decide how much time you’ll take and then make the commitment to do it.

Imagine and list what all you want to do. It may be something new or something you simply really like to do but haven’t been able to do lately. Whatever you consider doing, be sure you determine to make and keep Christ central to your winter getaway. Prioritize the list and remember you don’t have to do everything on it.

Consider no more than 3 places where you want to go for your winter getaway. Then based on the criteria you set (cost, distance, availability, amenities, and even the overall general culture or feel of the place book your winter getaway destination. It could be a distant and exotic location or a place near where you live.

Taking time for God to rejuvenate your body and spirit is a big deal. Give it the importance it deserves. If someone is going with you plan accordingly so that you can retreat together but also have alone time. An important part of your winter getaway should be doing a more comprehensive and thorough recovery. We’ve identified 6 recovery tools that expand the scope of recovery.

POST YOUR COMMENTS BELOW AND SHARE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO FOR YOUR WINTER GETAWAY.

SOME PLACES WE RECOMMEND:

A local day spa that can work with you to package services, meals and more and provide an accommodating and quiet private space.

A nearby state park.

A resort with adequate amenities and services.

SOME OF OUR FAVORITE PLACES:

• Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington
• Canaan Valley State Resort Park, West Virginia
• Estes Park, Colorado
• LaCampagne Ministries, Indiana

COMMENT BELOW AND TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE PLACE FOR YOUR WINTER GETAWAY.

The post Winter Getaways To Rejuvenate Body And Spirit appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

There was a time when going to the gym meant hitting it hard day after day. No limits! But, there are limits to just how much your body can do. In the weight room, HIIT program, training for the next endurance event, in the box, pushing to be the best in the orange zone, and certainly competing to reach beyond personal bests no matter what, many of the faithful discovered all to easily and quickly that ‘no pain, no gain’ could lead to burnout, fatigue, pain and injury.

Today post-workout recovery isn’t just sound science that we study, understand and continue to develop for better human performance. Recovery is a natural God designed response to our basic physical need to refuel and rest. Humans have always innately understood this. More than ever before we’re giving ourselves permission to do it.

But, recovery has become something else. It’s a big business in the fitness industry. That’s huge because it’s driven attitudes to grow from acceptance to consensus. That in turn is fueling innovation to create a better paradigm where there is a balance between the elusive goals of the outcome mentality and a more attuned approach to overall wellness.

Not long ago if your back hurt or you had muscle soreness you took pain reliever and a break. What used to be a quick dip in the hot tub, or a moment in the sauna or steam room after the workout has evolved into:

• Recovery drinks
• Aromatherapy
• High-tech foam rollers
• Massage
• Chiropractic
• Advanced engineered supplements
• Hot yoga
• Cryotherapy
• Intravenous Vitamin drip

And – the list is ever growing. So are the costs!

How To Buy-Back-Better When Your Spent

Turns out the price point for recovery starts at practical, evolves into the “daily Starbucks habit” and ultimately can morph into lux self-care for those who will spend whatever it takes to pamper their own insatiable human nature for more. Recovery is quite fashionable and can elevate us into the ever growing exclusive class who, even if they can’t really afford it, unapologetically flaunt their wellness.

Let’s do something different and turn the entire approach to recovery on its ear.

While all of these recovery modalities can be really great ways to support your physical body after exercise, they are incomplete – incapable of supporting the deeper and more lasting potential of holistic recovery.

Welcome To re:

A Powerful Solution For Pre And Post-Workout Recovery

re: is a simple, thoughtful and more comprehensive approach to recovery. It helps you to make recovery a more regular part of your life through 6 distinct yet inter-related components: release, reflection, restoration, resonate, resilience and retreat. It’s intended to help you fuse spiritual, mental and physical recovery. That’s no small order. But – as a community, exploring and defining how faith and fitness work together, we can ask tough questions, venture into new territory, innovate creatively, draw on wisdom and apply in the practice of recovery as we share together in the journey.

These 6 pre and post-workout recovery tools are outlined below. CONTACT US and contribute you experiences, knowledge and skills. Welcome to re:

re:lease

rest ● declutter ● simplify ●forgive ● surrender

Practice re:lease as a part of your pre-workout recovery. Do it before your home exercise routine, sporting activity, group exercise, weight training or other activity. Why? If you’re carrying stress, distraction, anger, hurt or other mental and emotional baggage with you then your physical fitness will be constrained by those limiting factors.

Find a quiet place to get alone with God and focus.

• What Does Forgiveness Have To Do With My Health
• Thin Places And The REST Of Your Story
• The New Me I See

re:flection

pray ● listen ● receive ● perspective ● grounding

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror at the gym while you exercise, listened to a personal trainer or coach or evaluated your workout, progress or goals then you’ve practiced reflection. Take it further in all areas of your like. Look more closely at what’s going on in your life and the lives of others. Don’t be shy to ask for input from others. Patiently pursue for clarity and direction.

Don’t try to figure out everything on your own. You’ll be on track as you listen to God.

• Do Fitness In Remembrance Of Me
• How To Pray During Your Workouts
• Mirror, Mirror

re:storation

healing ● makeover ● transformation ● upgrade

One of the most personal components of re:covery is finding re:storation. It’s something different for everyone. It can provide a path from hurt to healing, brokenness to wholeness, despair to hope and fear to freedom. You may not be able to identify the area(s) in your life where you need restoration. If you can, are you able to ask for help and get it? This is a part of recovery that requires both effort and commitment. Yet restoration isn’t based on what you do. God’s grace demands nothing other than you receiving it. When you do you get more than you’ve lost. God doesn’t restore you back to normal, it’s always better.

It may seem counterintuitive but in your brokenness you’ll gain the strength to dance.

• Peace Benefits – 13 Principles Of Health And Wellbeing
• 5 Words Of Grace Build Better Family Fitness
• 5 Silent Agreements That Shape Your Faith And Fitness

re:sonate

enthusiasm ● vision ● celebration

God wants you to find greater value in fitness and recovery than just the usual physical gains and renewal. See the potential you have in Christ. Celebrate passion and be eager to build on the energy of your fitness community. This isn’t just a praise and worship service at church. Make noise and let the power of God’s Spirit be unleashed in you.

A fit lifestyle doesn’t just help you live better, you breathe in the joy of God and celebrate.

• Be Jesus @ The Gym And Everywhere Else Too
• Energy, Energy, Energy
• Showoffs

re:silience

toughness ● elasticity ● meaning ● others mindedness ● community care

Recovery is far more then strengthening your capacity to quickly rebound after an injury. It is your ability to be flexible with others and in circumstances. That takes spiritual toughness – a muscular Christianity. Understand that re:silience is not brute strength. It’s the potential you discover when you respond rapidly to adversity with a confident reliance on God. Where re:silience gets radical is when you unleash that potential to do the good work God leads you to do in the lives of others.

The big advantage to being fit is having the re:silience to help others get ahead.

• Jeff Drury – Alabama Tornado Volunteer
• Being Others-Minded
• Runner Gene Carter Says YMCA Offers More Than Fitness

re:treat

oneness ● sanctuary ● clarity ● exploration

When post-workout recovery becomes a planned reset from the routine then it’s a re:treat. You know you want it. You know you need it. It’s your opportunity to go somewhere special, do something different and recalibrate your perspective. Carve time, plan and build then be faithful to follow through. Discover the adventure, refreshment and spiritual renewal of re:covery.

God has a place for you to recover that isn’t small or lacking. Live openly and expansively!

• Elevation Fit
• Faith-Centered Fitness Retreats
• Ultimate Spa Destinations

re:covery – Do It Daily

Ready for a different and better way to make recovery a daily part of you wellness lifestyle? Start using re: It’s designed by Faith & Fitness Magazine so that everyone can regularly and consistently make holistic recovery a practical way to heal and strengthen spirit, mind and body. Bookmark this page as a guide in your day to day recovery maintenance. Subscribe to our newsletter service so you can keep updated on re: and all things faith and fitness.

Want your church, gym, wellness provider, small group or other organization to bring re: recovery program to your community? SEND THIS LINK TO THEM and have them get re:

The post re: Pre And Post-Workout Recovery Tools For You appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

A Powerful Solution For Pre And Post-Workout Recovery

If you can only do 1 thing to redefine how you do fitness, create a culture where transformation is about a lot more than physical ability and appearance. -Brad Bloom, President, Lifestyle Media Group

re: is a multi-faceted program to grow your gym culture and strengthen members and staff through a holistic approach to recovery.

Muscles repair and build after a workout. You know the research, you’ve shared it with your clients and members AND not only do they understand and embrace it, they want recovery to be a consistent part of their healthy lifestyle.

When you shift focus to make recovery as important as the physical activity you create huge opportunities to shape customer experience, build value and grow your business.

How do you do it? The more you read about it, talk about it and think about it the more you’ve likely concluded that either this will be a really big investment in space, equipment and staff – a potentially huge adjustment to your business model OR you’ll just get a few foam rollers and mats to put in a corner along with a mini-frig at the front desk with some recovery drinks.

When you get re: you get a powerful recovery solution that affordably integrates into your existing space, systems and staffing so that you can focus on strengthening the culture of your community and helping them achieve better results. We’ve crafted re: as a simple, budget mindful yet comprehensive approach to recovery – one that helps increase the success of your members and business.

‘The road to recovery’ is more than muscle therapy and good nutrition – it’s a process. At your business that process begins when members enter your building or login to your program. Actually it begins before then. They have a busy and complex life filled with decisions, challenges, frustrations, demands, disappointment and more. Clients come to you to get away from all of that. But, if they don’t re:lease the stress, declutter and surrender it all before the workout the energy exerted doesn’t deliver the full potential. The internal pain is a distraction that hampers performance and risks injury.

re:lease gives you tools and support to:

• Deliver pre-workout text or email with audio or video options.
• Utilize and manage entrance, front desk and locker room messaging.
• Design an indoor or outdoor re:lease studio to provide space for active release.
• We can build a custom re:lease solution for your business.

Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences and failing to achieve anything useful. – Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership coach

Few places have more mirrors than fitness facilities. Yet your patrons may be staring almost blindly at the same things again and again. When it comes to holistic recovery they need a well lit, honest and caring view.

re:flection is designed to support them in pursuing after the clear view. It helps them with the art of listening to their spirit, mind and body.

re:flection equips you with engaging, thoughtful and high interest tools:

• Podcasts that explore a wide range of reflection focused conversations.
• Interactive mirror clings that direct attention to your team and community.
• Trainer training on how to listen to your body and more.
• We work with you to design a re:flection program tailored to your business.

When you promote re:storation as a part of your culture, what may come to mind are home repair shows on television. If so, that’s a good association to make. The truth is everyone at your place of business even the ones with the best physique, healthiest diet and most attractive personality are still in one way or another a fixer-upper.

Helping your members find restoration may be one of the most personalized components of the recovery culture you create. It can provide a path from hurt to healing, brokenness to wholeness, despair to hope and fear to freedom.

re:storation is crafted in consultation with you to deliver:

• A community network directory with collaborative options.
• Training to deliver specialized programming like Journey To Freedom.
• Member selfies – compelling online testimonials.

As the culture of your business is embraced by your leadership, team and members something naturally occurs – everyone finds greater value in each other – they become one body seeing the potential in sharing a common passion. They celebrate together, imagine potential, and fuel new levels of energy.

Gyms that have a culture where members experience deeper community are places full of commitment and strong harmony. This re:sonate aspect of recovery can make way for sound growth.

re:sonate provides ways for you to help your members make noise:

• Apparel and other branded products that can tie-in with online content.
• Member and staff appreciation media.
• Support to develop events for members and community.

Recovery is far more then strengthening the capacity to quickly rebound after an injury. A good fitness business helps clients be competent, connected and maintain perspective in physical fitness. A great fitness business helps them develop these same markers of resiliency in relationship with others.

The re:silience facet of re: helps you to elevate the look and feel of your business. Members workout – practice self care – AND because they resonate with the environment you create they really have the potential to become others minded. That can ultimately lead to new memberships. It most certainly leads to your existing members being stronger in times of adversity and being more eager be a force of good in your community.

re:silience supports you and your members with:

• Customized ‘take action and do good’ surveys
• Ready-to-use challenges, causes and community engagement
• 1-on-1 workout buddies

When post-workout recovery becomes a planned reset from the routine then it’s a re:treat. Your members want it. In fact they’ll look forward to the refreshment and invigoration that retreats deliver.

This is their opportunity to go somewhere special, do something different and recalibrate their perspective. Fitness retreats as part of the complete re: program add a component of variety and rhythm to your clients’ overall wellness lifestyle.

Give them a spiritual, mental and emotional reboot they can’t get anywhere else.

Re:treat can start simple and develop as far as you want to take it.

• Guide to help you consider options, envision possibilities, plan, execute and grow.
• We can provide initial or ongoing direct support for your team.

re: is your customizable multi-faceted program to grow your gym culture and strengthen members and staff through a holistic approach to recovery.

The post re: A Multi-Component Pre And Post-Workout Recovery Program appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

We love a good adventure. Nothing says fitness like pushing your own limits, fresh air and the chance to begin with organized adventure and then take it beyond to ‘off the beaten path’. So when Athletic Business focused on Adventure Fitness we were like – let’s do this!

Faith & Fitness Magazine is pleased to partner with Athletic Business and hold our national Redefined Conference at the AB Show. In their Digital Focus on Adventure Fitness, they open up their archive to share some of their best recent coverage of adventure fitness. In it they talk about how fitness businesses can adapt their facilities for Ninja Obstacle Training, course design and activating green space for outdoor exercise and wellbeing.

Over the years Faith & Fitness Magazine has featured some incredible examples of how Adventure Fitness can do much more than providing a fun and challenging approach to the obvious – physical exercise. As Andy Berg says in Athletic Business, “Our definition of fitness has expanded beyond the narrow measures of muscle tone and cardiovascular health. Professionals in the athletics, fitness and recreation industries now understand true fitness to be an amalgam of many aspects of our being.”

This collection of our adventure fitness content comes from 2 of our departments: Intense Intents (named because the featured content and programs are both of a higher intensity and have outcomes intentionally more than just physical) and Spa & Fitness Retreat. So, let’s get exploring what all adventure fitness has to offer.

We begin with an audio interview with Wayne Burns, owner of Fortified Warrior Ninja Training in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Then we go to Oregon where Matt Antis shows how to jump on the adventure fitness movement at Revolution Parkour. In Maine adventure athlete Katie Spotz may be just the person you want to hire to be your adventure fitness coach and trainer. Our next stop is in St. Croix Falls, Minnesota at Amy Sotis’ Luminaries Retreat. Then in the UK explore FitFish with Gaynor Burton. Our whirlwind exploration of adventure fitness finally arrives at Elevation Fit with the opportunity for you to plan your own adventure.

FORTIFIED WARRIOR NINJA TRAINING

Wayne Burns, owner of Fortified Warrior Ninja Training in Murfreesboro, Tennessee shares about the potential of Ninja training programming to achieve advances beyond the physical. 

REVOLUTION PARKOUR

Matt and Whitney Antis at Revolution Parkour in Oregon help members truly discover how to take a leap of faith with their fitness.

ADVENTURE ATHLETE KATIE SPOTZ

Nothing says ‘we’re serious about adventure’ more than having an adventure athlete coach your adventure fitness program. AND Maine’s adventure athlete Katie Spotz really knows adventure!

LUMINARIES RETREAT

So you might be asking, “What does fitness retreats have to do with adventure fitness? Enlighten me.” Amy Sotis, owner of Luminaries Retreat in St. Croix Falls, Minnesota can do exactly that. A sense of adventure is only the beginning to rest, reflection, focus and inspiration — the things that create a well-lit path to daily life where spirits shine brightly.

FITFISH

In the UK Gaynor Burton’s FitFish fitness retreats bring spiritual renewal to those who want to make steps toward healthier living in supportive surroundings. They offer programs in various European destinations.

ELEVATION FIT

Finally, Faith & Fitness Magazine takes you to Shenandoah National Park to invite you to take the next step in adventure fitness. Elevation Fit gives you a way to begin to consider how you can imagine, plan and do a fitness retreat that can powerfully shape perspective, fuel enthusiasm for fitness, and strengthen deeper driving forces to a wholistic, healthier and passionate lifestyle. CONTACT US and we can help you do your own fitness retreat.

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Break away from busy. Anticipate the difference. Unwrap potential bigger than you could imagine.

Join us this holiday season for fellowship, good food and restoration. Pick the holiday that works best for you.

GROUP GATHERING

Our end-of-year fellowship celebration is the last Saturday in December from 1:30-5pm Eastern at the Bloomshire of Gloucester in Coastal Virginia. It’s a festive time of seasonal eats and conversation. RSVP by Thursday 19 December to reserve your place.

PRIVATE HOLIDAY

Between now and January 31 you can book your own personal time of renewal and strength. This exclusive holiday is available for individuals and groups up to six people.

Meals can include farm fresh breakfasts, energy rich lunches, and dinner featuring barbeque grilled salmon, baked chicken with tomato, lemon and herbs, gently prepped fresh veggies and some really deluxe deserts.

Adventure activities include winter kayaking, beach walk – run – dip, timber sports or connect-and-care service activity.

Add to this a workout at one of our local fitness facilities, time to rest amidst natural quietness and fellowship rich conversations.

Unwrap faith and fitness this season in ways you never have before.

CONTACT US

to learn more and reserve your place.

The post Unwrap A New Season In Your Life appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

Faith & Fitness Magazine released a YouTube special about faith-centered fitness retreats.  Shot on location in Shenandoah National Park, host and publisher Brad Bloom puts his backpack on to journey away from the everyday fitness gym to a quite and more adventurous destination.

WATCH IT NOW then CONTACT US to get started with creating your very own fitness retreat:

Elevation FIT helps you visualize the beauty of the “reset”. Faith-centered fitness retreats offer:

• workouts that are way outside of routine
• meditation that transcends the usual stretch on a mat
• meals that are dangerously delicious and nutritious
• conversations and interactions that make the spirit strong

Elevation FIT is your online basecamp – your place to start your climb to a higher view of what total fitness can be for you and your community. Let us help you create a faith-centered fitness retreat.

Release Date:  November 28, 2019

Available here and on: Faith & Fitness Magazine’s YouTube Channel

Once you’ve watched the video go to our Spa & Fitness Retreat Department for additional related content and CONTACT US to learn more about organizing a faith-centered fitness retreat for your church, gym, or group.

Save the square social media graphic below and share this page and the video with a friend and your gym, church or group leader.

The post Elevation FIT – Faith & Fitness Magazine Explores Fitness Retreats On YouTube appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

Imagine going on summer vacation ALL SUMMER LONG. Too many times we become so invested in planning for the place we want to go (the destination) that we miss the richness of the place where we can be (the dimension of the experience). Make your summer a vacation fit to be experienced throughout the entire season. Whether you’re finally taking that dream trip, doing a two-night nearby getaway, simply finding some downtime through your own at home staycation or making the most of a couple evening summer hours, make fitness fun all season.

How do you do that? Find peace and joy in the moment. Detach from the distractions and live life in the presence of God. Cease all commitments except to finding the freedom to play and be active. Seriously, your summer vacation needs to begin with these simple Bible verses:

Peace be still.

Seek first the Kingdom of God.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Love one another.

I’m sure you have a few more. All vacations need a point of origin. Make the Bible yours. Then make the venture an act of prayer. That may be quietly alone or with another or it may be loud with family or friends. Whatever shape it takes, give it to God and make it a time of communion. He knows exactly what you need in the thin places so you can say this is #myhappyplace2fit

Go to these seven places and get away from life as usual.

PLACE 1 – BLUE SPACE

Find the benefit of water. It is all around you. From bath to beaches these places soothe your spirit and stir your adventure.

Vacation destinations have learned the power of water. Some like Atlantis in the Bahamas or Great Wolf Lodges around the country not to mention every private, city and state park outdoor pool from Memorial Day to Labor Day are ready to literally immerse you in cool fitness.

Beaches, lakes and streams can naturally go deeper, faster and a whole lot more. Closer to home a garden hose can mist, sprinkle and soak. Let’s not forget that some H2O that you lightly flavor naturally equals zero calories of refreshing ahhh! For many, water is relatively abundant. However, you’ll likely not have to look to far to find somewhere where it is a scarcity. Going there to physically help can make your vacation an opportunity to meet the needs of others.

Bottom line, Christ often found refreshment in watery places. Be like Jesus, do the same and you’ll likely find yourself being less drained.

PLACE 2 – LINEAR MOTION

Walk, run, bike, boat, climb, crawl. Move from one place to another. Measure the learning experience. From start to finish create journeys that engage your body and expand who you are in God.

It’s so simple to get your fitness and summer vacation time in line. It’s truly as easy as a walk in the park, the neighborhood, along a trail (the Appalachian Trail runs through several states – find an on/off point close to you) and on and on you go.

You can do it early morning in prayer, midday with a co-worker or during the cool of night with a loved one— perhaps on a sandy moonlit beach (we like Acadia National Park or Hilton Head). Make it intergenerational by exercising accompaniment strolling with young ones and assisting older adults or those who are disabled. You’ll find surprises around every bend.

PLACE 3 – ATTUNED

Create and find places where you can be solitary, quiet, and actively listening to God. Do the intentional practice of rest as described in our article Thin Places And The REST Of Your Story. In Indiana places like La Campagne Ministries offers acres of private seclusion amidst cool ravines, natural beauty and generous quiet ‘alone space’. I recommend a two night minimum stay so that you can follow a natural three-step physical process for getting attuned: decompression – total rest (the reset) – spiritual focus.

Fitness retreats aren’t all about being super active and physically fit. They should also be about dynamic and utter rest along with a deeper practice of communion where you discover living in the companionship of God. We offer retreats like this in the Shenandoah Mountains and other destinations for men’s groups, women’s group, families and individuals.

Everyone who exercises at the gym or elsewhere is familiar with being in the zone and how a workout can help you be attuned. Having a fresh vacation place this summer to get attuned can help you to get in the zone with God in new ways. It’s as simple as creating a space in or near your home and intentionally taking time to have breathing room.

PLACE 4 – INVITATIONAL

Watch children play and you can learn a simple lesson – it’s easy to invite someone to be part of the fun. Be in the place where you can plan for others, both those familiar to you and new acquaintance you make, to join you.

For those used to doing gym workouts alone, solitary recreation, live or on-demand classes from home and even group exercise where one can get lost in the crowd an invitational mindset can be a strange place.

You have the whole summer to “be on vacation”. Start by visiting a different gym, then another and another. There are likely some group activities like a morning jog/run, a free boot camp, an afternoon group bike ride or something else. Try something that sounds fun AND — allow others to invite you to join them again. Once you get a feel for being invited THEN you can invite others to join you in the activities you regularly enjoy.

Start with a friend or family member then progress to a co-worker, fellow church member a neighbor and eventually others. Most everyone is looking for a break from the routine, time to de-stress and the chance to just enjoy some pleasant conversation.

Once you get familiar with being invitational you’ll find it easy to do often and everywhere. That’s a great place to be.

PLACE 5 – ADVENTUROUS

This is the year to go for it. Do that daring activity or that challenge you keep saying you’ll do. It’s the one thing your children or friends keep asking you to try just once. It’s that place you keep promising yourself to visit but keep finding excuses to delay. God wants you to experience the unusual and exciting this season. The time is now to do something hazardous to your status quo.

Do some exploratory activities and experiences that are different and challenging. Visit a city and do a walking tour of historical, architectural, spiritual or other significance. You’ll be amazed at the distance you cover as you go from one engaging point of interest to another.

#destinationohyeah

Celebrate your adventures with others. When you post your summer vacation pics to your social media be sure to include the hashtage #destinationohyeah

Then make you and your pics part of our Faith & Fitness Magazine community by submitting your pic and perspective to our Destination Oh Yeah page.

If your adventure includes nature you want to plan ahead as best you can. Have plenty of water, know your route, identify what equipment you need, create a realistic schedule, and be mindful of risks. That being said, part of an adventure is the potential for the unexpected. Remember a certain amount of adversity adds character to the adventure.

Whatever adventure you do, be sure to pursue a God context to it. That means exercising some trust and faith, giving God your fears, allowing yourself to learn and learning life lessons from the difficulties and thrills. Adventures are a great way to put yourself in a place of greater dependence on God.

PLACE 6 – SAVORY 

Make your summer vacation extend into an entire summer of leisure living by giving your at-home menu an update. Take some time now to find a few new ways to experience breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner. Introduce some different ingredients, explore some alternative ways of preparing meals, learning from others and experiencing the full flavor that life this summer can offer.

When your vacation meals are at restaurants, research and visit the businesses that specialize in healthy, locally sourced, organic or hand crafted. If they identify having a chef your headed in the right direction. Is it going to be more expensive? Sure, factor that as part of the cost of your summer vacation. These places are in the city, on the beach, at farms, deep in ethnic rich communities and in the most surprising of places. So explore and be adventurous. Wherever you find your savory meal it is always good advice to eat a portion size that is right for you and take the rest with you.

Summer season meals at home, around the campsite, on the go or wherever you’re not being served means that you are prepping the meal. Plan ahead, make it interesting and tasty, keep it simple and go heavy on the fellowship. Food is a great way to make fitness fun all season. Raw veggies are easy. Grilling lean meats is something the whole family will enjoy. Whatever table you gather around make it a wholesome time for family and friends.

PLACE 7 – PRODUCTIVE

Finally, this summer don’t miss opportunities to actively serve in places where you can tangibly help others and engage in Christian compassion. This produces so much more than a good time. It produces results that can draw on your physical fitness, transform your outlook in life and make a lasting impact in the lives of others that extends way beyond the typical vacation activity.

Voluntourism has become increasingly popular as a way for people to “do good” AND vacation. From a faith and fitness mindset you can be much more than a do-gooder. You can be the really active muscle who isn’t afraid to sweat, push hard and get the job done. Then you can take off the ‘Martha’ hat and put on the ‘Mary’ mentality. Take some time not just to converse with those you serve. Get to know them and let them get to know you. Don’t miss the opportunity to pray together and even worship together. These can be the golden moments where no distance or time separates. There is no need for a digital ‘social’ connection — This is the real thing IN THE FLESH. Look into their eyes, give them a hug, listen to them breath the same air you are breathing.

When you vacation this way you’ll most certainly find that being productive is so much about doing good it is about doing God. THAT is life fitness on a transformative level, where stewardship of your time, interests, assets and will shifts from you being intentional to God’s Spirit moving in ways that you could never craft alone.

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THE PLACE FOR SUMMER VACATION

Get to these seven places as often as you can this summer and you’ll find new ways to define fitness and fun. Fitness means being actively faithful. It is the process of physically engaging your spirit. Fun is embedded in each moment where your spiritual senses are attentive to God.

Active or quiet, joyful or wanting, refreshed or tired, energized or exhausted — in everything let God alone suffice. More than recreation – re-create your mindset. Leisure happens when you adjust your expectations to a singular focus – being fully in the center of God’s will. At home or while traveling, that is the place to be. Put fitness in that place.

The post SUMMER VACATION – 7 Places That Make Fitness Fun All Season appeared first on Faith & Fitness Magazine.

Adapted from The Soul at Rest by Tricia McCary Rhodes. Released November 6, 2018 from NavPress. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of NavPress and Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Something in each of us is drawn to the transcendent, to experiences that transport us, even for a moment, from the ordinariness of life. We find ourselves strangely affected at random times—a waterfall takes our breath away or majestic worship moves us; the beauty of birdsong beckons or the wind in the trees seems to whisper our name; we tear up at a mother caressing her newborn or feel inexplicably calm as the sun sets on the horizon; a well-worn liturgy heals our wounds, or a holy hush engulfs us as we pray. Like quenching a thirst we didn’t realize we had, these things both satisfy us and make us long for more.

Ancient Celtic Christians used to call these thin places, a metaphor that described their sense of heaven touching earth, of God breaking through the thickness of our daily lives to make himself known. While they identified specific locations where they felt this was more common, they also believed that thin places were all around, if only we had eyes to see.

This is a package of tools to deepen your walk with God.

A PASSION – EMBRACING THE ONE THING

The sheer volume of activity that fills most of our days is mind-boggling. We juggle demanding careers, family responsibilities, religious activities, and community involvement. The moments of our days are programmed—from sports practices to piles of laundry, from business trips to gym workouts, from Bible studies to hanging with our neighbors—we are very busy people. I don’t know about you, but for me, at times it feels as if life itself is closing in, almost like I’m gasping for air.

Jesus is inviting us to one thing—to make space for him amid our busy, chaotic, overpacked lives. God wants to fill us with passion to know him—this is our destiny as his followers. Nothing else compares —not what we understand or how powerful, successful, or financially secure we are—just knowing him. That’s it.

Spend a few minutes becoming quiet before God. Breathe deeply, thanking him for his love and commitment. Take a few minutes to connect with the quiet, being sensitive to whatever discomfort this might bring up for you. Offer yourself as you are, a living sacrifice, letting God guide you as you engage in this practice.

THE TIME – SET AND REASONABLE

We all struggle when it comes to this gritty discipline of making prayer in solitude a part of our regular schedule. This, then, is where we must begin our pilgrimage—with a set time of day and a consistent length of time for prayer.

When should we spend time in prayer? Does the time of day matter? This is a decision you alone can make.

I prefer the early morning for several reasons. First, it enables me to recalibrate my heart so that I am more aware of God’s presence and perspective throughout the day. Second, when prayer is the first thing I do, other things can’t as easily crowd it out. Although I try to commune with God throughout the day, I want my first moments to be his, to hear Jesus before all the other voices that clamor for my attention.

Another time may work better for you. We all experience seasons of life where mornings just won’t work. Jesus went away in the night, middle of the day, and early-morning hours to be alone with God. The important thing is to find a time that works on a regular basis and stick with it. Our nature adapts to consistency—the neural pathways in our brains deepen with the habits we keep, making it easier to follow through with less effort.

How long should we pray? The amount of time we decide to spend with God is relative, depending on our outlook. If we are duty-driven or see ourselves as fulfilling some religious obligation, no matter how short the amount of time we spend, it’s going to feel burdensome.

If, however, we can grasp that prayer is a privilege and a grace, the question shifts. We look forward to the privilege of being with God and ask for grace to grow right where we are at. Thus, if you have been having quiet times for years, you may want to press into longer seasons of solitude. If this is something new or you have struggled to be disciplined in this area, just set a reasonable goal and ask God to enable you to follow through.

THE PLACE – PREPARED AND SECLUDED

As a child, I remember my father shutting himself in the bathroom—the only room in the house with a lock on the door—to escape five noisy kids and be alone with God. In my teen years, when things were quieter, I often awoke to find him sitting by himself at the kitchen bar, perusing his open Bible as he drank his coffee and ate his toast and honey. That image is imprinted on my heart to this day, reminding me that we can always find a place to pray.

On a practical level, the greater our preparation, the easier it will be to slip into a prayer posture. For decades now, I have spent time with God each morning in the corner of my living room, looking out to the street. Because the family doesn’t hang out there most of the time, the room is usually free of the clutter that would make me want to jump up and clean instead of settling in. Beside me, a basket holds my Bible, journal, devotional materials, sketch book, colored pencils, and notecards. Worship music on my smartphone, a cup of coffee in hand, I nestle into those cozy pillows, drawn to that spot day after day like an old friend.

I have shifted my place of prayer over the years, depending on my family situation. From my bed, to my home office, to an office away from the house, and back to my favorite living-room couch, my goal is always to do whatever I can to shut out distractions.

Jesus tells us to close the door. By doing so, we affirm we want to be alone with him, that nothing else matters for these few minutes. For most of us, this also means leaving behind our smartphones and tablets, turning off the television or anything else that might compete for our attention.

There are many other special places for time with God. For me, walking on the beach and hearing the waves crash gently on the shore nourishes my soul like nothing else. Nature is always putting God’s glory on display and can draw us into his presence in powerful ways. Some studies even show that spending time outdoors near water, which scientists call blue space, changes the structure of our brains, relieving stress and infusing us with fresh perspective. While we don’t all live in a place where we can do this daily, we can make special plans to hang out with God immersed in his handiwork—a few hours, an entire day, or even a weekend—just as we might plan a rendezvous with someone we love.

THE PLAN – ANTICIPATE, ACKNOWLEDGE, ACCLIMATE

There are three ways we can be intentional in preparing our hearts and minds for a meaningful time of prayer—anticipate, acknowledge, and acclimate.

Anticipation alters the way we approach our practice of prayer. As we consider that God is coming to see us, our hearts are aroused. When we know he awaits with arms laden with gifts that can change our lives, our desire for him increases. This simple awareness can alter our entire outlook on prayer, once we really see it.

I can easily find myself well into a time of prayer before I realize I haven’t connected with God’s presence. Chatting away in my own mind, I forget that this is meant to be a two-way conversation. Even after decades of practicing prayer, it is helpful for me to begin by acknowledging that God is with me. I may say something like: I believe you are here God. Thank you for meeting me where I am right here and now. I come just as I am.

There are things we can do to help create a quiet heart. First, be comfortable, but not too comfortable. In Scripture, people bowed, stood, lay down, sat, or knelt when praying. There’s nothing spiritual about any one posture. Try different things until you discover what requires the least thought and enables you to relax while remaining in a spirit of prayer. Second, close your eyes and slow the pace of your mind. Take deep breaths, concentrating on relaxing your body. Breathe in God’s life, light, and peace, and breathe out your stresses, distractions, and fears. Breathe in God’s love, forgiveness, and compassion and breathe out your sins, failures, and frustrations.

Many people feel guilty when prayer lulls them to sleep. Try to be well rested when praying, but if you fall asleep, remember you are in God’s arms, loving him even as the Spirit continues to pray on your behalf—you have not failed.

ATTITUDE AND ACTION

Seeing my time with God as a reflection of my great need rather than proof of my spiritual prowess has altered my prayer life dramatically. I come to him as a child, in awe that he has chosen me and that no matter how often I get things wrong, he delights to be with me. This perspective makes prayer incredibly doable day in and day out.

For me, meeting with God in the morning is as indispensable as eating or taking a shower—I don’t even have to think about it. Developing the discipline of prayer in solitude is no easy thing. It takes months and sometimes years for us to become habituated to the inner prayer journey. But we must begin somewhere, with a decision to put in the time, resting in the knowledge that grace—God’s enabling power—will do what we cannot do.

PRACTICING PRAYER – AT WATER’S EDGE

What is your plan at this point? Ask God to reveal any hindrances to keeping your intention regarding prayer. Confess your complete dependency on him.

When you are ready, write out your clear intention about spending time alone with God. This should reflect your personal desires and a realistic goal for the inner prayer journey. Feel free to use the one below for your prayer journal.

Get more from Tricia McCary Rhodes. Her book the SOUL at REST is perfect for your prayer and spa time or your church small group fitness retreats.

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