Physical fitness.

[Pelerin]

Regarding physical fitness.

My HS daughter is currently writing a paper on comparative religions for her AP World History class. She is comparing and contrasting Hinduism and Buddhism.

One of the things that she pointed out to me is both religions have serious health and fitness elements to their theology which is something that she believes appears to be lacking in Christianity. Hinduism practices vegetarianism and fitness through yoga. Various forms of martial arts and fitness exercises like Tai Chi as well as fasting have emerged out of Buddhist and Taoist traditions. In fact, most eastern religions have something of a focus on the fitness of mind and body.

I have to wonder if these sorts of traditions once also existed in Christianity and have more or less been lost over the centuries. Or were never there to begin with. At least with respect to the modern European and North American versions of Christianity where things like dietary rules and fitness are largely lost or absent.

The Seventh Day Adventists are big into health and fitness, especially vegetarianism.

But I think your daughter is on the wrong track to assign the focus on “health and fitness” to Hinduism and Buddhism. Rather, health and fitness were the very things American and British culture was interested in from the last half of the 19th century into the 20th, just as information about eastern religions was becoming widely available in English thanks to British colonialism in India. This was the age that produced muscular Christianity (i.e. the YMCA), the Seventh Day Adventists, and the graham cracker. From what I understand, the exercises aren't even an essential part of yoga. Meanwhile, only in the last two centuries or so—and only in the most affluent societies—could vegetarianism be described as a health practice. For probably the vast majority of people who ever lived, meat was a rare rich source of essential protein. The “health and fitness” is what the west was looking for, and I think it would be a mistake to read that back into eastern religions.

It’s a bit like how the hippies of the 1960s flirted with Buddhism and Hinduism, but their version of those religions looked an awful lot like…the hippies of the 1960s. Maybe the best illustration of the western values lying underneath is that the pseudo-Buddhism has gone on to produce billions of dollars in the United States with no end in sight. Meanwhile it’s not difficult to find real expressions of Hinduism and Buddhism that don’t seem to share many values with the hippies.

-------

As a thought experiment, we might imagine a world where Anglophone culture had discovered Islam instead. We might be doing salah poses and losing a little weight on a ramadan diet.

Or early Christianity: “I hope the marketing meeting doesn’t go late; my stylites class is at 2:30.”

[Ken]

Both Josh and Ken have some very valid points. To that end, I have heard it preached that Hollywood dictates fashion, and I also think it dictates fitness and body composition. Hence the "body shaming" movement we had a few years ago. I witness this in my own workplace every day: "humble bragging" about being sore because it was "leg day" at the gym yesterday or diet restrictions because of an upcoming marathon.

This said, I have nothing against the above activities, provided it doesn't become an idol. I walk a lot and often carry a weighted ruck. In fact up until a few years ago, I rode bike to work 11 months out of the year. A healthy body leads to a healthy mind

Oh, there is a HUGE obsession with fitness in modern western society. That is obviously true given how many gyms and fitness centers are scattered about. But I think it is secular affection not religious in our society. I'm not sure it has always been that way.

I have worked in and visited quite a variety of schools over the years. And there is almost a perfect correlation between the socioeconomic status of a school and the degree of obesity. You can take 10 random schools from anywhere in the country and rank them on the percentage of obese students and the results will almost certainly match the rank-order of those same schools by wealth. This is exactly the opposite result from what one would have seen 100 or 150 years ago. So it seems like physical fitness has become a marker of wealth in the 21st Century.

[ohio jones]

... losing a little weight on a ramadan diet.

It's actually more common to gain weight, due to pigging out after sunset and before sunrise.

[Pelerin]

... losing a little weight on a ramadan diet.

It's actually more common to gain weight, due to pigging out after sunset and before sunrise.

Pigging out doesn’t sound halal. Maybe they’re just beefing up.

[RZehr]

... losing a little weight on a ramadan diet.

It's actually more common to gain weight, due to pigging out after sunset and before sunrise.

Pigging out doesn’t sound halal. Maybe they’re just beefing up.

To much....Much to chicken to use moderation? The whole thing is fishy.

[temporal1]

This morning I made my two dogs walk the entire four miles in the woods;
I hadn't been doing that, because one is a bit young and the other is turning silver.

But a theft occurred in the form of a cupcake from a wedding disappearing from a cupholder in my SUV on the ride over.
In this case, it's guilty until proven innocent, but no one is confessing.

You do the crime, you do the time.

* Disclaimer: No animals were harmed or unwilling participants in the making of this collar.

4 miles. sigh. i have been struggling, for months now.

i’m not sure what-all has hit me. my aches+pains (esp tendonitis in one ankle, then the other) have been painful nuisances,
but, in early October, without warning or stress of any kind, my left hip just “popped” (i immediately feared dislocation!)

by some miracle, i did not fall. even in great pain, i “figured” it must not be dislocation (thankfully). it hurt.
it was a Saturday evening, dark, my car was in the shop! what a drag.

i had a general dr appt Thursday. could i wait?? i hoped so. i could barely walk.

i googled.
i found several possibilities. the most likely match seemed to say this would require REST, and, it should improve every day over several days. i was not immediately convinced. it hurt. i wasn’t sure i could sleep.

i slept.
the next day - far from being pain-free, it was better. i seriously hobbled, with furniture to support, to do what was required, nothing more. the next day, some better. each day, just as google described, it improved.

i was hobbling when i saw the doctor on Thursday, but i got there on my own volition! my goal.
she asked if i wanted a cane? i told her i might have for the first couple of days. no cane.

she prescribed Naproxen 500mg 2X daily for 10 days. i rarely take pain med. it helped right away.
she ordered Xrays of my hips. arthritis.
well. hmm.

and, referred to Physical Therapy. i’ve had the initial evaluation. (not sure i can fund it.) we’ll see.
PT said walking will not hurt arthritis nor make it better. she wants me to remain active. i’m happy to say.
i’m unsure what arthritis has to do with this. i have to learn.

So. i’ve had an annoying setback. not good.
i began walking again over the weekend. (i hoped to do about half, 2 miles. i was doing 3-5m every other day.) nope.
1 mile is present reality.

i told my brother, i’m not calling it walking now. it’s hobbling.
i’m hobbling 1 mile. and ready to stop right there.

i’ve been blessed to be as spry and pain-free as i have in my life. i’m not sure if i’ll have such days ahead.
i haven’t been forthcoming with my daughter+grdaughter. they count on me keeping up. i’ll do my best.

i have a dear cousin who lived with polio from age 10. i have no right to complain.
i’m pretty sure i have to find a new normal.

[temporal1]

The worst part of the “out of the blue” hip popping:
fear of it happening again.

There was no warning. i wasn’t hurrying, carrying anything, nothing.
What if i were on stairs?? What if i fell?? It could have been far worse.

The second-worst part is, not wanting to cut back on food, even tho not as active.
Big problem.

So. Work on finding a way to continue being active.

[temporal1]

The Seventh Day Adventists are big into health and fitness, especially vegetarianism.

But I think your daughter is on the wrong track to assign the focus on “health and fitness” to Hinduism and Buddhism.

Rather, health and fitness were the very things American and British culture was interested in from the last half of the 19th century into the 20th, just as information about eastern religions was becoming widely available in English thanks to British colonialism in India.
This was the age that produced muscular Christianity (i.e. the YMCA), the Seventh Day Adventists, and the graham cracker.

From what I understand, the exercises aren't even an essential part of yoga.
Meanwhile, only in the last two centuries or so—and only in the most affluent societies—could vegetarianism be described as a health practice. For probably the vast majority of people who ever lived, meat was a rare rich source of essential protein.

The “health and fitness” is what the west was looking for, and I think it would be a mistake to read that back into eastern religions.

It’s a bit like how the hippies of the 1960s flirted with Buddhism and Hinduism,
but their version of those religions looked an awful lot like…the hippies of the 1960s.

Maybe the best illustration of the western values lying underneath is that the pseudo-Buddhism has gone on to produce billions of dollars in the United States with no end in sight.

Meanwhile it’s not difficult to find real expressions of
Hinduism and Buddhism
that don’t seem to share many values with the hippies.

-------

As a thought experiment, we might imagine a world where Anglophone culture had discovered Islam instead.
We might be doing salah poses and losing a little weight on a ramadan diet.

Or early Christianity: “I hope the marketing meeting doesn’t go late; my stylites
class is at 2:30.”

On this forum, i appreciate how members go directly to scriptures (not quick google searches, or personal conjectures) to find what scriptures actually say - in context of both broader scriptures and in context of the day.

i appreciate your description of the generally empty-headed and self-centered approach of the hippies.
i was there, it was wild. even then it appeared to young+naive me hippie interest in Eastern religions was “one mile wide, one inch deep.”

it’s best to go to scriptures to learn about scriptures. and, once there, to not expect instant gratification/results.

[temporal1]

2021

The worst part of the “out of the blue” hip popping:
fear of it happening again.

There was no warning. i wasn’t hurrying, carrying anything, nothing.
What if i were on stairs?? What if i fell?? It could have been far worse.

The second-worst part is, not wanting to cut back on food, even tho not as active.
Big problem.

So. Work on finding a way to continue being active.

2022
well. it’s a year since the “hip-pop” i guess it’s turning into a life-altering event.
just before, i was walking 3-5 miles every other day or so, since, 1 mile is (not easy). the change has been weird.

i’ve lowered expectations, tried to adjust, tried to increase distance, nothing has worked very well.

this week, i went to a routine checkup. HEART MURMUR.
echocardiogram ordered.

so now i’m learning about heart murmurs.
there’s a good possibility this may be nothing much to think about.

it’s helpful to know there may be a reason for my sudden drop in endurance.
esp that’s it’s not necessarily laziness or unwillingness on my part. life has been “different” in this last year.

Coincidentally .. COVID vaccines/boosters:
my daughter in PNW, my younger brother in TN, and i all had vaccines+boosters as recommended, 3 different types, i had Moderna.
by spring 2022, we three all noticed swollen ankles, none of us were bothered with this before.

my daughter, youngst/healthiest, seemed to have the most problems, generalized swelling, not just ankles.
my brother had heart surgery/3 stents a couple of months ago, i believe doing well.
now i have this heart murmur .. which may have started last year??

i can’t get over the coincidence, the timing. 3 different people, 3 locations, 3 different lives.

so now, i’ll walk my half-to-one-mile and be glad i can make it that far!
it still seems weird. we’ll see what the echocardiogram reveals.

weird weird weird

[justme]

people's valves wear out.
the heart is a machine, and machines wear out.

now, whether it is accelerated by the vaccine, i don't have an answer to that. there is certainly that possibility.
but valves wearing out, is not a new thing.
and two of the biggest symptoms are shortness of breath and fatigue.

we send a lot of folks for valve work.