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LIFESTYLE
FITNESS STARTS FROM THE MIND
LAVINIA PLONKA teaches inner aerobics
y first article for Jain Spirit was a reflection on pilgrimage: what it felt like to walk up.... and then down the steps at Palitana. The experience of reaching
the top as dawn broke is etched in my memory forever. Equally memorable was the incredible soreness in my legs. For days afterward, any descent was accompanied by a moan. As I tried to sit, my complaining thighs reminded me that I was not as fit as could be. And yet, I felt incredibly fulfilled.
illustration: David Anderson www.miniatureheads.co.uk
Most of us pursue fitness for purely temporal reasons: health, vanity and insecurity are three major ones. We run on treadmills in front of the TV, do core strengthening exercises in the hope that we will be sexier. We try Atkins diets, grapefruit diets, Zone Diets, South Beach Diets to regain a youthful figure. We lift weights to try to defy the aging process.
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Yet of what value is all this fitness if 'inner fitness' is not part of the equation? The human organism is not just abs of steel, a figure to die for or a gorgeous 'bod'. Mental, spiritual and emotional fitness are equally important. Until the advent of cars, fast food and television, physical fitness was a non-issue for most people. They walked or rode horses, harvested their food, washed their clothes by hand, chopped wood and fetched their water. Life was short and hard. The advent of technology has eliminated the need to move, fast food has made us fat and television has made us
passive. We live longer, but joy and vitality elude us. For Personal & Private Use Only
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Jan Education International
| SR No. | 529004 |
| Book Title | Jain Spirit 2005 12 No24 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Jain Spirit UK |
| Publisher | UK Young Jains |
| Publication Year | 2005 |
| Total Pages | 102 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Magazine, UK_Jain Spirit, & UK |
| File Size | 21 MB |