fitbody PRAYER WORkOUTS
A PROGRAM THAT TRANSFORMS EXERCISE INTO A PLATFORM FOR SPIRITUAL GROWTH
by April thompson I
t’s a butt-kicking boot camp. It’s a doorway to God. It’s community. It’s caritas, the Christian virtue of charity. It’s ActivPrayer, a fitness program integrating mind, body and soul, pioneered by a fitness-loving believer in Las Ve- gas, Nevada. “People have different ways to go about it, but people all
over the world are looking for ways to have a more living faith, to integrate spirituality in their daily lives,” says Luke Burgis, founder of ActivPrayer and a member of the Catholic Church. “I was also looking to get more out of fitness, so I experimented with different ways to infuse my workouts with a spiritual element.” After successfully training an entertainment
executive turned priest, using his “soul fitness” concept, Burgis recruited participants from vari- ous area churches to try out his spiritual boot camps in parks and open gyms. They drew signifi- cant interest and in January 2010, ActivPrayer was officially launched.
Off and Running ActivPrayer’s group exercise classes begin with a guided prayer that varies based on the belief system that orients a particular class. The opening prayer is followed by declaring intentions—a chance for individuals to dedi- cate their workouts to a loved one, a person in need or a spiritual goal. Then, the class is literally off and running, with women and men of all ages doing pushups, sprints, shadowboxing or other high-intensity movements in minute-long bursts, fol- lowed by extended rests, for up to 18 cycles. The self-paced intervals, as opposed to a strictly choreographed routine, en- able ActivPrayer’s diverse members to participate according to their own workout levels. The rest periods are more than a time for bodily recovery, however; instructors use them to refocus participants on the day’s intention and meditate on the topic of the day. Every class concludes in prayer, with individuals offered
as much time as they want to rest in prayer or meditation before returning to the hustle of daily life. “I go to church every week, but I have a hard time focusing on prayer; I need structure,” explains Jenn DiNenna, a Las Vegas high school
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