Catholics then Muslims. Now Psychology. Methodist next? Body Posture and Spirituality

There is research out there that shows if we stand up and take up as much space as possible (by stretching our arms and legs and reaching out as far as possible) we can affect our confidence. Amy Cuddy shares several examples of this in her TED Talk. 

Body posture is something that is often overlooked in my Mainline Protestant tradition. Most people in my UMC experience are not ones that raise hands in song or genuflex when we walk into our seats. The extent of body posture is the standard head down and eyes closed when it comes time to pray. 

I wonder if it is true taking a "big posture" makes us feel more confident, then do we need to re-consider body posture when it comes to religious/spiritual practices? Is it counter-productive to have a verbal prayer of humility and confession while we are standing tall and big? Conversely, if we want to convey the Good News that you are a person of great worth and value to God, should we be kneeling and taking a "small posture"? 

There is a time to feel big and a time to feel small. There is a time to be embolden to be human and a time to be bowled over by the transcendence of the Great Mystery. Can the UMC religious tradition embrace what other religious traditions know and psychology is discovering, that there is a strong connection between our bodies and our mind and our spirits? 

I have toxins that a celery/prune juice cleanse cannot purge

In our culture's endless pursuit of immortality and illusion of control over the things of our world I have experienced a detox cleanse. For one week I attempted the Master Cleanse. It was okay. I am not adverse to these sorts of cleanses, but I have to admit that I have toxins that even the Master Cleanse cannot purge. 

We all have toxins that cannot be purged through a bodily cleanse. I know that we all are convinced that if it is not material than it is not "real". The grip of Aristotle's understanding of forms married with materialism and the supremacy of the scientific world, we are willing to talk about and even entertain a cleanse of our material body but resist (or discount as less important or less "real") a cleanse of our Spirit. Again, I confess that I have toxins that require a different detox. 

Enter the spiritual disciplines. 

I have the toxin of anger. I have the toxin of envy and pride. I have the toxin of lust and the toxin of idolatry. I have the toxin of violence. And no amount of lemon juice can detox my Spirit. 

Buy organic, great. Drink celery and prune juice, awesome. Workout and sweat our the toxins, super. But let us not fall into the trap that the way to the healthy life is just to be free from bodily injury and illness. Cancer can form on areas that cannot be measured on the PET scan. Our hearts can be beating normally but be hard as stone. Our vision can be 20/20 and still be blind. Our teeth may be perfectly clean and inline but our tongue can be full of venom. We may be slim but carry crushing weight. We may able to hold complex yoga poses but still remain inflexible. The healthy life is more than the body.

We all have toxins that a celery/prune juice cleanse cannot purge.

“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.”

— Jesus in Luke 12:23