On Exercise - St. Nektarios of Aegina
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- Опубліковано 6 бер 2024
- The towering figure of St. Nektarios offers a speech at the opening of a gymnasium in 1893, showing forth the purpose of a fit physique and the relationship between soul and body. St. Nektarios published this speech in 1894.
Reading from "For Mind and Heart: St. Nektarios as Teacher" by Newrome Press, pp. 45-52.
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St. Nektarios teaches:
Wherefore, as all know well, the training and exercise of both body and soul are inborn duties set upon man by both his very nature and his calling since a healthy body serves the soul willingly and readily, while a soul which has cultivated its faculties is sound, healthy, and governs the body prudently.
Although great care and concern is required in order is to cultivate these two, one should not fall into extremes, and the care for the body of he who exercises ought to be especially measured. On the one hand, according to Aristotle, the extreme cultivation of the soul undermines the body through excessive strain, while on the other hand, the extreme cultivation of the body undermines the soul through unceasing exertion - the second is the greater evil, on account of it amounting to the corruption of what is more excellent. Very rightly, then, it is said that prudence is found in the mean: "Everything in moderation," and, "Nothing in excess."
Immoderate concern for the body, excessive exercise, doubly damages the soul: it damages it indirectly through subsequent illness, and directly through the body's gaining excessive strength. The excessive strength of the body arising out of unceasing concern for it renders it wild, difficult to manage, independently-minded, bold, and unyielding in the face of the soul's dictates. The soul, having become weak, deprived of power, compromised by inactivity, gives the body boldness to rebel against the spirit and prompts it to try and completely subjugate it, to bring it under the dominion of its strength. It renders the enslaved soul an instrument by means of which the body's irrational impulses are fulfilled, corrupting it and causing whatever may be found in it that is noble to vanish. Therefore, neither the attainment of athleticism nor unrivaled muscular strength should be the aim of exercise, but rather the building of bodily strength for the sake of ready satisfaction of the demands of the spirit and the fulfillment of those duties set upon it. The aim of exercise is not to produce athletes for the games, but, rather, perfectly formed men capable of any undertaking, for it is well-known that exercise by means of habit renders one more ready for struggles, and more industrious through a familiarity with hard work.
Our ancient ancestors became noble and good men through measured bodily exercise and the parallel development of the soul's powers; they became great, all-beautiful, and glorious; they proved themselves most beneficial to the nation and humanity through the degree of civility they attained, and the memory they left behind is holy and unforgettable.
Gentlemen, bodily exercise and spiritual development are the axes around which perfect education and perfect formation revolve, and from these follow happiness, glory, and greatness. The man who is cultivated on both planes will be happy, a man who stands out, who thinks big, who accomplishes big things, who is strong and capable of every undertaking, who is beneficial in all situations.
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Orthodox Wisdom is dedicated to sharing the writings and lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. Glory to Jesus Christ! - Розваги
I am Orthodox and I must admit, that I like to train with weights and other exercises. I agree that exercise is good. I also agree that we must stay moderated, something I have problem with sometimes. I tend to train very hard and I like to challenge myself by extending my limitations and becoming stronger. I use fitness in order to counteract passions as lust, etc. I think it is better to train, than to smoke, fornicate and or drink. Fitness is good when it supports your spiritual Orthodox life. But it is not good, if it would lead to sins.. As along as you train with moderation, without hurting yourself, and as long as it does not lead to sinful behavior like, pride, fornication, etc, then it is good. I personally need distraction in life and I use fitness in order to distract myself and it is also a healthy way to release dopamine! At the same time, I keep the commandments, I fast, live a chaste life, go to liturgy, etc. Stay strong in Christ my Orthodox brothers!
and training today is a nice substitute for the fact that people before used to work way more than people today, the ancient world was brutal, and required brutal amounts of hard physical labor and work, today this has been diluted and lessened, and it is very bad to sit all day avoiding hard physical work.
@@madcyborg1822 Indeed! This is a very good point! Our ancestors used to live in villages in rural areas, where hard physical labor was conducted. For a man it is important to maintain his physical capacities. Then people did not have time to fornicate because of hard work. After a day of hard work, they just wanted to rest. Today people have too much energy, so they get tempted easy to fornicate. We should use fitness or other sport activities in order to distract ourselves from passions.
I agree 1000%! Exercise is a sacrament for me.
I'm not a Christian, though I believe in God and Christian ethics. But after years of studying Christianity and listening to and observing people I have to say Orthodox Christians are not only more aligned with the message the Bible actually gives but also practice your faith in a way that isn't just good for salvation but practically good for society, it's practical, efficient, makes you a better more competent person. Don't see that much in other Christian denominations
Time to hit the gym. 🙏🏋♀
Exercise helps me fight chronic pain, lower my weight and blood pressure. It keeps me from drinking and gives me energy.
In your case, exercise supports your spiritual life and keep it like that.
Same here man, couldn’t have said it better
Exercise and martial arts helps me fight lust and anger. They become methods of dealing with one's passions. I have two particular special kettlebells representing the demon of lust and the demon of anger. They both have monster faces. Training becomes cathartic to me. I tell those kettlebells Christ is my strength and my life. Christ will be victorious and I shall emerge stronger spiritually and physically. Exercise becomes a Sacrament to me. Tension, stress and depression melt away after each rep, after each weight increase, after each last exertion. I say Psalms and the Jesus Prayer before each rep and during rest.
St Nektarios is correct. Modesty and moderation are important. Gyms are hedonistic centers that distract and even corrupt minds. I work out at home. No distractions. All prayer. Glory to God in the highest. Kyrie Eleison. Amin.
@@robinsteendam1311Amen!
I'm a new convert in the Orthodox Church, thanks you for teaching me i'm learning a lot in this Orthodox channel
Welcome home hermano. I'm Orthodox and Puerto Rican. Gloria a Dios.
Thank you. I have struggled with the value of exercise because it felt like a battle between two extremes:
1. Vanity through excess.
2. Laziness covered by a thin layer of virtue.
That's Frankie Dushaj's 🚗 car.
Wrestling/Grappling are great forms of exercise, minimalistic, and are also a great analogy for the daily spiritual struggle. Highly recommend.
This is beautiful, I use the gym as a means of spiritual warfare.
Immoderation with exercise is something I struggled with. I was heavily into powerlifting and bodybuilding, lifting as heavy as I could and eating a shameful excess of food. When I became orthodox, I realised that innately this is imbalanced. But it was very hard to let go of my identity as “the guy who lifts big” and I was vain and concerned with the size of my muscles.
I also realised that although I was unnecessarily strong, I was also overweight, had high blood pressure and was not as physically fit and healthy as I convinced myself I was.
This dissonance between the spiritual life and my life of excess and vanity, combined with the near-pornographic outfits of many young women at gyms caused me to take up running and simple calisthenics. I now feel like I have resolved the conflict between enjoying exercise and also fasting and attempting a more ascetic life. Doing an exercise discipline I and not very good at is humbling, and there’s no one around for me to try and “impress” with a huge plate-rattling squat. I just don’t care anymore, and now I’ve dropped what essentially amounted to a second full-time job, in exchange for more moderate exercise, I have more time to focus on what’s important.
Also, considering I never had the potential to be elite, I was literally just harming my health in order to achieve fairly mediocre results anyway.
This is not to knock lifting, it’s a great thing to do, but for me it had become something of an idol.
As long as you keep health and longevity in mind, lifting is great. The problem is always the ego and wanting fast.
I'm glad this video was put in front of me. I'm going to become a Catholic this Easter, but I still appreciate the wisdom that flows from the Orthodox saints.
I currently go to the gym six days a week for two hours a day. Pushing myself to the brink of exhaustion and pain. Eating 3000 calories a day of meticulously prepared food; weighed to the last gram. I've been wanting to slow down and scale it back for a while now, but thought that I was just giving up on something I put so much effort into. I'm only 30 years old and have terrible knee pain, rotator cuff issues, and tendonitis in both elbows.
This video made me realize that my spiritual life is taking a backseat sometimes to my physical life. It's much too easy for my to sin while at the gym. Whether it's flexing in the mirror and enjoying the vain glory of my muscles, or looking at the woman in little more than a bikini do squats in front of me, my focus is not where it should be; towards heaven.
I will be reeling back my time in the gym to focus more on the final destination of my soul and to help bring others along with me.
@@lumberzach77Trust me, wait just a bit longer for the big war to start and you’ll never even think about becoming catholic again (everyone will be Orthodox after the war). Were you Orthodox and now turning catholic?
I felt understood reading this. Thank you random guy and God bless you
Wisely said I want to Bench 225 but it's probably vanity to do and damaging I enjoy running much more
We all need to be ready to be warriors and peacemakers for Christ ❤☦️
Also exercise for us old guys over 60 is super important because we lose muscle mass really fast. We also have to contend with injuries if we overdo and that we already have , and sometimes just from doing something seemingly innocuous ! Good exercise for us and probably everyone - walking , swimming, medicine ball , easy stretches and calisthenics.
This was very enlightening. I struggle a lot with depression, but find that a good work out clears those thoughts away and I actually feel glad to be alive.
It's easy for me to sometimes think that the only real "Orthodox" approach is just to fast until you're a walking skeleton (which, thankfully I don't follow through on or else I'd definitely wind up in major pride and delusion).
One reason I love this text is that it provides such a balanced view with an inspiring and encouraging focus throughout. Whether one is imbalanced toward the body or the soul, St. Nektarios offers a positive corrective for everyone.
Do a thousand prostration ☦️☦️☦️
@@petergunn9149I think I did 20 and my knee started making rice crispy noises.
Work out consistently, take at least 15 min of sunlight and go to a nutritionist to get a healthy diet. That will do wonders for your depression. Of course, some cases might need medicine, but people need to try that before for at least 3 months and see the results.
Being in nature help depression - parks, walks
Possibly the royal path of moderate exercise for grown men is to pursue simple body weight calesthenics with minimal equipment at home and of course to rest and eat adequately to support growth. The situation of exercise clubs fifty years after this was written could not have been forseen by the elder, but in our day they may be sources of temptation which outweight the benefits which may be achieved by access to sophisticated training equipment.
It’s undeniable the gyms in Greece in 1893 are not the same, and had far more modesty, than many gyms today. And he speaks to what you’re saying about avoiding excessive weight training and focus on the body. He’s remarkably balanced in this speech.
@@OrthodoxWisdom In case it might be useful to anyone, here's what I've learned: training for strength the older you get requires low numbers of repetitions and longer rest times between sets to allow the joints to recover, at least 15-30 minutes. One or two pull ups with perfect form, all day long on a training day up to 20-30 total. Handstands facing against a wall make significant improvement in both arm and shoulders, as well as posture, while being attainable as opposed to free handstands and inverted push-ups. Walk up the wall with your feet and move closer with walking on you hands. Leave space between hands and wall to ditch out at the end when your arms start to fail. Again, at least 30 minutes between attempts. Various types of squats, adding backpack for extra benefit. Walking with a backpack of 30-50 lbs. Horse stance training. Double end bag boxing training for fun, endurance and coordination. Heavy bag or wall bag for power. Stretching, particularly martial arts warm up stretches. Take as many days off between training days as necessary for the body to feel indifferent to the previous session. Don't train while sick, emotionally imbalanced, or hard fasting. Stretch and light movement only during hard fasts. Avoid sugar.
It's a simple fact that the fitness culture itself has become a sort of man made religion.
Wear blindfolds at the gym. Be a man.
@@MichaelK.-xl2qkSolid advice
I was going to a gym atleast 4-5 times a week one year ago for a period of time of about 6 months. But lust and passion accompanied almost every training session, since girls and women are in the same gym ( If my ancestors saw me inside that gym with all that half nudity around me - I would have been probably beaten up with iron rods). I decided to make a change (for my soul's sake) and transferred to a home gym. I bought an adjustable bench, adjustable weights and an eliptical bike. And I try to exercise atleast 4 times a week. My workouts are very simple. Also I bought also a weight - lifting belt for extra saftey during workouts.
I did the same thing! Resistance bands are also a very good cheap way to increase the types of excersises you can do.
@@paisios2541 ☦️☦️☦️
The gym was too distracting for me. The scantily clad women and the muscle heads who would try to intimidate me if I picked up a dumbbell near them. At home I have no distractions, enjoy my music, podcasts and prayers.
Greetings from Colombia 🇨🇴☦️
All Glory to our Lord JesusChrist
Χριστόσ Ανέστη
It’s okay to train & diet to increase strength, anaerobic capacity, stamina, endurance . Especially if you’re an athlete, I think Westerners tend to forget there are amateur & professional Orthodox athletes. I don’t think lifting weights is extreme & neither is working out daily when you have 24 hrs in a day. The why is more important than what workout you do or how you do it.
Exercise is so important nowadays to keep people sane than any other time and age! With the move of workforce into the homes of people, this had brought unnecessary stress that doesn't leave the home unless it's vented out through exercise outside of the house. As stated, everything in moderation as this is also part of staying sane.
People would be surprised, but I only lift about 6 hours a week, maybe sometimes as much as 9, but that’s for the whole week.
And I strongly encourage a home gym, and to avoid the local gyms that are a cesspool of immodesty.
I go to local gym , but it's full of half naked girls and ego pumping instagram generation.
I now go there at 8 or 9 AM to avoid all of this .
Glory to God
☦Слава Богу ☦
Why are your local gyms a cesspool of immodesty? From the perspective of someone whose gym is fine, I'm just wondering how it is in other places.
@@daan8336Women wear next to nothing and bring in cameras to show the whole world. Some gyms have banned cameras and have a proper dress code.
Some of my best prayer happens between sets of squats and deadlifts
Boom Shaka Laka!
Brother, if every channel was so careful as yours, including the bibliographic sources - and even the text itself which is being read! -, this world would be better and there would be a little less confusion out there. Congratulations for the good work!
health and strenght training is one, wanting to look huge and pumping the muscles up for good looks is soul destruction, strong tendons are not shown to the eye.
I get very obsessed about fitness like bodybuilding and it makes the passions increase I. Me.
It reminds me of the saying of the psalms about wine gladdeninf the hearts of men; and the commentary of John chrysostym (I’m not well read but the catena app contains verse by verse commentary of many fathers) about the opposite effect when it is abused.
yeah I think it needs a balance.
Society wants us to be obsessed with fitness and working out.
It doesn’t need to be to that extent.
If we’re spending more time working out than we are in prayer, then maybe it’s too much?
❤✌⛪🙏☦MAY GOD GIVE US STRENGTH IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST EVIL ☦🙏🕊🌟💪
“For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.”
- 1 Timothy 4:8
exercise is still importance
This is completely false. They’re even finding out now that exercise benefits gut flora. I also don’t know what context this passage is in
Other translations I've seen read "Bodily exercise profits a little". Meaning that it is profitable but not as much as spiritual. The obvious implication being that both are good, but the Spiritual is a higher good that the lower goods must be subject to.
The reading of "Profits little" can certainly lead to a quasi-gnostic understanding.
But it PROFITETH nonetheless
this is exactly what i needed. thank you. praise be to God
Great upload, I've felt an aversion to power lifting culture, eating massive amounts of food, breaking down the body. It never seemed healthy or noble to me. Focusing on higher rep range, mindful lifts feel so much better to me, while eating what feels natural to me.
Lifting heavy/building strength is pretty healthy and ensures a healthier body overtime…it can promote longevity when done correctly.
@@poprunna281 I am Orthodox and I lift weights. I believe that one does not need very much food in order to train. 2 or 3 meals a day is enough. Protein is overrated. I keep the fasting and I am able to train. It is better to train, then to smoke, drink and fornicate. I use fitness in order to counteract passions as sexual lust, etc. So fitness it good if it supports your spiritual life. But if it would lead to sin, then it is not good. This video is right. Moderation in everything is good. But it is difficult to be moderated.
@@robinsteendam1311for hyperthrophy you need a calorie surplus, that would be 3+ meals a day. But if you only want to mantain, sure
@@icommitedwarcrimes4879 You have a very sick name.
@@robinsteendam1311Hello, with respect you’re wrong. Protein is not overrated and scientifically you’re proven wrong over and over again. We should push our bodies to the physical limits in order to honor Gods beautiful design of them.
One of the things martial arts and exercise have done for me is make me feel humiliated and ashamed before God.
I would run to my gym excited to train and put my body in pain and stress. I would willingly let people choke me, try to break my arms, and punch me in the face, and I would resist and fight them.
But when I would be tempted, I would not put up a fight. I'd struggle for a minute or so, and then I would sin.
After looking at how healthy and strong my physical body was due to putting it through physical stress. I became ashamed at how weak and ugly my spiritual body was.
I would resist a 30kg heavier person but would barely resist the devil.
This shame made me strive to resist temptation more.
Now, when I am tempted, I remember how I resisted men and succeeded. I can resist the devil and succeed even more because God most certainly will come to my Aid. And I'd rather win against the devil than win against man.
Hope this helped and you enjoyed reading
🎉🎉🎉🎉 this was very needed !!
Thank you for this. I'm very grateful
Thank you, good stuff.
Thank you Timothy! Listening to this during my squat set. As with all things we must walk the royal path! ☦️
Thank you for your Orthodoxy effort
Having young children is a workout all on its own.
Thanks, I do karate three times a week
Glory to our Lord! algorithm boost
St Nektarios was declared protector of physical trainers by the OC in 2006.
Probably could have used this before I injured my wrist doing incline dumbbell bench press 😂.
Thank you for showing me how to pronounce AEGINA.
For what it's worth, there was an exercise ad of some sort before the video could start. Doncha just love algorithms?
I love this font you use on your thumbnails. What is it?
Cinzel, specifically Cinzel Black
Even just the way he talks about all levels of society working together is so foreign to me
😍😍
Although exercise is good, to many it has turned into idolatry of the body. Flexing naked, obsession with eating for muscle optimality, rejecting fasting, and many forms of narcissism can occur out of too much physical exercise but little to no spiritual and mental. After all with exercise you increase "your body" and with fast you decrease ti, they are opposed to each other. We should in wisdom balance them and give priority to spiritual growth.
Just wondering, why are there so many references to fictitious beings like Zeus ??……
not sure, however Zeus was not mythology, Zeus was one of the fallen angels... a demon
@@sammyog3475 interesting. I wonder if they’re one and the same..
@@user-wh5pd4fs3c them and the Egyptian gods who built the pyramids my friend... who else would have such abilities in such primitive times
@@sammyog3475 “shining in Egypt the illumination of truth, Thou didst dispel the darkness of falsehood; and unable to bear Thy strength, O Savior, her idols fell..”
Glory be to God!
That's because St. Nektarios was quoting Aristotle
Algorithm boost
This is funny!
I think exercise is great for spiritual development in the same way that fasting is. And for other reasons. Fasting develops self discipline and resistance to temptation and temptation is embodied by Satan and is the base of all sin. A very overlooked point by modern Christians. Sin isn't just all random arbitrary things that God decided to tell Moses. To learn to resist sin you have to be able to resist pain and discomfort on one hand and not give into the temptation for pleasure(when it's unhealthy or in excess) but both of those things are neurologically regulated by the same part of the brain and I don't look at the brain and body as separate from the soul. I look at them as 3 parts of a whole so I don't think scientific explanations take away from the religious or spiritual element of things.
Fasting is a very powerful was to build self discipline as you have to resist the urge to indulge in pleasure but also resist the pain of hunger. It also has powerful physical and psychological benefits, some may say pursuing these self interested benefits is not Christian as pride, and greed are sins. But I believe self interest is only sinful when it goes against morality, God and your fellow man. Pride and Greed in the biblical sense are really referring not to "Pride" in the way we use it today or ambition. Hautiness is is a better English word for the sin of "pride".
If improving yourself in health, wealth and fitness can help you better serve God and your body is your temple to God then I don't see it as sinful to do this. I think a human striving to be the best they can be and accomplish the most they can is giving testament to God's creation, showing off what God had made and what it's capable of showing off his glory.
Exercise can do all these things as well. It builds discipline, you have to resist and push through discomfort and consistently too. and usually comes along with dieting which helps you on the other end like fasting to resist the temptation of pleasure. Also if your body is your temple. Wouldn't it be better to make it beautiful and sturdy then let it become ugly, and let it fall apart, that just shows apathy, lack of love for God, yourself and your family. Plus others will be more likely to listen to you and follow in your footsteps if you are fit,string, attractive, healthy, disciplined etc. how can you take anyone seriously who does not even take their own body and health seriously.
Fasting is the antithesis of gluttony and exercise is antithesis of sloth. They go together. And biologically exercise has many of the same effects as fasting. Your body almost reads it as the same thing. Both of them are technically a scarcity of energy. One creates the scarcity by restricting intake and the other by increasing output. The human pleasure systems and most of our entire psychology is built on pursuing food and sex, these things give us the greatest pleasure and our minds are wired to pursue them. If you are able to complety control that base impulse then you are on your way to sainthood and theosis.
I love most of this except the part about getting too strong damages the soul and makes you uncontrollable ? Not quite sure I understand that. It's probably based on stereotypes of strong barbaric warriors. Back then anyone who would have been "excessively strong" would have very high natural levels of testosterone and would infact struggle more with self control. Also warriors who would often be the strongest back then would have a better chance of having aggression built up from brutal training and war, possibly PTSD. That would make them more chaotic. I think this is a misunderstanding on the saints part as he didn't have the knowledge we have today. Excessive strength in itself doesn't cause these things it just often correlates with things that do. And excessive exercise won't cause excessive strength it will cause the loss of strength.
My most 3 recent videos I think are useful in understanding the placement and context of exercise in relationship to orthodoxy.
How? You don’t even seem to be Orthodox (your description mentions using movements to reveal the nature of reality which I don’t want to know anything about)
@@pavlos1048 yes I’m orthodox. The science of exercise and movement i teach is much more orthodox than using this shared dreaming technology, which you seem to have no problem with. Your concern and fear is just masked hypocrisy.
@@pavlos1048 if you don’t understand the principles of mind in exercise, you will never understand prayer, which is at a much higher level. If you can pray, everything on my channel should be obvious. If you can’t pray it will seem esoteric.
@@Aquaticphilosophia Orthodox Christian? What shared dreaming technology? If you’re Orthodox Christian, have you talked about this with your spiritual father, or are you simply living in your own delusion? Also how are your 3 most recent videos useful in understanding the placement and context of exercise? For the most part from what I can see it’s just you doing weird movements
What about women?
Christian priests and monks should take some advice and exercise themselves instead of getting fat on olive oil and bread
My youth ended when i was only 20 years old and i noticed i started balding. My life was ruined evercsince. Now i am almost 40. I never had any girlfriemd ans i lost my will to live becousecof baldness. I just want to die
Monasticism life
As woman I never understood how men get discouraged by hair loss. A bald head is strong and heathy for Gods work.
These days men shave thier heads as a choice. Embrace your 'God given baldnes! ' Shake off those man made associatios of shame that are based on false pride.
1)Get swole
2)Destroy Satan and his minions 👃
Please get this read by a human. It is very difficult an tiring to listen to the zombie reader. 2:22
This is offensive to zombies…
LOL came across this video after I had the the high idea to start a religious workout cult where "you worship god by working out" so you can get religious exemptions to workout
It already exists 💀
What's it called?@@icommitedwarcrimes4879
@@icommitedwarcrimes4879 CrossFit??