Taking Care of Your Temple

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We are a nation of unhealthy adults producing unhealthy children, so if I can focus on the women to lead by example, then that trickles down to the husband, to the kids and to the extended family. I think it's important to start with women. You can refer back to Proverbs 22:6 where it says, "Train up a child and the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it." If we can instill the virtues of a healthy lifestyle while our children are young, they carry that value into adulthood.

Besides the music, are there other spiritual elements in your workouts? For example, do you pray?

I go out and talk [to the class] before I move because I've got to reach mentally-I've got to change your mindset so that you want to move. I talk about how important it is that your body is a temple of the holy spirit and how it's important to keep that temple strong and healthy. Then you look at scriptures. There are so many scriptures that relate to being healthy and wellness.

What is a favorite of yours?

When I [end the workouts] I say, "I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." I also say, "Faith itself if it's not accompanied by action is dead." And they can relate these scriptures to what they need to do in order to take better care of their temple.

Most of us need to be active and eating healthier to do what God's put us on here to do. He has a purpose for all of our lives. How can you know your purpose, or execute your purpose, if your temple is broken down or if your temple is unhealthy? It's impossible. You can't be God's leading lady, or leading man, if your temple is unhealthy.

Corinthians 10:1 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." That's a great one. You would think differently about what you put in your mouth if you use that scripture.

Sometimes we end in a prayer circle. We all come from different denominations, so a lot of times I'll have quietness and we'll all pray in our own way. Sometimes we have a prayer line [which] gets groups of 20 to 30 people to face each other and one person at a time closes their eyes, and they walk down this prayer line. The people that are forming these prayer lines are receiving this person. So it could be a touch on the shoulder, it could be a hug, it could be a positive affirmation, but they don't know who it's coming from. You'd be surprised-at the end of that line you could get a person who hadn't had a hug in a month and they got it right then and there. Or you could have had a person, who maybe because of their circumstances are in a negative environment and no one ever says something nice to them. And so again, it goes back to using faith as the base. Psychologically [we] touch them and get them to receive this in a way that they never have before. In what aerobics class can you get all that?