In a recent ChurchPulse Weekly episode, bestselling author and speaker, Rebekah Lyons, sits down with Carey Nieuwhof and David Kinnaman to talk about setting healthy rhythms amidst the pandemic. Together, they discuss how embodied practices (such as sleep, getting outside and physical exercise) can help leaders better care for their emotional and physical well-being.

On Living an Embodied Faith in the Church In recent Barna Cities research, 62 percent of U.S. adults say they’d be interested if Christian churches in their community offered preaching and programs to help them achieve mental and emotional well-being, while an even higher number of practicing Christians (86%) expressed interest in this type of teaching.

Lyons believes that an embodied approach to caring for these physical needs will be a key marker for the future Church, saying, “The Church has gotten so loud with a megaphone, but we haven’t done the way of Jesus, which is the embodiment of witnessing […] The physicality of walking out the scriptures is healing in itself.”

She continues, “We could talk about the healing of God, and we can pray for the healing of God and that is very real. But if we don’t live the healing of God, then we’re [just] thinking about, ‘Where do I go in the afterlife, and how secure is my footing there?’”