Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

In my NIV translation of the Hebrew Bible, there are plenty references to the strength of man and the strength of god. In the book of Genesis, Jacob is planning to run from Laban’s camp, and part of his justification is he has worked for Laban with all his strength. Later on, when Jacob is blessing his sons, Jacob points to Reuben being the first sign of his strength, honorable and powerful, yet turbulent and stunted in growth due to climbing in Jacob’s bed and defiling it. Towards the end of the book, Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim return to Jacob after Joseph ascends in Egyptian society, and Israel (Jacob’s new name) rises up from his bed with his strength. I could begin in exegesis on these passages to understand the significance of these first conceptions of strength, however that will not be the direction I take in this blog.

Though all in different time frames, I believe the three passages share a theme of strength sparking in a journey, whether escaping from possible harm, walking through the mystery of life, or receiving the presence of a visitor. I believe Jacob and Reuben are shown to have individual strength, embodied through actions of fleeing, words of honor, and thoughts of hosting. I believe Jacob’s recognition of strength within himself and in his children is rooted in a form of self-awareness, on what he’s done, what he sees, and what he is expecting. I believe Jacob’s resilience encapsulates his strength, avoiding trouble, predicting the future, and expressing a confident version of himself.

Reframe Strength

Thankfully, I grew up playing basketball and eventually fell in love with it, so fitness has never been a huge concern of mine. Though I wanted to get a specific level of conditioning, for a majority of my life, I have never had to worry about my physical health condition. When I was younger, I would train and workout with my dad, begrudgingly doing my pushups and pullups, a requirement to go to the local YMCA and play pickup basketball. I was always a skinny kid growing up, so the aesthetic appeal to working out didn’t register with me in my youth, but I did feel faster, stronger, and more explosive on the court, which is what drove me to get through my workouts. When I got to college, the combination of a college training regimen and my body starting to mature slightly altered my perspective on fitness. I started to feel more confident in my body, and the dopamine would flow through my body as I fit more into societies conception of masculine beauty standards. I began to view my body as a work of art, and I had the ability to sculpt and carve my body to my liking. Though the physical transformation was more obvious, reflecting on my fitness journey, I have come to realize the way my character or my spirit has been shaped in my sacred embodied workouts.

On the Highest Self Podcast, Sahara Rose interviews Kim Kardashian’s trainer, Senada Greca, about misconceptions in women’s fitness¹. The beginning of the episode features Sahara’s experience being invited by Kim to workout on Lagree’s megaformer machine². Sahara says she had fun on the machine and followed that workout with a strength workout³. Sahara loved the way Kim walked away from the megaformer class, on her way to go lift some more weights⁴. Later on in the podcast, Seneca guarantees once someone starts lifting weights, they’re going to fall in love with it⁵. Seneca elaborates further, stating lifting weights will become addictive, due to the sense of strength and confidence given by lifting weights that she hasn’t experienced in other activities⁶. Seneca tells the story of how she has ran for most of her life, running marathons and playing sports⁷. Seneca’s experience was great and believes it was her introduction into being physically active⁸. However, Seneca reveals it wasn’t until she started lifting weights where she began to embody and step into her strength⁹. From that moment on, everything changed for Seneca, not just her physical look, but her mentality¹⁰. Seneca explains how initially she would yo-yo up and down in her cardio, but her shift to strength training changed her mentally and physically¹¹. Jumping forward, Seneca explains that our quality of life depends on our health and our muscles, and the most common misconception about strength training and weightlifting is it will make someone bulky¹².

I resonate with a lot of what Seneca shared with Sahara Rose’s audience about the beliefs surrounding weightlifting and strength training. I think I have touched on societies contortions on beauty standards in a previous blog, but I believe beauties contortion affects the way our civilization views weightlifting. Like Seneca shared, I believe people tend to focus on the undesired physical transformation that may come in strength training, rather than mental and spiritual potential that is actualized in strength training. Seneca shares the confidence she experiences in weightlifting changed her life and contributes to her feeling healthy and whole. Though appearance will most likely be affected in the strength training process, I believe reframing our perspective on strength training, from exterior sculpting to interior embedding, could benefit an individuals approach to the sacred practice.

Contemplating Strength

In the Biblical accounts aforementioned, strength was reflected on during the story to justify the words shared or an action committed. In the stories, strength wasn’t necessarily associated with power shown upon people who are less fortunate than others, but rather strength is a reaction to the presence of an authoritative figure. I believe strength can be seen as a spiritual stance towards adversity, similar to the spiritual ability of resilience. Through the anecdotes, I believe strength may not be something found within a journey, but strength might be the precursor to one’s new journey in life. I believe strength is not an outward expression of what one has conquered, but rather an inward understanding preparing one for the obstacles they are about to face.

On The Sadhguru Podcast, Sadhguru discusses spiritual technology that may help one become the best version of themselves¹³. The podcast opens with an audience member asking Sadhguru why spirituality is so misunderstood¹⁴? Sadhguru states the first thing we need to understand is that the technology is subjective because it is about each individual¹⁵. Sadhguru claims you can try to apply objective technology to a person, like you might try to do if you were trying to fix a car or an airplane, but that would distance you from yourself¹⁶. Sadhguru believes it may be best to apply the subjective technology to a human, so the recipient has to open themselves up¹⁷. Sadhguru jumps to a story, how people use to perform surgeries on the street side, and if there was too much blood, they would pick up mud to stop the bleeding¹⁸. Sadhguru believes there was an understanding that the surgeons had, if they are going to open the body, they need a certain sterile condition to do it¹⁹. Sadhguru connects how we need a certain condition to open up the physical body, to how we need a certain condition to open ourselves up as people²⁰. Moving along, Sadhguru claims their are a bunch of different idiots in our world, but the religious and spiritual idiots take their cake to anywhere in the world²¹. Sadhguru believes this is because people started talking about spirituality anywhere and everywhere and its become ridiculous due to little or no investment/commitment given by the people²². Sadhguru believes because spirituality has become so commercialized, people have dismissed the value of spirituality²³.

Sadhguru shares more about his opinions on the atmosphere and environment needed to engage people spiritually, however, his points I recorded really struck home for me. I believe the storytelling shared in the Hebrew Bible or on street corners around the world, can be packaged in a persuasive way, aiming to influence you to think, speak, and act in a certain way. I believe some of these stories can be rooted from a place of vulnerability, and though I value vulnerability, I am cautious of how someone may use vulnerability to accomplish their own agenda. I believe some of these stories can exude courage, however, what is courageous for one person may not be courageous for another. I believe considering your own personal storytelling, how you make sense of your experiences with your perspective, and contemplating what you have been through, can reestablish your strength, propelling you to become the best version of yourself.

Sacred Strength

Originate your strength. Eternalize the sacred. Reframe your echo. Contemplate the mysteries. Observe your twin. Inhale your soul. Express your dance. Live in culture. Encounter with energy. Globalize your quest. Lighten up your traditions. Share what’s inside. Begin your wisdom renaissance. Step in spirit. Transform your thoughts.

Bibliography

1. Highest Self Podcast, “604: Kim K’s Trainer: Here’s What Women Are Getting Wrong About Fitness with Senada Greca,” podcast audio, May 27, 2025, accessed May 28, 2025, https://open.spotify.com/episode/3YCuG3rmAZjkxTSWsIiwqZ. ↩︎
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