The death of Jack LaLanne yesterday (he was 96) reminded me that the spiritual life has a multifaceted physical dimension, quite complex—and rarely mentioned. LaLanne, whose formal name was Francois Henri LaLanne (his parents were immigrants from France), was a leading figure in fitness training. It is certainly an important aspect of this dimension.
It’s a curious fact that our calling is to transcend the realm of matter—but to get there it is best to mind our health and keep our bodies trim. The physical is foundational. There is the famous Latin saying found in Juvenal as a desideratum: mens sana in corpora sano. We often turn this around to say that a healthy body produces a healthy mind. Whichever. We also say, much more broadly, No pain, no gain. That saying points the way. The physical has a huge amount of inertial downward pull, and if we don’t resist it in a sensible way, the higher ranges become more difficult or thin out into one-sided expressions—like intellectual vigor or artistic creativity—but with something crucial actually lacking.
In advanced societies the physical has to be forcefully introduced. In medieval times—and even as late as World War I—ordinary life, work, and transportation made people exercise without knowing that they were doing it. Pictures of soldiers in World War I compared with pictures of soldiers one big war over tell this tale visually. In our times we must make efforts to mind our diets and force ourselves to move. Both of those activities are genuine opportunities to exercise the will daily; habit numbs the pain, of course, but the hand reaches for the chocolates anyway, and my body mutters its complaints when I dress it for a walk—especially at temperatures like these. The training of the will is a crucial element here—best exercised when resistance is optimal and overcoming it produces a bonus that goes beyond the tissues.
Yoga and Tai Chi—and their many relatives—were born of a deep knowledge that in this dimension we’re a seamless unity bodies and of souls and that the training of the higher is best achieved by starting with the lower. In our culture, of course, the higher aspect tends to be minimized, but so what? If the practice is real, the experience will speak for itself.
With advancing age (my case) fascinating phenomena become perceptible. As the body ages, it becomes oddly more visible (perceivable) as a machine. The soul feels its own separation. This feeling begins in the late forties and fifties and simply grows. We remain young inwardly. Sometimes an inadvertent look into the mirror brings a slight surprise. My God. That old man? That’s me? Doesn’t feel like that. The will remains adamant, but the body perceptively suffers as it is called to act as if it were still a mere fifty. And then—especially then—it is most vital to renew one’s own commitment to stay alert, orderly, to make efforts where dragging or slouching is a whole lot easier. LaLanne never flagged. A good example he. Exercises right up to the end.
It’s part of the real life. It’s not simply a life-style. We want to stride, not stumble, over the border when the time comes to make the passage. Thanks, Jack. You played an important role in the fitness of this family beginning long ago (in 1963). And we’ve been keeping at it ever since. Rest a little now that you are over there—before you jog off to that Big Gym in the Sky!
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