Where Group Prayer Meets Group Fitness

At first glance, the streaming fitness class looks like any other: blue yoga mats against a neutral background, with ambient music and candles to set the mood. Two athleisure-clad instructors, flanked by hand weights, introduce themselves.

The giveaway is the flash of a wooden crucifix.

“Surrender all and prepare yourself to go on this journey with us through the stations of the cross with Jesus,” one of the instructors says, her hands in prayer position.

Many such classes are available through SoulCore, a fitness platform where stretches correspond to the Apostles’ Creed, push-ups are completed to the Lord’s Prayer and challenging positions warrant a Hail Mary. Since 2013, the company’s mission, carried out by some 150 instructors in 30 states, has been to further animate Catholic teachings, including Christ’s suffering.

“Coming up into a plank position, picture Jesus being condemned,” Deanne Miller, 54 and a founder of SoulCore, instructs her class participants. “Think of times in your own life that you’ve felt condemned.”

SoulCore is one of various programs, virtual and otherwise, that intend to bridge the gap between the spiritual and the physical. There are Ramadan boot camps, Christian detox diets, Yom Kippur yoga classes and religious CrossFit gyms.

The faith-meets-fitness industry includes consultants who help churches add movement programs, and organizations like Faithfully Fit, which train and certify religious instructors, as well as a variety of streaming services and subscriptions.

Over the last two months, as the coronavirus has upended group fitness and group prayer, these businesses have seen a wave of new interest from longtime followers and the newly fervent. SoulCore, for example, has seen a 50 percent increase in memberships over the last six weeks.

Now, as the country’s religious institutions (not to mention gyms) await guidance on reopening, some worshipers are still working out, seeking answers and finding calm together, through their screens.

Since Covid-19 was declared a pandemic in mid-March, religion and spirituality have taken on new significance for some adherents. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that nearly one-quarter of American adults say their faith has become “stronger” in the midst of the pandemic, though many religious institutions have closed their doors, and celebrations and events have been displaced.

The timing of the pandemic has been especially disruptive for Christians, Jews and Muslims, who observe major holidays in the spring. Millions forwent their Passover and Easter plans and, instead, congregated over videoconferencing apps for Seders and Mass.

Now, observers of Ramadan are seeing their traditions affected by the virus. Large dinners typically held to break the fast each night have shrunken to modest meals with immediate family, and the boisterous public gatherings that follow those feasts have been put on hold.

Amina Khan, for her part, has released a daily Ramadan-focused fitness and nutrition program through Amanah Fitness, the Muslim wellness platform that she founded in 2015. The company reported three times as many registrations last month as in April 2019.

Throughout the pandemic, Amanah Fitness has also offered free workout classes, which feature modestly dressed instructors and brief prayers at the start of each workout. There’s no talk of “bikini bodies.” “Many Muslim women don’t even own a bikini,” said Ms. Khan, 27.

The appeal to identity is important to the platform’s users. “Even just featuring workouts with women wearing the head scarf is essential to show that, yes, if you look like this, you can still be fit,” Ms. Khan said. She said that several mosques and imams requested her workouts to ensure their communities stay active while confined to their homes.

“The church is not doing a great job engaging and making our faith relevant to a younger generation,” said Cambria Tortorelli, 58, the director of parish life at Holy Family Church in Pasadena, Calif., which hosts the meditation group Body in Prayer. “Our society is changing. We need to be able to respond to the expectations and needs of this generation.”


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  • Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

    Updated May 20, 2020

    • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

      Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

    • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

      Over 38 million people have filed for unemployment since March. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $100,000, a Fed official said.

    • How can I protect myself while flying?

      If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

    • Is ‘Covid toe’ a symptom of the disease?

      There is an uptick in people reporting symptoms of chilblains, which are painful red or purple lesions that typically appear in the winter on fingers or toes. The lesions are emerging as yet another symptom of infection with the new coronavirus. Chilblains are caused by inflammation in small blood vessels in reaction to cold or damp conditions, but they are usually common in the coldest winter months. Federal health officials do not include toe lesions in the list of coronavirus symptoms, but some dermatologists are pushing for a change, saying so-called Covid toe should be sufficient grounds for testing.

    • Should I wear a mask?

      The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

    • What should I do if I feel sick?

      If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

    • How can I help?

      Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross, and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities.


Whether that generation is millennials, the oldest of whom are now around 40, or Gen Z, who may be teenagers or early 20-somethings, drawing connections between faith and holistic well-being could help religious institutions appeal to them. Both groups are more likely to speak openly about mental health and treatment than their predecessors, and to seek opportunities that support overall happiness, such as flexible jobs that allow them time to exercise or meditate.

“There has never been a time when the Jewish people were not influenced by the ideas of other cultures and civilizations,” said Rabbi Lavey Derby, 68, noting that many traditional aspects of religion fail to resonate with the average worshiper. As the director of Jewish life at Peninsula Jewish Community Center in Foster City, Calif., he runs weekly virtual meditation sessions and yoga workshops infused with Jewish spiritual teachings.

The Vatican has taken its own holistic approach to health in recent weeks. In April, Pope Francis appointed the Argentine priest Augusto Zampini Davies to lead a forward-looking coronavirus task force, whose efforts to reduce inequality and improve overall health around the world will incorporate “both faith and science,” a Vatican spokesperson said. The task force has tapped various research institutions to help with its mission, including the Global Wellness Institute, which will address topics such as physical movement, healthy community design, organizational culture, nutrition and mental health.

For several religious leaders and their affiliates, such initiatives were in place long before the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Stephanie Walker, 44, founded ChurchFit, an exercise and nutrition program, nearly a decade ago in response to a public health crisis: a population struggling with preventable chronic diseases and poor lifestyle habits. Now, Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the Nashville megachurch led by her husband, conducts free daily workouts, nutrition classes and lectures by medical professionals, all virtually. It’s about meeting people where they are, Dr. Walker said, and removing any obstacles or potential excuses.

As motivation, she reminds participants that Jesus himself was fit enough to carry his cross up the hill where he was ultimately crucified. “Had he not been healthy, there’s no way he could have done it,” Dr. Walker said.

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