What We Talk About in This Episode

In episode 8 of The Joyful Health Show, we interview Erin Todd, co-host of the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women podcast and the writer behind Ginger in Progress. Erin talks about Christian meditation, what it is, how it helps in all aspects of our health, and ways to tangibly apply it to heal your relationship with food and body. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Erin’s personal journey with intuitive eating and Christian meditation

• What Christian meditation is and isn’t.

• Physical and spiritual benefits of meditation.

• Practical tools to get started no matter where you’re at, or what type of Christian meditation fits you

Connect with Erin on Instagram at @intuitive.eating.podcast or @ginger_in_progress

Or on her websites at intuitiveeatingforchristianwomen.com and erinltodd.com

Resources Mentioned

1. The Intuitive Eating for Christian Women Podcast

2. Transforming your Thought Life by Sarah Geringer ​​

3. The Abide App

4. Challenging the Food Police Podcast Episode from Intuitive Eating for Christian Women Podcast

5. Mindful Eating Masterclass Intuitive Eating for Christian Women

6. Intuitive Eating Starter Kit for Christian Women

7. Joyful Health Co™ downloadable scripture cards

Guest Bio: Erin L. Todd

Erin is a wife, dog mom, attorney-by-day and writer-by-night living in St. Petersburg, Florida with her husband Robbie and french bulldog Rufus. As a redhead who battled insecurity and body image issues for over 30 years, she now claims the concept of being both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously. Her blog “Ginger In Progress” was born from a spiritual awakening where Jesus set her free from diet prison. Now she is on a mission to empower and equip women to Follow Jesus Not Diets. She is co-host of the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women podcast which teaches listeners how the principles of intuitive eating align with scripture so they can improve their relationship with food, their body and God and cast out dieting for good! You can connect with Erin on Instagram, or on her website.

Episode Transcription

Introduction

Hi Joyful Health friends. We are so excited to bring you this episode with Erin Todd, co-host of The Intuitive Eating for Christian Women Podcast and the writer behind Gender in Progress. Erin talks about Christian meditation, what it is, how it helps in all aspects of our health, and how to tangibly apply it in healing your relationship with food and body. We have a feeling you're going to love this episode. Let's get into it.

Hey friends, welcome to the Joyful Health Show. I'm Aubrey, a registered dietitian and I'm Kasey, a personal trainer. And together we are here to help you discover joyful health by grace.

Aubrey

Welcome to this week's episode of The Joyful Health Show. Today, we have the honor of interviewing Erin Todd, who is the co-host of The Intuitive Eating for Christian Women Podcast and our dear friend. We're really excited to talk to Erin about a common question, which is what is Christian meditation and how can it be helpful for our relationship with food and our body?

So thank you so much for being here, Erin. 

Erin

Hey, girls. Good to be here. 

Kasey

Yes. And for anyone who might not know about Erin, she is a wife, a dog mom, an attorney by day, writer by night, living in Saint Petersburg, Florida, with her husband, Robby, and friends Paula, Rufus, maybe we will get a chance to see Rufus on the video if you're watching this on YouTube. So, Erin, as a redhead who battled insecurity body image issues for over 30 years, she now claims the concept of being both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously. Her blog, Ginger in Progress, was born from a spiritual awakening where Jesus set her free from tired of prison. Now she is on a mission to empower and equip women to follow Jesus, not diets.

She is the co-host of The Intuitive Eating for Christian Women Podcast which teaches listeners how the principles of intuitive eating align with Scripture so they can improve their relationship with food, their body and God. Casting out diet for casting out dieting for good. 

So, Erin, thank you so much for being here. I know that from us being able to chat with you about your story and about following Jesus, not diets. That concept is so sticky and sticky as it can be, it can be controversial, but it needs to stick as an absorb in our hearts. And you're really passionate about going to God's Word. And what is God's word actually say versus what is culture you say? So maybe can you give us a little bit of history about maybe what's your personal story or career struggle with this topic and then how God met you in the middle of that and showed you a new way?

Erin’s Story

Erin

Yeah, I love to Okay. So basically I realized on reflection that my mind is what got me into all of this trouble in the first place. I thought it was my body. I thought my body was wrong and my culture standards, maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. But what was really hurting me, hurting my relationship with God and hurting my health was how I thought about food and the lies that I believed about food in my body.

Those lies were in my life and those lies led me to worship our culture’s definition of beauty instead of God. I had an idol and I really got to see how bad it was and how to come to come to Jesus moment and the Lord kind of let me see that my relationship with food and body was really unhealthy and it was an idol, and he called me to lay it down and surrender Decades of dieting and decades of chasing this particular body size and choose him instead.

And that was a really really big turning point in my health and my faith. And that was in August of 2017. So I've been on this path of following Jesus not diets for a couple of years now and it is just been such an incredible journey and he's really rebuilt my whole concept of food and body and identity and it's all, all based on my relationship with him and, and the Word of God. 

Aubrey

Yes, man, I first, I'm just so thankful that God met you in that moment because you know, it's funny, as you're saying that was like August 2017. I think that was about the time I was discovering intuitive eating. And so that just gave me chills because I've been so thankful for your friendship. And it's just like God was doing a work, you know, God is doing a work in this space. I'm already going off the rails of this podcast, but that's amazing. So that gave me chills.

And Erin, you know, you talked about the problem was with your thinking and in your mind. And I just heard a quote yesterday talking about, you know, like our biggest enemy, man's biggest enemy is our thoughts and ourselves and really, it is, you know, these facts that are formed through a broken world and encouraged by the enemy. And, you know, they're distorted from God's truth, which is found in His Word. And that really brings us to our topic of Christian meditation today. I think. 

So, some people may not even know that Christian meditation is a thing. So before we get into how to do it and how it's helpful. Can you just talk about what is Christian meditation? Is meditation biblical? Kind of clear the air there.

What is Christian Meditation and is It Biblical?

Erin

Yeah. So that's a really great question, and that's one I had to wrestle through in the Lord kind of walked me through that. I had read a couple of books, secular books, like almost like a college textbook of like what is meditation to try and understand it. And I was circling and getting closer and closer. And eventually I read a book called Transforming Your Thought Life by Sarah Geringer and the Lord gave me that book. He just dropped it in my lap, and it was exactly what I needed in the moment.

And it really answered that question for me. It's like, yes, it's biblical. You see the word. If you do a word search for meditation or meditate, it is all over the Bible. And I just didn't really have a concept of what that meant. And how I could kind of participate in it. So this was kind of a journey, the way intuitive eating was what like I had to kind of dip my toe in the water and figure it out and find a few different practices that worked for me.

And the differences that we need to address between a Christian way to do this and like a worldly way, or even like an Eastern maybe a Buddhist way to do this is that as with everything we're doing as Christians, our focus is God, our center is God, and we're doing it to grow in Christ likeness and connect with God and be be with him.

And so I think the difference is mainly is a God focus between a world's way of doing it and a Christian way of doing it. So I think it is definitely a practice that if you've never considered it before, it's something to explore. And the mindfulness muscle that you developed as you learn to meditate and just the knowledge of God's word as you meditate is just, they’re super powers that really, really make intuitive eating and following Jesus not diets a whole lot easier. Like if you can't take diet thoughts captive and if you can't grab those lies from a diet culture and make them obedient to Christ, then you're going to be on the struggle bus more or less So I've, I have found it to be probably the most important thing that I do to assist me in practicing intuitive eating in a God centered way.

Kasey

Yeah. So it sounds like you're talking a lot about discernment. So do you have like a time in your life where you realized, “Oh, what I'm believing in, what I'm practicing, these are not concurrent with each other with the Word of God, with a truth that I know.” Was there a specific situation? Or maybe it's just a series of events where you thought, “Oh, I'm not actually living in the grace of God in my body.” And what does that look like? 

Erin

Yeah, that was like a whole season. And it took a really long time because I had some pretty hard fought and like dug into my brain ideas about earning worth and striving and achieving and basically I knew that God said what he said, but I wasn't acting like I knew, I wasn't living like I believed that.

So it was kind of this bringing my heart and mind together process where it's like taking what I know about God and what I know about what he says about me and kind of internalizing it and claiming it, kind of making it my own and like believing it, almost believing it fully for the first time. Not just hearing it, letting it become something that I internalize and I cling to and something that kind of governs how I live.

So that's kind of amorphous and vague, but that's not exactly practical advice. But that's what it looked like for me. And I think getting God's word in your heart and like letting it lead your life is going to be an individual journey. I think everybody's just going to look a little bit differently but letting the Lord lead me to that and using my relationship with God and body and using a practice of mindfulness meditation to get there was just so kind of him and just so cool.

Aubrey

Okay, I love how you keep talking about getting the word from your mind to your heart, because I think that is really the goal of Christian meditation, or Christian mindfulness, is to bring our thought first, bring our thoughts captive to the word of Christ, like you mentioned, and then turn that into like deeper beliefs that produce action. And so that's, that getting to our heart and then into our action, because we know we do whatever comes out of our heart, that's what we end up doing, right?

What's in our heart is, is how we move. So if we see ourselves like practicing or living out a life that is opposite to what the word says and what we might say we believe, then we know that belief hasn't really gotten deep into us. And so will you just talk about, let's talk about like a really specific, maybe food or body belief that you might have had and that our listeners might be struggling with when they're coming from traditional dieting to trying to trust their bodies and trust God with their health.And can you talk about like maybe a specific belief you had in a specific scripture that you meditated on and how God used that?

Meditating on Scripture to Transform Diet Culture Thoughts 

Erin

Sure. So I think where I was in my last season of dieting was just this really hyper focus on clean eating, whatever that even is. I'm using air quotes if you're listening, just being overly precious and perfectionistic about food quality.

So I had a lot of food police voices in my head telling me about the quality of my choices and what I should and shouldn't be doing and what was, quote, good and quote bad. So it was very practical to kind of let scripture inform those decisions about good and bad food. And what really happened was the and oh my goodness, I'm not going to be able to get the exact verse citation, but you guys will know what I'm talking about.

Or almost just like what you're talking about, Aubrey. It's like it's not what comes into your body. It's what comes out of your heart. And it's that it's the part in the gospel where Jesus is declaring all foods are clean and saying, we don't need to be precious and perfectionistic about what comes in, because that is not what's important.

And so kind of taking that and applying that scripture to how I view food and taking demoralization out of my food choices, I'm not better for eating this way or worse for eating that way. So it just kind of neutralized everything. And so like, I guess the principle of challenging the food place and intuitive eating where we have to really take diet thoughts captive, talk back to them and say, no, that is not from God.

That food rule is not in the Bible like no thank you. And rebuke and speak truth back to it. That I mean, that was the process. I would say nope. I would literally have that conversation with the voices in my head about like, no, this like this is okay. Jesus declared all food clean. All food is a gift from God.I'm receiving this with Thanksgiving. God is giving this to me. This is a beautiful thing. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. 

Kasey

Yeah. So it sounds like I hear the words a lot, like, clean, like if you're eating clean or training dirty, or, you know, good and bad. So would you say that those are some red flags as far as, as a cue to lead us to the Bible? Actually, what does the Bible say about this? So as far as like using words of morality, morality, should that be like a heart check for us? Like if someone or some product claims that something is good or bad, you know, clean, how does it like how did those words make you feel? And then how did that lead you to scripture to find out what God says and then in turn to store that in your heart?

Erin

Yeah, I think the worldly labels is always an opportunity to pause and check and be like, okay, like what information am I taking in here and where is this from? And what is the source of this information? And does this align with my values? And is this in line with the word? And yeah, any time there's a worldly label on anything I get to check that for sure. Yeah. So it sounds like a lot of alertness. Go ahead, Aubrey. 

Aubrey

No, you go I was kidding. I was like, I'm pretty sure it's Mark seven. Yeah, I think it's March seven, but I’m googling to make sure. But yeah. And Jesus declared all foods clean and he said that it's not what comes into our bodies that defiles us but what comes out of our heart and then out of our mouth. And I yeah, I think that just applies so much to this conversation because we're trying to get things into our heart. Which that's God's job. So He, the Holy Spirit is working to do that. But we can partner with God through, you know, actively turning our thoughts to God's Word and actively choosing God's word.

So what I thought was interesting is, you know, when you're talking about just how you apply it in an everyday situation, you are faced with a choice, you know, to condemn yourself over food or maybe to choose food based off it being, quote, clean or to choose food based off what your body was craving and what would be satisfying to you.And you actively chose the choice that was aligned with scripture. And so I think and we start with grace, we start with God's word, but that affects our actions and when we act on that, that is actually shown by research to rewire our brain so we can keep having these arguments with ourselves all day long in our mind.

But until we actually act on the thing that is in line with God's word, our brain, our rewiring will not happen. It's the same thing like okay, you can have these calorie imprint. You could this calorie amounts going in your brain because you've dieted forever, or you went to dietician school and you know, every single gram of protein or whatever that's in a piece of bread, that won't go away until we stop acting on it.

So if we take that information and then we choose a piece of bread, a different piece of food based off of that information, our brains are going to think that's important info, “she's using it and if we then file it away and say, I'm actually going to choose the opposite of that, that's when our brains start to rewire.

So anyways, I thought that was really cool how you gave that example and I went off chart again. But that's why meditation is, that's how it can play out I think sometimes like for me, I'm a very I'm an action girl, like tell me what to do. And so when I'm with like world with the world's way of meditation, it's just like clear your mind. And I can get bored within 3 seconds. I don't think anyone can actually clear their mind completely. But with Christian meditation, it is focus on God. And I love that you address that. Erin I would love to just do even like one more example, because other than like the food is clean, I think that's a huge one. And maybe talk about a belief centered on your worth and it being tied to your body size, being smaller.

Erin

yeah, absolutely.Hopefully you guys cant hear my neighbors here. I'm so sorry. so I think the way I was checking myself in worthiness and using the scriptures that I had meditated on and or just, you know, studied that, you know, however you're getting the word in to your brain, into your heart, the Lord's going to be able to call those scriptures to mind when you need them.

And I was finding that I was able to turn to the verses about, you know, pleasing other people or the approval of other people and really use that as a way to check my own intentions for doing something. So it's like, okay, I need to go do this workout because then I'm going to look a certain way and then I'll be able to feel good about myself and everyone will think I'm acceptable.

And I'm doing I'm trying to change my body for the approval of other people. God does not approve of me any less, and anyway, so like, that's, that's I cannot lie to myself and, and say, okay, I'm doing this for God. That He does not say that he does not ask that of me so when I get honest and I really go, what, what am I really trying to do here?

What am I actually seeking here? It comes up. You know, I'm, I'm trying to get praise. I'm trying to get glory. I'm trying to get the approval of other people. And praise and glory is not for me. I should not even be seeking it. That's for God. And so I think kind of getting that type of thinking and which was never even in my mind before I started spreading the word and meditating on it like I like it.

And never occurred to me that that was for my own, you know, that was a prideful thing because I think what diet culture convinces us of is it's it's at least a lie for me was this isn't about pride for you. I don't feel good about myself. I'm not prideful. You know, you think of over you think of confidence and you're I'm picturing Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, like walking around so proud and tall.

It's like, well, I definitely don't feel like that. I'm very, you know, concerned about my body. I don't think it's good enough. I'm definitely not arrogant. It's like but the pride is self focus. So, like, just everything about how I see myself, how others see me, and getting that all in alignment with the Lord and checking my motives before doing something is like, why am I doing this workout?

Why am I putting on makeup right now? Why am I wearing this outfit? Why am I choosing to participate in a party with food or not based on like what? What is the motive and and typically to me, look for your pride in it because it's there somewhere. And like, he slowly still working on it. You all work in progress massively, but slowly.

Teasing that out takes a while. And that's why it's a practice and you have to keep going back to the word and you have to keep humbling yourself and repenting and returning and just like letting him just love you through it because it's it's process. 

Kasey

Yes. Process and practice. I think that's super important to remember. And even like the scriptures that talk about meditation, the first one I think of as Joshua 18 says, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.

That's like keep going back to it so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. So I think that doing is directly connected with the meditating. So it's not just like a mindfulness into your mind. Like you said, it's dependance on the Lord. And I'm going to talk about another book I haven't read that book that you mentioned, so I'm gonna have to add that to my list.

But one book that really affected me on meditation was a book called Holy Noticing and he talks about how our mind wanders almost half of our waking hours. And every 12 seconds your brain looks for a new source of energy that requires your attention. So I think being able to think about our thoughts, being able to be a witness to our thoughts rather than a victim as to be able to choose when my mind wanders, when my heart strays, like how can the Lord be our shepherd to gently lead us back, you know?

And that's what I think, you know, the practice is a gentle practice is oh, I'm not just like trying to depend on myself. Oh, I messed up again because once again, that's thinking about ourself, right? But instead it's going back to Lord, where is the Lord? What is, you know, how is he working right now? How can I be with him?

Health Benefits of Christian Meditation

And I'm just going to say a few of the health benefits that he talked about. And I want this I'm curious to see if you've had any like any direct health benefits from that you've seen from your practice of meditation. So he says that practicing holy noticing is what he calls it. And some cases can decrease the amount of cortisol in our bloodstream, increase brain density.

You would like gray matter in the areas involved in memory learning, problem-solving, conflict monitoring, emotional self-awareness and self regulation and and previously deep. So have you noticed any of those improvements in yourself? And if so, what are like some specific practices that that you have leaned into recently? 

Erin

Yeah, I have noticed I think probably every single one of those benefits it was the only so I have a sitting practice when I meditate usually, but I've also started incorporating it with walking as well.

So when it was sitting in the beginning and that's how the Lord had me start, it was really the only time I was just leaning in to rest and stillness and I was also taking that time to really focus on my breath. So I was getting all of that. The beautiful goodness that happens in your body when you trigger the relaxation response, because dieting really had me really stressed out, like my body was in fight or flight from starving itself and over exercising.

So it was exhausted. It was like a stress response to all of all of the bad things that happen in your body with stress needed to be undone. And that was just a gentle practice to help to do that. And I think what the beyond just it feels good in the moment when you can relax and de-stress that does carry out in the rest of your day.

And for me, it evened out my mood when I could manage to do a regular practice, like when I was continually doing it like several days in a row, I would notice I just had so many good ideas. I was more creative I had all this inspiration. I could notice things more. That was a time when we created a lot of content, and I think that was very helpful.

For me, trying to lean into creativity and teaching as part of my gifting. And you know, when you move away from dieting and realize that weight loss is not your purpose, you want purpose, so you got to lean into something else. And so that was such a huge blessing. I definitely slept better when I was doing it regularly.

And yeah, the mindfulness part of it pays dividends when you're not in the actual meditation moment itself. Mindfulness is like I was mentioning earlier, like it's like a little muscle and it gives you strength. And when you learn how to notice things, when you notice that is a skill that you use and paying attention to your body's hunger and fullness signals, that's really helpful.

And implementing intuitive eating and learning to care for your body. In a way, it's asking to be cared for. And I think the noticing is really helpful as well. And noticing our thoughts and being able to even recognize having the awareness to go or there's a diet thought that I need to take captive. Like when you increase your awareness and your mindfulness and you're wholly noticing, I cannot wait to read that book.

It's just it is such a skill and it is such a thing that you definitely want to spend some time cultivating that. And it, it spills out into all areas of living. It's not just about food and body. For that, you can get so many good like emotional and mental and, and social and interactional benefits from that. When you're noticing things, you notice things in other people.

You can respond to other people's needs, not just like you're not just noticing yourself. You're noticing the opportunities that God puts in your path that day because you're just you're not distracted. Your mind is more focused and able to notice things. So I think it gives me so much clarity and made my mind strong enough to memorize some scriptures. Not not enough, but some that's awesome. I think about, you know, you're talking about the benefits of mindfulness are all day long. You know, it's not just like that moment of meditation as I think. 

Aubrey

Yeah, like or you're saying a lot of asking me like, well, I got up from that sitting down and thinking about scripture and I don't feel any different, but it's just this practice and it reaps benefits.All throughout life. And I know you mentioned the word distraction, and I feel like we can't have this episode without addressing the fact that probably one of the biggest roadblocks for us in practicing just awareness of our thoughts mindfulness is our phones and technology. And this could be a whole other conversation but I know for myself, when I have more boundaries around my phone, I'm a lot more attuned to what's going on with my family and what's going on in my own heart. And I just wonder if you have any recommendations for that, for, I guess for putting boundaries there, but also for establishing a practice so I know you mentioned you had a sitting practice and now you do it while walking. Can you just kind of talk about maybe the win, the wear and the how that have worked for you with this?

How to Get Started with Christian Meditation

Erin

So I found that when I first started, I did need to actually use my phone because I was using a meditation app for guided meditation. So I couldn't sit there. I could just sit there and I needed some guidance. I wasn't ready to go it on my own yet. I think I had to work my way up to that

So the phone was very helpful. There's a couple of different Christian meditation apps out there. Some are paid, some are free. I feel like there's even probably podcast for that now. So like there's a way to use your phone to help you with this, but you have to be smart about it. Like you have to have notifications turned off.

You can't be checking your phone during it. It's like basically just the vehicle to get you guidance if you need it. I also use a different meditation app that's just like a basically a timer. You don't even need an app for it. You could just use your phone timer, but the temptation is there to look at your phone and to check how long it's been.

So something that I did in the beginning too was I didn't use my phone. My phone was in a totally different room, and I set the timer on my microwave so I would have to get up from the couch and walk into the kitchen and turn it off in that way. So it's like, I know I am not tempted to look at my phone.

I think it's really helpful to just know yourself and know when you're tempted to reach for it and just and just start noticing that I feel like just noticing when you are tempted to reach for the phone is going to be important information in general. And Lord still working on my phone boundaries and they they change with the season.

I've, I have I'm currently in the season of no no social media apps on the phone. So I have to actually be on a computer because the temptation to just sit there and scroll is you know, at the time a time suck for lack of a better word. And so what I can do when I have my phone boundaries in place, I can sit and depending on if I'm really scattered or not that day, I might choose to use a guided one if I need a little help or I might choose to fit.

And, and also it's kind of a kind of a question that you would bring like an intuitive eating like, well, what feels good? Like what do I feel like what sounds good? What would be nourishing to me today? What what do I need right now? And if I need to sit there and be still on silent because I need to hear from the Lord, I'm not going to listen to anything.

And I'm going to open in prayer and sit there and be silent and focus on my breath. And every time I have a thought come in I say quiet or silent or something, and I'm using it as holding space. Like if I have a prayer I'm working on, I'm waiting for a response that is like this is my dedicated time to hear from you.

If you choose to speak to me now, great. Of course, he doesn't always do that. It's like, I want to hear more than I want to look at my phone, more than I want to be busy over here doing something in my own strength. I want to build in space to listen so that that's one iteration of it.

And then sometimes I'm in a study and I want to really just marinate on a verse or a word or a concept from that study. And that is the time when I'll usually try and memorize the verse. And so I'll try and be quiet. And if my mind starts to wander, I'll repeat the verse and come back to it.

That way. And I mean, it's honestly, ladies, it's like running like there's so many people that have like, a million different styles of running. There's no one right way to do it. It's what, what meets your needs and what you enjoy and what's going to work for you in that season. And you kind of have to let it evolve as you do and let it grow and change with you.

And when the Lord teaches you new things, with it, you can try them out without fear of, you know, getting it right or wrong. The walking one right now is I'm still in early days of it, but this is the concept, you guys. It's pairs of conversation. So this is going back to the listening thing. So first the Lord speaks, and so he's speaking through his work.

So you have a verse or a section in a chapter maybe. And after he speaks, if it's a conversation, you think about what he just said like you're going to meditate on it, you're pondering it in your mind, you're rolling it around, you're really thinking through it, coming at it from different angles. Sometimes a devotion might help unpack the concept.

Sometimes you just need to hear it again and again and think about wanting to say, What's he trying to say to me today? Like what? What is here for me today? And this conversation? What what do you want to say to me, Lord? And that's a question I often ask with the meditation. And so after you meditate over it, ponder it, you speak back and you pray that that to him.

So it's a conversation on the same topic. You're not going to pick a new topic that you want to talk about. It's like, no, this is what this is, the conversation we're having. And then after you've prayed that verse back then you listen. And if you can't be quiet and if you don't have mindfulness and you can't concentrate your brain and you can't just make space in your mind to hear I mean, how do you hear how else could you hear?

Like, I certainly get other ways that I can hear from the Lord, but this has just been such a delightful new way, and it really does feel conversational and it's just a time to connect with God 

Kasey

yeah. I love that you just used the word delightful because we are drawn towards I mean, that's what we believe. At Joyful health our motto is like we start with grace, we follow the joy in the joy of the Lord Jesus to him because he is the source of joy and he's the only one who can truly fulfill us.

And so, you know, we do have that longing in our heart to connect with him. We do have a lot of distractions in the world that pull us away from that. And so how can we stand firm, stay city, make that space like be very intentional. And as we were talking, I just deleted my social media apps on my phone because I do that every once in a while.

And then I was like, I have been I've noticed myself being tethered to it more than I want to. And I think that's what idols do as they consume more than you want to give. And they disappoint you when you go to them. And so that's why I've been feeling so thank you for that. I've already taken some practical steps, but we could talk about this for so long, but we want to hear from you.

Like, what resources do you have to share about how the listeners can continue walking in this path of following Jesus and not diets? What would you like to share and offer.

So I think it's really important to start with prayer on this, and I can't help you do that. Exactly. But I can say that that is the most important thing you can do before embarking on that.

So like, let this be an opportunity, even if you've done it before. I let this be an opportunity to really check in with the Lord and ask like, What do you have for me and health? What is your will for me and how I care for myself physically, mentally, spiritually. All the things food and body like ask God that question and then do it.

He says easier said than done. I get I get that in terms of resources, you know, I think something that would really help for mindfulness is not something that we personally offer at intuitive eating for Christian women. But if this is speaking to you and you think you need to develop a mindfulness practice or meditation practice, I do really recommend Sarah's book, Transforming Your Thought Life by Sarah Geringer.

And that was really helpful to me. I personally use the Abide app previously. I think if you want if you're already a little bit familiar with intuitive eating, I think our episodes on challenging the food place really goes into mindfulness and Christian meditation a little bit and how that's useful and how that relates to intuitive eating. Kind of a little bit deeper than what I've been able to get into today.

And then to really apply that to your food and to build a I guess like a Christian meditation practice around meals. Charlie Castle, my podcast co-host, and I have a mindful eating masterclass that teaches Christian mindfulness meditation as it relates to eating. So that's a resource as well. And gosh, you know, I would just say figure out what meditation looks like for you and just try different stuff, see what feels good, just like finding a new way to move your body is going to take some experimentation and trying new foods and new recipes and discovering what you actually like.

Take some experimentation, like don't be afraid to just try stuff. And, and I think acknowledging how difficult it is in the beginning, I just I don't want you to think it's like a super easy thing. Mindfulness practices and meditation practices will really challenge you, but they're so worth it. Like, it's, it's crazy to see what you think about when you can get a little bit of distance and start thinking about your thoughts and just watch that awareness spill out into your life and watch it turn into attunement with your body and with God.It's just it's a it's a really cool thing. And I can't wait for you guys to explore it and your listeners to explore it yes.

Aubrey

Thank you. And Erin, I know we've talked about just the beauty of I know we've talked about this on like our Marcopolos Kasey. You and I have this message about the beauty of being in your body. And that is a big part of that, is being able to sit there with our thoughts with the Holy Spirit. And that takes work to cultivate. And so much of what we do is about escaping from that and just running and God saying this is a safe space, like I'm here, I am with you. You can be quiet with me and talk to me here.

So I love that you shared so much and so much just info about prayer, which is really what this is. And we get down to it. Different ways to pray, as unique as you are right So definitely check out those resources. We're going to link all of them in the show notes below. And Erin, we would be so honored if you would just pray over the listeners of this show.

Prayer

Erin

Yes, I would love to. Thank you. In the name of the father, and the son, and the spirit, Lord, thank you for this space. Thank you for the opportunity to come together as sisters and daughters and to constantly remind each other what a good father you are and just direct our hearts and our minds to you. We know we need this reminder again. And again. And we are so grateful to be learning through you and through the women you are speaking to and leading in their own health journeys. We love learning and doing this together, and we thank you for the opportunity to learn and grow together through resources like the Joyful Health Show and everything that Kasey and Aubrey have blessed us with. We just we ask that you put these resources into the hands of more and more women. We ask that you spark healing and renewal of minds and hearts and bodies of the listeners of this show, and that they carry this message of grace out into the world and lead other women to freedom. Oh, Lord, we know you're doing it. We know you're working. And we can't wait to be a part of this and what you're doing with Christian women in their health Lord. Thank you for moving in the space and thank you for loving us so, so well we love you, Jesus. And Amen. 

Kasey

Thank you, Erin. Okay, friends. Until next time, may you rest in his grace and follow the joy In this episode, we talk about meditating on Scripture and making space for conversation in prayer.

If you need help finding scriptures that relate to joyful health, you can check out our free downloadable Scripture cards at https://joyfulhealth.co/freebies. And if you're looking for a place to record your prayers, God's answers, and your intuitive health tracking, you can grab our body blessings, prayer and Intuitive Health Tracking Journal at https://joyfulhealth.co/books or on Amazon.

Make sure to plug into the Joyful Health Show Community on Facebook to learn more. Connect and grow with us and spread the joy with other like minded women. And if you haven't already, please go ahead and subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review so more people can discover joyful health by grace.