Psalms & Stretches
Sara Hunter, a Licensed Lay Minister, teaches a class here at St John’s, Hoxton called Psalms & Stretches. She writes to tell you more about it and what to expect if you come along…
Psalms & Stretches is a gentle exercise class where stretching and moving your body is combined with meditating on scripture – a place where wellbeing meets worship.
Meditation is an ancient spiritual discipline. The Bible tells us to “Keep this book of the law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night…” (Joshua 1:8) Repetition is a key element of meditation – methods such as Lectio Divina show us that God speaks through scripture when we slow down, take time to read a passage over and over again, sit with it in silence, ask God to speak to you through it.
This is exactly what we do during a Psalms & Stretches class except that we practice a moving meditation, worshiping God with our whole selves: body, mind and spirit.
Classes start seated on the floor on an exercise mat (or on a chair if getting up and down off the floor is more tricky for you) and begin with taking a few moments to close our eyes, focus on our breathing and come into the presence of God.
We read whichever verses from the Psalms we will be moving to and we listen, we reflect and we pray. Then we get moving with some gentle exercises focussing on mobility, flexibility, balance and strength.
The class culminates in learning a Psalm Sequence – a moving meditation on the chosen verses. They are short, easy to learn and will always be demonstrated slowly and clearly.
We will then repeat our Psalm Sequence all together, several times, reading the words of the Psalm out loud together as we move our bodies, letting God speak to us through the words and the movements, at the end holding stillness and space for the Holy Spirit to minister. The class finishes with relaxation and with prayer.
Maybe this is something very different for you that you’ve never done before but I’d love to encourage you to try a new way of connecting with God and with yourself and your body. The class will nourish you both physically, mentally and spiritually which, in these difficult time, is such a blessing.
A Psalms & Stretches class is also accessible to those who are curious about faith or spirituality and are open to trying something different – particularly if you know they enjoy yoga or pilates. So why not invite a friend?
Psalms & Stretches is open to all abilities and exercises can be adapted to suit different levels. Classes cost £8 (£5 for concessions) but we don’t want finances to be a barrier so please do get in touch if that’s a problem. If you’d like to give it a try your first class is free! Please wear something comfortable to move in but you don’t need any specialist fitness gear! I generally recommend doing the class in bare feet or with socks that have grip. Exercise mats are provided though feel free to bring your own if you prefer.
If you’d like more information please email sara@stjohnshoxton.org.uk or have a look at the Psalms & Stretches website: www.psalmsandstretches.com
Sara’s classes start back on Wednesday’s at 6.30pm in church from the 19th January and you can sign up here: https://linktr.ee/PsalmsAndStretches
