OKC Fitness Center | Becoming a Non-anxious Presence

OKC Fitness Center | Becoming a Non-anxious Presence

This content is written for Colaw Fitness

This is an interesting age we are living in. In our postmodern western world, we are slaves to hedonism and progress. Even more recently, we have been subject to a worldwide pandemic and a stock market crash. There have been bans on any gatherings with more than 250, 50, and now even 10 people. Our culture was an anxious one before, but it’s hard to fathom what we will turn into post-pandemic. The reality is that we’re not getting any less anxious as a population. But Colaw Fitness believes there are steps that we can take. Call us at 918-766-3353 for more information. Check out our OKC fitness center.

In Matthew chapter 14, starting in verse 22, we enter into a story with Jesus and his disciples. Jesus instructs his disciples to get into a boat and go on ahead of him to the other side while he dismisses the crowd. After he dismisses the crowd, he goes up onto a mountainside to pray. Check out our OKC fitness center. Then, shortly before dawn, Jesus walked on the lake and went out to the disciples on the boat. When the disciples saw this, they were scared and cried out in fear “Ghost!” Jesus responds by telling his disciples to “Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid. Many of those who study the Bible claim that this is the most common command in all of the Bible.

From Genesis to Revelation, “do not be afraid” is found more often than any other command. However, easier said than done, right? Edwin Friedman, an ordained rabbi and family therapist, teaches on the subject. His basic premise is that the global West, is built around the myth of progress. Check out our OKC fitness center. He argues that progress is not necessarily true when you look at the data. While the West may be progressing economically and technologically but regressing emotionally and relationally. COVID-19 has arguably exposed how fragile our society is when it is built on health and wealth. In fact, even before COVID-19, we were suffering from a sort of generation-wide pandemic of anxiousness.

Friedman teaches on five aspects of an anxious culture. Check out our OKC fitness center. The first aspect is reactivity. People are constantly reacting to the external events of life. Internal anxiety, fear, outrage, and isolation are rampant. The 24/7 digital news cycle thrives off of reactivity. It generates hits! They make money off of our anxiety and addiction to our phone. This in turn leads us to the second aspect, a herding instinct. Human beings are social beings. Herd mentality is wire into our brain. So, as our culture is suck into reactivity, it’s increasingly difficult to not devolve into anxiousness with them. Third, this creates a culture of blame displacement.

We rarely look at ways that we can affect changes or the areas in which we have responsibility. Instead, we retreat, into a perpetual victim status. As blame is thrown around, a cultural paralysis sets in. This is turn creates number four, a quick fix mentality. We have a low threshold for pain, low levels of resilience, and little to no patience or endurance. It forces us to look for the silver bullet: quick, easy solutions. Even to long-term, complex problems. This all conspires to create the fifth aspect, a lack of well-distinguished leadership. This basically means a lack of leaders who are capable of saying “that is your emotion, and this is my emotion.” We have a lack of individuals whose emotions cannot be dictated by the emotions of those around them. Thus, anxiousness continues to grow like cancer.

Friedman argues the only way to stop this cycle is to “inject” a non-anxious presence right into the middle of it. A well-differentiated leader who is calm, patient, compassionate, and with a clear sense of boundary. A quarter-of-a-century later, his paradigm is more important than ever. Colaw Fitness is dedicated to providing an atmosphere of non-anxiousness. Our goal is to make Jesus more known through our gyms. And because Jesus was the least anxious person to ever live, non-anxiousness is woven into the very fabric of our culture. You can probably imagine that this is difficult to pull-off in a corporate business setting. However, there are a few ways that we do this.

First, we begin with what you experience as soon as you walk through our doors. As you walk in to Colaw Fitness, you’ll be greeted with a smile and gratitude. We’re truly glad you’re here. When this coronavirus stuff is over, you can count on a high-five, fist-bump, or even a hug. We value relationship between our staff and our members. You may also notice that we have positive-uplifting praise music playing throughout the facility. We know the music you listen has an effect on the subconscious, so this is always our playlist. We care about your mental health, and this is our way of caring for it.

Check out our OKC fitness center. Another way we combat anxiousness is allowing our members to bring a free friend to the facility every time. We know that having a comfortable presence with you while you go to a new place or try a new routine is beneficial. We don’t want you to feel anxious or uncomfortable in our facility. So, bring whomever you’d like to be there with you, free of charge. Lastly, we offer all of our members unlimited access to massages with their membership. This is all part of the all-inclusive deal our members receive. Our facility is open 24/7 always, with the exception of a few holidays.

We believe that relieving our bodies of the tension that builds up in our muscles is crucial. It is crucial in general for our mental, emotional, and spiritual health. But it is also crucial in living without anxiousness. Thus, Colaw Fitness offers this to our members with no extra charge. Enjoy our massage chairs and HydroMassage chairs at any time on any day. We hope that the allure of ridding even an ounce of anxiety from your life will bring you in to Colaw Fitness. We’re ready to help you set goals and then reach them! If you’re interest in receiving more information, call us at 918-766-3353. Check out our OKC fitness center.