57: Deny Yourself: What Wellness Culture Gets Wrong About Your Body

Welcome to part one of a four part series called Body Theology, where Dr. Brook Sheehan builds a full biblical foundation for why the way you treat your body actually matters to God. This episode starts at the very beginning, asking a simple but important question: was your body ever the problem in the first place? Drawing from Genesis 1:27 and Psalm 139:14, Brook makes the case that your body was designed with intention, not defaulted into existence, and that listening to it is not in conflict with the biblical call to deny yourself. The key is understanding two different Greek words that get flattened into one in English: sarx, the flesh, meaning the sin nature we are called to deny, and soma, the body, which scripture consistently treats as good and worth caring for. Brook unpacks how confusing these two concepts is where so much unnecessary guilt comes from, and shares a client story along with her own experience gaining weight in chiropractic school to show what happens when you finally stop forcing your body and start asking it what it actually needs. She walks through the bodyOS framework of pause, connect, ask, and adjust, and explains how this discernment becomes a spiritual practice, not just a wellness one. This episode sets the stage for the rest of the Body Theology series, including next week's conversation on when caring for your body tips into worshiping it instead. ✨ Your body has been trying to tell you something. Find out what it's saying with the free 30-second Body Signal Decoder Assessment. Pick your signal, get your personalized guide straight to your inbox, and finally start making sense of what's going on inside. Get it here: os.drbrooksheehan.com/decoder 🎧 And if you caught the mention of the Talk to Me, Body affirmation card deck during the episode, here's where to grab yours. 63 scripture-anchored cards to help you trust the body God designed for you. Get yours here: drbrooksheehan.com/talk-to-me-body/ 📱 Come say hi on Instagram: @drbrooksheehan ⭐ If this episode spoke to you, would you take a second to leave a five-star review on Apple or Spotify? It helps more women find this show. And more women learning to listen to their bodies is exactly why I do this.