ABSTRACT
How seriously should one take the “soul” in SoulCycle, a popular brand of indoor cycling classes? Is it more or less seriously than the exhortation of the popular yoga studio chain, CorePower Yoga, that its classes are “soul-rocking”? What about the statements of Renaissance Neo-platonist Marsilio Ficino, who tells us that in order to nourish our souls, we should “exercise by keeping constantly in motion and make various circular movements like those of the heavenly bodies”? This chapter positions wellness practices focused on physical fitness and the larger cultural contexts in which they thrive in a history of complex intersections between religion, health, and self-cultivation. Drawing data from practice manuals, media features, and other popular materials beginning from the late nineteenth century and ranging into modern day, Foxen argues that North American wellness culture represents a powerful manifestation of folk religious concerns and pursuits.
