YogaFaith; Christian Yoga; Can a Christian Practice Yoga?

    Being a dancer all my life led me to my first yoga class to prevent injury and help before performance day. Since that day, I have had the privilege to study and experience several styles of yoga throughout my life, and there are many. I've been in classes that were 115 degrees, classes that we chant, meditate for extended periods of time, power through a sequence of continuous asanas (postures) that connect with your breath, one of my personal favorite styles, because it is much like a dance, breathing and moving. This also happens to be the most popular style in The United States, known widely as Vinyasa Yoga, or Vinyasa Flow.
 

    I love deepening my knowledge about the many different style of yoga and honoring the origins of yoga, which can consist of focusing on self-enlightenment and "you" as the divine. So, as I love the practice of yoga, some of the philosophies I do not absorb into my personal practice. "Me as the divine? I am the source?" This goes against every grain of my beliefs. Therefore, when the time comes to close my eyes and focus on me, the source that is within me, I would focus in on Who I know as the one true Source, and yes, He actually does dwell within me. This is why Bhakti Yoga is my personal favorite style of yoga, because the focus is on God. Devotion. Surrender.

    I understand from an outside perspective that one may think that yoga can interfere with one's religion. Indeed any yoga practice can be a deeply spiritual experience no matter what one believes. But yoga in itself is nonsectarian. It is not a religion, but carries the ability to allow a deeper connection with the divine, in a Christian's practice that would be with God.

    The big question is, "Can I practice yoga if I am a Christian?" The answer is a resounding yes. The foundation of my answer comes from one of many scriptures. Mark 12:30 tells us to worship with our whole being. Mind, Body, Spirit, Soul, and Strength. That really sums it up doesn't it? Yoga Faith is about profound worship with our whole beings. God also tells us throughout His word to be still, meditate upon His precepts night and day. Whether you use a yoga mat to do this or your living room floor, coming to your knees (think child's pose) in prayer, stillness, or meditation, is obeying the Word of God. Now imagine raising your arms to Him, on or off a mat (think Warrior pose or a back bend) and coming into complete worship of the True Source, our One True Lord and Saviour.

    It is difficult to describe Christian Yoga, or Yoga Faith. You cannot judge something you have not experienced. The one true answer to folks that do not understand or think that it is weird, "woo woo", a contradiction, whatever the case may be, there is only one answer. It is all about Him.

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