Meet Ani Vidrine: Why I practice Yoga

In Doreen Corwith Eckert’s nascent years of exploring at the crossroads of Christianity and yoga, she found Andrea J. Vidrine’s book Jesus, Yoga & The Way of Happiness: A Christian Yoga Daily Devotional (Lifevest Publishing, 2005*). Mostly, she loved that the writer made connections through scripture to integrate the spiritual discipline of yoga with the Christian faith, which gave Doreen permission to explore and integrate many of the concepts about which she wondered.

Ani Vidrine is a lover of Jesus, who has been practicing yoga for 30 years. Raised Catholic, she explored other faiths and versions of Christianity during her early adult years when she attended graduate school in social work and studied yoga with Lex Gillan and David Life. She has spent decades integrating her understanding of Christ with yoga philosophy. She serves on staff at The Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and as an interfaith minister, spiritual director, psychotherapist, yoga instructor and writer. You can learn more about her on her website.

We are pleased to have her voice among our writers. What follows is her first post, in which she answers the same question each of our writers has been asked to ponder: Why do you practice yoga — and why do you practice Christianity?

Why I Practice Yoga, By Ani Vidrine

Ani in Hanumanasana in Alaska

I practice yoga because it awakens me to love. Love is what yoga is all about. God is love, and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them (I John 4:16). I consider Teresa of Avila, 16th century Spanish mystic and great lover of God, my patron saint because she was devoted, daring, defiant, and indomitable. Teresa’s words in her mystical treatise, The Interior Castle, inspire me. She wrote, "Remember: if you want to make progress on the path and ascend to places you have longed for, the important thing is not to think much but to love much, and so to do whatever best awakens you to love." When I practice yoga, I am taking Teresa’s advice.

Yoga is a Sanskrit word that can seem rather esoteric and exotic, even scary, to Western ears. The translation of the word yoga is “to yoke up or join; union.” Using the English translation of yoga can facilitate a better understanding of what joining is all about. It also helps to clarify the intent behind the stretching, meditation, and breathing practices which are associated with yoga. They are a means to joining with a higher consciousness.

In fact, yoga is just plain brilliant psychology. The Yoga Sutras (Threads), attributed to a sage known as Patanjali, is one of the foundational texts on the practice of yoga. The opening line of The Yoga Sutras declares, “Now begins the practice of yoga” (Sutra 1:1). As the text continues, Patanjali states that yoga is the release of the commentary of the mind, which facilitates the seer abiding in their True Nature. Patanjali instructs that this commentary is released through practice and non-attachment and encourages that any effort toward steadiness of mind is practice (Sutras 1:2, 1:3, 1:12, & 1:13).

I have always had an interest in all things spiritual. My beloved father instilled a love of God in me from an early age when he knelt by my bed each night and prayed with me. My endearing mother taught me the virtue of compassionate service when she brought me to visit the elderly and infirmed. My journey from there passed along Catholic, Baptist, non-denominational, Buddhist, and Hindu side roads as I explored just what it meant to join with a higher consciousness, and I found shelter in each, while still honoring Jesus as my guru. In my studies of the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the Yoga Sutras, I found commonalities with Christian scripture that deepened my appreciation for the rich wisdom that the teachings of Jesus offer, along with the mystical musings of Peter, Paul, and John.

Julian of Norwich, 14th century mystic, described this higher consciousness in terms of the soul’s home in God: Our soul sits in God in true rest and stands in God in true strength; it is naturally rooted in God in endless love . . . And in the end, all will be love. I understood this light of love in three ways. First, uncreated love; second, created love; third, given love. Uncreated love is God; created love is our soul in God; given love is virtue. (Revelations of Divine Love, chpts. 56 & 84)

Similarly, in The Mundaka Upanishad, a sacred Indian text, characterized this higher consciousness as the Lord of Love: The Lord of Love is the one Self of all. He is detached work, spiritual wisdom, and immortality. Realize the Self hidden in the heart and cut asunder the knot of ignorance here and now. Bright but hidden, the Self dwells in the heart. Everything that moves, breathes, opens, and closes lives in the Self. He is the source of love and may be known through love, but not through thought. He is the goal of life. Attain this goal! The shining Self dwells hidden in the heart. (Part 2, v. 1:10 & v. 1-2)

“I practice yoga because it gives me the tools I need to join with God, the Lord of Love.”

I practice yoga because it gives me the tools I need to join with God, the Lord of Love. So, when I feel ashamed, now begins the practice of joining with Love within me. When I feel afraid, now begins the practice of joining with Love within me. When I feel frustrated and angry, now begins the practice of joining with Love within me. When I am judging myself or others, resisting events or clinging to my shoulds, now begins the practice of joining with Love within me. When I, or others, have not lived up to my expectations of perfection, now begins the practice of joining with Love within me.

Ani meditating at the Grand Canyon

I practice joining by pausing to become aware, and then releasing the mental narrative that says that things should be different. As I join with Love within me, opening my heart and relaxing into the moment, I detach from the need for things to be like I think they should be—from a particular outcome—and rest in the knowledge that all is well. Centered in Love, I see each moment as an opportunity to make a myriad of life-giving choices, to be lost in admiration and joy, to be the presence of Love. That is why I practice joining.

*Though out of print, you may be able to find a reasonably-priced used copy of this book through some online booksellers.

**Headline photo is from the cover the Interior Castle, translated by Mirabai Starr.