Why Christianity and Yoga?
Like many Evangelical Christians, I have a conversion story, a moment where God met me, revealing God’s love and grace to me and I consented to following Jesus. It was my sophomore year in college. I had been making a mess of my life. I grew up in the eighties, a latch-key kid being raised by a single mom, after the passing of my dad when I was nine years old. I inherited the common Anglo-Saxon family traits — a history of alcoholism, suppressed anger, and an uncanny ability to appear normal. By high school I was acting out my anger and rebellion through the party scene. It was exhausting and created more suffering in my life (as well as others), and I hit “rock bottom” my sophomore year of college. My anger had given way to shame and grief. At that point, I turned back to my mom and home church for help.
Over winter break I dusted off a devotional book my pastor gave me at my high school graduation. Scribbled on the inside cover was this verse:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-3
“Do not conform to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” — these words felt like they were written just for me at that time and place in my life. I left the party scene, joined a campus fellowship, and got involved in leadership. Post-college, I met my husband and we worked in campus ministry, began a family, and planted a church. That was the story of my first conversion.
This is the story of my ongoing transformation.
The first time I ever thought about yoga was in 2003. I was a mom of four young children under six and struggling with chronic postpartum depression. Inwardly, my faith was crumbling. I doubted much of what I both learned and taught in Bible study. My faith no longer fit, and I felt more of God’s absence than God’s presence. A friend invited me to take a class at her studio. I knew absolutely nothing about yoga, but she explained that this class was called Yoga and Meditation as Christian Spiritual Discipline – that it would be good for me to just get some space and time for myself. So, I went. It was a Hatha yoga class with a restorative flavor, which meant nothing to me at the time. The music was soft, the lights were low, and there were lots of “props” to support me in poses. One of the most memorable parts of the class was the lack of chattering little voices of my kids. There was silence and I sunk into it with exhaustion. God met me right there on my mat and said tenderly, “you are going to be okay. I am here with you.” I kept going to more yoga classes, hungry for more silence and rest for my overwhelmed mind and tired body.
That was the beginning of my journey into yoga. Romans 12: 1-3 came back to me and began to have new meaning. Every time I stepped onto my mat, I “offered my body as a living sacrifice” out of desperation and doubt, not sure of what I believed anymore. I dove into yoga practice and philosophy, hungry to understand myself. Patanjali’s Sutras gave me new opportunities for growth. The Sutras are meant to be experienced primarily through our bodies, not just intellectually studied. In the Sutras the practices of posture (asana), sense withdrawal (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), and meditation (dhyana) gave me tools to process some of my deeper childhood wounds of shame and inadequacy that I lived with as a parent and a person. Offering my body meant being real and honest when I got onto my mat. And while God still seemed distant to me through this period of my life, I can see now how the Spirit was at work within me.
That same good friend who introduced me to yoga, invited me to a yoga retreat led by a Catholic Priest. Although I wasn’t Catholic, I was intrigued to hear how yoga and Christianity can be integrated. Through this retreat and community, I found Christians who loved both yoga and Jesus. They also were experiencing God’s loving and healing presence through their practice on their mats. I kept coming back to retreat with this community, which now has grown into Christians Practicing Yoga. Through these retreats, I learned about the Eastern Christian Church and the Faith of the Desert Fathers and Mothers who dedicated much of their lives to contemplative prayer and practices. My heart was stirred to begin listening to God in the silence of meditation. The more I listened, the more the dualistic nature (mind/body split) of my evangelical faith began to dissolve. Rather than disconnection and conflict in my body, mind, and spirit, I began to find connection and congruence. And rather than feeling like I had to choose between God or my yoga practice, I realized that Yoga is a contemplative practice, calling me to rest in God’s loving Presence within me.
The last part of Romans 12:1-3 says that through the acts of offering our whole selves (body, mind, and spirit) to God, we will be renewed and transformed and our lives will be the expression of God’s will in the world. Practicing Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras' eight limbs as a daily spiritual discipline has been a blessing, leading me into deeper awareness of God’s transforming love and creating the space in my life for inner healing. It is a practice that renews my mind, helps me rest in God’s loving presence, and moves out into the world grounded in that love.
So much of my growth has transpired through my personal yoga practice. My passion now is to share these tools for transformation with others through my work as a Yoga Therapist, a Yoga Teacher, and a Christians Practicing Yoga leader. In Christianity, this passion is referred to as vocation — God’s call to service. In Yoga, it is called Seva, a desire to uplift those around you. My hope is to meet with others at this intersection of Christianity and yoga, offering my gifts and leadership so that others, too, may experience God’s grace, healing, and transformation in their own lives and faith journeys.
Feature photo by Suzanne D. Williams from Unsplash
