“Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.” Psalm 150:4
I’m excited because I’ve made a decision in my life that I feel is something I can’t run away from. Over the last several years, the idea of becoming a yoga instructor has continually crept upon me. I never made the decision to become one because of how the teaching can become very saturated in Hinduism (which is not my religion–I am a very devout Christ-follower!), even if Yoga has not derived from Hinduism.
However, I’ve not been able to shake the feeling that this is what I was supposed to be doing. But yoga? That doesn’t even make sense? Why yoga?
Well, then I found Holy Yoga. I couldn’t let it go. The more I read, the more it felt right. The more I prayed, the less I could drop it. The more I searched, the deeper I found myself in the peace of pursuing this.
What is Holy Yoga? I’ve been asked this already, and I’m assuming that this is going to be a question I receive a lot, as this is something I plan on doing for the rest of my life.
Holy Yoga is an experiential worship or discipline dedicated to God. It’s a practice of releasing our minds to the power of Christ, taking all of our thoughts captive to Jesus, and letting go of our worries at His feet.
The word yoga means “yoke”, so I believe the perfect Scripture to share the Holy Yoga expression is this:
“Come to me; all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.“ Matthew 11:28-30
Another Scripture that I absolutely love is John 10:10, “…I come that you may have life, and have it to the full.”
So that is what we’re doing: coming to Jesus, saturated in the Word, laying down our worries, our burdens, and filling up with the mind of Christ.
Colossians 4:2 says to, “Devote yourselves continually to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
Before practicing yoga, the principle is getting clean before God. So many Christians walk through their day, forgetting the mental surrender to God. We made the promise “that one day in church” to give our lives to God, but we forget that it is a continual renewal of our minds.
In both Ephesians (4:13) and in Colossians (3:10), the Word says that we will be renewed and matured in the KNOWLEDGE of Christ and our Creator. Does this mean we need yoga in order to be saved? Absolutely not. This is just something we can use as a reminder to clear our minds and go to our Father. Everyone has different things that work for them.
Some people light a candle and sink cozily into their recliners with the Word; some people have a cup of warm coffee and sit outside listening to the birds; others lay in their beds, or pray in the shower–the idea is, whatever brings you to your knees, do it. Lifting our arms in worship, or bowing to our Creator are all expressions of our surrender to God.
Bending on my mat is just another way to come to my Father and worship Him.
So back to those Scriptures, whatever fills our minds with the knowledge of Christ will bring us to maturity in Christ Jesus. So if I’m meditating on the Word of Christ during my yoga practice, that will bring me closer to God.
If I’m meditating on the Word while cooking dinner, that will bring me closer.
If I’m meditating on the Word while working in my backyard, or changing diapers, or updating my Facebook–the idea is not that the action is bringing me closer to God necessarily. But that I am disciplining my mind to FOCUS on Christ’s words.
“Be still and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10 says. By practicing Holy Yoga, I am disciplining my mind and body to focus solely on Christ. I center my breath, I relax my body, I come into a quiet and sacred place. I crawl up into my Father’s lap, I allow myself to breathe in the breath of Life, to focus on His words, to pray quietly in my spirit, and to be consumed by God’s love.
One thing that I told Reid (husband) is that I am so judgmental of myself. I judge myself and therefore judge others, when only one thing matters.
After Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was He answered:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.“ Mark 12:30-31
So many times we think that following God is about following rules or becoming perfect. We are already perfect: we are made perfect through weakness. We are made perfect through Christ’s spirit. Jesus has already defeated death and sin. We are just partakers of this promise. While I am in this body, I will have to discipline it, and my mind, to follow Christ.
So yoga is a physical expression of this discipline, and loving others is another expression. Yoga is an illustration of taking my mind captive. Loving others is another.
If some how I can incorporate the two, why not?
And so I will.
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Hey there, I found your blog through DailyMile, and just wanted to say that I love your blog layout and everything. Very cool!
Thank you so much, Lily!!