Yoga and Jesus

Ahhh... I love yoga. Not just because it helps me relax, or stretch, or strengthen my already amazing muscles (haha), but because it helps me connect with Jesus.

There are quite a few people I know who are wary of yoga because of it's "spiritual-ness"; a spirituality connected with your inner self, not with God. However, it's quite easy, and amazing, to see what happens when you take those spiritual connection ideas in yoga and simply change it to being connected with God.

"The word yoga means to unite or draw together all aspects of the person into harmony. Yoga is a tool used to reconnect the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual aspects with an inner wisdom in which there is no doubt as to the connection of all things." I know, as a Christian, that the "inner wisdom" is the fear of God (Proverbs 9:10) and that the "connection of all things" is that everything is created by God, and He designed our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects to be connected to Him.

I am told "Be still and know that I am God".... my problem is, I can't sit and just be "still". If my body isn't moving, my mind is, and more than likely, it's not being moved by God, it's just wandering throughout the worries of my daily life. However, since I have become very comfortable with many poses in yoga, I have been able to "be still" in my mind, and just let my body move. It's amazing how still and calm my mind and spirit can become when I have to do absolutely no thinking at all -- the instructor tells me when to move, how to move, and even (sometimes) when to breathe. My body moves.... my mind is still and able to listen to God speak.

And breath.... breath is a huge focus of yoga. That's the first thing you learn: how to breathe. And instructors are constantly reminding us: where's your breath? Are you breathing? We are also instructed to "bring the breath throughout your body"... or "focus on bringing breath to ____ part of your body". The interesting thing is -- the Holy Spirit is the Breath of Life (Genesis 2:7, John 6:63). Making that connection, when I breath, I am focusing on the Breath of Life in me, feeling the presence of Jesus in me, and inviting Him to become even more a part of my life.

And that is why I love yoga.