A closer walk with God
Faith and Yoga classes started because I truly believe in the spiritual support that yoga can provide each and every one of us. Practicing yoga has many many benefits, but bringing me closer to God was one of the last things I thought about or thought would happen when I decided to become a yoga instructor. You see, I was telling a friend that I had signed up for classes to become a yoga instructor.
I had been practicing yoga for about 16 years and thought I would love to understand yoga better. I was referring to the postures really. How do you do them so that alignment is right, so muscles don't become sore - that sort of thing. I wanted to be sure that I was doing yoga "right." So in reality, signing up for the Teacher Training was borne purely out of a selfish motivation. When I mentioned to my friend about the teach training, I was completely unprepared for her reaction. She told me, "Yoga is bad!" She was sincerely concerned for my well being and my soul. I certainly didn't understand her concerns because practicing yoga always made me feel better. So, I took it as a challenge to try and understand why she reacted so negatively and why I felt completely the opposite way.
So, I did research - a lot of research. And through this process not only did I learn that yoga is and was originally intended to be a Spiritual practice, there are many similarities between the Yoga Sutras (the guiding principles of yoga) and the Bible. According to BKS Iyangar's (The man said to be the Father of Hatha Yoga) interpretation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - yoga means union of body, mind and soul with God. Of course, we can never be God, but we do our best every day to be like Jesus and to follow God's wishes for us. The Bible does say "Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30)."
One of yoga's guiding principals is Ishvarapranidhana - Surrender to (or worship) God. Patanjali also said that first and foremost, yoga provides us with a method of surrendering to God. A lot of people don't like the idea of "surrender" because they think it makes them less important or subservient. But surrender means cooperation and working toward a goal - together. How wonderful would it be if everyone would work together with God?
And I've heard people say that "they do chanting and all that weird stuff in yoga." But, did you know that the the word "ohm", which is actually a syllable and a sound (spelled "aum") is considered exhalted praise of God! It's a divine sound and by repeating aum, whether singing or chanting, we glorify and praise God. Who knew? I didn't, but I do now.
With a little education, my friend changed her mind. She no longer believes that yoga is bad. Quite the opposite. She has observed how yoga has helped me in my walk with God. I have become stronger in my faith, and found a confidence I didn't know I had. All of this will help me to share the gifts God has given me with others. Yoga is a wonderful way to help us quiet our minds, center ourselves and open our hearts to God.
So come join us. My hope for you is that practicing yoga will not only strengthen your body and quiet your mind, but it will strengthen your faith, too. Just like it did for me.
Namaste and God Bless,
Vicki
I had been practicing yoga for about 16 years and thought I would love to understand yoga better. I was referring to the postures really. How do you do them so that alignment is right, so muscles don't become sore - that sort of thing. I wanted to be sure that I was doing yoga "right." So in reality, signing up for the Teacher Training was borne purely out of a selfish motivation. When I mentioned to my friend about the teach training, I was completely unprepared for her reaction. She told me, "Yoga is bad!" She was sincerely concerned for my well being and my soul. I certainly didn't understand her concerns because practicing yoga always made me feel better. So, I took it as a challenge to try and understand why she reacted so negatively and why I felt completely the opposite way.
So, I did research - a lot of research. And through this process not only did I learn that yoga is and was originally intended to be a Spiritual practice, there are many similarities between the Yoga Sutras (the guiding principles of yoga) and the Bible. According to BKS Iyangar's (The man said to be the Father of Hatha Yoga) interpretation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - yoga means union of body, mind and soul with God. Of course, we can never be God, but we do our best every day to be like Jesus and to follow God's wishes for us. The Bible does say "Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30)."
One of yoga's guiding principals is Ishvarapranidhana - Surrender to (or worship) God. Patanjali also said that first and foremost, yoga provides us with a method of surrendering to God. A lot of people don't like the idea of "surrender" because they think it makes them less important or subservient. But surrender means cooperation and working toward a goal - together. How wonderful would it be if everyone would work together with God?
And I've heard people say that "they do chanting and all that weird stuff in yoga." But, did you know that the the word "ohm", which is actually a syllable and a sound (spelled "aum") is considered exhalted praise of God! It's a divine sound and by repeating aum, whether singing or chanting, we glorify and praise God. Who knew? I didn't, but I do now.
With a little education, my friend changed her mind. She no longer believes that yoga is bad. Quite the opposite. She has observed how yoga has helped me in my walk with God. I have become stronger in my faith, and found a confidence I didn't know I had. All of this will help me to share the gifts God has given me with others. Yoga is a wonderful way to help us quiet our minds, center ourselves and open our hearts to God.
So come join us. My hope for you is that practicing yoga will not only strengthen your body and quiet your mind, but it will strengthen your faith, too. Just like it did for me.
Namaste and God Bless,
Vicki