This powerful series of videos I did about four or five years ago, got a lot of attention and helped answer some of the main questions new students might ask about how yoga and Christianity can fit together.
Although students of all faiths may have questions, I find that yoga is more accepted and understood in eastern religions. As a Christian myself, I went through years wrestling; wondering if yoga and my faith could fit together.
In 2007, I was running a yoga studio in a community new to yoga and deeply in love with Christ. I began to question if practicing yoga was wrong and somehow I missed the message growing up in a community where yoga and Catholicism often were taught hand in hand. I did not want to steer people wrong and I also felt lead my personal relationship with God as I understand Him, to share yoga and it’s many holistic benefits. By this time I had been teaching yoga as my primary occupation for over 8 years.
That is when I prayed a heartfelt prayer and dove deeply into the Bible, spending most of my nights in Bible studies and days teaching yoga. I began a 5-year journey studying the 2nd book of the Yoga Sutra’s sutra by sutra and word by word and tested it again the Bible. There are many places where Patanjali’s words are centered in science, other in the traditions of his personal Hindi faith these are very subjective to the art and science of a yogi’s practice.
More importantly, I learned is that over 90% of the Yoga Sutra was either 100% science or 100% in alignment with the teachings of the Bible. This put my heart at ease and as helped me educate the teachers at Twist yoga and the community at large about how yoga and the Bible are encouraging the same self-awareness and morals.
Along, my journey, I also discovered countless Christian texts teaching about pranayama (or breathing), meditation (contemplation) and the supernatural. One of my favorite findings is a book I consider the Christian version of the yoga sutra. It is believed to be written by an apostle himself titled – The Cloud Of Unknowing. If this interest’s you, you can get it on Amazon or through the Your Own University library – where 100% of the proceeds go towards scholorships for poeple seeking to end the cycle of abuse in their own lives.
I hope you enjoy this series.
Way 1 in the 7 ways yoga can help you live more like Christ wants us to.
Way 2 in the 7 ways yoga can help you inline with how Christ wants you to.
Way #3 How yoga can help us live more like Christ wants us to.
Way #4 How yoga can help you and your students live more like Christ wants us to.
Way #5 How yoga can help you and your students live more like Christ wants you to.
Way #6 In the 7 ways yoga helps you live more like Christ wants you to…
Way #7 of how yoga can help you live more like Christ ask’s you and I to live.