Revisiting Yoga And Holy Yoga

I have opinions on Yoga.  However, I find myself revisiting Yoga and Holy Yoga.

My opinion is that a Christian should not participate in Yoga.  Yoga is a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation.   Approaching Yoga in the Hindu way is impossible for the Christian.  

Revisiting Yoga And Holy Yoga

Holy Yoga is experiential worship created to deepen people’s connection to Christ. The sole purpose is to facilitate a Christ-honoring experience that offers an opportunity to believers and non-believers alike to authentically connect to God through His Word, worship, and wellness.

There is a world of difference between the two definitions, practices, and end results of Yoga.  Holy Yoga is about honoring Christ and worshiping Him. The practice of Holy Yoga is about redeeming an area of culture that had previously been unavailable to Christians.  Holy Yoga is good.

Why Holy Yoga?

Every person’s journey to Holy Yoga will be different.  Me, I struggle to exercise and always have.  I suffer from an autoimmune disease and the only two acceptable forms of exercise are walking and Yoga.  For the past several years, I have sporadically walked but chose not to participate in Yoga for the obvious spiritual conflict.  I have been taking classes for the past 6 weeks and participate in Holy Yoga online 3 days a week.  An added benefit is that I also participate with two of my daughters.  Holy Yoga is the only physical activity that I have ever participated in that I felt better after the exercise than before!  I feel rejuvenated and I am so thankful!  (Check out my FAVORITE Yoga Mat HERE!)

Check out what others have to say…

Because God told us to love Him with our mind, body, soul, and heart. This is His greatest commandment. Then He said, “love one another.” That is Holy Yoga. Worshipping Jesus and loving those around us. –Caroline Grey

Nothing in this world is worth doing outside of Jesus. Holy Yoga offers a safe place to worship Jesus while doing yoga. Truly, Holy Yoga’s first goal is to honor and glorify Him. Yoga is an extrinsic benefit or rather the mode in which we choose to meet with our LORD. Once I became aware of the mission statement, the strong focus, and the physical benefits of Holy Yoga…I thought, why not Holy Yoga? –Adrienne Kinde, R-HYI

Because I was naive to the fact that yoga was not religion. I was afraid to try it because I thought it would be contradictory to my Christian faith roots. Holy Yoga has opened my soul to a world of non-judgment, love, and grace. –Shay Hampton, R-HYI

Deliver Love Co.

See that lovely lady at the top of the page and throughout this post. That’s my Holy Yoga instructor…Sarah Baker.  She not only teaches Holy Yoga but has a Health Ministry too!!   (I am sure you can’t tell from the pictures but she and her husband are expecting their first child!)

About Deliver Love

Deliver Love is a Health Ministry designed to create a unique worship experience by engaging your heart, soul, mind, and strength. By putting all of these elements into a healthy lifestyle practice with Jesus at the core of it all, it establishes a renewed and rejuvenated sense of self-awareness.

Deliver Love breaks away from the old-fashioned, standardized, traditional” kind of worship. We remove the rows of seats, the Sunday stigma, and any ill feelings against the word “religion” or “Christianity” and instead bring a warm, open, free-flowing, welcoming, contemporary, everyday kind of worship into the lives of others.

Deliver Love Health Ministry is about living a healthy lifestyle in every way possible. It’s about Love, Grace, Health, Spirituality, Strength, and, at the center of it all, God.

Our Mission: Redefining worship one healthy decision at a time.

Our Vision: To mature into a full functioning, God-relying Health Ministry that is not limited to impacting one city from which it sprouted but reaching all ends of the world and changing the lives of all ages, ethnicities, denominations, etc. by placing Jesus at the center of their hearts and manifesting a real relationship with the creator of the universe.

About Holy Yoga: Holy Yoga is a form of experiential worship that incorporates prayer, scripture, meditation, breathwork, and movement into one physical worship experience with the Lord. Holy Yoga is for EVERYBODY, regardless of age, race, denomination, or even physical health level. The sole purpose of Holy Yoga is to help people engage in a deeper connection with Jesus. To deepen that experience, Holy Yoga classes are practiced to contemporary motivational Christian music.

Yoga is NOT a religion; it is a spiritual discipline and practice of mind and body connection. Holy Yoga helps us to distance ourselves from the daily grind and find peace in worshipping Him with the entirety of our being.

What I have learned about Holy Yoga.

1. It’s for people of all ages. (I am having my golden jubilee this year!)
2. It relieves stress and provides challenging exercise at the same time.
3. It is a great family activity.
4. It is safe to do while pregnant.
5. It can be easily adapted for the elderly and special needs children.
6. Improves balance.
7. An hour spent focusing on the Lord Jesus, and praying to Him is an hour that is well spent.
8. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated.
9. Combining worshiping God and exercise is the only that has worked for me.
10. Effectively combats anxiety.

YOUR TURN…

How do you keep your exercise routine focused on God?

Blessings,

*I was not paid to write this post.  The opinions expressed are my own.

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