Holy Yoga

I am a Holy Yoga instructor. What an awesome ministry God has given me. I feel so blessed to have been directed to Holy Yoga, the blessing is overwhelming. I am in awe of what God is doing through this ministry and how He is growing me into His servant.

I came to Holy Yoga as a Christian in search of other Christians who practiced yoga. Upon receiving my first yoga certification, my intention was to be in great shape and reap the physical benefits of yoga. I had the postures down and felt that I could rock out on my yoga mat. I could show off my down-dog and people could see that my bound-side-angle was practiced and strong. I did my yoga routine with confidence and ease. But I hit a wall. I was doing yoga because it felt good, but I knew that there was more to yoga than just the postures. I knew there was more to yoga than doing 100 sun salutaions and spending 10 minutes in corpse pose to relax. Any serious yoga practitioner will tell you that there is more to yoga than the physical high. I knew that the "more" was beyond physical. I knew that it involved a spiritual realm that I didn't really know a whole lot about. And as a Christian I knew that getting involved with a spiritual realm that wasn't focussed on Jesus was no realm that I wanted to be a part of.

So I searched. I found Holy Yoga's website online and jumped right in. After participating in the teacher training program I received my second yoga certification. Praise God! A yoga practice that glorifies Him!

But.....it wasn't that easy. I didn't just step into my ministry with ease. It wasn't as simple as "happily ever after."

I had resistance. Someone who is close to me resisted my involvment with yoga and didn't see how an eastern-rooted practice could bring God glory. So I needed to develop a clear reason and intention as to why I practice yoga and why Holy Yoga glorifies God.

God did not want me to walk into this ministry blind. He did not want me to enter the mission field without any armor to protect me. No, He desires none to perish.

Through much heartache, stress, question and doubt about why I practice yoga and why Holy Yoga is God-glorifying, with the help of my resisting friend, we concluded that whatever I do needs to be filtered through God's Word. Are my actions aligned with God's will for my life? Am I loving God with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength? Is Christ the focus? Is He the reason?

Using the Bible as a filter, God will direct my path. God has armored me with His Word. His Word is the sword that I fight with. It is the tool that protects my heart, mind and body from sin.

A few weeks ago when I would tell people that I am a yoga instructor, that statement had much doubt and fear behind it. I would say, "I am a yoga instructor," and think, please don't judge me, my practice is Christ-centered, it is possible to do yoga as a Christian, but I kind of don't know why.

Fear. That's all it is. Fear is what I hide behind.

God has something bigger planned. He doesn't desire to work through my fear. He can't work through my fear. But He can work through my faith in Him. He has given me faith as a spiritual gift and He plans to use it through Holy Yoga. It has been through faith that I have stepped into teaching Holy Yoga. It is through faith that I have contacted local yoga studios to see if they would be interested in having Holy Yoga at their studios. It is through faith that I know God wants to speak to the people who will be at my yoga instructor audition in a couple of weeks.

God is moving through Holy Yoga to places so many Christians are afraid of- yoga communities. But He can't do His work through our fear. That's Satan's job, and he is great at it.

We can't lose if we are armored with the love of Christ.

So Holy Yoga, my mission field. Thank you Lord for this amazing resposibility of sharing your Son with the yoga community.