Holy Yoga

Last night was my second time to try Holy Yoga. It's a great experience, and I can still feel it in my muscles. The first time I did Holy Yoga, I had a few well meaning fellow Christians warn me that yoga could open me up to ungodly spirits and influences. But while that may be true in a regular yoga class, Holy Yoga is all about praising and worshipping the one true God.

As Cora, our instructor (pictured right), says:

Holy Yoga is a physical practice of aligning the body combined with breath work and mindful intention of reliance on God and was designed for and is dedicated to facilitating the worship and celebration of God through movement and meditation to all believers in Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, I've done pilates so I was a little more prepared for all the breathing and stretching, but some of those poses I just had to persevere through despite the burning in my muscles. We stretch our arms to God, feel him holding us up, and use the various poses as all acts of worship. Cora, our instructor, leads us through each exercise with Scriptures and reminders that God gives us the strength to endure. Worship music is played in the background and the room is darkened, and we really have a sense of being in God's presence through each thing we do.

At the end, we lay still on our mats for a good 15 minutes, eyes closed, music playing softly, and just have this time to be still and know that He is God. It's a time for prayer and meditation.

I'm not the best at becoming pretzel like in a yoga class, and fortunately Cora goes easy on us (I think), but I look forward to being able to go between each move without having to watch her as closely but instead be able to fully surrender my focus to God alone.

Check out Cora's Holy Yoga website to learn more: http://holyyoga.wordpress.com/