Beliefs

I believe God’s will is for us to care for our bodies.

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. - 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV

I believe our internal affects our external.

(And vice versa.)

Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones. - Proverbs 3:7-8 NLT

I believe our worship must be for our Creator, not the creature/creation.

You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. - Deuteronomy 4:15-19, 23-24 NIV

THE SUPREMACY OF CHRIST

The book of Colossians paints a beautiful picture that informs many of my beliefs over the Christian faith and, consequently, yoga. In 60-61 AD, in the wake of Christians in Colossae faced with false teachers and christological heresy, Paul writes a letter. This letter would later become the 12th book of the New Testament.

The biggest adversary to the Christian faith when it comes to yoga is the denigration of Christ’s deity. There are many who engage in the spiritual realm and acknowledge Jesus’ existence as only teacher and/or prophet. But Jesus was not just these; He was God in the flesh! Resurrected from the dead.

This denigration of Christ’s deity brings me to the similar scene in Colossae in 60-61 AD. I am compelled to read Paul’s letter and capture some of its message here.

I believe Christ is Supreme.

Christ existed before yoga. Christ existed before the origin of any religion that claims its own truth as “Truth”. As such, Christ has dominion over yoga. When we are in Christ, when we respond to God’s call to fill the earth and govern over it (Gen. 1:28), we get to play a part in the redemption of yoga as God’s. After all, “everything was created through him and for him”.

In Truth, yoga’s origin becomes marginal when we consider the supremacy of Christ.

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. - Colossians 1:15-18

I believe God reconciled all things to Himself.

“All things” includes the discipline of yoga.

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. - Colossians 1:19-20

For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. - Romans 11:36 NIV

I believe yoga beautifully compliments the walk of a Christ-follower.

The practice of yoga compliments a believer’s walk in the way it creates openness for spending time with God — body, soul, spirit. It encourages essential Christian practices, e.g. worship, prayer, meditation, contemplation.

You must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. - Colossians 2:6a-7

Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. - Colossians 3:2 NLT

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. - Colossians 4:2 NLT

I believe that, in a world where spirituality is trendy, God is still Truth.

In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments. - Colossians 2:3-4

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual power of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority. - Colossians 2:6-10

I believe that yoga is not a religion or “the answer”.

Yoga is a beautiful practice that can compliment our lives in such sweet, grounding, and healing ways. But devotion to the discipline itself does not save us from ourselves. Christ — Christ alone — does.

Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. - Colossians 2:22-23