Christo's Yoga
Hatha yoga originated as a spiritual practice within Hinduism and has crossed
over into different religions and cultures around the world. It involves
postures, breathing techniques, and concentration exercises. The goal is
to bring together body and mind, the human and the divine, and the self and
the world.
This Christian approach to yoga simply allows us to combine these two essential
goals: becoming physically healthy and spiritually healthy. We become more
spiritually healthy through the yoga practice by calming our minds and quieting
ourselves to the point that we can tune out the world's frequency and tune
into God's frequency.
Being quiet with God allows us to create enough psychological and spiritual
space that God can truly create an inner sanctuary in us. Being quiet enough
to hear our Lord's voice is not optional-- it's essential for growth. Let
God bless your efforts to get closer to Him and the joy-filled, healthy
life He has planned for you!
He tells us to "be still and know that I am God."
Remember yoga alone is certainly not the path to finding peace, but true,
lasting peace and contentment come only through an on-going relationship
with the Lord. So let God's word and this practice together challenge you
to get out of your comfort zone in worship of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.”
Individual Sessions: $30 an hour
Class Sessions: $10
**Please email me with your contact information so I can send information
on classes.
Article on Christian Yoga and Healing:
Faith, healing and ... yoga
'I wanted a deeper purpose to my life'
By Jean Gordon
jmgordon@clarionledger.com
Rick Guy/The Clarion-Ledger
Julia Burr (left) and Center for Yoga and Health owner Rebecca Laney practice
yoga exercises that help increase strength and flexibility at Laney's studio
in Clinton. Practitioners say yoga helps a person's body, mind and spirit.
Laney, 52, a cancer survivor, is featured in the film, The Fire of Yoga,
which premiered Thursday in New York City.
Sitting crossed-legged on a yoga mat, Susan Mason drew her palms together
at her chest and folded her torso over a Bible on the floor.
Unfolding her body she said, "Relaxation is a form of prayer."
As yoga teacher at Jackson's First Baptist Church, Mason integrates Christian
spirituality into a physical art with Hindu roots. And though some Christians
shun yoga because of its Eastern origins, Mason embraces the practice that
helped heal her body and spirit after debilitating cancer treatments.
The practice of breathing, holding postures and meditation is an ancient
art form that originated in India nearly 5,000 years ago.
According to Yoga Journal, some 18 million people practice yoga in the
United States.
Mason's journey into yoga is featured in the film The Fire of Yoga, which
premiered Thursday in New York City. Also released to DVD, the documentary
tells the story of a diverse trio of yogis: a South Bronx ex-convict, a
Los Angeles actor and recovering alcoholic and Mason, a mother of two living
with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Mason, 49, discovered the practice seven years ago when she joined a therapeutic
yoga class at Jackson's Baptist Hospital to help heal from cancer.
"Once I took that I was hooked," she said. "I needed to rehabilitate gently."
There she met teacher Rebecca Laney, a 52-year-old cancer survivor and
owner of the Center for Yoga and Health in Clinton.
Laney, who's been practicing yoga since age 16, also is featured in the
documentary.
She opened her Clinton studio in 1999, when some people in the region were
still a bit wary of yoga.
"I felt I was a pioneer," she said. "It's like you're a salesman selling
something no one wants to buy and they're afraid of the product."
Vickie D. King/The Clarion-Ledger
Susan Mason, performing a lunge with a spinal twist, teaches yoga classes
at the First Baptist Church Christian Life Center in Jackson.
Finding clarity
Though yoga has roots in Hinduism, Laney said there's no expectation that
practitioners follow any particular religion.
To honor the world's faith traditions, Laney's studio is decorated with
a variety of Eastern and Western religious images including small statues
and pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Buddha and Hindu deities.
She said yoga can enhance a person's spirituality — whatever it may be.
"Just because something is not decidedly Christian doesn't mean it's anti-Christian,"
Laney said.
Julia Burr, a Raymond massage therapist, said yoga promotes spiritual growth
because it feeds the body, mind and soul.
Drawing her own spirituality from Christianity and Zen Buddhism, Burr,
59, said she particularly appreciates the meditative part of yoga.
She said that practice helped her get clarity about making a career change
from retail to massage therapy.
"I wanted a deeper purpose to my life," she said.
Documenting change
New York City-based filmmaker David Conway said he made the documentary
because he wanted to tell the story of the transformative power of yoga.
And that life-changing force affected his own life. Before he started practicing
yoga, Conway, 35, suffered from panic attacks that forced him to leave his
job in the Los Angeles film industry.
"In many ways this film is autobiographical," he said.
Conway found Mason by contacting yoga studios throughout the South. He
was looking for people whose yoga practice enhanced their faith.
He decided to feature Mason when he learned that yoga not only deepened
her Christian faith, but helped her recover from cancer treatment.
"It's a great combination about how it helped her physically and spiritually,"
he said.
Christian emphasis
After her cancer treatment and a subsequent broken collar bone, Mason took
up yoga because she wanted an exercise that bridged the gap between physical
therapy and an aerobic workout.
"I wanted to do something gentle," she said.
And after completing a training program at Laney's studio, Mason moved
from student to teacher.
She started the first Christian yoga class at her church, First Baptist
Church in Jackson, three years ago.
Mason sees no conflict between yoga and Christianity because the practice
helps her honor God by honoring her body.
"There's a lot of correlation between yoga philosophy and Christian philosophy,"
she said. "A lot has to do with man's search for spirituality."
Still, she's tweaked her class to give it a decidedly Christian flavor.
In place of Sanskrit chants, Mason inserts words from Scripture. She calls
the sun salutation posture — a sequence of poses that begins and ends with
hands drawn together in prayer — the "son" salutation.
"I practice my faith and I use yoga to enhance my faith," she said.
Mason is surprised more churches don't offer yoga because of its physical
and spiritual benefits.
"It was a perfect ministry tool to use," she said.
Student Pam Berry of Brandon joined Mason's class to help relieve the symptoms
of fibromyalgia, a chronic pain illness characterized by muscle aches, fatigue
and sleep disturbance.
"I liked the idea of Christian yoga because I like so many other people
had the misconception that yoga is some sort of Eastern religion," she said.
Still, the 52-year-old was more apprehensive about the challenges of yoga
than its association with Eastern religion.
"I thought you'd have to bend yourself into a noodle," she said.
Instead she found the class taught gentle exercises that helped improve
her strength and flexibility.
"It's better than any medicine I've taken," she said.
Sherry Gentry, a Ridgeland hairdresser who's been taking yoga classes at
Laney's studio for two years, said yoga only bolsters a person's spirituality.
"Yoga is a practice for getting in touch with your inner being," she said.
"How much more in touch with God can you be if you're in touch with yourself
inside?"
Wellsprings
of Life 
