Enrich Y
By Mary Frances
oga is popping up everywhere. Yoga studios on every corner. Yoga pants in every store. Yoga
classes at every gym. It’s a fitness reg- imen growing like wildfire. But yoga isn’t a new craze or passing fad—it’s a thousands-year-old practice that is more than fitness. It’s a practice for our whole selves—body, mind and spirit. Many people like to set resolu-
tions or intentions for the new year. If you resolved to exercise or pray more in 2016, you’re in luck—with yoga you can do both. Te inten- tion of yoga is to find union for our body, mind and spirit. In doing so, it provides an opportunity for union with something much greater than ourselves—with the Divine. As a yoga instructor and stu-
dio owner, I see each day how this practice changes students for the
your prayer life with
nents), but only one of them is about the poses themselves. Te other seven limbs speak to moral and ethical ways of living and then draw us purposefully toward deeper concentration and medita- tion. Practicing yoga invites us into something deeper, into a moving meditation, into yoga as prayer. Why not pray with our whole
bodies? Why not pray with our whole selves? Mark 12:30 commands us to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” We know from 2 Samuel 6:14 that “David danced before the Lord with all his might.” Yoga creates the opportunity to pray with our whole selves.
yoga
better—certainly physically but even more so mentally. Yoga has eight limbs (compo-
While this practice is not con-
nected to one religion (there is historical evidence that yoga as a tradition predates religion; see “Yoga as a religion?” at www.yogajournal. com), it’s definitely a tool for deepen- ing faith. Try this simple routine to pro-
mote better health, calmness, mental clarity and regular prayer. Start with three times a week and increase to daily as you are able. You can practice yoga at any time, but many people find a short sequence like this to be a perfect way to start the day. You don’t need a lot of space, or even a yoga mat, just a quiet spot in your home with a little room to move. Read each Bible verse (accompa-
nies photos) silently or aloud before you enter the pose. If a particular word or phrase speaks to you, repeat it as a mantra during the pose.
Begin lying on your back, draw
O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land
1. Supta baddha konasana (bound angle pose).
where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1)
the soles of your feet together and let your knees fall out wide into supta baddha konasana (bound angle pose). Place your hands on your stomach and begin to breathe deeply. Feel your belly rise and fall with each breath. Now bring some intention to
your breath: inhale through your nose and exhale through your nose. Inhale to the count of four, then pause at the top of your breath. Exhale to the count of four and pause at the bottom of your breath.
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