Lets break this question down to basics. Can a Christian practice Yoga? What is Yoga? It is a bunch of poses that place the body in positions that biologically create hormone balance, inner heat, weight loss, muscle strength, muscle toning/lengthening, etc. I could go on and on. It also uses meditation. There are plenty of people out there who can uses the poses without meditation- and do- that recieve the health benefits of less pain with arthritis, fewer sore muscles, better abdominals... again, I could go on and on. Scientifically, and even spiritually, we cannot argue that these poses are actually very good for our body and are a form of caring for the temple that Christ reminds us to care for.
But we all know that the full benefits of Yoga are found when it is fully practiced using a form of meditation as well. Here is the part that gets sticky for many Christians. Our faith dictates that we watch for and deny the subtle ways of giving credence to other Gods- which include ourselves.
Lets look at meditation then. When we meditate, we basically call out to the universe and try to figure out our place in it, acknowledge that we are in it, that we have a place and to center ourselves. No? I do not meditate but from what I understand, that is the gist of it.
And now, lets consider prayer. Actually, I am going to quote a passage from one of my texts this semester that I think is very interesting and quite applicable.
-Parker J Palmer, To Know as We are Known, Education as a Spiritual Journey
If we consider what Palmer is sharing with us, his definition of prayer, we can see how meditation and prayer are very similar. Take his words 'love' and 'life' and replace with God and you suddenly have a very obviously Christian statement. Just a side note, he is a Christian educator. He wrote this book for other Christian educators- so some things are assumed in that context.
If then, meditation and prayer are so similar, why can we not pray while doing yoga? No matter the situation, we as followers of faith, can choose to allow and invite God into our every moments- even if they are traditionally used for someone else. We took Easter and Christmas and added our father to those- in order to bring the pagans around us to Christ. Can we not use Yoga and other practices such as zone therapy, which are scientifically (biologically and physically) proven to have very positive health benefits, all faith aside? I argue we can. Why would we turn away from yet another gift and way to reach out to God?
But we all know that the full benefits of Yoga are found when it is fully practiced using a form of meditation as well. Here is the part that gets sticky for many Christians. Our faith dictates that we watch for and deny the subtle ways of giving credence to other Gods- which include ourselves.
Lets look at meditation then. When we meditate, we basically call out to the universe and try to figure out our place in it, acknowledge that we are in it, that we have a place and to center ourselves. No? I do not meditate but from what I understand, that is the gist of it.
And now, lets consider prayer. Actually, I am going to quote a passage from one of my texts this semester that I think is very interesting and quite applicable.
What do I mean by prayer? I mean the practice of relatedness.
On one side, prayer is our capacity to enter into that vast community of life in which self and other, human and nonhuman, visible and invisible are intricately intertwined. While my senses discriminate and my mind dissects, my prayer acknowledges and recreates the unity of life. In prayer, I no longer set myself apart from others and the world, manipulating them to suit my needs. Instead, I reach for relationship allow myself to feel the tuggings of mutuality and accountability, take my place in community by knowing the transcendent center that connects it all.
On the other side, prayer means opening myself to the fact that as I reach for that connecting center, the center is reaching for me. As I move toward the heart of reality, reality is moving toward my heart. As I recollect the unity of life, life is recollecting me in my original wholeness. In prayer, I not only address the love at the core of all things; I listen as that love addresses my, calling me out of isolation and self-centerdness into community and compassion. In prayer, I being to realize that I not only know, but am known....
In prayer we allow ourselves to be known by love, to receive this freeing and redeeming knowledge of ourselves. .. The mind immersed in prayer no longer thinks in order to divide and conquer, to manipulate and control. -Parker J Palmer, To Know as We are Known, Education as a Spiritual Journey
If we consider what Palmer is sharing with us, his definition of prayer, we can see how meditation and prayer are very similar. Take his words 'love' and 'life' and replace with God and you suddenly have a very obviously Christian statement. Just a side note, he is a Christian educator. He wrote this book for other Christian educators- so some things are assumed in that context.
If then, meditation and prayer are so similar, why can we not pray while doing yoga? No matter the situation, we as followers of faith, can choose to allow and invite God into our every moments- even if they are traditionally used for someone else. We took Easter and Christmas and added our father to those- in order to bring the pagans around us to Christ. Can we not use Yoga and other practices such as zone therapy, which are scientifically (biologically and physically) proven to have very positive health benefits, all faith aside? I argue we can. Why would we turn away from yet another gift and way to reach out to God?
Hi Julie! Please find my Q&A type responses below:
ReplyDelete1."Here is the part that gets sticky for many Christians. Our faith dictates that we watch for and deny the subtle ways of giving credence to other Gods- which include ourselves."
In yoga, and in the meditation and spirituality that I practice, the emphasis is not placed on an external God. Many of us believe that the divine is within us, and/or that there is no separation between God and ourselves. Further to that, many of us believe that nothing separates us from one another. So there is not a question of worshiping the Self, or worshiping other Gods. I tend not to frame the relationship with the divine in dualistic terms. I know that's frustrating for the purposes of a Christian discussion. Basically, I am not afraid of being open to "other Gods" because I see all of the Divine as One, and if I connect to anything that is of the Divine, I connect to all of it.
HOWEVER: I do believe in and pray to God, and Jesus. I often start a meditation session with the Lord's Prayer. AND, I do pray during yoga at times, and I see my yoga practice as a form of worship.
"Lets look at meditation then. When we meditate, we basically call out to the universe and try to figure out our place in it, acknowledge that we are in it, that we have a place and to center ourselves."
There are many ways to practice meditation. What you describe is one way to practice. I know you have heard about transcendental meditation; I see it is as emptying out so we can receive the gift of connection to God and/or the Universe. We "transcend" the self, the ego, so that we can dissolve into the uniting force behind all of life. In yogic meditation, we also empty out. "Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah": The restraint of the modifications of the mind-stuff is yoga. In other words, yoga allows us to go beyond the normal busy-ness of our minds. We learn to quiet the mind. We sit back and let the stream of thoughts go. You can imagine your mind like the blue sky, and your thoughts are weather patterns. And in time it becomes easier to let the thoughts float by, like clouds, without attaching to them. Often God cannot speak to us over the noisiness of our thoughts.
I hope this makes sense. I love what you have to say here. I enjoy reading Parker Palmer, and I plan to read more of him when I get the time.
I would also like to teach a Christian meditation class at our church at some point! Perhaps we could teach it together.