Participants adopt the "downward dog," one of the many poses in the practice of yoga, during a Holy Yoga session Saturday, Aug. 15, 2015, at Callynth Photography Studio in Tyler. Established in 2006, Holy Yoga combines traditional yoga practice with modern Christian beliefs. Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph

With a blue yoga mat beneath her, Stefani Chambers executed various poses in rapid succession as she led eight people through the yoga class.

The class appeared like any other, with lights dimmed, mats lying out on the floor and soft music playing in the background.

But little hints suggested that this wasn’t just any yoga class. A Bible lay open next to Mrs. Chambers’ yoga mat. And as she led the class, she read a passage from the Bible in which Jesus tells people who are weary and burdened to come to Him and He will give them rest.

So often we “try to find rest and trust and strength in doing too much,” Mrs. Chambers said. “Sometimes God just wants us to be with Him and stop reading self-help books and go to Him with everything.”

Mrs. Chambers is among a handful of East Texas women who have been trained to teach Holy Yoga.

Holy Yoga is the intentional practice of connecting a person’s entire being – body, mind and spirit – with God, according to promotional material about the program.

The purpose is to “combine world-class yoga with a Christ-honoring experience that offers an opportunity to believers and non-believers alike to authentically connect with God,” the material reads. Holy Yoga was started by Brooke Boon and is based in Minnesota.

Mrs. Chambers said her No. 1 goal is for Holy Yoga to be a ministry.

“I wanted people to experience what I experienced when I first found Holy Yoga, just feeling whole and complete,” said Mrs. Chambers, who first learned about the practice three years ago. “It’s not about perfect yoga, but it’s about feeling a difference in your heart and having a heart change. I just want people to experience the love of Christ.”

What is Yoga?

Yoga involves exercise, breathing and meditation. There are many different types of yoga, but it is designed to bring “the body and mind together into one harmonious experience,” according to the American Yoga Association website.

Yoga dates back more than 5,000 years because archaeologists have found stone carvings in the Indus Valley depicting figures in yoga positions. The Indus Valley Civilization included present-day Pakistan and northwest India.

The presence of Yoga can be found in folk traditions, the Indus Valley Civilization, ancient Indian epics, Hindu writings and the teachings of Buddhism and Jainism, according to an article on the Indian Government’s Ministry of External Affairs website.

Though the discipline dates back to early civilization, its practice today in most cases looks nothing like the way it was described in the Yoga Sutras or any other original texts, according to the Hindu American Foundation website.

“Rather it has morphed into a form of asana (physical posture) without faith, devotion or understanding underlying it, and therefore, more akin to mere exercise,” the website reads.

Although yoga is a good way to improve health and fitness, that’s not its sole purpose, according to the article on the India’s Ministry of External Affairs website.

“Yoga is about harmonizing oneself with the universe,” the article reads. “It is the technology of aligning individual geometry with the cosmic, to achieve the highest level of perception and harmony.”

Yoga is not bound to one religion, belief system or community, according to the article.

However, “its underlying principles are those of Hindu thought,” according to the Hindu American Foundation.

Why Holy Yoga?

In Holy Yoga, instructors combine God’s word, prayer, worship and the physical practice of yoga to contemporary Christian music.

Mrs. Chambers, 36, a stay-at-home mother, first heard about Holy Yoga when she attended a Jesus at the Core Wellness Event in Dallas.

Though Mrs. Chambers had started doing traditional yoga several years before, she said she appreciated the way Holy Yoga merged her love for Christ and fitness.

“I loved it that I was able to meditate on a scripture while I did yoga and listened to worship music,” she said.

In order to be certified as Holy Yoga instructor, Mrs. Chambers participated in weekly webinars and conference calls for nine weeks and attended a weeklong retreat. To maintain a Holy Yoga instructor certification, instructors have to complete continuing education hours.

It was through the training that Mrs. Chambers met fellow East Texas residents Natalie Hammond and Christie O’Neill.

Ms. O’Neill, 38, a catering manager and waitress at Traditions Restaurant and Catering, began doing yoga about four years ago. A fellow recovering addict introduced her to yoga through a beginner DVD.

“I found the technique and postures and meditation to be very useful in my recovery as well as getting back in touch with giving my body back to God,” she said.

Although Ms. O’Neill enjoyed the practice, she incorporated her own beliefs into it. For example, when the instructor would say, “Breathe in and acknowledge your spirit,” Ms. O’Neill said she acknowledged the Holy Spirit.

It was through a YouTube post that she found the Holy Yoga YouTube channel and went through the training to become a registered instructor.

In September, she will start training to become certified as a therapy and trauma instructor with Holy Yoga.

As a recovering addict and a victim of past abuse, Ms. O’Neill wants to “use my mess to build a message of redemption and restoration.”

Mrs. Hammond, 42, a nurse anesthetist from Whitehouse, has found Holy Yoga to be beneficial physically and spiritually.

It’s an hour that she can have to spend time with God, and she views it as a potential ministry.

Mrs. Hammond is part of Church Under a Bridge, which meets under the West Gentry Parkway bridge, and said she would like to use Holy Yoga to minister to homeless people. She said it could be an unconventional way to reach them.

Though some people might see a conflict between Christianity and yoga, Mrs. Chambers does not. She said yoga predates Hinduism.

She said some people might have a problem with the idea of meditation or opening up the mind to not think about anything. She said though they are opening their heart and mind to what God has to say to them in that moment.

“If we ourselves as sinners can be redeemed from sin, if somebody has used yoga before in a way that was a negative experience, we believe that Christ can use it to glorify him,” Mrs. Chambers said.

Twitter: @TMTEmily

 

By the numbers

300+ Holy Yoga classes weekly worldwide

38 states

11 countries

4 continents

Source: Holy Yoga brochure