The Clash of Two Loves?

Make no mistake about it, I am Christian. But, I’m also a yoga teacher. Is there a clash between these two loves in my life? I didn’t think so until last week when I was discussing the Bible, life, and yoga with someone I had met at a networking meeting. She knew that I was a yoga instructor, and the topic of Christianity came up seemingly naturally in our conversation, but it wasn’t until we began diving into the discussion that I realized she was questioning how I could reconcile teaching a Hindu-based practice while claiming to love the Lord. The initial question seemed quite innocuous to me, because I had always entered into my yoga practice as a time when I could make another connection with God, and I like to bring this aspect into my teaching. From the very beginning of my yoga teaching career, my first and foremost ideal has been to teach the practice in order to improve overall health, increase movement, improve physical well-being, mental sharpness, and to facilitate a mind-body-spirit awareness . . . not to mention just taking the time to breathe, recharge, and reconnect.  Many, if not all, of my students are Christian also, and it is the spiritual connection that they say differentiates my classes from others they’ve attended.

After our discussion, as we were going back to our cars and parting ways, my acquaintance handed me a couple of pamphlets on the dangers of practicing yoga if you are Christian. I was shocked that she had these things prepared for me in her car, and even more shocked at my initial response, which was fear, uncertainty, and almost shame. I wondered, have I been going against God this entire time and didn’t even realize it? I thought of family members and friends who don’t acknowledge my love for the practice and thought that perhaps it was because they thought I was going against my own beliefs and theirs. Having told this woman that I wished other people would have an open mind to Christ, I unwillingly took the pamphlets, thinking that I at least needed to know what some people were saying about it. 

After sitting with the material, I knew most of the things that they were saying about the practice, most of it very extreme. It was so far from what I was teaching, and the spirit that I work to bring to my classes. My question remained, “How can I feel such love for something that I do, for the people with whom I connect, for the help I’m able to give others and the love I get in return, for this to be something that God doesn’t want for me?” Make no mistake about it: I love the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and I will continue to bring this love and my love of yoga to as many people as I can, in the spirit which I had intended from the very beginning.  It’s what I’ve been called to do.