What is Christ-Centered Yoga?

Why do we practice yoga?

Yoga’s roots are found within Eastern traditions and religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. Because of this, many Christians are weary of practicing yoga as it relates to other spiritual practices. We should respect everyone’s personal convictions, but we should also respect those who find connection with Jesus through a yoga practice. With this, the question, “as a Christian, should I practice yoga?” becomes critical. In short, pray about your own personal convictions and what you feel God is calling you to. Of course, the Bible doesn’t explicitly give us this answer, but it does tell us to only worship the Lord our God (Luke 4:8). In our broken world, we experience many things that are tainted by sin. For example, Christmas was originally a Pegan holiday that Christians transformed into a time of remembrance towards Jesus’ birth, education was founded in philosophy, even the days of the week have Pegan roots. However, each of these things have been used to build the kingdom of God through Christians turning our attention back to Christ and Yoga is no different than these other examples. Some yogis do practice it as Buddhism, Hinduism or another spiritual practice. You can go to yoga classes that talk about Karma and the Shakras but that is a choice. Yoga can also exist only within the therapeutic world where no spiritual elements are added but solely focuses on anxiety, depression and trauma.

Yet, another choice of practice is Christian Yoga. This began to spark the community for people like us looking to stretch our bodies, live healthier lives both mentally and psychically while also turning our attention back towards God. Christian yoga focuses on our health while adding scripture and the meditation on God’s word. We do not incorporate any other religious links in our practice including saying “namaste” or “ohm” but rather speak blessings over one another, pray and rest in God’s peace. Broad River Yoga is committed to providing Christian yoga that is in alignment with God’s word.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out directly at broadriveryoga@gmail.com - also sign up below for Monday’s class!