Why Yoga

Why Yoga

As many of you know I came back from my second Ignatian Yoga Retreat this weekend. You hear lots of comments about yoga, and spirituality, and about whether or not it is compatible with Christianity, etc., etc. I wanted to write about Yoga in general, then Ignatian Yoga specifically, and then make a larger point about spirituality.

Today is July 2. Tomorrow would be my daughter Lydia’s 15th birthday. It seems inconceivable to me to imagine her as a 15 year old girl. I do have some way of thinking about her at that age though because I have a photo of her sister at about that same age. Her sister would now be 25, and I often wonder what happened to her. Because of how that situation in China played out, we were never able to keep in touch with Lydia’s family. Another sad moment in a very sad situation. Another time to ponder the “what might have been’s” of that situation….

Getting through a child’s death, a living, breathing child who occupied the space in your heart for 5 years, is a very difficult, life changing task. The trauma of watching that child suffer through a very painful, devastating battle with leukemia; the adoption/family in China piece; the closure of my successful law office; the financial burden it wrought that has life long consequences...all these things can make one bitter and angry and resentful. Sometimes its hard to find your way through all that grief, and bitterness, and just the question of why????

For me, Yoga was a vehicle through which I could see my faith in God continuing. Yoga did not supplant my view of God; quite the contrary-it heightened my ability to see God in all things. Long before I was a Catholic I was a Lakeside Chautauqua, life-long Methodist who believed and still believes in the three pillars of the the Chautauqua movement as one of connecting the mind, body and spirit. To me, after becoming Catholic and learning more about St. Ignatius and Ignatian spirituality, spirituality became about seeing God in all things, including in moments of tragedy in our lives, as well as in ways that we can find to connect with God...through our minds, our bodies and our spirits.

Since Descartes, who famously said, I Think, Therefore I Am, we in the West have had this idea that our minds and our bodies are somehow separate...that what happens in our bodies, can never connect us to wisdom in our minds, or peace in our spirits. We lost the ability that ancient people had of seeing all things as part of God...as manifestations of who God is.

Enter Yoga. Yoga is a way of linking your mind, your body and your spirit. Through the challenges that Yoga brings, through the pain and discomfort we sometimes experience when doing challenging poses, we can gain deeper insight into who we are and we learn that suffering can lead to triumph and ultimately, to God. We learn humility and the fact that life is a practice….a life long journey to God that we can never get right without God. We can experience God by blocking out the rest of the world, and inviting him into our practice there on our mat. Our minds can be attuned to what God is communicating to us as we use our bodies as a form of prayer.

As a Catholic, we assume various postures in Mass all the time...we kneel, we bow, we stand, we pray, we bring our hands to heart center...sometimes we even prostrate ourselves at the presence of God in the Eucharist when we realize the sacritice Jesus made. Ignatian Yoga, based on the Spiritual Exercises developed by St. Ignatius, invites us to contemplate Christ’s specific, sacrificial acts as we practice Yoga. It invites us to use all our senses and our bodies to experience Christi’s suffering, death and resurrection.

Thomas Merton, the great Catholic writer and thinker, used Buddhist postures to deepen his prayer and Meditation practice. Like me, he used certain postures to invite his body into comtemplation of the mystery of God. There is nothing wrong with the mind body connection one can use to experience God. When we hear music, when we dance, when we place ourselves into certain postures, we are using our bodies to deepen our understanding of our true self and our relationship to the Almighty.

Yoga also teaches us to detach from unhealthy attachments to anything that takes us away from God. This is perfectly aligned to what St. Ignatius taught about detaching from that which would detract from putting God first.

When I think of Yoga and other meditation practices, I think of a Venn diagram. In one circle are Eastern meditation and yoga practices, and in the other circle is Christianity. Like Merton and Ignatius, I’m looking for where these two great world religions overlap. Where I see them overlapping, and where I think Merton and Ignatius would agree, is in that area where such practices lead us closer to experiencing the mystery of God.

From a Catholic perspective, and thanks to great thinkers like Merton and Ignatius, we have a deep, rich tradition of spiritual and meditation practices to help us achieve mindfulness and awareness of God’s presence in our lives. I pray that many more people can use Yoga to deepen and strengthen their relationship with Christ. I know that I could not have made it through the path of my life without my being able to find God even in the depths of despair there on my mat.

In peace,