My name is Maureen Grace. In 2016 I attained my RYT 200 certification in Yoga. I took this training to discover the “‘whole story” of yoga. I knew I would be delving into some eastern religions but gaining this knowledge or understanding, helped me assimilate the asanas with my beliefs. I am Roman Catholic and yes we can take some of the wisdom of yogis of old and create a healthy, spiritual christian practice. The yogis found sitting for hours to meditate extremely hard on their bodies. They began to mimic the poses of animals to stretch their muscles to gain the flexibility needed to enable them to sit in meditation pain free. Downward facing dog is a perfect example.
How many of us find it difficult to quiet our minds and sit for lengths of time to speak to our Lord? I know I did. Join me in stretching our faith through stretching our bodies to move and pray.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person, for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. ~ Corinthians 3, 16-17
Amazingly, there ARE Catholic Yogis. The earliest I could find is Fr. Jean-Marie Déchanet, O.S.B.. Father Jean-Marie is considered to be the Father of Christian Yoga. His book titled Christian Yoga was published in French, back in 1956.
Father Thomas Ryan, C.S.P. studied meditation and yoga extensively and then wrote about it in context of it as a Christian Spiritual Practice.
Craig Bullock is called the “Catholic Yogi” and is Founder & Director of the Assisi Institute in Rochester, New York.
I have moved from Yang yoga to Yin over the years. This form is passive and stretches your facia and lubricates your joints. Poses are held between 2 - 5 minutes on average. This form is wonderful for flexibility, an important attribute as we age. It allows your body to sit quietly to pray and be in the Lord’s presence.
The pandemic that swept the world gave me plenty of time to delve deeper into Yin Yoga and my faith. I’ve spent this time merging the two. This time of retrospect allowed me to build a gentle yoga that is Christian based. The year of 2020 was my year of Mary. I’ve researched her by reading many books, discovering her many apparitions and in particular fell in Love with the Fatima story. This has brought me to daily rosaries. In particular, I have created asana flows around the Mysteries of the Rosary. I hope you will enjoy these as much as I do..
Contact Info: Maureen Grace
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