Christian Yoga

By Liz Neporent

When Susan Bordenkircher began taking yoga in 1996 she was looking to do something good for her body. As a devout Christian, the Alabama native was surprised to find that the 5,000 year-old Hindu practice also made her feel closer to God.

Wanting to share this experience with others, she developed Outstretched in Worship, a class that combines Hatha yoga stretches with spiritual meditations. It was an instant hit, attracting so many followers that in 2000, Bordenkircher created a DVD series that now reaches a national audience.

"I'm interested in using yoga to create a more open relationship with God," Bordenkircher says. "I instruct students to quiet the mind so that they come to God with no baggage."

Christian yoga is a growing trend throughout all parts of the country, even in places like New York City and Los Angeles which aren't typically associated with spiritual interests. Approximately 15 million Americans practice yoga; more than 50 percent also claim to be religious.

Churches, Christian retreats and denominational conventions now routinely incorporate yoga as one approach to cultivating a quiet, receptive spirit and deep prayer life. And besides Bordenkircher's DVD series, there are a dozen other Christian yoga books and instructional tapes on the market.

While yoga, with its undercurrent of spirituality, seems especially well-suited for a religious makeover, faith-based fitness programs are certainly nothing new. Victoria Johnson's Fitness Ministries, are available in hundreds of churches throughout the country and Billy Blanks' Billy Blanks' Believer's Workout TAE BO DVD's, are just two that have attracted devout followings for more than a decade.

Not everyone is a believer though. On her Web site, PraiseMoves.com founder, Laurette Willis goes so far as to use an analogy comparing yoga to "rat poison" and promotes a practice that's stripped of chanting, meditation and sun salutations, replacing them with biblical scripture and poses dubbed with Christian -- rather than traditional Yogi -- names.

Bordenkircher counters such criticism by saying that God designed the human body and all its uses.

"Just because someone else named a way of moving one thing or used it for another purpose, does not mean it cannot be used for God's glory."

In fact, Outstretched Ministries is an outreach program wholeheartedly supported by her church, Jubilee Shores United Methodist. Classes are offered free of charge to all comers.

You can purchase Outstretched in Worship DVDs and Bordenkircher's book, "Yoga for Christians" (W. Publishing, 2006) on her ministry's Web site, www.christianyoga.us.