Where is Your Mountain Peak
For nearly 10 years I’ve studied the way yoga can activate a newfound quality of life for every body shape and size. There is something about finding ways to make movement accessible to all ages and ranges of mobility that truly inspires me.
When it comes to yoga and Christianity, I know there is controversy.
I am not writing this to get into it, honestly.
God is not separate from anything.
I’ve considered my finding of yoga a substantial part of my faith journey. From my experience, it was an entry point into understanding myself and my body better, which led me into a real relationship with Jesus and our maker. I’ll save the full testimony for another entry, I promise.
On Wednesday’s, I teach a chair yoga class.
We begin in the chair and end in the chair. The peak of the session takes us up and out of the chair for a series of supported standing poses. About half way through the class, we reach our peak pose. Mountain. Everyone stands tall, arms alongside the body, palms facing forward.
One of my teachers calls it our “optimal blueprint”.
In chair yoga, you notice this optimal blueprint by;
The way your feet connect to the ground.
The way your knees stack over the ankles.
The way the hips sit and the tail bone tucks.
The way the spine stacks, block by block.
The way your finger tips reach towards the ground.
The way your shoulders draw up to the ears, back, and down.
As you breathe in and out through your nose, you feel the breath fill your body from the top of your head, down through the tips of your toes.
In the same way we want our body to be physically healthy, I believe that our spiritual health is an essential component of functioning optimally.
This past Sunday in church, our pastor read from Romans 8. The passage is titled, “Life in the Spirit”. Paul is an author worth admiring. Most of his ministry was done in a prison cell, or amidst persecution for sharing Jesus with whoever he could get to listen.
Below, Paul is giving us the authority to accept and own the gift of God’s Spirit within us. “Letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace”.. Raise your hand if you need this!
This is part of the loving salvation offered to all of us by Jesus Christ. Slowly, read each word of the passage for yourself. Maybe you read it twice.
“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature.
You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
The minor adjustments we make to find optimal alignment in our bodies, is similar to adjusting our lifestyle to align with the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Small, intentional movements over time.
Our God created all things, the body and the spirit, to live in unity! He has the power to connect with us in ALL things.
I challenge you to find a quiet place to connect with your physical body sometime within the next week. You may try a chair yoga class, or find a place in your living room. Meet yourself in mountain pose. Standing tall, arms by your sides as I’d described before. Breathe there, in and out through the nose.
Try not to expect, simply allowing what will be to be.
The journey towards “optimizing your blueprint” begins when you get started. Whether in a mountain pose or a church pew, my prayer is that Jesus and His peace bearing Spirit reach you.
Peace, peace, peace!
Makenna Curtis
Local Pulse Community Writer
Holy Moments
