Prayer, Praise & Pose

We created this design in conjunction with Stacy-Lee Holm, founder of the Yoga Worship Movement. Stacy-Lee is R-YFT 200 Yoga Alliance certified, and desires to unite people through “prayer, praise and pose”.

“Let us rejoice together as we use Christ’s love as our foundation, turning our hearts and bodies and minds to worship the Son!” ~ Stacy-Lee Holm

“Wait? Yoga? And CHURCH? I thought all yogis were Hindus and Buddhists… or maybe even Wiccans?!” Actually… no. The truth is, there’s no conflict between yoga and Christianity. There’s nothing inherently religious about yoga, or at least nothing about yoga that’s “owned” by any one particular religion. You can be a yogi AND a Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew, or any of the (literally) thousands of other religions that exist on this planet we all share. There’s nothing about yoga that’s the exclusive province of anybody. Yoga itself is fundamentally secular. Which is not to say that yoga can’t be a spiritual experience. Yoga is a meditative practice — an opportunity to focus one’s mind both inward and outward at the same time, and that’s something that’s valued by nearly every religion (and by secular humanists as well!)

In Stacy-Lee’s own words:

“Yoga is the way I worship God. It is the way I honor my body as His temple, the way I return praise and thanksgiving to Him for creating me, and the way I act as a good steward of His craftsmanship. Yoga is His art reflecting back to Him. Yoga is a way to unite, to connect. “Prayer, praise and pose” is the joining of mindful meditation on the word of God and the worship of Him through body movement and breathing. It is an expression of praise and thanksgiving toward our Creator.”

No matter what your denomination (or even if you subscribe to none at all), everyone recognizes the beautiful tulip as a symbol of hope and resurrection, of new life, and rebirth.

If you’d like to read a bit more about why we designed this mat, check out our Design Highlight. If you’d like to learn more about Stacy-Lee, check out her Yogi Highlight!