The Lineage of Christian Yoga and YogaFaith
To trace the lineage and style of Christian Yoga and YogaFaith, we look at the roots of Bhakti yoga. To trace the philosophy of YogaFaith we look to the Bible.
Bhakti [bhākti] Yoga
Known as the yoga of devotion, Bhakti yoga is one of six major branches of yoga, representing the path of self-transcending love or complete devotion to God or the divine (the others are Raja, Karma, Tantra and Jnana yoga). It’s defined as “devotion” or “love.” Bhakti signifies both devotion and a loving attachment to the divine. In strictest terms, the word means “participation” (from the verbal root bhaj “to participate, partake”). As such, the yoga practitioner on this devotional path literally participates in the divine through surrender, devotion, service, worship, and finally is drawn into mystical union with the divine. It’s thought to have formed approximately 500 B.C.
Bhakti Yoga is considered the easiest yogic path to master and the most direct method to experience the unity of mind, body, and spirit. It is also one of most popular forms of religious practices by Hindus, however you do not have to be Hindu to practice Bhakti Yoga.
Bhakti yoga practitioners devote themselves to a loving relationship with God [or the divine]. In Hinduism, this deeply spiritual practice draws heavily on the Hindu pantheon of deities. Each of these deities is seen as representing a humanized aspect of the single Godhead or Brahman – much the same way the Christian saints represent specific attributes and qualities of God. The use of Hindu deities in Bhakti Yoga can be a large obstacle for Western practitioners, especially for those with a deeply religious background.
Keep in mind that many religions use various practices to worship who they call ‘source,’ as well as many things throughout biblical scripture used outside of God’s original design (wine, music, meditation, dancing, etc).
Hindu deities are not required for this practice – in fact, finding your own object(s) of devotion will be all the more effective in achieving yoga (union) with the Divine, says Timothy Burgin of Yoga Basics.
Christian Yoga is derived from the style of Bhakti Yoga. We at YogaFaith define Bhakti from a Christian worldview as: Union with God through devotion and meditation on Him. We believe the 8th Limb that Patanjali described in the Yoga Sutras can also be defined as the ‘Secret Place’ described in Psalm 91: experiencing the presence of God in the ultimate intimate communion with God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son and His Holy Spirit.
Christian Yoga
An Evangelist from India: A.K. Mozumdar
“Christian Yoga” is a term, perhaps first coined by A. K. Mozumdar, born July 15, 1864 Hindu in a small village about twenty miles north of Calcutta, India.
At 16, Mozumdar’s mother died. He left home to spend several years traveling throughout India, studying under several gurus. He even traveled as far as Bethlehem in search of enlightenment about Christianity. As a young person in India, Mozumdar came under the influence of Arumda, an enlightened teacher. It was he who told the young man that his destiny was to teach in America.
While in China and Japan in 1902 and 1903, Mozumdar’s hunger to learn more about Christianity coupled with the encouragement of Arumda led him to seek transportation to the United States. Finally, he was able to secure steerage on a tramp steamer, eventually arriving in Seattle, Washington, in 1903. In 1905 Jennie and Charles Clark, leaders in Seattle’s Queen City Theosophical Society, reported in the Theosophical Quarterly Magazine that Mozumdar, “a Hindu Brother…has spoken for us for several weeks to full houses.” His lecture for April 3, 1905, was God and Creation. The Clarks wrote that Mozumdar “calls his teachings ‘universal truth.”
On June 30, 1913, Mozumdar became the first East Indian to earn United States citizenship at a brief ceremony in Spokane, Washington. None of the high-caste Hindus had anything else to do with him.
Mozumdar and a student by the name of Ralph M. de Bit joined forces; they commenced the publication of a regular magazine called Christian Yoga Monthly. Mozumdar wrote much of the content and deBit was listed as an editor along with George E. Chambers. Annie Rix Militz (1856-1924), a prominent early leader in the New Thought movement, commented about Mozumdar’s magazine in her own publication, MasterMind Magazine (April-Sept. 1912, p. 174): “The principal writer is a Hindu of fine intellectual ability and great spiritual zeal, intent upon giving a clear message that all things and conditions are according to your concept. Strong, absolute statements abound in the teachings of A.K. Mozumdar.”
Mozumdar was not the only Spokane teacher of New Thought who was gaining a nationwide audience. Mozumdar’s Christian Yoga Society (later known as theUniversal Messianic Church) had a neighbor not many blocks away called the Church of Truth led by the popular Dr. Albert C.
Another Leader of Christian Yoga
Jean Marie Dechanet, Jan. 18, 1906-May 19, 1992
Father Jean Marie Déchanet, a French monk, who explored physical exercise and various forms as a way to connect with God.
Fr. Jean-Marie Déchanet was a monk of Sint-Andriesabdij (Abbaye de Saint-André) near Bruges, Belgium and one of the pioneers of Christian Yoga. In 1956, he authored the book Christian Yoga. By his 1961 letters, he was living in a monastic foundation in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Déchanet’s practice and writings in Christian Yoga were born from a place of simple, pure worship and connection to Christ. He would strip himself of all distractions to find stillness with the Lord for meditation, contemplation, adoration, prayer, praise and worship. He wrote of bowing before the Lord or standing in praise, sometimes with no clothes on, much like David did before the Lord.
Yoga or ‘Yoking’ – for the Christian yoga practitioner refers to uniting our breath, body and spirit with Christ, truly becoming one with Him. We can also yoke our breath to our posture of prayer, or our breath with our movements and dance like David danced. We can also yoke with one another in the sacred space of His presence. Christ followers are familiar with this word to yoke, as the Bible has a lot to say it about it. [Christian Yoga Association, 2018]
Jean-Marie Déchanet, author of Christian Yoga writes:
Before beginning exercises in the morning, I wash, I brush my teeth and drink several mouthfuls of water and then stand facing the open window. Relaxed, smiling slightly and looking straight ahead without focusing on anything, I begin to breathe in, silently pronouncing this verse of Psalm 118:
Rises ever a sigh from my lips, and even, if my breathing rhythm is already slow enough:
Rises ever a sigh from my lips, as I long after my covenant.
And as I see this breath from God that I am eager for, I feel it fill me and quicken my whole being. Not only is my blood purified in this wonderful exchange, of which even the tiniest cells of my lungs bear witness the innermost depths of my whole life as man and Christian are plumbed by it my strength swells and my heart expands. Merely from paying attention to a phenomenon as everyday as this inhalation, I have been able to endow it suddenly with the hidden meaning. It is not only my body but my soul and spirit also that the breath of the Almighty comes to awaken and seize.
For a few moments I keep my lungs full, poised somehow in the wonder that is taking place in me. Then I gently exhale this “corrupted” air, saying silently (from Psalm 50):
My God bring a clean heart to birth within me; breathe new life, true life, into my being.
Fr. Déchanet is careful to distinguish between various kinds of yoga, pointing out that the aims of certain kinds of yoga—control of subconscious processes—are incompatible with the Christian life. For example, this is what he has to say about Rāja Yoga:
With the Christian, every technique is subordinated to the initiative coming from God… any yoga that seeks to be Christian must respect and serve this fundamental trait in Christianity. While it is possible to adapt Hatha Yoga to fit this basic requirement without very much trouble, the same is not true for other forms of yoga. Rāja Yoga, for instance, seems to be in essence, an absolute turning inwards on oneself… an effort to withdraw oneself from māya, the great cosmic illusion, an absolute silence of the mind that shuts itself off from any outside influence, even though it be divine. It is a direct realisation of the self; a mysticism lacking both dogma and faith.
Déchanet reminds us of the essential difference between the Christian and the Eastern spiritual life:
The Christian in praying does not have to search for his own self nor to forget himself in the manner of the Orientals, but to open himself to the word of God, for it is solely in this and by this that he can find himself and exist.
In today’s western world, the practice of Christian yoga developed into holistic forms of worship, with practices of the mind, body, spirit and soul through biblical teachings of a certain posture that biblical figures were in, while praying specific prayers. In observation of these various postures, it appears in scripture that the prayers, combined with a posture, elevates one’s worship or needs. See more on Postures of Prayer. Therefore, Christian yoga is a physical practice of connecting profoundly intimately to our Creator and living God, Jesus Christ with our entire being physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Video of Practicing Postures of Prayer
A photo of a photo I snapped from an old album of Father Dechanet in France.
Paul, a Servant to All
Now, even though I am free from obligations to others, I joyfully make myself a servant to all in order to win as many converts as possible. I became Jewish to the Jewish people in order to win them to the Messiah. I became like one under the law to gain the people who were stuck under the law, even though I myself am not under the law. And to those who are without the Jewish laws, I became like them, as one without the Jewish laws, in order to win them, although I’m not outside the law of God but under the law of Christ. I became “weak” to the weak to win the weak. I have adapted to the culture of every place I’ve gone so that I could more easily win people to Christ. I’ve done all this so that I would become God’s partner for the sake of the gospel.
1 Cor. 9:19-23 The Passion
Me practicing a posture of worship
