I was recently on vacation in northern Maine and carved out time to film a yoga practice on the dock of our very private and quite rental cabin.  Honestly this quality of Maine is what keeps drawing me back to the northern woods.  There is a reverence in the quiet and a real sense of wonder in these woods that seems so ancient and untouched that helps me to connect with my soul and God’s vast love in the act of his creation.

I guided my yoga practice with a verse that is so rich with Christ’s power and love for us, it seemed to just arrive in my heart before filming.  The verse is from Ephesians, of course it is from Paul, the bible author that most aligns with my heart and the way God helps me to see Him.  It is from Ephesians 3: 16-19;

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This verse truly whispered to me like the wind often present across the lake on my vacation home of the constant power and presence of God’s love.  As I continue to practice yoga, I know in my bones that yoga and moving our bodies is a consistent doorway to Him, a doorway that help us to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in (our) inner being.  Honestly this is how I define yoga, the way we use our body, breath and even the moral precepts of yoga that align with Jesus’s teachings, (more on that another day) , to become closer to our true self, the light within, the Spirit in our inner being.   Yoga lightens our worldly load and helps us to sense the vastness of God’s love and power to move in our lives.  That is, if we get out of our own heads and allow him his due! 

As we continue to reflect on this passage, like the trees in my beautiful lake reflected back their image to their maker we are reminded of where our faith comes from- so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love.  So telling, he dwells in our hearts through faith.  For some reason in my mind faith and trust are almost synonymous.  Perhaps because for so long in my life, I have used the word trust for my personal intention to light my way and to remind me to get out of the way and let God guide me.   So, this verse has extra punching power for me!  Because I trust Him, I am rooted and grounded in love.  These are two characteristics of Christ that yoga practice always helps us to embody.  It is almost like modern living fills our heads with so many thoughts, responsibilities, perceived shortcomings and honestly more to do, produce and consume, we forget that when we get grounded in the present moment, we become closer to what really matters, our relationship with Christ and His love. He desires to provide for us this love and to use us to project His love into the world.

Once we have become grounded, an integral part of a transformative yoga practice, we are then more able to perceive and feel the expansive nature of God’s love.  This perception helps to make our so-called problems, which may be doorways to deepen our faith, far less oppressive.  The time on our mats makes more space around the details of our lives as we connect to sometime more timeless and powerful – the all-consuming love of God, so that we may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of our Fathers love. 

Time in nature really helps us to experience this type of expansive love of God.  It doesn’t have to be in the wilds of Maine or somewhere like the ocean or the grand canyon.  His creation is everywhere and getting out into the fresh air feeling this waif across your body, the sunshine on your face or gazing up at the sky can remind all of us that we are surrounded by a God that can be encountered everywhere. 

This last two lines of this verse tend to be felt towards the end of our yoga practice or honestly any time we make some space in our lives to simple breath and feel the spaciousness of Him around and within us.  ..to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.  This is often the feeling we have during or after we rest in savasana, the final resting pose in yoga.  We may not be able to name it but there is a peace there that we cannot quite put our finger on, perhaps a feeling of trust that the way has become just a bit wider, we may not have the answers to our worldly problems all figured out nor do we have all our spiritual questions clarified but we feel this sense of spaciousness around our hearts and somehow this is all we need, it is more than enough.  We feel held in a vastness, a timelessness that feels like love and connection with all things. 

We arrive at the last verse which feels like a love letter from Paul- the truth and promise of our faith- that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  This is another feeling that can be embodied through yoga practice or by moving our bodies in nature.  As we move from a feeling perhaps of love that surpasses knowledge, we become full with our true identity -humans with strengths as well as faults, failings and struggles but no matter.  When we choose to become grounded in faith, in this moment, in this body, all of this falls away and we are somehow lighter, more illuminous as we are filled with the love of God.  This my friend is why we practice so we can remember, to polish our lens so to speak, so we can see more clearly who we are to Him and how greatly loved we are.