“The Kingdom of God is within you.”
(Luke 17:21)
Our VisionWhat is YogaMass?
YogaMass is a holistic worship experience that brings into awareness the promise of Jesus, “ the Kingdom of God is within you.” We do this through yoga movements, breathwork, meditation, prayer, Scripture and Holy Communion, all as spiritual practice using the body. Jesus said, “If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays.” (Luke 11:36). In YogaMass, we seek to become the Light. |
YogaMass® integrates yoga, breath work, meditation, and Holy Communion as a way to bring into self-awareness the body and spirit that is given to each of us by God, and to bring us into union with the divinity of Christ through a shared experience of body movements on our mats and the presence of Jesus Christ through a simple meal of bread and wine. Our vision is that we all come to know the Kingdom of God within that Jesus promises.
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We offer our selves, our souls and bodies.
In his book, The Heart of the World, Thomas Keating, the great contemplative teacher and Trappist monk, posits, “it is at this present moment that the world is on the threshold of a great spiritual confrontation between the East and Christianity. This confrontation could be one of the greatest moments in history. Never before have the Vedic and Buddhist traditions confronted the Christian tradition on so broad a scale.”
The inspiration for YogaMass® was borne out of my love for meditation, yoga, and Jesus Christ. When I am on my mat, I know the truth of deep connection with the divine, and I often wondered, can these practices come together for an experience of Christ consciousness in a way that honors the Christian tradition and the simple beauty of being in our bodies, experiencing the subtleties of movement, quieting the mind, and being attentive to breath? I felt called to integrate what I know in my heart to be true, that the Kingdom of God is within and accessible. I studied to become a certified yoga educator and to integrate the practice of yoga into my Christian spirituality. When I am practicing yoga asanas, I synchronize my body and breath, embracing an embodied spirituality and mindful awareness of the divine breath of God giving me life.
So why a YogaMass®? Bringing together the practice of yoga, breath work, meditation, and Holy Communion is a way to encounter the Risen Christ on our mats, and to tap into the deep well of God’s divine light within us, so that it may shine through us and flow out into the world. In the Church, Mass or Holy Communion is a sacrament, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. When we gather to celebrate and receive Holy Communion, we desire to become one with God in that moment, making it a sacramental moment, a sacred moment in which you know and experience what is true all the time and everywhere. When we celebrate Holy Communion, we come into the present moment and experience divine presence around us and within us through the sharing of the bread and the wine at the table of Jesus.
When we practice yoga, we also have the opportunity to have a sacramental moment, on the individual level, when our breath and our body come together in a way that we feel a truth of who we are in our deepest level of being. We are in these bodies, with this breath, experiencing the gift of life. Our spirits, our energies, move within us, and as we allow and engage this movement, we are on the path to wholeness and healing. We discover the grace of knowing that God’s Spirit is within, not simply intellectually but also experientially. In Christian terms, salvation begins when we open to the possibility of no longer being separate from God. In our humanness, this is a process of discovery and rediscovery, and that hunger for divine connection brings us again and again to our mats.
When we meditate, we can have a sacramental moment, coming to know the truth of the divine light within us meeting God’s Spirit, if even for a moment. And even more, a meditation practice brings us into the process of ongoing conversion, in which, as Father Laurence Freeman, priest and Benedictine monk, says in his book, Light Within: Inner Path of Meditation, “we arrive at a mindfulness of the one Christ present in our hearts and in the world, not remembering Jesus by turning our imagination to the past but mindful of his presence in the present moment. … We awaken to this presence at the deepest level of consciousness.”
YogaMass® is designed to create the space where this union in the present moment, on our mats and at the table of Jesus, can be experienced in community – physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Through engagement of our complete selves in body, soul, and spirit, and the recognition that the sacrament of Holy Communion reveals to us the deep truth and reality that Christ is present, YogaMass® offers a sensory and fully participative experience of Christ’s divine light and consciousness within.
Welcome to YogaMass®. Come and see, move and breathe, taste and drink.
In humble gratitude for God's gracious light of Christ,
Gena
The inspiration for YogaMass® was borne out of my love for meditation, yoga, and Jesus Christ. When I am on my mat, I know the truth of deep connection with the divine, and I often wondered, can these practices come together for an experience of Christ consciousness in a way that honors the Christian tradition and the simple beauty of being in our bodies, experiencing the subtleties of movement, quieting the mind, and being attentive to breath? I felt called to integrate what I know in my heart to be true, that the Kingdom of God is within and accessible. I studied to become a certified yoga educator and to integrate the practice of yoga into my Christian spirituality. When I am practicing yoga asanas, I synchronize my body and breath, embracing an embodied spirituality and mindful awareness of the divine breath of God giving me life.
So why a YogaMass®? Bringing together the practice of yoga, breath work, meditation, and Holy Communion is a way to encounter the Risen Christ on our mats, and to tap into the deep well of God’s divine light within us, so that it may shine through us and flow out into the world. In the Church, Mass or Holy Communion is a sacrament, an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. When we gather to celebrate and receive Holy Communion, we desire to become one with God in that moment, making it a sacramental moment, a sacred moment in which you know and experience what is true all the time and everywhere. When we celebrate Holy Communion, we come into the present moment and experience divine presence around us and within us through the sharing of the bread and the wine at the table of Jesus.
When we practice yoga, we also have the opportunity to have a sacramental moment, on the individual level, when our breath and our body come together in a way that we feel a truth of who we are in our deepest level of being. We are in these bodies, with this breath, experiencing the gift of life. Our spirits, our energies, move within us, and as we allow and engage this movement, we are on the path to wholeness and healing. We discover the grace of knowing that God’s Spirit is within, not simply intellectually but also experientially. In Christian terms, salvation begins when we open to the possibility of no longer being separate from God. In our humanness, this is a process of discovery and rediscovery, and that hunger for divine connection brings us again and again to our mats.
When we meditate, we can have a sacramental moment, coming to know the truth of the divine light within us meeting God’s Spirit, if even for a moment. And even more, a meditation practice brings us into the process of ongoing conversion, in which, as Father Laurence Freeman, priest and Benedictine monk, says in his book, Light Within: Inner Path of Meditation, “we arrive at a mindfulness of the one Christ present in our hearts and in the world, not remembering Jesus by turning our imagination to the past but mindful of his presence in the present moment. … We awaken to this presence at the deepest level of consciousness.”
YogaMass® is designed to create the space where this union in the present moment, on our mats and at the table of Jesus, can be experienced in community – physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Through engagement of our complete selves in body, soul, and spirit, and the recognition that the sacrament of Holy Communion reveals to us the deep truth and reality that Christ is present, YogaMass® offers a sensory and fully participative experience of Christ’s divine light and consciousness within.
Welcome to YogaMass®. Come and see, move and breathe, taste and drink.
In humble gratitude for God's gracious light of Christ,
Gena
Copyright ® 2024 The Reverend Gena Davis. All Rights Reserved.