If you are intent on teaching Christian Yoga, it might help to be clear about what it means to be a Christian. As with many of the articles I write I like to start with my own definition. So here is my definition of what it means to be a Christian.

A Christian is one who follows the teachings of Christ Jesus – Tony Cuckson

The key word in this simple definition is the word “follows.”  This means that you as a Christian do as the Master Jesus states.

In this sharing of my Christian Yoga training program I take key instructions from the Master and share what this involves by way of practical everyday living and how such practices are related to the core teachings of Yoga.

Here are the key instructions given by the Master Jesus Christ that you are to follow.

1. Seek Yeh first the Kingdom of God.
2. Give no thought.
3. Be Still and KNOW.
4. Pray in Secret.
5. Serve One Master.
6. Become as a Little Child.

The above are clear instructions.  They are not ambiguous. In the view of this writer you are a Christian to the degree that you follow these clear instructions.

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? – Luke 6:46

How many of the above “things” that the Master Jesus says to do are you doing?  How many of the above “things” form the core of any Christian Yoga training program that you have studied or are about to study.

If you are not doing these and most Christians are not, then why are you intent on teaching Christian Yoga?

The first 3 things listed above are the real three steps to Heaven. The first four “things” are foundational to what it is to follow the wisdom teachings of the Master Jesus Christ.

• Seek Yeh FIRST.
• Give no thought.
• Be Still and KNOW
• Pray in Secret

Where are you getting the authority to teach this radical and revelatory invitation if you are not engaged in practicing what the Master instructed? More about the authority to teach Christian Yoga later.

If your Christian Yoga training program doesn’t have these as their foundational direction, then it is a Christian Yoga training program in a name only.

If you have taken or are taking a Christian Yoga program, then it would be essential to incorporate these “things to do” as instructed by Christ Jesus.

Like the teachings of the Master Jesus the teachings of Yoga are transformational. In the West, the teachings of Yoga have become big business focused on the invitation to fitness and flexibility.

I liken this to teaching people how to live in the basement of a beautiful Palace. The Palace has been taken over by the servant and the King and Queen have left the building.

Like the teachings of Yoga the teachings of the Master have been taken over by those who would keep you out of the experience of revelation.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. – Matthew 23:13

The teaching of Yoga and the teaching of the Master Jesus Christ have the same radical invitation. This is the invitation to the revelatory experience of union.

It is only those who have been graced the revelatory experience of union who have the authority to teach the way of Christian Yoga. You might get certified in Christian Yoga which can be a beginning but your true authority to teach comes from your alignment with INNER KNOWING.

The Indian Sage Patanjali considered the father of Yoga defined Yoga in different ways and one of these ways was

Yoga is the journey from the self to the Self through the self – Patanjali.

This is the journey of union of the personal self with the Universal self. This is the meaning of the teaching of the Master Jesus when in the Gospel of St Thomas he declares

When you make the two into one then you will enter the Kingdom – Gospel of St Thomas.

Yoga and the teachings of the Master meet with the core intention of inviting the revelation of unity. In Yoga this is called unity with the Self. In Christianity this is the experience of becoming Christed.

Neither of these are attained by way of belief. You can begin with belief in the possibility but then you have to drop belief in order to enter the experience of authentic faith.

What can be taught are Yoga postures and asanas. What can be taught are invitations from Biblical passages provided these are not taken literally as most Christians do. The Bible is a metaphorical map of the journey of the Mind.

The Bible is a map of the territory of the personal mind in union with the Mind. Bible passages are signposts point the way to this unity of the personal mind with the Universal Mind. This is the invitation from St. Paul to “Put on the Mind of Christ.”

The problem becomes clinging to signposts rather than stepping out into the unknown. It is similar to going to a restaurant and reading the menu but never eating at the restaurant.

I teach Christian Yoga while KNOWING that the experience of unity can’t really be taught and can only pointed toward. In times gone by there were spiritual teachers who were able to transmit the KNOWING of the Divine.

Anyone can teach Christianity as a way of belief but only a few can teach the true way of revelation. You can only teach revelation by way of invitation if you have been graced a direct encounter with God.

You can only serve one Master.  Either you serve a system of belief (personal mind), or you serve that which is beyond belief. (Universal Mind) When you follow this invitation to beyond belief you become a seeker after truth.

It is KNOWING this truth that liberates you from the core reason for most suffering. This is the KNOWING of the truth that you and the Divine are never separate. This is not a belief. It is the truth.

Intellectual acknowledgement ABOUT truth is not enough. It is the grace experience of revelation that will allow you to KNOW.

It took me twenty years to be comfortable recognising this.  I teach Christian Yoga and other paths of Yoga from the wish that is beautifully declared by the mystic Hafiz of Shiraz.

I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being. ― Hafiz of Shiraz

So I teach Christian Yoga as a way of wish fulfilment KNOWING that what I am inviting isn’t something that can be realised by way of effort.

However, you do have to make the effort. You do have to seek the Kingdom, but its realisation is always by way of Grace.

Don’t let this turn you off the idea of exploring the journey of Christian Yoga but be aware that teaching some postures aligned with some Bible passages is not the full experience.

I liken this to decorating the basement of a glorious Palace.

The way in which I teach Christian Yoga is to begin with four pillars of learning.  These are: –

1. Seek Yeh first.
2. Give No Thought.
3. Be Still and KNOW
4. Pray in Secret

The focus of this Christian Yoga program is to invite you to follow the clear instructions of the Master Jesus Christ.

Christian Yoga Pillar 1

The Master Jesus Christ instructed that the first thing to do was to “Seek yeh first the Kingdom of Heaven?”

In my Christian upbringing in my homeland of Northern Ireland during the 1960’s the emphasis was not on seeking the Kingdom but believing in the Kingdom.

This Christian Yoga program of teaching shared here helps you understand the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven and HOW TO go about finding it.

Christian Yoga Pillar 2

The first step on this journey of seeking the Kingdom of Heaven is to learn the power of the radical invitation “Give no thought.”

In all the time I have attended and listened to those who claim authority in teaching Christianity I have never heard anyone invite or promote the practice of “Giving no thought.”

In fact the emphasis has been on “thinking about” rather than learning what it means to be “thought through” by Divine Intention.

Christian Yoga Pillar 3

The third step of this Christian Yoga teaching program is tightly tied to the 2^nd step. This is the invitation from the Psalmist who invites you into the stillness of KNOWING.

The Christian Yoga teacher needs to KNOW what they are inviting. This is not intellectual understanding. It can’t be accessed by way of thought. KNOWING is by way of revelation.

The Sage Patanjali who is the father of Yoga described yoga as “The modifications of the mind.” What is modified is the focus of your attention and intention.

Your intention becomes the training in allowing and surrender to the flow of the Divine Mind thinking through you for the greater glory of All.

Christian Yoga Pillar 4

The 4^th Christian Yoga Pillar is learning how to pray in secret. (Matthew 6:6). This is not prayer as you are normally taught to pray.

This is the prayer linked to the practice of steps 2 and 3 of the above pillars of Christian Yoga.

This is a prayer practice that takes you into a journey of living in alignment with the Kingdom of Heaven as it is intended to be expressed through you within this limitation of time and space.

With these four pillars of Christian Yoga you begin to live the Lord’s prayer where you invite the will of the Divine to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Notice here the clear instruction that Heaven be brought to earth. This can only be done through a human body that is open to such. The practice of yoga postures is not primarily about flexibility but the opening to the higher revelation of LOVE.

The Christian mystic Miester Eckart describes this flow of Heaven to earth in this way.

When the higher flows into the lower the lower is transformed by the Higher – Meister Eckhart – Christian mystic – 1260-1328

In this way you make the greatest contribution that is available to you and through you. In this way you serve Love’s purpose which is the real purpose of your being here.

Relax, Let Go and Let GOD.

I hope that you are encouraged to explore the radical journey that is the path of Christian Yoga. Note this invitation is not for the faint of heart and certainly not for those who are ardent believers in words and concepts.

I teach Yoga as the invitation to the experience of revelation.

This is not more knowledge but the invitation to the experience of KNOWING and being known through by Divine Intention. It is the experience invited in the Lord’s prayer that affirms, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

The will of the Divine is not a belief. It is a moment-to-moment experience that flows through the body/mind. It is you living in a state of free flow.  You become what we used to refer to in the 1960’s as “a happening.”

I am presently in the process of writing a 30-day Christian Yoga training program which I am making available here on this website. This will include recommended yoga postures that link to the direct instructions of the Master Jesus Christ.

In addition I intend to make available more detailed instructions in learning how to seek the Kingdom of Heaven by way of guided meditations.

If you found this article of value and you would like to be notified of when this full program of Christian Yoga training program becomes available, please complete the form below to be notified when this program will be available.

If you found this article of value and you would like to be notified of when this full program of Christian Yoga training program becomes available, please complete the form below to be notified when this program will be available.