I started a 30-day yoga challenge as a “New Year resolution” (I started January 1st, on March 25th I completed Day 18… I was a little behind!) Yoga, as a deeply spiritual practice, has become more than just a physical exercise for me. I find that through this journey, I connect with God through yoga in ways I never expected when I first began. The mantra of “My God is my anchor” has resonated deeply with me.
In our yoga practice, the instructor often emphasizes connecting to the earth and a higher power. Understanding who the Ultimate Higher Power is—the Creator of the Earth—transforms the experience into something truly profound. I remember a moment when she asked us what we wanted to draw closer to during our practice and without hesitation, I answered, “Christ,” even though the instructor might have been referring to inner peace, tranquility, or self-acceptance.
Yoga places significant emphasis on the breath, grounding us and serving as the foundation of our practice. One day, our session revolved around the mantra, “My breath is my anchor, my anchor is my breath”. It prompted me to reflect on a profound question: who gave us breath in the first place?
Genesis 2:7 says “And the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person.” God gave us breath, the breath of life! Again in Ezekiel 37:5-6 “The Sovereign Lord says: ‘Look! I am going to breathe into you and make you live again. I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” His very breath gives us life!
I adapted the mantra in my yoga practice to “My God is my anchor, my anchor is my God”. Understanding the truth about who God is makes us realize that God and breath are synonymous in life. I am excited to continue my yoga journey, with breath—God—as my foundation. He is the essence of everything we do, and His breath fills us with real, eternal life.
