Welcome to a Year of Positive Transformation

Welcome to YogaPrayer365, a place to slow down, take a breath, and dedicate a few moments of each day to yoga and prayer. All faiths and yoga styles are welcome to benefit from a shared commitment to daily practice and worship.

Like many people, I'm attentive to my practice and my faith a lot of the time, but I could be more regularly committed to both. Yoga practice and Christian faith are aspects of my life that always give back and spread positivity tenfold. The more consistent I am in my yoga practice, the more balanced and healthy I feel, and I act with confidence and patience. The more time I spend engaging with Scripture and worship, the more gracious and humble I feel, and I act with love and kindness. Imagine the person I could be if I dedicated just a few moments each day to yoga and prayer

A little bit of stretching and a quick "Our Father" shouldn't be too hard to accomplish daily, right? Admittedly, though, I let myself create excuses, giving myself partial credit for squeezing in a couple of rushed sun salutations or a quick prayer muttered while loading the groceries. I go on streaks of one or the other -- more prayer than yoga these days -- but am not consistent. This little blog follows my attempts to change my own habits and dedicate at least ten minutes daily to yoga and prayer for one full year. I might struggle to write at times, I might get overwhelmed making this journey so open, I might downright forget on a busy day, and I promise to acknowledge when that happens. One bad day, one missed yoga class, one day of forgotten prayer does not define us entirely. It's easy to give up on a goal, commitment, or dream when we hit roadblocks or make mistakes. When it feels like I just can't get things right, though, I turn to Ezekiel 36:26, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." God constantly renews us, giving us the heart and spirit we need to fulfill His plan. Isn't that an amazing love? So when the inevitable writer's block, yoga block, or prayer block creep in this year, I'll be ready to take a step back, inhale calmly, and trust that the Lord will guide my heart and soul.

Both yoga and prayer are transformative, no matter your yoga style or faith. And neither yoga nor prayer are particularly difficult. Yoga doesn't need to be an hour-long sweat-inducing workout (although I like that style sometimes!), prayer doesn't need to happen only in church, and change doesn't need to be dramatic in order to be impactful. Over the next year, I'll share my 365-day journey of daily commitment to mind, body and soul with resources I use and discover along the way. Join me in your own commitment to 365 days of yoga and/or prayer if you're ready to start a year-long transformation, too!