Letter from the President October 2020
“Yoga: Union of our Will to God’s Will”
Dear Reader,
In 2015, the Rev. Gena Davis, an Episcopal priest, came to our Institute to inquire what I thought
about combining Yoga with the Christian service of Eucharist, adding the reading of Scripture and
sharing Holy Communion. I had always thought yoga was a great exercise routine and the idea of
adding elements of Eucharist sounded great. Within days we held the first YogaMass service at
Grace Episcopal Church, in Houston, and Gena wrote a wonderful book YogaMass: Embodying
Christ Consciousness (see cover below).
Recently, I participated in a class for yoga teachers taught at ISH by our Yoga master, Lex Gillan. I
was deeply impressed by the instruction and observing students doing their amazing movements.
We were given copies of Light on Yoga, by B.K.S. Iyengar. The book is called the “Bible of Yoga” and
as I began reading, I could appreciate why.
The first chapter is entitled, “What is Yoga?” Near the opening, Iyengar writes that the word Yoga
comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “to bind, to attach, and to yoke.” I was both surprised and
pleased to read this because, being an Episcopal priest, I was taught that the word religion was
derived from the Latin word, religare, which also means “to bind” and “to yoke together.” The
sense of the word refers to the core beliefs, practices, and values that bind together the very
essence of what a particular religion is all about, including how it gives meaning and purpose to life
and even beyond this life into eternity.
The next sentence said, “Yoga is the true union of our will with the will of God.” That really got my
attention. It sounded like Gena Davis’ YogaMass. I had always seen yoga as a set of physical
exercises that could put the body in good shape physically, but I never understood it had anything
to do with our union with God which is what my faith and religious practices have been about for
most of my life.
For me, reading that sentence – “Yoga is the union of our will to the will of God” – made me ponder
that Yoga and my own faith system (Christianity) can have much the same goal; that is, union with
God, something that Gena Davis made explicit in the YogaMass service.
Several years ago, I read a book by Timothy McCall, M.D., entitled Yoga as Medicine. Being a
physician myself I appreciated him saying, “As someone who has been an MD for over twenty years,
I can tell you that yoga is quite simply the most powerful system of overall health and well-being I
have ever seen.”
Dr. McCall went on to say that yoga reduces stress, increases flexibility, improves balance,
promotes strength, heightens cardiovascular conditioning, and calms the nervous system. Well and
good, but he also said that “yoga is not a religion” and for that reason he said, “yoga is happily
practiced by Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, atheists, and agnostics alike.”
McCall is saying anyone can do yoga to gain flexibility and strength to the body, help the heart and
blood pressure, but Iyengar says yoga offers so much more – it can prepare one for intimacy with
God.
The 16th century Spanish Catholic priest, mystic, and Carmelite friar, St. John of the Cross, wrote a
book entitled, Union with God, in which he wanted people to understand that God hungers for a
relationship with each of us. I have always hungered for God, but I did not know God hungers for
us. I loved that St. John of the Cross’ book serves as a guide for a journey of faith and prayer leading
to the union of our will with God’s will. That sounds a lot like Iyengar’s Light on Yoga and Gena
Davis’ YogaMass, doesn’t it?
John K. Graham, MD, DMin
President & CEO
Institute for Spirituality and Health