Spirituality with a twist

Starting in September, Pastor Meghan Davis of the First Presbyterian Church began offering Christian Yoga classes five times a week at the church. Davis, who has been teaching yoga for three years, came to the church in June and decided to start classes a few months later.

“Yoga was originally created to be a preparation for meditation. It is actually older than any organized religion, so it was created to prepare the body so that you could relax and really meditate. I heard this when I was in seminary training to become a pastor,” Davis said. “I heard that Indians think that it is really weird that we Westerners will go to yoga class and do all of the physical part and go on our way without doing the yoga. I put that in the back of my head and then one day I was in a yoga class and it was like an epiphany, why can’t this be a part of a Christian spiritual practice.”

After talking with a friend, Davis found out about a Christian Yoga school in Arizona and has been teaching ever since.

“I use it as a part of a Christian spiritual practice, as a part of my spiritual practice,” Davis said.

She said that anyone can come a give her classes a try.

“Really, especially with the gentle yoga, but really even with the flow yoga anyone can come and just wherever you are is fine and you will grow from there,” Davis said.

In yoga, Davis listed three rules that apply to the practice.

“One is there is no pain in yoga, so if anything is painful, don’t do it. Another thing is, it is not a competitive sport, so it doesn’t matter if the person next to you has their head all the way down to their knees and if you don’t, it doesn’t matter. Yoga is all about the present so it doesn’t matter what you used to be able to do. The third thing is just breathing. As long as you are breathing into a pose, that’s what matters,” Davis said.

Three levels of classes are offered throughout the week. The gentlest is chair yoga, which Davis said is literally sitting on a chair or using a chair for support. It is offered at 3 p.m. Thursdays. The gentle class is the next step up and takes place at 11 a.m. Tuesday. The flow class is the most advanced, but Davis said it isn’t to the level of super yoga, it is still pretty gentle. It is offered at 6:15 p.m. Monday, at 6 a.m. Wednesday and at 10 a.m. Saturday.

“I’ve been really excited, especially the flow Monday night and Saturday morning classes,” Davis said. “The yoga flow has more of a broader range, more young people are coming. As people get stronger maybe we’ll start power yoga.”

Contact Staff Writer Jamee A. Pierson at (641) 792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com.