Creating a Spirit of Invitation in Our Yoga Sessions

August 1, 2022
By Holy Yoga

Creating a Spirit of Invitation in Our Yoga Sessions

I love receiving invitations!

Whether it’s an evite, a phone call, or an envelope in the mail, I get excited about being invited! I may not always be able to accept an invitation, but just knowing someone has asked me to a gathering warms my heart. Being invited to anything tells me my presence is desired.

When we Holy Yoga instructors lead our students in a class, we are inviting them into a safe and holy space, whether that place is a church, studio, outdoors, or other venue. We welcome them with their various abilities and experiences to join us in worship, praise, and encountering God through the modality of yoga.

Inviting our students into our space, our practice, and God’s Word is something we shouldn’t take lightly! After all, we are carrying the Gospel into each and every community of people who show up on their mats at our sessions.

How can we as Holy Yoga® instructors create a more inviting environment for those who show up to worship with us?

Here are five simple but powerful ways we can invite students in our sessions:

Extend a warm welcome to every participant as they enter the studio or space. Call each person by name if you already know them, and introduce yourself to new students. Smile, and tell them you are happy they will be practicing and worshiping with you. Picture Jesus welcoming them, too, because He really is, and YOU are His welcome mat!
Use invitational language in place of usual directives. This type of language is very important in trauma-sensitive yoga classes, but I prefer to extend it by using that same kind of verbiage in all my classes. Rather than tell students what to do, I invite them, and I invite them to choose whether to move into a certain posture. Using phrases such as, “On your next inhale, I invite you to …” gives them a choice. They can accept or decline the invitation. Jesus invites people into a relationship with Him, but they choose whether to accept it.
Remind students that yoga is a practice, not a competition. We know yoga is not “one size fits all.” I’m always reminding my students they aren’t in competition with themselves, others, or me. Challenge and encourage them to possibly move deeper in a pose, but invite them to experiment and do what feels right to them in that moment, reminding them to always honor their bodies. I sometimes ask, “What are your body and breath telling you right now? Should you go deeper or perhaps pull back a bit?” Offer options, such as taking child’s pose, or—as I like to do in three-legged dog—encourage them by saying “You do you!”
Invite them into God’s Word and offer opportunities to pray. In Holy Yoga, we weave the Word throughout our sessions, but it’s a beautiful thing to say something such as, “I invite you to settle in and open your hearts, ears, and minds as you listen to God speak to you through His Holy Word.” When we teach a seeker or nonbeliever, we invite them into the living, breathing Word of God, a portal through which they will encounter the living God. I also invite my students to pray in the silence of their hearts many times during a session. We know we can pray anytime and anywhere, but I love to encourage my students to pray throughout the class, especially when their hearts are lifted or they are folded forward. While leading camel pose, for example, I might say, “As your heart and gaze are lifted, offer a silent prayer of praise for someone or something in your life.”
End class on an encouraging note. Thank your students for showing up and practicing with you. Provide encouragement that goes along with your theme or one of the scriptures you read. Tell them you look forward to seeing them again, and invite them to offer feedback on the class. Such practices help them feel valued and welcomed.

Jesus invited people into His spaces: He invited society’s worst to dine with him. He invited thousands to eat when there were only five loaves and two fish, multiplying that food to feed them. He invited the woman at the well to partake of the Living Water. He invited little children to come to Him.

And He invites every one of us into a very personal and loving relationship with Him, ultimately inviting us to claim the promise of eternal life in His presence.

May we Holy Yoga instructors strive to live beyond ourselves by inviting people to meet Jesus on their mats. We certainly desire their presence, but more importantly, He does.

Did you enjoy this blog post? This article was taken from our Quarterly Industry Update, which is available to our Core Members! If you are a Holy Yoga Instructor, and not yet a Core Member, we invite you to check out the full list of benefits and sign up here!