September 27 - Franklin church mixes yoga and Christian spirituality

About 60 women rolled out their mats in a dimly lit carpeted room for an hour of connecting to God through Scripture meditation, prayer and downward-facing dog. They do this each Sunday. But this yoga class isn’t in a studio — it goes on alongside children’s choir practice and Sunday night Bible study at The People’s Church in Franklin.

Holy Yoga, led by instructor Keleah Anderson, is going into its third year at the church and has almost doubled its number of participants since the free program started. To the Baptist-affiliated church, yoga is just one more way to reach out.

To some Christians, yoga represents Hinduism and/or New Age thinking. Last year at this time, Albert Mohler Jr., president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, stirred up national attention when he blasted yoga in his blog on AlbertMohler.com. He contended that Christians should not practice yoga.

“Holy Yoga creates a safe place for Christians to do yoga,” she said.

Boon, who was raised Jewish, dove into yoga, logging 2,500 hours of training. After becoming a Christian, she dropped the practice. “Like most Christians, I was unsure about it,” she said. But she got back on the mat, played Christian music and prayed. Boon said God gave her the idea to teach again, but with a new focus.

“If God is sovereign over all things,” she said, “then I have to know yoga falls into that.”