We don’t usually think of Jesus when we think of yoga.
We think of mats, poses, incense, maybe a retreat in the Himalayas.
But yoga at its root (yuj in Sanskrit) means “union” — drawing what is scattered back into wholeness.
And if that’s what yoga is really about, then Jesus—who lived to be the bridge between God and humanity—might just be the OG yogi of the West.
This isn’t about blending traditions into one, but about letting them shine light on each other’s truths.
Yoga arose in the Hindu and Buddhist East, Jesus in the Jewish West.
Yet both point to the same rhythm: the way down into humility is the way back into God.
🧘 The Yogi’s Path
A true yogi doesn’t chase power, wealth, or status.
A yogi seeks union—with the divine, with the self, with all of creation.
The journey to this wholeness is made of practices:
- Discipline (tapas): the inner fire that teaches you to sit through hunger, silence, or solitude without running away.
- Breath (pranayama): the steady rhythm that quiets both pulse and panic.
- Meditation (dhyana): the long gaze inward where thoughts no longer tug at your sleeve.
- Union (samadhi): the moment when the borders between you and God feel paper-thin.
The yogi’s life is not about climbing higher, but loosening the self and descending deeper into being.
✝️ The Descent of Jesus
Jesus didn’t just teach the way—He embodied it.
He fasted, prayed, and withdrew—not to prove strength but to yield dependence.
He stilled storms with a word, breathed peace upon His friends, and gave up His final breath as a gift.
He mirrored God’s love in every touch and word, showing humanity as it was—fractured and fearful—yet His table was wide, and His forgiveness without limit.
Where yogis lean into practice to touch the divine, Jesus leaned fully into God to touch humanity.
“The yogi seeks union. Jesus was the union.”
He was not only showing the way, but revealing Himself as the living bridge between God and humanity.
And in Him, union wasn’t just theory—it became spark.
Presence that could be felt, breathed, and carried forward in every ordinary life.
“Though he was in the form of God,
he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.”
(Philippians 2:6–8)
🌍 Why It Matters Now
We live in a world obsessed with climbing:
climbing ladders, climbing platforms, climbing over one another.
But Jesus, like the yogis of the East, showed another way:
the way down.
The way into the soil of humility, into radical presence, and into simple being.
It’s not abstract.
It looks like:
- Setting one more plate at your table for someone who never thought they’d be welcome.
- Forgiving the sibling who still won’t say they’re sorry.
- Offering kindness when no one notices—and expecting nothing back.
I remember once, sitting with my kids, realizing the deepest breath I could take wasn’t mine—it was grace filling me.
That’s what this way down feels like: not climbing higher to prove, but descending deeper to belong.
So maybe the West did have its yogi after all.
Not in posture, but in pattern.
Not in poses, but in presence.
And maybe the real questions are these:
What would it look like to walk the way down in your own life?
Where do you feel called to let go and descend deeper?
🔥 Closing
Call Him Lord.
Call Him Teacher.
Call Him Yogi.
But don’t miss the truth:
He still walks beside us.
Spark alive. Presence near.
Leading us not upward, but deeper—
into love without boundaries,
forgiveness without limits,
and kindness without expectations.
Jesus doesn’t just teach the way of union—He is the union.
And maybe, the next time you think of yoga, you’ll remember Him too—
not for His posture, but for His presence.