Yoga vs. Church

Over my life I've been to church-I've believed in God-I've stopping going to church-I've questioned God-I've done a mission trip bringing me closer to God than anywhere else-and I've reverted back to questioning and not attending church. That's where I stand now.

During the "not going to church" times I've found a couple other things to occupy my Sunday mornings. I've recently discovered a Sunday Hot Yoga class. And this has me thinking about spirituality as a whole.

If you look at church as a way for people to feel closer to God, more spiritual, then maybe it works for some people. I know there was something going on in Africa when everyone in the church sang and praised God together. There was a feeling of connectedness. I couldn't say if this connectedness was a connection to God, a higher power, or a group of people all together positive and full of praise. But it was a great feeling all the same.

I've always felt there's something out there - some kind of universal something (real specific and descriptive, I know!) I'm not sure it's one god, or even a group of gods (like in mythology), or just a universal presence. I do believe in karma, though. Karma is sort of like a Wiccan belief (at least at the bare bones of it all) in that when you send positiveness out into the world it will come back to you and when you send negativeness out it also returns to you.

So now you have "connectedness" and "karma" and you add Yoga. Yoga is a practice. Yoga centers a person. Yoga is based on goodness in people and using that goodness to bring out the goodness in other people. We are asked to choose who or what to dedicate our practice to each week and I always dedicate it to my daughter and frequently also my business. I leave hot yoga feeling so positive, relaxed, and full of strength and positive energy. I have never left church feeling this way.

But I know many people have and do each week. And it doesn't matter which church, temple, or other religious building the people I've talked to have attended. I don't think there is anything wrong with getting your weekly positive energy from church. I'm trying to figure out the difference. Why do I feel so good, so connected to positive energy, goodness, and the universe when I leave yoga yet I feel nothing when I leave church? Why do some people cling to their specific religion so tightly yet others will convert without thinking twice? Why do some people feel empty when they miss church? And furthermore, what is it about people that we need any of these things (God, the universe, a connectedness to others, etc) in the first place? It makes me feel that there is something, I just don't know what, holding everything and everyone together.

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