Join us for Summer School!
6 Sessions | Live + Replay
June – August 2025
What if this summer you said yes to curiosity…
Summer has a way of slowing us down just enough to notice the questions that have been quietly stirring under the surface. Questions like:
Is it really okay for Christians to practice yoga?
Can I worship with my body?
Why does stillness feel so difficult and yet so needed?
Where can I go to experience God’s peace in my whole self, not just my mind?
If you’ve ever wrestled with questions like these or longed for a space to explore faith, embodiment, and healing in a grace-filled, Christ-centered way… this year’s Summer School Series is for you.
This summer, we’re diving into one of the most important and often misunderstood topics: Can Christians practice yoga?
It’s a conversation that brings up real concerns about theology, church culture, and spiritual integrity while also pointing to a deep hunger many of us carry: a desire for intimacy with God, wholeness in our bodies, and peace in our lives.
Over six rich, nourishing sessions, we’ve gathered beloved members of our Yoga Teacher Training team to lead you through thoughtful workshops that go far beyond physical practice. Each 60-minute class will explore a different aspect of the 8-limbed path of yoga, all through a prayerful, theologically grounded Christian lens.
You’ll get to explore:
- Discover what “Christian” yoga truly means and how to respond when your faith is questioned
- How yoga helps you reconnect with your body, let go of shame, and worship through embodiment practices
- Explore the sacred design of breath as a pathway to peace, healing, and deeper communion with God
- Contemplative prayer as a doorway into union with God, even in a noisy world
- The neuroscience of yoga as a bridge between faith and physiology healing the nervous system and renewing your sense of embodied peace.
- How your yoga practice can be a meeting place with God, in the midst of burnout, grief, and anxiety offering a sacred space for healing and presence
Whether you’re curious, cautious, or already committed to a Christ-centered yoga journey, this series offers a safe, spacious place to learn, reflect, and reconnect with yourself and with God without homework, deadlines, or pressure.
It’s a taste of what our 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training is like—
but totally low-key and soul-deep.
Come as you are. Bring your questions, your longings, and your whole self.
This summer, you’re invited on a journey to a space to build connection, deepen your practice and understanding, and grow in community.
Sign up for individual workshops or all 6 and get one free!
Session 1: What is “Christian” Yoga? with Kelly
Monday, June 16 | 12pm ET + replay
Can Christians practice yoga? It’s one of the most frequently asked and emotionally charged questions in Christian communities today. In this session, we will tackle this question and unpack the many layers behind it. We explore what people really mean when they talk about “Christian yoga.” Is yoga just physical movement? A spiritual practice? Something more?
In this session, Kelly McLellan, The Yoga Abbey Leader and yoga teacher training yoga history and philosophy instructor, will lead us in tracing yoga’s historical roots, examine its heart and purpose, and discuss how it can be approached in a way that honors Christ. Together, we’ll address common concerns around syncretism, salvation, and spiritual discernment. You’ll come away with clarity, Christ-centered language for those tricky conversations with skeptical friends, and a deeper understanding of what happens when we get still before God. If you’ve ever felt torn between your love for the peace yoga brings and your desire to stay true to your faith, this talk is for you.
Session 2: Embodied Prayer: Reclaiming the Body as Sacred Space with Caroline
Tuesday, July 1 | 2pm ET + replay
In this powerful session led by our founder, Caroline Williams, we’ll explore the practice of asana, the physical limb of yoga, through the lens of Scripture and sacred embodiment. Many Christians carry a complicated relationship with their bodies, shaped by cultural pressure, shame, or disconnection. But what if movement could become worship? What if our bodies, fearfully and wonderfully made, were designed to be a meeting place with God?
Rooted in biblical truth, this lecture will offer a Scripture-based theology of the body, reclaiming the body as a temple and sacred architecture, not an enemy or idol. We’ll talk about how to care for our physical selves in ways that honor God, not ego or worldly standards, and how to engage the whole body, not just the mind in spiritual practice. Come ready to release shame, embrace wholeness, and discover how movement can become a form of prayer.
Session 3: Anatomy & the Breath of Life with Jamie
Thursday, July 10 | 7:30pm ET + replay
The very first thing God does after shaping the first human is breathe into him, giving him life. Our breath is more than just a biological function, it is the animating force of our being. Suffocated when we can’t get enough of it and vibrant and alive when filled with it, the breath is an incredibly powerful tool to help us connect, regulate, and rest. But how much do we really understand it? How can we breathe in such a way that doesn’t just keep us alive but helps us to thrive?
In this session, we’ll explore the ancient yoga practice of breath control, or Pranayama, as a God-designed pathway to healing and presence. Breath is more than biology; it is sacred architecture, carrying life and connecting us to God.
Join Jamie Terry, our Anatomy & Physiology Instructor, for this foundational (and mind-blowing) workshop on the mechanics of breathwork. We’ll break down common misconceptions around our breath, explore its physiological impact, and discover how breath becomes a tool to anchor us in God’s Spirit, calm our minds, and deepen our connection with Him.
Session 4: Contemplative Prayer: An Invitation from the Indwelling Presence of God with Melissa
Friday, July 25 | 12pm ET + replay
Many Christians deeply desire intimacy with God but struggle to quiet their racing thoughts or enter the stillness of the heart. In this gentle and profound session, spiritual director and contemplative prayer yoga teacher training instructor, Melissa Reed, invites us into the rich tradition of contemplative prayer—a spiritual practice that creates space for the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit to be known and felt.
Drawing on the last four limbs of yoga, we’ll explore how ancient practices of inner stillness resonate with the Christian invitation to abide in Christ. This lecture will help demystify contemplative prayer and offer practical steps for resting more deeply in God, not just with our minds but with our whole being. Come ready to discover the quiet sanctuary within and learn how to dwell with the One who already dwells in you.
Session 5: Created to Connect: Yoga as a Healing Practice with Christina
Monday, August 4 | 7pm ET + replay
In a world that often leaves us anxious, disconnected, and exhausted, many Christians are awakening to a deep longing: to feel whole again body, mind, and spirit. In this session, yoga therapist and trauma, recovery, and restorative yoga instructor Christina Cohee explores how yoga can serve as a God-honoring tool for healing, offering scientific insight into how it supports the nervous system and restores balance to our lives.
Drawing on the latest neuroscience, we’ll look at how yoga helps regulate stress, improve sleep, reduce chronic pain, and reconnect us with our bodies all within the context of God’s invitation to deeper healing. We’ll also explore how disconnection between body, mind, soul, and spirit contributes to emotional and physical distress and how gentle, intentional movement can become a form of healing prayer.
This lecture offers a beautiful bridge between faith and physiology, showing how caring for our bodies can be an act of worship and restoration.
Session 6: From Head to Heart: Getting Gospel Truth into our Circuitry with Crista
Tuesday, August 12 | 12pm ET + replay
Why are so many Christians showing up on the yoga mat? For many, it’s not about stretching or fitness—it’s about healing. In this session, counselor and somatic and expressive therapies researcher, Dr. Crista Glover unpacks the growing draw of yoga for Christians facing anxiety, grief, burnout, and spiritual dryness. With trauma-informed wisdom and a Christ-centered heart, she’ll guide us through the ways yoga offers a space of emotional healing, embodied prayer, and sacred encounter.
We’ll explore our own yogic “typology” reflecting on where each of us is on our yoga journey and how it intersects with our spiritual growth. Through somatic work, nervous system regulation, and movement grounded in the Gospel, we’ll learn how yoga helps us to meet God not just in our minds, but in our bodies. This is about more than stretches. It’s about working Gospel truth into our very circuitry.
In a modern world starved for real peace and deeper connection, this session offers an invitation into experiential worship and a healing, heart-deep encounter with the presence of God.
Register for all of Summer School and get one session FREE!
JOIN US FOR THIS TRANSFORMATIVE STUDY
Learn With Us In Summer School
$200 {$150 for Members}
- 60-minute sessions + optional Q&A
- Learn The Yoga Abbey’s unique, Christ-centered approach to yoga, prayer, and embodiment
- Gain confidence and clarity in your yoga practice.
- Connect with Jesus-loving yogis from around the world.
- Register for all of Summer School and get one session FREE!
All purchases are final.
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Have a Question?
How will I access the sessions?
The sessions will be hosted live on Zoom, an email will be sent with the Zoom link to join the session and the replay will be emailed to you after the session. The replay link will be active for 30 days after the session.
How much time should I allot for each session?
We recommend blocking 90 minutes on your calendar. The instructional time will last for 60 minutes. The instructor will then host an optional Q&A discussion time for up to 30 minutes after the lesson so you can get all your questions answered.
What equipment do I need?
For Sessions 2, 5 and 6 with Caroline, Christina and Crista you’ll want to have your yoga mat and any other helpful props you have (blocks, blankets, etc). For every other session, you’ll just want to have something to take notes with.
What if I miss a session?
Not a problem! You’ll be emailed a link to the replay video after the session. The link will be active for 30 days.
Do I have to be on camera?
Nope! You’re certainly welcome to (the instructors love connecting face-to-face), but you’re welcome regardless of how you show up that day.
Does this qualify for Yoga Alliance credit?
Unfortunately no. While all of our instructors are Continuing Education Providers with Yoga Alliance, due to the diverse nature of the program, we’re unable to offer credit.