An active form of prayer, of meditation, of grace

"What we are taught in yoga is that there is no separation between the mind, the body, and the spirit. That everything is interdependent upon the whole. And there's so much denial about our body because we are often so fixated on the way that it looks. If we're not comfortable with the way that it looks we deny it and shame it.

Another aspect is using your body to pray. It all connects back to service which is in the evolution of the work that I've done.

I trust that if I do my yoga practice I am going to get stronger and more flexible. If I stay in alignment, if I don't push, if I don't force, then my body will organically open in time. I know if I breathe deeply, I will oxygenate my body, it has an influence on my nervous system. These things are facts that I know to be true.

But I also recognize that it's a mystical practice, and that you can use your body as an expression of your devotion. So the way you place your hand, the way you place your foot forward or back is an offering. I offer the movements to someone I love or to the healing of the planet. So if I am moving from a state of love, and my heart is open to that connection between myself and another person or myself and the universe, it becomes an active form of prayer, of meditation, of grace."

Yoga Teacher Seane Corn in interview with Krista Tippett on Being (an American Public Media podcast)