"What we are doing is discovering in yoga a concrete application of our incarnational faith. The use of bodily postures to open us to God is already well-established in our own practice. Going down on our knees, for example, invites our mind and heart to be prayerfully present. At our community worship we stand to express our dignity and shared mission, kneel to express the transcendence of God, and touch one another to recognize our bondedness in the Holy Spirit. . . . Gesture obviously unites mind and body and presents us whole to God. It is deeply embedded in the human psyche as a means to prayerful presence...Yoga is a way to help us fully inhabit our bodies and to begin to use them to more fully actualize what God calls us to be. . . .

"Carolyn Cronk, a university professor and part-time yoga teacher, offers the following reflection with reference to the corpse pose:

"The symbolism of yoga postures as concrete representations of inner spiritual dispositions has long fascinated me. One prime example is the corpse pose, on the surface a very simple relaxation posture. The letting-go in relaxation is in and of itself significant; the entire front of my body being open and vulnerable is a position of great trust, calling to mind the trust in God that is the ground of my faith. Conscious awareness of how I am supported by the earth beneath my back recalls both my connectedness with all of creation and the unfailing support of God's love. Focusing on nothing but my breath entering my body reminds me of how there is nothing essential to life that is not provided through God's love for me. Finally, my open and upward-facing palms are a gesture of gratitude and of readiness to receive the gifts of love and grace."