I learned that Yoga has a spiritual center, just as does my love for Judaism. I learned that Yoga places within the individual the need and desire to commune with oneself and be at one with the inner forces that drive, shape, and mold our very being. I came to see very quickly that the heart of Yoga, not the physical manifestation of the practice per se, was closely related to the Sefardi understanding of mysticism. What exactly that is perhaps is difficult to know. One can study mysticism for a lifetime and only scratch the surface of what the mystic was hoping to achieve. I learned that yoga is indelibly related to the concept of focusing ones attention. My understanding of the Yoga concept grew enormously when I began to relate my actions during prayer to the world of the yoga devotee. During worship we Jews have a wonderfully choreographed program. We bow at certain places, dance on our tiptoes in others, stand perfectly still in other moments, and generally focus and direct out prayers toward Adonai without any outside interference. I could readily see how Yoga might accomplish the same process.

What I really like about Yoga is that it forces one to take time for oneself. What I find intriguing about Yoga is that it does exactly what full immersion in prayer does as well. It accommodates the practitioner by enabling him or her to put the outside world into limbo and concentrate on ones inner being.

What still concerns me is that even when one engages in formal prayer, even without much concentration or total soul immersion, there is a community sense that cannot be denied or evaded. When we gather in a congregational space, we support each other through a communal process. While it may be true that each individual has a different apprehension of what prayer means, it is still a group process. I am not convinced that this is true for devotees of Yoga. Of course I might be wrong. I still feel some sense of concern that a yoga devotee could easily be drawn away from the community need for prayer and pursue yoga as a new religion. That might work for someone else but of course could never work for me. It would certainly be counterproductive if that were to happen.

For those who are truly interested, there are many avenues to pursue. I am still hopeful that for me at least, the two disciplines of Yoga and traditional Jewish prayer will find a common meeting ground. I am pretty sure that the Sefardi mystics who would gather in dark, secret places and recite unrecognizable syllables that were combinations of God’s many names, did in fact practice some form of spiritual enhancement to connect their bodies and souls with God. Perhaps yoga, used in the same way could accomplish the same thing.

I am willing to be shown and taught how this might happen. I hope that you might also be drawn into this interesting process and learn how to enhance your prayer moments as well.