Sacred Balance: Aligning Body and Spirit through Yoga and the Benedictine Way

by Melinda Emily Thomas

Overview

In Sacred Balance, certified yoga instructor and spirituality blogger Melinda Emily Thomas helps you align body and spirit through two timeless traditions—Benedictine spirituality and yoga practice.

Spirituality in the Benedictine Way offers the commitments of listening, stability, conversion, humility, and hospitality. These root our values and help us choose how to spend our time, devote our energy, and craft relationships. Yoga offers physical postures to bring those principles into body and spirit by relieving pain and stress and helping us gain strength and flexibility. These practices combine to create a powerful blend of body and spirit—one that promises healing and connection to God.

Studded with illustrations of basic yoga poses and ideas for wellness, prayers, and meditations, Sacred Balance offers principles and practices that guide us toward peace and wholeness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506463537
Publisher:	1517 Media
Publication date:	10/13/2020
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Melinda Emily Thomas is a writer, activist, and certified yoga instructor (E-RYT 500) who works with Abbey of the Arts and teaches a variety of classes and workshops. She is dedicated to the study and application of yoga and the Benedictine Way together as a path for balance and depth. Thomas lives in North Carolina with her son.

Table of Contents

Preface 6

How to Use This Book 9

1 Stepping onto the Path of Balance 11

2 Humility: The Fertile Ground 23

3 Obedience: Listening to the Guide 45

4 Stability and Conversion: Staying and Growing 66

5 Hospitality: Welcoming Companions 83

6 Daily Rhythms: Balance in Ordinary Routines 105

7 Seasonal Rhythms: Balance in the Midst of Change 125

8 Silence: Quieting the Footsteps 142

9 Sabbath: Rest along the Way 157

Acknowledgments 169

Resources for Further Study 171

Glossary 174

Editorial Reviews

"Sacred Balance offers a profound gift-contemplatives will find kinship with the yogic path, yogis will discover the ways monasticism can nourish them, and those unfamiliar with either will discover a new pathway full of embodied presence." —Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, online abbess of Abbey of the Arts and author of The Artist's Rule

"As beautiful as it is practical, Sacred Balance is an invaluable addition to my library." —Katherine Willis Pershey, pastor and author of Very Married

"Those who wish to integrate the practices of yoga with contemplative Christian sensibilities will want to keep this thoughtful, informed, and deeply sympathetic book nearby." —William K. Mahony, professor and author of The Artful Universe and Exquisite Love

An exquisite, lyrical, and practice-oriented exploration of the path of spiritual balance. —Spirituality & Practice

From the Publisher