How to get more involved with this community
One of the most common messages our inbox receives is this: “I’m so excited to find this website! I feel so alone out here as a Christian practicing [or teaching] yoga. I’m really looking forward to joining this group. How can I get involved?”
Up until now, we really didn’t have great answers for this question—and, to be honest, we’re still working on it. For so long, we were just a website loosely affiliated with an informal group of teachers who retreated together every other year. But now, we’re becoming a nonprofit dedicated to the study and practice of yoga and the Christian faith—and we’re expanding our capabilities.
We need help. Most of our work, including all leadership time, is volunteer. We are slowly beginning to be able to pay teachers and facilitators for their time and efforts, which is a big step forward. This site and nonprofit are truly labors of love. Someday, we hope to shift from volunteering to paid staff behind the scenes, laboring out of love.
And I’ve been asking myself: why do I do it? Why do I do this free labor?
I first began retreating with CPY in 2008, although at that time it wasn’t yet an organization—it was just a group of teachers who gathered together every two years to practice yoga, pray, and share. My experience at that first retreat—and every retreat with them thereafter—was a holy space. Their presence invited me into a generous understanding of Christianity, of Christ’s love, and of an embodied faith.
In 2012, I took over the website. Although I’m certified as a yoga instructor, my actual day job is as a writing professor—so I began using my writing skills on behalf of CPY. I saw my job as a curator of the perspectives of others, and as I edited and eventually reworked the website (twice!), I worked with the words and perspectives of others in deep ways. In particular, I studied the words of Fr. Tom, wondering how he is able to write with such clarity and kindness on interfaith matters. He is able to be inclusive and respectful of all perspectives while holding firmly to his own: his perspective is a model for me. My work on behalf of CPY became a spiritual practice for me, studying these words and these two traditions together.
Slowly, others joined the work of the website: first Molly Metzger as a web admin, then we expanded to the blogging team, the retreat team, and the nonprofit board. We began meeting on Zoom years before the pandemic, finding long-distance community in a virtual space. Our meetings are notoriously community-oriented, including practices of centering, deep sharing and conversation as part of the agenda. We strive to make volunteering a spiritual practice. and to that end — we hear that even our zoom meetings are something people look forward to!
At any rate—I volunteer my time and gifts to CPY for many reasons:
as a spiritual practice—by pursuing the study and practices of yoga and the Christ together, I am changed; this is the group that supports that transformation.
as a tithe—the Creator God gave me talents, and this is one way that I offer those talents back to God.
as love and gratitude—an offering of love to the folks who invited me into this journey, our audience, and the spiritual journey we are on as humans in bodies.
Does this kind of work and practice sound appealing to you? If so, read on!
First, we invite you to retreat with us. Come get to know us, and let us get to know you. Let’s go to God together the way that God comes to us—in and through the body of Christ.
This summer, we’re hosting our first virtual yoga retreat that’s open to anyone—yoga teachers, practitioners, the curious, the doubting, the hoping, the yearning for space to simply be with others and God in an embodied way (even in the midst of a socially distant pandemic). Come rest with us.
Then, if you think “I’ve found my people!” consider getting involved in the day-to-day work. Come alongside us as part of the community growing with CPY as well as growing CPY.
We’re especially looking for volunteers with the following passions, in addition to a passion for furthering the mission of CPY.
Learning community facilitation
Marketing and/or Public Relations
Organizational development
Curriculum development
Non-profit finance
Fundraising and/or grant writing
Web 2.0 Administration: using the tools of Web 2.0 to keep our site and social media humming and answering questions in our email box (we can train here)
Or perhaps you have a specific skill set or desire to be involved? Let us know!
Contact us through volunteer@christianspracticingyoga.com or fill out this volunteer form.
Photo Credit: Renee Prymus. Photo is of the glass longfellows created by glass sculptor Hans Godo Fräbel and on permanent display at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA.
