A New Spin on Yoga - FORM

[Guest guest]

January 30, 2006 http://www.latimes.com : BODYWORK

Strong in body and faith

Fitness teacher Linehan incorporates biblical teachings into

her routines, turning exercise classes into movement-based Christian

meditation.

By Jeannine Stein, Times Staff Writer

THIS could be any yoga or Pilates-based stretch and toning class: The

participants are on mats wearing layered T-shirts and exercise pants,

the lights are low and gentle guitar music plays.

That is, until instructor Linehan guides the class at

Pepperdine University into a cat pose, on their hands and knees with

backs rounded, and says, " Imagine God's arms are around your waist,

pulling you up, " before reciting the first line of the 23rd

Psalm: " The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not be in want. "

This is FORM, Faith-Ordered Rotational Movement, a fitness program

Linehan created that integrates this most famous of psalms, reputedly

written by King , into a basic flexibility and strength training

regimen.

" He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake, "

recites Linehan, lunging forward with one knee on the ground.

" He makes me lie down in green pastures, " she declares in the midst

of a modified child's pose, kneeling, arms outstretched, body

relaxed.

" Sink into this and feel an awareness, " says Linehan to her

students. " In quiet stillness you can really hear God's voice. "

Unaccustomed to putting scripture to movement, the 14 young women and

men wobble a bit, some discovering their core muscles for the first

time as they burn through Pilates one-leg stretches.

Linehan, a 46-year-old documentary filmmaker, Pilates instructor and

former banker, says the idea for FORM grew out of a combination of

her Christianity, her background in dance, a desire for something

more than she was getting in her regular exercise routine and a way

to deal with stress and a grueling workload.

" I had been feeling a need for this in my life, " she says in a soft

voice as she sits in a Los Angeles cafe, sipping herbal tea and

tucking an errant strand of blond hair behind one ear.

Several years ago she found solace and strength from a small Bible

study group, but she also felt she wanted something more. " The

relationship of the small group was so nourishing, and I wanted that

combined with movement and exercise and breathing. I needed the

wholeness, " she says. " The Bible study wasn't enough, and the

exercise wasn't enough on its own. "

And so, in early 2001, she began combining movement with Bible

passages that related to forgiveness and loving your neighbor —

eventually settling upon the 23rd Psalm, inspired by USC philosophy

professor and author Dallas Willard. (Linehan says Willard, whom she

greatly admires, revealed at a retreat that he uses that psalm during

meditation.)

On its own, Linehan found the passage difficult to memorize. " It just

wouldn't work, " she says.

" But I found there was a thing I could do with my legs, and I

realized that if I did this movement, I can remember the psalm. It's

almost like the movements made me remember the words. "

Linehan decided to share her new concept in a class after moving to

Seattle later that year. But she didn't find her audience overnight.

First there was the rugby team. " They liked the movement, " she says.

But they weren't so open to scripture reading. (Some, she noticed,

seemed a bit … hung over.)

Then there were the older, churchgoing golfers. " I said, 'Let's do

breath and movement!' and they said, 'What is she talking about?' "

The college sorority was also less than responsive. " These girls are

more concerned about their dates, and I'm in there going, 'The Lord

is my shepherd.' "

Ultimately, says Linehan, " I realized this is a ministry. "

She eventually found her niche about three years ago, at her Seattle

Presbyterian church. Her students, she says, " felt that they could be

seen and heard and be whole, as opposed to going to a gym or a yoga

class where their faith wasn't recognized. "

Linehan's class isn't the only one in which religion is incorporated

into fitness. The faithful can also exercise with Tae Bo superstar

Blanks and his DVD " Blanks' Tae Bo Believer's Workout:

The Strength Within. "

And in Anaheim one can work out at the Heart Mind Soul and Strength

Fitness Center, a health club that appeals to many Christians by

promoting modest dress and a " family environment, " minus any hard-

core rap music.

Linehan doesn't condemn those who take regular yoga classes or who go

for a spin on the treadmill while watching soap operas. That level of

tolerance sets FORM apart from some Christian-themed exercise

regimens such as PraiseMoves, which condemns the notion of Christians

practicing yoga because it " leads seekers away from God rather than

to Him, " according to the PraiseMoves website.

" Before becoming a Christian, I remember numerous instances

of 'traveling outside my body' during yoga relaxation periods, "

writes founder Laurette Willis. " I wonder who — or what — checked in

when I checked out? "

On a windy night on the Pepperdine campus, the students have gathered

in the indoor tennis center for their FORM class. Introduced last

year as an extracurricular activity, it's now a full-fledged part of

the curriculum, thanks to Priscilla MacRae, a Pepperdine sports

medicine professor and longtime friend of Linehan.

The physical benefits, MacRae says, are in promoting the stretching

and muscle toning that most of us hate to do: " Here, is

leading you through it, and to me it allows the joy that I have in

Jesus and in God to flow through me more easily. It's a way of

leaving my burden in that green pasture. "

It also allows gives the students time to relax and find their

moorings, MacRae says.

" My life is so busy, " sighs 18-year-old Cheda, a freshman

majoring in sports medicine who's also on the track team. " I've got

classes, I'm studying or going to do a workout or trying to get in

the friend time, and right now I'm headed off to the campus

ministry, " she says. " I was like, 'I need to force myself to take a

break,' and this is the perfect way to do it, to get my mind focused

and clear and on God and on the scripture. "

Adds Andy Scheeler, a 21-year-old biology major, " It gives you more

endurance and more purpose. As the scripture comes with the

movements, I see myself getting more and more comfortable with it,

and being able to focus more and more. "

Linehan plans to spread the gospel of FORM. She's had 10 people go

through teacher training, and last year produced a video. She'd like

to do a program in Spanish, and one for seniors.

" This isn't about the typical 'Let's lose 10 pounds,' " she

says. " This is about Christ's realization and worshiping God. And if

it's ever different from that, I hope I'll stop teaching it. "