Yoga becoming popular among Christians; practice taking hold in Mississippi Baptist Church

• Laney, 52, a cancer survivor, is featured in the film, The Fire of Yoga, which premiered Thursday in New York City.
• Sitting crossed-legged on a yoga mat, Susan Mason drew her palms together at her chest and folded her torso over a Bible on the floor.
• As yoga teacher at Jackson's First Baptist Church, Mason integrates Christian spirituality into a physical art with Hindu roots.
• And though some Christians shun yoga because of its Eastern origins, Mason embraces the practice that helped heal her body and spirit after debilitating cancer treatments.
• Susan Mason, performing a lunge with a spinal twist, teaches yoga classes at the First Baptist Church Christian Life Center in Jackson.
• To honor the world's faith traditions, Laney's studio is decorated with a variety of Eastern and Western religious images including small statues and pictures of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Buddha and Hindu deities.
• "Just because something is not decidedly Christian doesn't mean it's anti-Christian," Laney said.
• New York City-based filmmaker David Conway said he made the documentary because he wanted to tell the story of the transformative power of yoga.
• He decided to feature Mason when he learned that yoga not only deepened her Christian faith, but helped her recover from cancer treatment.
• After her cancer treatment and a subsequent broken collar bone, Mason took up yoga because she wanted an exercise that bridged the gap between physical therapy and an aerobic workout.
• "I liked the idea of Christian yoga because I like so many other people had the misconception that yoga is some sort of Eastern religion," she said.