Author: Laurette Willis
Located in: Tahlequah, OK
Submitted: August 17, 2008
Tell us a little about yourself. After 22 years in yoga and the New Age movement (age 7 to 29), I surrendered my life to Christ and was totally thrilled and amazed when the Lord gave me the idea for PraiseMoves as a Christian ALTERNATIVE to yoga. I'm an author with Harvest House Publishers ("BASIC Steps to Godly Fitness" and "The Busy Woman's Guide to Total Fitness"). In fact, this DVD was Harvest House's first DVD project.
What was your motivation behind this project? Harvest House was interested in pursuing the idea of a Christ-centered alternative to yoga in a DVD format, knowing it would have a great impact upon people as a DVD rather than in book form. I'm careful to let people know this is NOT so-called "Christian yoga," which I consider an oxymoron, or contradiction in terms (such as a "Christian Buddhist" - no such thing!).
Pastors, women's ministry leaders and others would be interested in the extensive article about the history of yoga (did you know that yoga postures are "offerings to the 33 million Hindu gods"?) and the PraiseMoves difference. Yoga is not a healthy practice for Christians, especially new believers and those who MINISTER to them.
What do you hope folks will gain from this project? Peace. The foundation to PraiseMoves is NOT exercise. Every PraiseMoves posture is accompanied by scripture we meditate upon or speak aloud (The Angel - while doing the gentle PraiseMoves posture stretch, we're meditating upon Psalm 91:11, "For He will give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways."
The Word is the foundation of PraiseMoves. The postures and exercise are the "witty invention" to get you more into the Word -- and to get more of the Word into you!
How were you personally impacted by working on this project? Actually, I wasn't "personally impacted," (that would have been a painful experience - such as an impacted tooth) - however, a variety of things had an IMPACT UPON me while working on this project (yes, I'm a "smarty" - but my mother was a strict grammarian, so saying things like being "personally impacted" by something give me shivers... Anyway...
The presence of the Lord was tangible throughout this whole experience - during the initial phases, the rehearsal, shoot and editing process - far beyond anything we could have done ourselves. God is good -- and His mercy endures FOREVER!!!
God watches over His Word to perform it -- and His Word is the foundation of PraiseMoves.
Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists? My favorite influence would have to be the precious Holy Spirit in my life. Jesus is the only Person who makes sense ALL the time! He inspires me with ideas, revelation and encouragement which dare me to believe Him for BIG things!
Favorite authors - would have to be Bible teachers - primarily on faith and the Word. Artists? I love the psalms of David Ingles and all the music I hear on the Oasis Network - oasisnetwork-dot-org - can hear it worldwide on the internet, which is way cool! I have a "Fitness for His Witness" minute every day on the Oasis Network - now 5:40 pm eastern, soon to be 7:40 am eastern/8:40 am central.
Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know: The ANSWER to everything you need is in the Word of God -- Jesus IS the Word (John 1:1 and 1:14).
He chooses the "foolish things of this world to confound the wise" - I should know, because I'm one of those "foolish things!!!"
I was an emotional eater, alcoholic, smoker, New Ager, yoga student/instructor -- and then one day I came to the end of myself. I cried out to God and surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. He saved me, delivered me and gave me a new life.
If you would like to offer PraiseMoves classes at your church or fitness center, consider becoming a Certified PraiseMoves Instructor at PraiseMoves-dot-com . We also offer PraiseMoves for Children, PraiseMoves Alphabetics (Hebrew Letter postures) and other Christian Fitness DVDs and books.
Our foundation scripture is 1 Corinthians 6:20 - "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." Amen!
Contact me at praisemoves at gmail-dot-com if I may be of service to you. At LauretteWillis-dot-com you can read about the keynotes, workshops and musical-dramas I bring to churches, conferences and retreats.
We have a program for public schools: PowerMoves Kids (the first program to combine Character Education and Fitness - for the classroom!). It's used in a number of schools in the U.S. and Canada - please see PowerMovesKids-dot-com . Winning the War Against Childhood Obesity with Character!
May God richly bless you,
Laurette
DVD Playable in Bermuda, Canada, United States and U.S. territories. Please check if your equipment can play DVDs coded for this region. 
