Anti yoga: Christian caution or paranoia?

[Anna the Seeker]

I've come across several believers who claim that exercising yoga is bad for a Christian, because it's eastern philosophy oriented and doing in such a way actually invites demons to you.

Now, I have done yoga in the past long time ago, but there was nothing involved that would deny Jesus.

What's your take in spreading this lesson of yoga being bad for you?

 

[James Is Back]

I don't think the exercises are wrong but when you add the eastern mystical/meditation side to it is where Christians should draw the line.

 

[daydreamergurl15]

The only thing I won't say is "Namaste", someone told me that it means "The same light in you is in me..." Whether they told me right to wrong, this is in my head and I don't say that to anyone because I don't know what light they have in themselves. The actual yoga poses are just long stretches, I don't think there is anything wrong with it.

So, I actually did a google search and this is what I found

Namaste. an ancient Sanskrit greeting still in everyday use in India and especially on the trail in the Nepal Himalaya. Translated roughly, it means "I bow to the God within you", or "The Spirit within me salutes the Spirit in you" - a knowing that we are all made from the same One Divine Consciousness.

Regardless of the meaning, I don't say it.

 

[com7fy8]

If yoga is supposed to ease stress by means of certain actions which we control, I would say we can pray and submit to God and how He keeps us from stress. There can be a big difference between self-produced actions, versus first submitting to God and simply obeying how He rules us in His peace > Colossians 3:15.

"'Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.'" (Matthew 11:29)

We can learn from Jesus. Possibly in yoga our attention would not to be Jesus. Of course, there are plenty of other things which people do, in order to ease their stress, instead of first submitting to God and learning from Jesus.

"Even" praying can be a self-produced thing, and not submitting to God. There are people who hide in praying, away from the situation which is stressful; but changing circumstances is not the way. And using pleasures and TV and exercise and exciting things are possibly physical measures for dealing with what at its root is a spiritual trouble. These activities and things might help to distract us from what we stress about, but God is able to defend us and cure us so we can not be effected by stress and other cruel things. We need how God's peace "will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" > see Philippians 4:6-7.

Also >

"rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God." (1 Peter 3:4)

I notice how the "beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit" is "incorruptible". In the gentleness and quietness of God's love, we are in this love's almighty power to protect us from anything which would corrupt us. But, "of course", we need to seek to be gentle and quiet, in order to please our Father. If we try to get rid of stress, only so we can do the things we want, in comfort, this is not going to work; because while we do our own things which our Father is not guiding us to do in His peace and strength, we are in weakness so we can suffer stress.

So, it is not methods and philosophy which can keep us from being corrupted by stress and other cruel and negative and degrading things, but the peace of God's gentle and quiet love shares with us His own almighty immunity against any and all sin-sick things. But, like I say, this works only while we submit to God and obey how He takes care of us

So, yoga is not the only thing which can be used to avoid feeling stress but can not cure us. Only God in the power of His love can cure us in our character so stress can't get the better of us.

 

[Gnarwhal]

A Christian's perception of Yoga typically depends on the general camp from which they originate. I find that some have a more rational evaluation of things like this than others. Having studied eastern religions a bit in school, I had an opportunity to learn a bit about yoga and it's practices as understood from within the Hindu religion, and by extension Buddhist philosophy as well.

The word yoga itself means "union", and the practice of it was originally conceived to have a correlation with ones caste. There are several different practices of yoga, including Jnana yoga, Karma yoga (AKA "Action yoga"), Bhakti yoga ("Devotion yoga"), Raja yoga ("Royal yoga"), Hatha yoga ("Force yoga"—no, not related to Star Wars, sadly), and Kundalini yoga.

These different practices take varied approaches to the same goal of the practitioner. That is, to unify oneself with the divine.

Now, as Christians we might feel uncomfortable with the spiritual implications that Hindus associate with yoga, and that's okay. I just prefer that (as with most things) people who don't know what they're talking about stop pretending that they do, nothing's more damaging to the Great Commission than making enemies of other religious folk by damning them with our "understanding" of what their religion "actually is".

The physical side of yoga is innocuous, you're not going to invoke some demon or bring possession upon yourself for doing the Warriors Pose or Downward Facing Dog.

Christianity has a history of co-opting formerly pagan objects and practices and using them for the glory of God. The cross being the prime example of that. By that same token, one can practice the physical side of yoga (basically stretching), or meditating quietly and substitute the Hindu spirituality for a Christian one. Use that time to concentrate on Christ, align your focus on the resurrection, consider scriptures and teachings from the saints and church fathers as a way of guiding you closer to God.

 

[Standing Up]

I've come across several believers who claim that exercising yoga is bad for a Christian, because it's eastern philosophy oriented and doing in such a way actually invites demons to you.

Now, I have done yoga in the past long time ago, but there was nothing involved that would deny Jesus.

What's your take in spreading this lesson of yoga being bad for you?

The deal is, from what I understand, is yoga as a religion, not as stretching/balancing/breathing, but as a "view of mankind" is that it sees a "good" in everyone. This is contrary to Christianity.

Christianity views mankind as fallen. There is no "good" in any of us. If you believe in the Good News, however, then you are born again.

Namaste (it means I salute the light in you, except as a Christian, that really isn't how we ought to understand mankind. None of us have any light, though as a born-again believer, then its so.)

So, IMO, go ahead and stretch. Just don't "fall for" the vain philosophy.

 

[com7fy8]

We need to stretch by getting out of our comfort zone and loving any and all people.

"For if you love those who love you, what reward have you?" (in Matthew 5:46)

 

[Holoman]

Can't see a problem with doing Yoga, it should be fairly obvious when it crosses over from just being relaxing exercise to religious. I do meditation and other things for anxiety and they help immensely, but they don't in any way compromise my beliefs.

 

[Crowns&Laurels]

I've come across several believers who claim that exercising yoga is bad for a Christian, because it's eastern philosophy oriented and doing in such a way actually invites demons to you.

Now, I have done yoga in the past long time ago, but there was nothing involved that would deny Jesus.

What's your take in spreading this lesson of yoga being bad for you?

I don't see how yoga goes against Christianity. Yoga is simply the soul disciplining the body and being at ease with the physical world. No theological accounts, especially of Augustine, state that it's sinful to evoke the soul on it's body. In fact, it's sort of what they teach- sin nature is the inability of the soul to control the body.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Yoga as generally practiced in the West is a pretty stripped down/watered down series of stretches and breathing exercises which does help relax and relieve stress. In spite of the fact sometimes Westerners "spiritualize" yoga it's still basically a consumer-based "spirituality" that generally occurs with Western appropriation of Eastern practices. But in most Western contexts yoga is just stretching and breathing exercises without any spiritual components whatsoever. Western yoga and real Yoga are quite different things.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Tangible]

There's a viral video out there called "If Gandhi took a yoga class" that's pretty stinking hilarious and very pertinent to this discussion. I will refrain from posting a link, however, because it has language in it that might be offensive to some of our brothers and sisters here.

 

[popsthebuilder]

Yoga is a way to relax and calm yourself and collect your thoughts. It is also exercise for the physical body. I do not see how it could be perceived negatively to any type of Christian. Thank you.

 

[ViaCrucis]

There's a viral video out there called "If Gandhi took a yoga class" that's pretty stinking hilarious and very pertinent to this discussion. I will refrain from posting a link, however, because it has language in it that might be offensive to some of our brothers and sisters here.

I was thinking of the same video when I made my post above. Yes, it's pretty hilarious--and it really does help make the point that actual Yoga and Western yoga are incredibly different things.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Poor Beggar]

I've come across several believers who claim that exercising yoga is bad for a Christian, because it's eastern philosophy oriented and doing in such a way actually invites demons to you.

Now, I have done yoga in the past long time ago, but there was nothing involved that would deny Jesus.

What's your take in spreading this lesson of yoga being bad for you?

A "yoga" is a vehicle to God in the Hindu religion. There are eight branches, which is why their Gods/Goddesses have eight limbs. Hatha yoga was a branch that used drugs along with meditation to create altered states of consciousness. The "soma" brews have been lost so we no longer know how the drugs were manufactured, but the postures have remained. Most of the postures used nowadays are add-ons for health reasons. The original postures are all symmetrical--both sides of the body are doing the same pose, and were used for long periods of meditation.

I know all this because I used to practice various yogas along with Taoist chi kung and Zen Buddhism. Not a New Agey version, but the real deals. Most yoga "teachers" don't know the history of yoga and got a quick certification.

Here's the thing: If you take out the references to Hinduism and the New Agey fluff, what you have is stretching. You're just stretching! But that's not as marketable, is it?

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Namaste means the divine in me recognizes/acknowledges the divine in you. Christians have a similar teaching in that we are to see Jesus in everyone, even the least of humanity.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Yoga is exercise, some of the stretches have even been incorporated into school's physical education programs, the mystical element can be harmful as that plane of spirituality tends to be hostile to christianity, but the physical motions are not trademarked.

With mysticism, intent is key. If you feel "a pull" into a direction you don't like, just stop.

 

[Goodbook]

I used to do yoga but I dont anymore and see no need to.

Yoga is definitely a thing christians ought to be wary of as it is a vehicle to the hindu religion.

Jesus, after all, gives us the peace that passeth all understanding snd we dont need to contort ourselves in a lotus pose to do that. If we are bowing or on our knees, its because we are praying to Him, not stretching our butts.

Also meditation is good when its on the bible and God. We dont need to chant sanskrit mantras.