Absolutely not. It is New Age and a door to the Satanic.
No. The same goes for transcendental meditation and other Eastern forms of meditation.
Maybe the exercises only. Once you get into the mind and chant stuff, definitely NO!
If you wish to improve your spiritual life and the concept of yoga is appealing, then you’d be well advised to consider Christian Mysticism.
Yoga is fundamentally a secular discipline, and does not help you connect with G_d. Its benefits are pretty much limited compared to true, divine-oriented mysticism.
Of course it’s ok.
One of the yoga mudras is the hands pressed together in a prayerful position.
Basically, yoga is a stretching technique that relaxes the defense mechanisms in the body to facilitate unresolved issues to surface for cleansing...
This is the process to follow Jesus’s 2nd commandment.
This threat is gonna be a great donnybrook...
Exercise, yes.
Philosophy, no.
It’s yoga, a few silly poses and stretches. It’s about as anti-Christian as wearing those yoga pants and showing female anatomy.
I saw a kook who was standing on his head
He flipped his lid like he should have been in bed
I said, "What's this, man?"
He looked at me and said
I'm a Yogi
I'm a Yogi, baby
I'm a Yogi
I'm a Yogi, baby
Hey, Boo-Boo!
And then the cat started strutting on hot coals
He was wearing sneaks, but they were so full of holes
He sang right out from the bottom of his soles
I'm a Yogi
I'm a Yogi, baby
I'm a Yogi
I'm a Yogi, baby
Hey, Boo-Boo!
"Now listen here, baby," the Yogi man said
"It's all a matter of the mind.
Just commune with your innermost being
And baby, you'll be just fine."
He was hip, all right, wasn't he?
So I tried my best to dig my inner me
I walked on coals, my head below my knee
Until at last I heard me say perfectly
I'm a Yogi
I'm a Yogi, baby
I'm a Yogi I'm a Yogi, baby
Hey, Boo-Boo!
Hey, Boo-Boo!
Hey, Boo-Boo!
Yoga being religious or not depends of the instructor and the purpose and intent someone has in taking Yoga exercise classes.
Almost everyone I know who has taken, or is taking Yoga classes has done so to improve their body by learning exercise to become more limber, to learn how to relieve tension and relax, to learn how to notice and control breathing, and for how all of that can improve health. None of them have ever talked about getting anything religious from it, unless if all the above is translated as “religion”.
Can Yoga be taught with Hindu religious beliefs? Yes. Does it have to be taught only that way? No. Is it always taught only that way? No.
Hindus believe in many Gods, while Buddhists do not believe in God, and both in many parts of the world have people who practice Yoga. If Yoga was paramount to either Hindus or Buddhists most Hindus and Buddhists would practice Yoga. Most do not.
Yes, the origins of Yoga (about 5,000 years ago in the Indus River civilizations) began with a priesthood seeking to train new potential priests in ways to develop and train the body to remove physical distractions from the mind seeking peace and enhlightment.
Yoga then over the centuries kept get modified, and often abbreviated or changed, with different Yoga schools establishing new brands of Yoga. There are less than a dozen semi-offical brands (schools) of Yoga that came out of that history, with the latest one - Hatha Yoga - being the usual version that was imported to western society.
But in western society, Yoga has again gone through many changes, and many differences in how it is taught, and why it is taught.
From preparing the body for meditation and seeking “enlightment” within a priesthood more than 5,000 years ago, Yoga as morphed DOWN into the physical essentials in its practice by most westerners - who want a leaner, relaxed, less tense body (and don’t seek that for “enlightment”).
Kundalini yoga is very powerful.
Absolutely not! Yoga literally means, “ yoked” to the demonic realm. That is why you are told to empty yourself and then awaken the serpent spirit in you. This becomes demon possession...
My husband was SURE that some Hindus were worshiping a '56 Chevy as "god." He might have been correct.
Some women made their husbands "god." Lol. That would go over big here...
Perhaps it would be helpful to explain the reason(s) for posting this.
Yoga is worship. It is the worship of (other) gods (devils, demons, evil spirits). Specifically, Hindu gods. As it is the worship of anything other than the Creator God, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, it is idolatrous.
Whom or what do you worship?
Christmas trees! Wedding rings! Yoga! CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!
What about jazzercise?
If a yoga class attempts to add meditation or chanting to the physical exercises, a Christian should leave.
All things are allowable, but not necessarily profitable.
There is a risk in practicing yoga or Eastern Religion Meditation of opening a door or inviting demonic influence into one’s life and soul.
Fallen angels and evil spirits are still bound by laws enforced in the spiritual domain. In a nutshell, if they are invited into a human’s life, it appears some of those conditions are either relaxed or they don’t believe they are accountable for interface with those humans.
Practicing yoga or meditation to the spiritual domain is similar to walking outside near a wilderness area at dusk with a bowl of warm milk and catnip where mountain lions are known to prowl.
Anything wrong with it? If there is no other reason than to invite a wild animal into your house, then it is a foolish thing to do.
BTW, you don’t have to KNOW you are opening the door to invite these persons into your life. This is how occultic brotherhoods bring in their initiates.
I have very little flexibility, that is physically speaking – with age and some acquired wisdom in some areas I’m a bit more flexible, a bit more spontaneous and a more live and let live in attitude and in some ways more prone to stand my ground. But I digress.
Even when younger and as a teenager while I was not exactly skinny, a bit on the curvy side especially after puberty, but not at all fat either, not too busty and absolutely no belly fat (I wish I had those 17-year-old abs now) – and I walked everywhere and I mean everywhere, walked probably 10+ miles a day, yet still I had trouble touching my toes. When we did gymnastics in middle school, it was horrible for me. I just couldn’t do the forward and backward rolls like the other girls. I had a gym teacher literally put his foot on my butt and forced me over while I was attempting a forward roll, and that was the first time I felt a soreness, a twinge of nerve pain in my back which of course made me hate gymnastics even more.
It wasn’t until I really jacked up my back when I was in in my early 40’s and had to see an orthopedist and then a physical therapist that I learned that my pelvis was tilted sideways and tilted up to one side and that my ham strings and calf muscles were way over developed and extremely tight. The PT was shocked how tight my hamstrings and calves were and given that I wasn’t sedentary, how it got that way. While I have some compression of L5 and L6, the main cause of my back problem is the muscle tightness.
The PT taught me a routine of stretches and core stability exercises that frankly I’m more comfortable doing at home, some of them were basic Yoga poses too, downward dog and cat and cow back stretches. I’ve also since then developed plantar fasciitis and was in PT for that and given a whole new set of stretches. If I did all the stretching I’m supposed to do the 3-4 times a day, it would take up about 3+ hours of my day each and every day. I try but often fall short of the goal.
But after PT, I took a couple of beginners Yoga classes at my gym. I didn’t experience anything of a religious nature, no chanting or meditation type stuff, no prayers to Hindu gods, no “emptying” myself and Kundalini the serpent spirit never did shown up, just some deep breathing and relaxation technics to help with the poses and stretching. The biggest problem for me in the Yoga class was trying to do the some of the poses without looking like a wounded water buffalo or falling over flat on my face.
I’ve also since developed HBP and have a very stressful job.
Recently I’ve thought of trying Yoga again if I can find the right class, one that caters to 58 year olds with bad backs and flexibility issues. I’ve also been told to try Tai Chi as it can aid in relaxation and flexibility. But I’m guessing some “thumpers” will tell me that Tai Chi will also cause demonic possession or turn me into a Chi-Communist ; )
As for what is called “mindfulness” or “meditation” sometimes associated with Yoga and other disciplines of Eastern origin, it is not about completely emptying the mind of all thought but about striving to being completely present in the moment, shutting out all outside distractions and attempting to turn off the constant stream of consciousness inside our own heads for just a while.
I’ve tried doing it and it is very hard. Try sitting still, closing your eyes and only taking in the sounds of your own breath, the ambient sounds around you, without letting your mind wander and re-live what happened at work today, or yesterday or last week, or what you’re going to do later today, or tomorrow or next week, what bills are due, how much laundry needs to be done, who pissed off and why…. it’s hard. But if you can achieve it for even a few minutes, it is very relaxing and helps you refocus on what is really important.
Some people who are trying to lose weight also use a form of mindfulness to some good effect when eating. Instead of mindlessly eating, especially eating while watching TV or other distractions like surfing on the net or on your smart phone or even in conversation or reading, instead being fully aware of each and every bite, what it tastes like, the smell, the texture, even the color, savoring each and every bite, chewing slowly, taking some deep breaths between bites, focusing only on the meal and the meal alone - I’ve done this and feel more satisfied and satiated with less food.
Likewise, it can also be hard to be and stay deep in prayer, yes, even Christian prayer without one’s mind occasionally drifting off to more temporal thoughts and distractions.
The monastic tradition, that of Christian cloistered monks and nuns, some even took a vow of silence in order to not be distracted from the outside world or of their own words and thoughts, or the words and intrusions of others in order to devote themselves to near constant prayer and yes, meditation, yes a form of mindfulness.
But here at FR we are entering what I call the silly season. It happens at Easter too but at this time of year, even more so.
We will be subjected to numerous posts about the horrors and all the “evils” that is Halloween and Christmas (both being pagan doncha know) and even that of Thanksgiving. You know that Thanksgiving should be about fasting and prayer and spent on one’s knees in Church and not about feasting on turkey and all the trimmings and pumpkin pie and football and the Macy’s Parade /s. You’ll also have a few who may tell you that Thanksgiving is a holiday of Northern Oppression over the South or some other such nonsense.
So I say, if you want to try Yoga as a form of exercise and to increase flexibility and perhaps for stress reduction, go for it. If you go to a Yoga class that incorporates any religion that you do not want to adhere to or some form of cultism or politics, stay clear or better yet, just find another Yoga class. There are so many and of all types and most are about achieving fitness rather than Hinduism or ….
And after your Yoga class, now that we are in Autumn, go shopping for some Halloween candy to give out to those adorable little kids in your neighborhood in their cute costumes and don’t be a cheapskate on the candy or one of those people who hand out Jack Chick tracks or boxes of raisins or dental floss (and you know who you are – SHAME!), and plan your Thanksgiving feast and what football team you will root for, and then plan on Christmas, what cookies are to be baked or other treats to be made and shared, what decorations to put out, what presents you can give to or make for others that, while they don’t need expensive, will bring the recipient some joy because you gave it some thought.
Next Sunday I’m going to the National Apple Harvest Festival. It’s great country fair but I guess if you are of a certain mind set, probably “pagan” what with the apple bobbing and square dancing and native American dancing. : )
any yoga I have taken (hot, hatha etc) all told me to draw my energy from the earth (satan currently has some authority of the earth)
I have taken Christian yoga as well and usually christian music is played, and scripture spoken for us to concentrate on during class, no mention of drawing energy from the earth but to keep focused on Jesus.
I kind of feel bad for people who say they can attend traditional (namaste, blah blah blah) type yoga because to me it comes across as same as school kids being told to recite muslim prayer as learn about muslim culture “experience” - in school - to me it’s all part of numbing people before incdoctrinating them.