Friday, 18 February 2011
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Why Christians Shouldn't Practice Yoga
Yoga is extremely popular in the fitness world, and many wonder if it has a place in Christian Fitness. Is there such a thing as "Christian yoga" or a "Christian alternative to yoga?" While many know that yoga originated in India, few realize it is part of the Hindu religion.
Those who think yoga is little more than a series of stress-relieving stretching exercises may be surprised to learn about true foundation of the multi-billion dollar yoga craze in North America.
According to Webster's New World Dictionary, yoga (coming from an east Indian Sanskrit word which means "union with god" or "to yoke") is "a mystic and ascetic Hindu discipline for achieving union with the supreme spirit through meditation, prescribed postures, controlled breathing, etc."
As a child growing up on Long Island, I became involved with yoga at the age of seven when my mother and I began watching a daily yoga exercise program on television (thinking it was "just exercise"). For the next 22 years I was heavily involved with yoga, metaphysics and the New Age movement until I became a follower of Jesus Christ in my late 20s.
George P. Alexander, Ph.D., who taught World Religions at Biola University, is a friend of our family. Born in Sri Lanka, George grew up in India, the birthplace of Hinduism and yoga. He told us that yoga postures are actually offerings to the 330 million Hindu gods.
"Many Westerners who practice yoga today are unaware that the physical positions assumed in yoga symbolize a spiritual act: worshiping one of the many Hindu gods," Dr. Alexander said. "To a Hindu, yoga is the outward physical expression of a deep spiritual belief. You cannot separate one from the other."
Since yoga is tied so strongly to Hinduism, can there be such a thing as "Christian yoga," or would that be an oxymoron (a contradiction in terms)? Many practicing Hindus as well as Christians agree that since yoga IS Hinduism, the two cannot be combined.
Are there other ways to bring flexibility training into a Christian's fitness program without doing yoga? Yes! There are plain vanilla stretching courses as well as Christian alternatives to yoga which incorporate stretching exercises with Scripture. Practitioners meditate upon Scripture or speak verses aloud which correspond with each stretching posture. For example, in PraiseMoves, the Christian alternative to yoga recommended by a number of Christian physicians, chiropractors, pastors and apologists, "The Angel" posture is accompanied by Psalm 91:11, "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways."
As Dr. Alexander told us, "My question for Christians who practice yoga is, 'Why would you want to better your body by aligning with a religious philosophy that contradicts the Christian faith?'" Good question.
What are your thoughts on Christians and yoga? If you practice yoga as a Christian, what do you think about its origins? Do you practice a Christian alternative to yoga?
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About the Author
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- From: PraiseMoves
- Name: PraiseMoves.com
- Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
- About Me: http://PraiseMoves.com Founder and Director of PraiseMoves Fitness Ministry (The Christian ALTERNATIVE to yoga). PraiseMoves is NOT so-called Christian yoga (an oxymoron, like a Christian Buddhist - no such thing!). PraiseMoves is the Christ-centered ALTERNATIVE to yoga. Celebrating our 10th year - 2001-2011. To God be the glory! Author with Harvest House Publishers, producer of Christian Fitness DVDs and books. Oversees training of Certified PraiseMoves Instructors on 4 continents. Produces 2 TV shows (PraiseMoves - for adults, and PraiseMoves Kids - for children) reaching over 250 million globally. Ministry Foundation Scripture: 1 Cor. 6:20 (You were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.) We say: Transform your workouts into worship--with PraiseMoves!
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Comments (197)
smh. people read WAY TOO MUCH into EVERYTHING. it's yoga. you can be a christian and do yoga. this is why i get annoyed with christianity. yoga is wrong, reading harry potter is wrong..this is wrong that is wrong etc etc etc. i believe in God but i will not associate myself with christians who think like this. i doubt anyone will reply to this, but don't expect a response back from me if you do. good day.
My family likes to participate in "The Running of the Jew" for this kind of mental and spiritual excercise.
Blah blah, tl;dr
But you're right, Christians shouldn't practise anything that isn't invented by a Pope. That's what you were saying, right?
Don't make it out to be more than it is.
Here's a question, if someone practices Catholic traditions without having any idea of the origins or what the recitations, etc. mean, are they a practicing Catholic?
@tendollar4ways@xanga - yeah last time you ran me it was quite the work out
it's attitudes like this that push me away from the church. grow up. it's exercise. i guess since running started before Christ that's wrong too???
Uh oh.
When you are doing an act for exercise purpose, it is possible for the mind to not recognize it as a "spiritual act". Stuff like this pushes me, a believer of God, away from religion in general.
@beebizzle@xanga - As a Christian, I totally agree with you. This yoga, Harry Potter, etc. madness is...well, madness.
@kk_grayfox@xanga - madness indeed.
I have no problem with practicing a Christian yoga-alternative (even if it's more or less the same thing but in different positions). I do have a problem, like practically everyone else commenting on this post, with people saying that just because something has non-Christian origins then it can't be used to glorify Christ. You might as well throw away your Christmas trees, stop telling your kids about Santa Claus, don't celebrate Christmas on December 25th, and no longer hide Easter Eggs for your kids to find.
Christ is not afraid of these things, so His sheep should not be either.
OH YOUR GOD! (not mine, yours)
YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!??
....this is joke, right?
small minded people like you are the reason why there is so much discrimination and ignorance in our society.
I don't get it. What harm done to a person who practiced Yoga?
I'm a Christian, I practice yoga and I have absolutely no problem with it. Its origins are irrelevant to me and should be irrelevant to anyone who believes God when He says He looks on the *heart.* When I practice yoga, I am not offering myself or any part of me to any gods, because those gods do not in fact exist. By the same token, when someone folds his hands, it does not necessarily mean he is praying to MY God. Outward actions CAN in fact mean different things depending on the motivation behind them.
(By the way, there is a school of thought on sanctifying pagan traditions, and that is where we get *many* of our Christmas and Easter celebration traditions. So if you really have a problem with the origins of yoga, perhaps you should check into the origins of, say, the Christmas tree or the Easter egg.)
Back to yoga though, the fact is, those poses are incredibly healing and energizing, and it is a service to our bodies to perform them. They simultaneously stretch, strengthen, tone and relax us. And our bodies are Christ's temple, no? So we should care for them in the best manner possible.
(I would like to finish by saying that I, like many of the commenters here, got a little agitated when I first read this post. But I also realize how the strong reactions without the support of calm and reasonable arguments can be really a put-off.)
ummm... if you are a Christian, then you don't believe the hindu gods exist. And if they don't exist, then you can't make offerings to them!
youcrazy.@godfatherofgreenbay@xanga - Yea.....but to be honest with you we were hoping for Harold Abrahams and we got Harold Ramis.
Man, I don't know about that. Isn't intention everything? If I'm just going through the motions, with no thoughts of making offerings to some Hindu god, then doesn't it just become an exercise? I mean, a lot of Christmas traditions have Pagan backgrounds, but Christians still partake in them, don't they? Is that a sin, even when you do it with the intent to honor God? I'm not saying that you're wrong, or freak out on you, because I do think you have a valid argument. But as for me, I still have my doubts. That's all.
I vomited in my mouth a little at the mention of "Praise Moves."
Good grief, people actually come up with this stuff?
Guess we better stop putting up Christmas trees and Santa decorations. Both of those stem from non-Christian traditions too....
Lol wow. This proves my point about christians being nutcases
@PseudoEuphoric@xanga - wouldn't that be something though. we die and find out that God is every god. O.o
oh come on, yoga is yoga.
your religion is your religion.
if youre true and have faith in it.nothing can mess it up.
sheesh.my mum was saying the same thing about doing Qi Gong.that she's afraid she would have to go to temples to practice it etc etc (she's a christian)lighten up you guys!
like what Spockrockerwmydirtyeyes@xanga wrote, yoga is yoga.
don't be a pharisee in today's world.