Have you ever wanted to find an answer to a question, and all of your research left you thoroughly frustrated ?
I was alarmed when I passed a large Catholic Church in the city with a billboard announcing
“Christian Yoga Classes” ! This perplexed me, since I thought that yoga was a Hindu spiritual practise.
My research revealed that ‘experts ‘ are divided into two groups. There are those who loudly proclaim that Christians should not practise yoga, since the poses, or asanas, are essentially designed to worship Hindu gods. For example, the ‘Sun Salutation’ is designed to show honour to the Hindu sun god.
The other group of experts maintain that, sure go ahead, practise yoga, as long as you are only doing it
‘for the exercise’ ! Is this confusing, or what ?
Here, by the sea, I practise ‘Un-Yoga’. I do use a yoga mat, and wear yoga pants for comfort, and I do a series of stretches in the evening. This exercise helps me to sleep well. In addition, regular moderate stretching helps to tone the muscles and assists in maintaining over-all fitness and well-being.
However, I have to be very careful not to contort my body into any poses named after cats, cobras, trees, etc., since I would not want want to be accidently worshipping any Hindu deities !
The Lord loves us unconditionally. He is not watching us to see when we might trip up, or make a mistake.
Nevertheless, because we love Him, we are careful not to do things to offend him.
I continue to practise Un-Yoga, and realize that the Yoga craze, which has gone viral for sure, is a source of confusion for many.
Yoga is a form of Satan worship, it channels demonic spirits, and has no place in the life of a Christian.
I used to research this, and I haven’t looked into it lately, but please stay far away from it.
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I agree with you, Lee. The majority of the research supports this. This is why I do stretches, but not yoga. 🤗
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I agree 100%. Thanks for posting this.
A Christian brother I know used to be a janitor in a public school, and I remember his telling us that one week the “art” in the art classroom was so demonic that he had to be very careful how he emptied the trash. He did NOT want to be in a position of “bowing down” to any of the demons depicted on the walls. Some may consider that extreme of paranoid, but if we’re going to be extreme, best to be extreme in our loyalty to the true, living God.
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Yes, I so agree with you. Christians are called to be set apart. We are a ‘peculiar’ but powerful people, through our loyalty to Jesus. So many things that the culture says are harmless, are not harmless at all. The Christian brother in the school was wise in his observations. 🤗
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I respect your opinions of course, I am not practicing yoga anymore but when I did, I never thought of any names – just the next pose or stretch I was doing. I believe Christians do yoga for the health benefits period.
I also am confident that God knows our heart and our thoughts, you can’t accidentally offend God.
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Yes, so true. God knows the intentions of our hearts. 🤗
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I achieved a Shodokan level in the art of Shorinji Kempo. If you embrace the entire ball of wax which comes with my art then you embrace it Buddhist base. I simply never embraced the base.
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That is a very interesting comment. Thanks for sharing. 🤗
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Yes, I am right with you. I used to love yoga stretching (never meditated or worshipped any gods) and benefitted from the exercise until a Christian wise woman I respect told me the flaw was in the purpose of the design and must thus be an eyesore to God who knows where it came from and although He knows the intentions of our heart, might just be best to do calisthenics or normal exercise. I started walking more. And hey, I still feel healthy and have the benefits of exercise without hurting anyone.😄❤
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Hi Tonya : I fully agree. Sometimes we can get caught up in the latest trends without knowing all about them. Sometimes things that present as ‘innocent’ are really not so innocent at all. May the Lord give us all the discernment we need. 🤗
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Amen. And He does, praise God! 😄❤
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I have never tried yoga because it is according to my knowledge was a form of worshipping Hindu deities. I am not going to risk trying any of that. I guess if you do it without knowing it might be different but since I had that knowledge I was not comfortable doing yoga.
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I absolutely agree with you. It is a form of worshipping Hindu deities. Therefore, although I have a stretching routine, I never do ‘Yoga’ 🤗
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Great post! While God knows our hearts, we should not be ignorant of the devices of the enemy. The enemy doesn’t care if it’s just a posture, he is looking for ways to invade our lives. There are many other things Christians can do for relaxation.
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Yes, Temi, I so agree. Too many people have accepted the ‘Yoga craze’ without knowing what they are becoming involved with.
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I agree with your post. I studied and practiced yoga daily for several years before I was a Christian believer and can say without hesitation that people have no idea what they are messing with. Meditation / mental aspects aside, the poses and sequences of poses (asanas) are designed to achieve particular effects upon the nervous system that are conducive to achieving particular mental/spiritual states and facilitate the end goal of the practice – to unite you spiritually with “god”. The Hindu god. And as scripture makes clear, worshipers of other gods actually worship demons. The word “Yoga” literally means “to unite.” Similar to our word “yoke.” It is a practice designed to unite the soul of the practitioner with demons. Many insist that it’s just exercise for them. Irregardless of what they think, it is more than that.
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Craig, thanks so much for sharing this. As you say, many insist that it is just exercise, but it’s more than that. It seems that many people are following the Yoga trend without being aware of what they are messing with.
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“Nevertheless, because we love Him, we are careful not to do things to offend him.”
Right. 😊 I think thats the best way to handle the confusion. Whatever we do, do it for the Lord. Some people obstain from certain things in honor of God. That’s a beautiful thing.
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Very wise, Tina. Thanks ! 🤗
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Great post!. 🤗 We really need to be careful of what we subject our being to.
End time, twists and all. But only the truth of His words sets us free!.
❤
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I like your views on this. There is nothing wrong with stretching and toning the muscles, but it is when you are deliberately doing the practice and exercises that are related to those animals and serpents that things can get out of control.
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Thanks, Beverley, I agree with you. 🤗
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