Comments on: Not knowing what to do with yoga.

By: hermit

hermit — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:08:24 +0000

I absolutely cannot agree with you on this. It wasn’t sacrifices that allowed the Moabites to corrupt the Israelites – it was Balaam’s advice to intermarry with them and use that influence to corrupt them – kinda like what happened to Solomon. Your Balaam reference carries no water.

What if some early pagan invented pouring water out of a bucket, but did it as a way of honoring Baal? Would pouring water out of a bucket be evil? Certainly not.

By: Beloved

Beloved — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:15:32 +0000

Go here for a good PODCAST from Last Words Radio (Christian)regarding an episode called “Yoga’s Dark History”

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/october-24-2009/id291651675?i=62322511

Released Oct 25, 2009

By: quartney

quartney — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:39:24 +0000

Haha- i would bet my pinky God doesn’t hate yoga. Other than it being a union of your body & mind & the fact that you can use your resting poses to pray, any workout that makes so many people fart just proves God has a sense of humor.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:30:38 +0000

I am a Christian who majored in Comparative Religions in college and have studied theology and spiritual warfare much since then.

I used to do yoga, until a pastor Who is involved with deliverance ministry told me about all the dangers and spiritual warfare of “new age” practices like yoga, reiki, etc…

Being really convicted and intrigued, I began to re-study everything I had learned about Hinduism in college. I read articles written by Hindus who said how ridiculous we “westerners” were for doing yoga as mere exercise. Yoga is not mere exercise…it is a Hindu’s way of “going to church”….it is their way of being “yoked” with one of their 33 million Gods.

If we really believe that there are pagan Gods–if you don’t, I would say you have dismissed the entire history of the Old Testament and the disobedience of the Jews–then we must not yoke ourselves with pagan Gods.

And the saying, “well I just think of Jesus when I do yoga” is as ridiculous as saying, “well, when I play with a oujii board, I’m just trying to contact Jesus.”

I would venture to say that using yoga as mere “exercise” has less spiritual impact than those who use yoga as a spiritual exercise.

BUT, let’s not be HOLIER than Jesus…let’s be HOLY with Jesus. If he didn’t use yoga as a spiritual practice, we shouldn’t either. And if you want to stretch and exercise, use Pilates.

Go ahead and research for yourself. There are a lot of Christians out there who used to be yoga instructors and now do other forms of exercising, because they know that there is something “spiritual” about yoga, and it is not the Holy Spirit.

Thanks, John, for opening up the discussion. I love frisbee.

By: Melanie

Melanie — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 18:19:08 +0000

I took my first yoga class at my church this past Tuesday. The instruction taught it as a form of worship to God…she talked about becoming one with God by praying through the silent time and listening to his still small voice. In our standing poses she spoke of us reaching out to with outstretched arms to God in praise.

We listened to a combination of soft worship and soft asian instramential music and it was a lovely experience. I personally can't wait to do it again.

I know not all experiences are like mine, but I don't think yoga is bad because non-christains made it up. I think that if your heart and spirit are inthe right place God can use that time to speak to you….just like he can use any time he chooses!

By: Guest

Guest — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:02:00 +0000

I find this interesting, because I've always taken namaste in a completely different manner– kind of a "we are made in God's image" and the holy spirit lives in us. Every good thing I see I attribute to the One who made it. I have thought it's a lovely thing to say. I've always seen saying namaste as an oddly Christian thing to say at the end of a practice, lol. Oops.

By: Emily

Emily — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 04:52:48 +0000

I love a good stretch! After a long run, or a week of muscle tension, who doesn't? The actions alone in yoga are simply stretching. And there is no way that I am going to let the devil claim victory over my stretching life because he and his minions got some people to do those stretches for the sake of glorifying him. Stretching is a gift from God! It feels so good! (Not that 'feelings' are the point of it, but you know what I mean?) Obviously if you're praying to buddha, or channeling the spirits that aren't of God, you've got a problem, and need to take a little breather and go read yourself some Bible. But if some cult decided to make waving and smiling their honorary symbol, am I going to stop waving and smiling? Eh, no.
I know that analogy seems a little far fetched, but it's along the same lines. If some person that unknowingly follows the devil, and figures out a way to stretch and exercise places that you didn't even know existed, then I'll take it, and glorify God with it! Woot for discovering more victory in Jesus! He's set us free, and my box for Him gets a drastically bigger everyday. I'm so excited for when I get to see Him completely obliterate it! I hope I won't crumble.
P.S. I know this is really late post, but I just discovered this site, so everything is still so new and exciting to me!

By: Princess Leia

Princess Leia — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:37:45 +0000

http://www.yogabeans.com

(not my site, and I'll warn you that there is some "language" there….but it is funny as heck!)

By: KatR

KatR — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:44:20 +0000

Well, I got involved in a cult by going to church, so blaming it on Yoga is not really fair.

By: Elle

Elle — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:41:03 +0000

I think it depends on the yoga class…like if they are really intent on pagan spirituality then it might not be a good idea. But most people I know who do it enjoy it because it is good for their bodies and is peaceful. I've seen "Christian yoga" before and sometimes it's just plain weird.