Yoga - Why do Christians think it's bad?

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FriendlyGuitarist

Guest
#1
#1
I have been doing Yoga for quite some time now and I love it. A lot of people at my church tell me I should stay away from Yoga but they don't have any good arguments for their opinions.

Yoga has been proven to help align the body, reduce stress, breathe deeper, sleep better, etc.

I think people should try Yoga out before they judge it or have an opinion on it.

That being said. Do you do Yoga? How often do you do Yoga? I do Yoga 5 times a week.
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#2
Jul 3, 2015
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#2
The word yoga means "union," and the goal is to unite one's transitory (temporary) self with the infinite Brahman, the Hindu concept of "God." This god is not a literal being, but is an impersonal spiritual substance that is one with nature and the cosmos. This view is called "pantheism," the belief that everything is God and that reality consists only of the universe and nature. Because everything is God, the yoga philosophy makes no distinction between man and God.

Hatha yoga is the aspect of yoga that focuses on the physical body through special postures, breathing exercises, and concentration or meditation. It is a means to prepare the body for the spiritual exercises, with fewer obstacles, in order to achieve enlightenment. The practice of yoga is based on the belief that man and God are one. It is little more than self-worship disguised as high-level spirituality. https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-yoga.html

That may be why Christians might try to steer you away from yoga. :)

 
PrynceNY

PrynceNY

Banned
#3
Aug 16, 2016
2,184
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#3
Yoga is an eastern spiritual practice that spiritually alignments with a hindu goddess called Shakti. While you may believe it's harmless you are inviting demonic beings in your life by engaging in these kind of practices. Satan is very subtle. I Heard from an ex-witch testimony that yoga practices were used in satanic rituals against her.
 
Roughsoul1991

Roughsoul1991

Senior Member
#4
Sep 17, 2016
8,888
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A lot of tradition in Christmas came from pagan roots but we turned them into ways to promote the gospel.

The bible tells us to take care of our bodies and I am sure stretching is a great way to do it. Here in America, this is what Yoga is. Stretching and breathing. If the word Yoga bothers you since that's what bothers Christians then find a class that stretches.
 
T

thisgirl

Senior Member
#5
Mar 2, 2015
153
5
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#5
Pray and fast and ask the Lord for spiritual discernment on the issue. We fight powers and principalities not flesh and blood. Be open to what the Lord says regarding this matter. He told me no but ask for yourself. Spiritual matters matter to the Holy Spirit who lives in you.
 
H

Hellooo

Guest
#6
#6
FriendlyGuitarist said:
I have been doing Yoga for quite some time now and I love it. A lot of people at my church tell me I should stay away from Yoga but they don't have any good arguments for their opinions.

Yoga has been proven to help align the body, reduce stress, breathe deeper, sleep better, etc.

I think people should try Yoga out before they judge it or have an opinion on it.

That being said. Do you do Yoga? How often do you do Yoga? I do Yoga 5 times a week.
Click to expand...
I like it, especially if I'm sore from weight lifting or other exercise. I'm not consistent though.
There's also a few relaxation poses I like to do before bed...forward bending, the legs up against the wall where the body flat on the ground (forgot the name of the pose) child's pose, corpse pose.
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#7
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
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#7
IMHO, if exercise bothers a person because of a "name", they are probably more "Religious" than "Christian."
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#8
Jul 3, 2015
61,138
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#8
Willie-T said:
IMHO, if exercise bothers a person because of a "name", they are probably more "Religious" than "Christian."
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Divesting yoga of the spirituality connected to it is seen as somewhat sacrilegious by those who honor its origins. That is not to say you need to recognize those things to practice yoga, though any yoga teacher worth their spit would not agree that this is copacetic. There was a piece in one of our daily newspapers some time ago about this very thing, and how true practitioners saw it as a travesty (that yoga is being treated as exercise only).

1. Yoga is more than asanas. Many practitioners have a devoted asana practice but neglect the holistic view of what yoga encompasses. There are actually eight limbs to yoga, and flowing through downward dog and triangle pose is just one little aspect.

1. Yama: universal morality

2. Niyama: personal observances

3. Asanas: body postures

4. Pranayama: breathing exercises and control of prana, life force energy

5. Pratyahara: control of the senses

6. Dharana: concentration and cultivating inner perceptual awareness

7. Dhyana: devotion, meditation on the Divine
Question: what divine are they talking about?

8. Samadhi: union with the Divine
[FONT=&quot]Buddhism is largely non-theistic.[/FONT]

2. Your mission is to shed light, not to master.

How can one without the Light of the world shed light?

Oh, right, Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#9
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
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#9
Magenta said:
Divesting yoga of the spirituality connected to it is seen as somewhat sacrilegious by those who honor its origins. That is not to say you need to recognize those things to practice yoga, though any yoga teacher worth their spit would not agree that this is copacetic. There was a piece in one of our daily newspapers some time ago about this very thing, and how true practitioners saw it as a travesty (that yoga is being treated as exercise only).

1. Yoga is more than asanas. Many practitioners have a devoted asana practice but neglect the holistic view of what yoga encompasses. There are actually eight limbs to yoga, and flowing through downward dog and triangle pose is just one little aspect.

1. Yama: universal morality

2. Niyama: personal observances

3. Asanas: body postures

4. Pranayama: breathing exercises and control of prana, life force energy

5. Pratyahara: control of the senses

6. Dharana: concentration and cultivating inner perceptual awareness

7. Dhyana: devotion, meditation on the Divine
Question: what divine are they talking about?

8. Samadhi: union with the Divine
[FONT="]Buddhism is largely non-theistic.[/FONT]

2. Your mission is to shed light, not to master.

How can one without the Light of the world shed light?

Oh, right, Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
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I wish I could say I understand any of what you are trying to say.
 
M

Miri

Guest
#10
#10
Try pilates it's basically yoga but without the funny names.
 
S

Siberian_Khatru

Guest
#13
#13
I loosely practice it 2 - 3 times/week. By "loosely practice", I mean I really just focus on the stretches and the breathing; can't say it's a spiritual journey for me.

FriendlyGuitarist said:
I think people should try Yoga out before they judge it or have an opinion on it.
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It seems to be, more or less, a socioreligoius phobia, not so much a prejudice against the physical and/or mental focus that the West has adopted it for.
 
wolfwint

wolfwint

Senior Member
#14
Feb 15, 2014
3,778
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#14
FriendlyGuitarist said:
I have been doing Yoga for quite some time now and I love it. A lot of people at my church tell me I should stay away from Yoga but they don't have any good arguments for their opinions.

Yoga has been proven to help align the body, reduce stress, breathe deeper, sleep better, etc.

I think people should try Yoga out before they judge it or have an opinion on it.

That being said. Do you do Yoga? How often do you do Yoga? I do Yoga 5 times a week.
Click to expand...
You believe it ore not, you open yourself for strange spirits! That's why you should not practice it if you are a follower of Christ Jesus!
 
O

oldethennew

Banned
#15
Feb 28, 2016
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#15
the 'WEST' adopts only what it wants to, for it's wants...
 
Magenta

Magenta

Senior Member
#16
Jul 3, 2015
61,138
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#16
oldethennew said:
the 'WEST' adopts only what it wants to, for it's wants...
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True, Westerners think nothing of cultural rape and appropriation. This is what I see: Why not walk all over other people's spirituality? Let's just pretend those who have concerns are being overly religious and/or have some irrational, baseless fear. Allow those who are completely ignorant of what it really is tell us how safe it is, even though they are completely clueless about what it entails, and fail to comprehend in any part when it is explained to them. Ignorance is bliss, and more important than being educated, after all.
 
H

Hellooo

Guest
#17
#17
Explain like I'm 5...
Why can't the physical aspect of yoga be separated from the spiritual woo woo components, particularly if you don't even hold those beliefs? How does it hinder the Christian walk if you only perform the physical exercise?
Is it a matter of semantics? We can't call our stretch poses "yoga" unless we subscribe to Hinduism? Or is it truly that we shouldn't even move our bodies into those positions, no matter what our intent Is?
 
Willie-T

Willie-T

Banned
#18
Feb 7, 2015
22,418
413
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#18
Hellooo said:
Explain like I'm 5...
Why can't the physical aspect of yoga be separated from the spiritual woo woo components, particularly if you don't even hold those beliefs? How does it hinder the Christian walk if you only perform the physical exercise?
Is it a matter of semantics? We can't call our stretch poses "yoga" unless we subscribe to Hinduism? Or is it truly that we shouldn't even move our bodies into those positions, no matter what our intent Is?
Click to expand...
You just nailed how utterly stupid this whole idea is.
 
A

Adstar

Senior Member
#19
Jul 24, 2016
7,600
3,624
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#19
FriendlyGuitarist said:
I have been doing Yoga for quite some time now and I love it. A lot of people at my church tell me I should stay away from Yoga but they don't have any good arguments for their opinions.

Yoga has been proven to help align the body, reduce stress, breathe deeper, sleep better, etc.

I think people should try Yoga out before they judge it or have an opinion on it.

That being said. Do you do Yoga? How often do you do Yoga? I do Yoga 5 times a week.
Click to expand...
Yoga is opening a window to demonic oppression upon the one who takes part in it..
 
B

BeyondET

Guest
#20
#20
Adstar said:
Yoga is opening a window to demonic oppression upon the one who takes part in it..
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try some Qigong ti chi, learning and managing ones own electricity totally over 2800 volts you have in your body, this can be of a positive thing, I agree some what of what you said though this is of choice of how a person procieves it, a positive thing can turn into a negative thing and negative thing can be turned into a positive thing. Such a window as you say is about how a person thinks and reacts to such, a person can close that window and open a new one in a more creative positive fashion that means not running from the negative but to change its outcome to a positive. There are a lot of things that can be twisted into meaning a negative or positive, but think logically of all things and manage out comes to be more positives of coarse IMO.

[video=youtube;ZJRtZAwVwgo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJRtZAwVwgo[/video]
 
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