Good thread, thanks for posting. Look up yoga, Hinduism, the history, practices, gods, beliefs, etcetera. Look at what they themselves they themselves say. There are many who are offended that Americans and others have tried to take the Hindu roots and beliefs out of yoga. You can’t truly separate the practice from the beliefs they’re rooted in. A nonbeliever could technically come into any church and without believing eat and drink the bread and wine/juice because they’re hungry or thirsty. However, they’re usually asked not to participate unless they are a believer. At the very least it would not be respectful to do so, but at most God wouldn’t like it either. The Bible says not to eat or drink the body or blood unworthily or you eat and drink judgment on yourself (see 1 Corinthians 11:27). The same would apply to saying you are only “stretching” when those stretches are ones that worship other gods in that religion and culture and those that practice it know this as well as God.
“… do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I will also do likewise.’ You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods… Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (see Deuteronomy 12:29-32).
There are tons of ways to exercise your body and stretch that do not involve yoga or meditation which are eastern religious practices whether the person participating believes so or not. Reality doesn’t change based on opinions like believing or not believing in God doesn’t change the fact that He exists. We’re not to be “unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14) and if we participate in their customs then by doing so we do get lumped up with them and therefore are liable to be judged and punished as well.
There are testimonies of various people who have come out of New Age practices that originally didn’t believe in the occult until they got possessed etcetera. If you look up “kundalini warning,” “kundalini spirits,” or “the dark side of kundalini” you get some interesting results. There are testimonies that to a Christian automatically should bring up red flags for possession, but they’re told their experiences are normal and are of “past lives” or things that they have to get “used to” as their brain “adapts” to their “third eye” being opened and such. But they themselves admit to experiencing bouts of rage, depression, loss of self-control, loss of consciousness, fits of psychosis, uncontrolled body movements etcetera. And it’s not even when they’re practicing it, but randomly throughout their day which has even caused some of them to lose their job.
So why do so many not experience these things? I think through the Holy Spirit by the grace and mercy of God. It’s like playing with Ouija boards. Some people have bad experiences and some don’t. When my dad was young, his friend got thrown across the room playing it. Yet I had a teacher who didn’t see anything supernatural happen the time she used it. People claim they can use astral projection and travel out of their bodies, yet it never worked for my dad when he tried it (or myself for that matter when I was little and tried it). I didn’t know any better at the time, but I’m glad it didn’t work for either of us.
Anyway, I think if you play with fire you’re liable to get burnt. Not everybody does, but it’s definitely more of a possibility and NOT recommended. The more often you do it, the more likely you’ll get burnt but some people get burnt the first time. Why take a chance when you have so many other options? God told the Israelites not to adopt the customs of other nations in serving Him and the same would apply today. He said “And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them” (Leviticus 20:23).
We (who think yoga is not a good practice) are not here to judge our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but to warn and exhort in love like the Bible says. God is our judge and in the end we will all individually stand before Him. We should worship Him in ways that please Him. What possible justification could satisfy God for a person to willingly participate in a custom that people use to worship other gods? “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30).
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