The thing is, that a Christian yoga class is still a class that has as its basis the idea that Hindu ideology came up with something very good that Christians would to well to emulate. Every move in yoga is used to promote certain thinking about the body and its place in the universe. It includes instructions for the body and what the mind is supposed to think about the body, and how the breathing is supposed to be considered and practiced in relation to both.

I think it wiser to go a little unhealthy and a little overstressed (and I’m not worried) than to assume that hundreds of years of dark evil Hindu religion just happened to have stumbled upon, through their idolatry, what just happens to be the very best method of getting fit and reducing stress ever, and that I as a Christian am lacking something because I don’t get involved in the same.

He told me the same thing you said — that it can be compartmentalized to exercise, relaxation and breathing, and that part isn’t evil, but if you add the “second part” (as he put it), which would include the emptying of the mind and the transendental meditation, etc., then it is incompatible with Christianity.

What you said reminds me of the book of Daniel. The four men learned many things from the Babylonians, but they stopped at anything that would cause them to participate in idolatry. Probably a lot of their captive relatives did not stop where they did.

It is *all* about intent. You are right. But it is good for people to be aware that there is a part of yoga that is not compatible with Christian thinking, and that whatever kind of exercises they may do, as Christians they ought to purpose, as Daniel purposed, to not participate in whatever would lead them astray.

And there are probably many people who were so “into” the unchristian side of yoga that everything about it is bad to them, and they can’t participate even in the postures, because of what they signify to them. Unlike you and me, who wouldn’t have a problem with the exercise side of it.

Christian yoga is an oxymoron – if one removes all the Eastern components, including the breathing techniques, it is not yoga. However, most of the Christian yoga I have seen still incorporates these breathing techniques and also the asanas. The asanas were designed to induce meditative states – the purpose of Eastern meditation is not to de-stress and it has nothing to do with Biblical meditation, which involves using the mind and thinking on God’s word.

Hatha yoga, the kind we see most of in the U.S., is a discipline of the body to prepare one for the more advanced levels of mental yoga, and to prepare the chakras for the flow of kundalini, an energy supposedly coiled like a serpent at the base of the spine. Yoga is a spiritual discipline whose goals are completely incompatible with Christianity.

I have 2 articles on yoga on my website.

Thanks for the great article, Don, and for speaking out on this important topic!

http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-yoga.html

http://www.christianyoga.us/home.htm

http://www.praisemoves.com/ChristianAlternative.htm

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1098937,00.html

I think that there are many Christians, who are so embarrassed by the caricature (whether true or not) of wild-eyed fire-breathing Bible-thumping fundamentalist Christians, they tend to go too out of their way to give the appearance of being “normal” and also intellectual in order to project a positive image. That would include being “broadminded” about yoga, even where it is blatently idolatrous.

There are also Christians who perhaps shun legalism so much that they fail to be discerning about anything but legalism encountered in Christian churches, and therefore don’t have a problem participating in this. After all, it’s not legalism from Christianity; it’s some other false teaching, but that doesn’t matter, because *all* they may be concerned about is being stifled by legalism they’ve encountered in Christian circles. We need to be concerned about truth value wherever we are, though.

I’m wondering if there are discerning Christians out there who recognize the value of the exercises for flexibility, relaxation and stress-relief, and so eliminate that aspect of yoga and substitute good Christian meditations in it. My opinion on this is to the extent the teaching does not contradict Biblical truth, it is simply physical exercise and relaxation. We do live in a very fast-paced society and physically deleterious stress is rampant in our culture. De-stressing is not a bad thing in and of itself, and in some cases it is something a person has to do in order to improve health (especially cardio-vascular health).