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Yoga: Okay for Christians or not?

Yoga: Okay for Christains or not?

  • Yes

    Votes: 37 34.6%
  • No

    Votes: 70 65.4%

  • Total voters
    107
Yoga is part of a religious ceremony of an eastern religion. The poses and the breathing are all related with trying to get closer to nirvana. If you want to stretch and breath to relax, fine, but don't associate yourself with a false religion.
 
Kids in public school are learning yoga. According to yoga instructor, Mark
Blanchard, (of Progressive Power Yoga, he taught children at Colfax
Elementary school in California this past November. On his blog, he states:
"I will be introducing yoga to all of the kids at the school as I donate a
full yoga program." Blanchard has been featured in many magazines such as
Family Circle and Seventeen and has trained many actors and actresses (like
Jennifer Lopez and Drew Barrymore). Blanchard plans to "bring Progressive
Power Yoga to as many places as I can around the states (as well as the
globe) in the coming year."

Part of Blanchard's plans include working with Mini Yogis Yoga for Kids. On
the Mini Yogis website, they list not only Blanchard's company but many
other organizations as well, many of which are schools like Happy Land
Preschool in Culver City and St. Monica's Elementary School in Santa Monica.

Yoga for kids is on the rise, and if your child attends public school, you
may want to check to see if they are teaching him or her yoga. A program
called YogaEd provides yoga classes under the heading of "health/wellness"
programs for schools. Those programs take place in several states including
California, Colorado, New York, Washington and Washington, DC.

Parents whose kids are in Christian schools may need to be concerned too.
More and more churches and Christian organizations are opening their doors
to the practice of Yoga. And the biggest Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson,
published a book titled Yoga for Christians earlier this year. It's just a
matter of time before kids in Christian schools will be learning Yoga and
eventually the art of meditation.

http://www.fromthelighthouse.com/blo...more=1&c=1
 
I didn't know yoga was part of a false religion and I did yoga in school this weekend.I think of it as a good way to stretch your body.
 
I didn't know yoga was part of a false religion and I did yoga in school this weekend.I think of it as a good way to stretch your body.


I confess that I have not done yoga. It has been said here, that it is of Eastern origin. This is the danger. Many have opened up their mind in meditation when doing such. To do this is to be giving access to alien spirits, which do manifest causing confusion in strange ways. I have visited some who have been frightened by such.


Yoga is not of God. Stretch, bend, excercise, whatever, but do not follow the leading of the Yoga instructer.
 
I confess that I have not done yoga. It has been said here, that it is of Eastern origin. This is the danger. Many have opened up their mind in meditation when doing such. To do this is to be giving access to alien spirits, which do manifest causing confusion in strange ways. I have visited some who have been frightened by such.


Yoga is not of God. Stretch, bend, excercise, whatever, but do not follow the leading of the Yoga instructer.

Well said. Therefore, no reason for "yoga". Just exercise and call it just that, exercising (or meditating WITH GOD).
 
"Yoga for Christians," indeed. Next there will be porn for christians. This is ridiculous. If God says it's wrong, it's wrong.
 
Yoga is a philosophical system

From my knowledge of Hinduism and hindu philosophy I can say it is a philosophical system in which one can achieve liberation through certain techniques and methods. Yoga as a method of concentration is not the problem but if we think that they can save us is a problem. We Christians believe Jesus is the only savior who can save us and not any method or philosophy. Salvation not by any methods but by grace of God alone...
 
Yoga as a method of concentration is not the problem but if we think that they can save us is a problem.

In that case why practice yoga? I can concentrate just fine without it. I can stretch and exercise without it. So, you see now how the devil tries to sneak in and give it a fancy image and name called "yoga"?
 
Has anyone read "The death of a Guru"? It talks about how evil spirits come into someone's mind through this kind of meditation. I say Yoga is bad - for christians and anyone else. This is the opinion of a person who used to meditate countles hours and was renown in his country for doing this. Later he found Jesus and saw how wrong he had been in his practices...
 
I have never participated in yoga, but I know people that have.
Until just a few months ago, I had no idea that yoga was connected with eastern mysticism. I was just floored by a few articles written by Christian pastors on the subject. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't go near a yoga class.

As a youngster my dad enrolled me in karate. And once I had began to advance up the ranks I noticed that my sensei began to really teach and advocate Buddhism and Shinto. So much so, that even while I was backslid from my Christian roots I felt very uncomfortable and walked away from karate as a brown belt. My dad was furious, but I felt it was something I had to do. So some (not all) martial arts classes are also a danger, being covert recruiting centers for eastern religions.
 
i think that most yoga classes just teach you to stretch your body and relax so that's okay. i've never done it but i have friends who do yoga and they don't think it's religious at all, it's just teaching yourself to relax and is exercising your body.
 
Yoga is a real risk for your body and soul!

When you meditate on God you keep your mind focused on Him never going into a "trance" unless induced by the Holy Spirit.
When you do Yoga the aim of the exercises is to relax your body and your mind to reach the tranguility of mindlessness going into a trance by your own will (the doorway Satan needs to enter your body since you have given up controle over your free will - he would love to take controle of one of Gods children).

This is also the basis for astral projection, power chanting and casting of magick spells.(the meditation part)

Satan needs only a small doorway and if we willfully open one for him he will petition God and take advantage of the opportunity.
 
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Why You Should Stay Away from Yoga

Why You Should Stay Away from Yoga

We are bombarded by messages of yoga’s peaceful and healthful benefits, but what we don’t hear, specifically in the United States, is the true origins of this type of lifestyle. Laurette made it very clear to me in a recent phone interview.

“These are postures that are offered to the 330 million Hindu gods. Yoga postures really are; they are offerings to the gods. If you do these postures and you do this breathing technique and this meditation, then you will be accepted by a god, little “G.” That’s the real danger,” she said.

Laurette told me that one of her PraiseMoves certified personal trainers visited India for three months on a mission trip, and she would often see people in the streets doing yoga poses in front of the statues of the gods.

“Romans 12:1-2 says we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to God,” added Laurette. “Here they are doing something very similar with these postures to their 330 million gods, and it is scary. So we abstain from things offered to idols—Acts 15:29.”

In yoga they do what they call pranayama breathing. Prana is the Hindu word for life force, the same concept as the word chi in some martial arts. Yoga breathing attempts to manipulate that life energy, which Laurette believes is perilous. “That is a dangerous thing,” she said, “because I think that we are coming out from under the blood of Jesus when we do stuff like that, and we are no match for the enemy in those areas. I think of what Paul said in Ephesians 2:2, that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. We are not talking about oxygen.”

A third area of concern in yoga is the concept of emptying the mind, which is contradictory to what Christianity teaches. As Laurette explained, “We are transformed by the renewing of our minds, not the emptying.”

Along with emptying the mind, yoga guides people into astral travel, which is where people actually leave their bodies, a practice that Laurette was familiar with and has since questioned. “I wonder with those experiences when I left my body what got in there when I was gone?” Laurette posed. “As a Christian with the Holy Spirit in there, we are not going to be possessed, I don’t think. But one could easily be oppressed.”

Clearly, with this understanding of yoga, Christians should think twice before heading to the local gym for a yoga class. But if you are a Christian who thinks it’s all right to attend yoga classes because you think you are strong enough not to fall prey to the spiritual deception that’s being taught and you enjoy the physical benefits, Laurette pleads in all seriousness that you to please consider a younger believer or weaker Christian who is watching your lifestyle. If you go to a yoga class, chances are they might be inspired to go also, and they could fall completely off track in their walk with God.

The ‘Christian Yoga’ Controversy

Can yoga and its religious roots be separated? Some who have been concerned about Eastern influences of yoga have looked to hatha yoga for answers, since hatha yoga is supposed to simply be the flexibility exercises without the spiritual influences. But Laurette is convinced that yoga and Hinduism are inextricably linked, and beyond that, there can be no such thing as Christian yoga.

“Christian yoga is an oxymoron,” said Laurette. “It is like saying someone is a Christian Buddhist or a Christian Hindu. What some people are doing is that they are trying to make yoga Christian. Even Hindus are saying that you cannot do that.”

By Laura Bagby
CBN.com Senior Producer
 
I work with a yoga instructor who is christian... he said that it'sn healthy spiritually and phisically. You can connect with Jesus while doing yoga :).
 
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