Yoga - Why do Christians think it's bad?

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BeyondET

Guest
#21
[video=youtube;1-NA86aAMvY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-NA86aAMvY[/video]
 
Dec 17, 2013
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#22
Those folk that you talkin bout at your church sound one step away from boiling folk alive for not reading the Bible,them there folk is why I don't participate in any organized religion,I don't think that it's necessary.

I think that not contributing to the negativity in the world and contributing positively if you want to is all that God want.

Of course I'm being told by some folk that this belief of mine is satanic because I don't phrase my beliefs with parables,you gots to be careful what you get involved in, I went to a catholic church one time that was just down the street from my new apartment and I was feeling real down so I thought that I'd check it out,because my ma always advise to read the Bible and go to church and you'll feel better.

I'm not catholic im Christian that's all,my ma says "all Christians is good and they welcome everyone to come to church so you go ahead and you'll make yourself some new friend you'll see"...she was wrong.

All them folk looked at me real funny almost hostile so I left,let me tell you,I felt worse not better.

What you doin is in my opinion perfectly ok no matter what your belief but if they try to get you to do stuff that against your moral principle?

RUN FORREST!!! RUN!!!
 

Google

Junior Member
May 22, 2017
23
1
3
#23
Yoga as an exercise is harmless. It is holding postures, gently moving between postures and stretching. It's great exercise. The study of spiritual yoga is definitely something people could take issue with. The two things are completely different in American society, but there is this persistent idea that "yoga" is synonymous with Eastern religious practices. I got really into yoga (as an exercise) for a very long time and I felt great! I really liked it.
 
P

Pencildot

Guest
#24
use logic which is a gift freely given to you. In India everything is translated into supernatural. Must be because it was earlier difficult for ordinary people to understand. Now you have the internet find out what is good, analyze it and the apply accordingly.
 

Maka

Senior Member
Jun 26, 2017
505
18
0
#25
I enjoy yoga as an exercise. It’s very beneficial for the body.
 

peacenik

Senior Member
May 11, 2016
3,071
26
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#26
Yoga as an exercise is harmless. It is holding postures, gently moving between postures and stretching. It's great exercise. The study of spiritual yoga is definitely something people could take issue with. The two things are completely different in American society, but there is this persistent idea that "yoga" is synonymous with Eastern religious practices. I got really into yoga (as an exercise) for a very long time and I felt great! I really liked it.




I suffer from arthritis and my chiropractor has often recommended yoga for pain relief. I don't bother with some of its alleged spiritual or pagan aspects. Its physical exercises work to some extent and I'll continue to do some as long as I get relief.
 
Apr 15, 2017
2,867
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#27
Yoga is not bad if only used for stretching alone,but then I suppose it would not be yoga,but a stretching exercise.

It is bad the way the world looks at it,that they think it has a spiritual benefit,which it does not,for only by Jesus is there a spiritual benefit by the Spirit,and they meditate,and empty their mind,and do other things,like align their chakras,feel energy flow through their body.

To me I believe that them meditating,and the things they do to bring peace to their mind,gives them a spacey mind,and OCD,and is not good for them,all the while they think it is a benefit.

I believe that we think the best,and are at our mental best,when we leave our mind alone,and think good thoughts,but keep our mind moving around from subject to subject,for it is like lifting weights,if you keep lifting the weights eventually your muscle will have stress,and fatigue,and so it is with going over the same things in your mind,it will eventually have stress,and fatigue,and that emptying their mind is not good.

They will create a feeling of never being satisfied,and will cause them to seek more of the occult to satisfy themselves,which the new age movement(1 Timothy 4:1-5;2 Timothy 4:2-4),which has an interpretation of the Bible,as well as all religions,based on spiritual evolution through nature,is the future for this sinful world,which the man of sin,the beast,will promote it,and have the traits of it,and will claim to be God by harnessing the power of nature,and obtaining power,evolved,and will share this power with the people that follow him.

Eventually they will not be delighted in the things that they do today to try to better themselves,but they will be baby toys to them,as they lust for more power they cannot get on their own,and they will turn to the New Age Christ to supply that craving.

But I believe that what they do is not good for the mind,for you have to leave your mind alone,and think normally.Do not meditate,do not repeat phrases,and do not empty your mind.

If it were a benefit then God would have us do that,but He said whatever is lovely,and good,and pure,and the such,think about that.

And we do meditate on the word of God,but that is trying to understand it,and not as the world does with their meditation.

Which this is what is seems like to me.I keep my mind moving from subject to subject,and will only try to understand something as long as my mind is fresh,and when I cannot get any further,I leave off the subject,for to go over it more will put stress on the mind as it searches for something it cannot think of,but might go over it like 2 days later,but when I cannot get understand any more,I leave off of it.

We know people get stress if they keep going over the same thing,and worry,and they say people that have OCD have stress,and what I think that the people in to yoga,and the such,give themselves a spacey mind,so they do not have the stress so much for they space out their mind,but when they are done doing their practices,they will not feel right after a while until they do their practices.

It is like they have to do their practices that space out their mind to feel right,but it creates a dull feeling after the practices,and when the mind settles down,and then they have to do it again to feel right.

It is like they are running on the spacey feeling of their mind,as their mental state they like.

I do not know for sure,and I do not want to find out,but that is what it seems like to me,for you have to leave your mind alone,and think normally,and forget those practices.
 
C

ConsciouslyAware

Guest
#28
Because our goal in life is to be united with our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. Not abstract nothingness as Yoga seeks to empty you of everything except their meditation. Christians should empty themselves of everything except Christ. Use to do Yoga for the same reasons then learned the subtlety to it, and it can be a bad thing.
 
F

FenceMan

Guest
#29
So, a friend of mine, an Indian pastor, once expressed to me his shock that Western Christians were okay with doing yoga. In his opinion it was blatantly a part of false religion. Each body position is meant to represent a different letter in a prayer to the Sun. So even if you are doing it just for the health benefits, you're still spelling out a pagan prayer...

That's one of the reasons I've avoided it. I think there are similar exercises that are just as good without the strong pantheistic connections. And let's be honest, here in the US many people do these exercises as a part of worshiping nature. Otherwise they wouldn't go to places like national parks, waterfalls, etc to do it. And they do it at sunrise, too...

For me, it's still too close to its origins to take part. People don't use Holly and Ivy as part of a ritual in a major world religion these days (if it ever was), but Yoga still is connected to false gods worshiped by millions.

Oh, and just a side note... If my Indian pastor friend was concerned about us doing Yoga here in the West maybe we ought to consider how our brothers and sisters in India could potentially be led astray by seeing us engage in the very practices they have given up. It's worth thinking about, anyway.
 
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dave_in_KWC

Senior Member
May 21, 2014
287
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KWC, Ontario
#30
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.
Using errant logic about Yoga being harmless is akin to me saying that I like to call Belladonna (Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant) an edible mushroom, in my opinion.

The same strategy has been used effectively by evil to encourage Christians in North America and elsewhere to practice Transcendental Meditation and also to use Chinese medicine and Acupuncture, all of which are practices rooted in false Eastern religions. All practices rooted in pagan/false religions need to be completely rejected by wholehearted Christians, or suffer the consequences - and there WILL be consequences - despite what short-term health benefits you may claim and experience, because in my opinion you are opening yourself up to a world of evil and darkness that you have little idea about.
 

I_am_Canadian

Senior Member
Dec 8, 2014
2,169
696
113
#31
I don't know but I do know yoga is good for the immune system, and I enjoy it in strawberry flavour myself.
(sorry just a little humour.) lol

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.
 

I_am_Canadian

Senior Member
Dec 8, 2014
2,169
696
113
#32
Atropa? belladonna?, I guess thats amore lol.

Using errant logic about Yoga being harmless is akin to me saying that I like to call Belladonna (Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant) an edible mushroom, in my opinion.

The same strategy has been used effectively by evil to encourage Christians in North America and elsewhere to practice Transcendental Meditation and also to use Chinese medicine and Acupuncture, all of which are practices rooted in false Eastern religions. All practices rooted in pagan/false religions need to be completely rejected by wholehearted Christians, or suffer the consequences - and there WILL be consequences - despite what short-term health benefits you may claim and experience, because in my opinion you are opening yourself up to a world of evil and darkness that you have little idea about.
 

flatlinej

Junior Member
Dec 7, 2017
28
1
0
#35
For someone who experienced the occult firsthand, I can say yoga is not something God would want us to do. For those who say we are being religious whackos, that's not fair, were being biblical. The Bible says to be wary of evil, be sober, be vigilant. just because it masquerades as an exercise doesn't mean its right. If God is against it, shouldn't you be? your life, everything you do, in meat and drink, etc is to honor him.
 

Hamilton

Active member
Nov 26, 2018
142
44
28
#36
Using errant logic about Yoga being harmless is akin to me saying that I like to call Belladonna (Atropa belladonna, commonly known as belladonna or deadly nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant) an edible mushroom, in my opinion.

The same strategy has been used effectively by evil to encourage Christians in North America and elsewhere to practice Transcendental Meditation and also to use Chinese medicine and Acupuncture, all of which are practices rooted in false Eastern religions. All practices rooted in pagan/false religions need to be completely rejected by wholehearted Christians, or suffer the consequences - and there WILL be consequences - despite what short-term health benefits you may claim and experience, because in my opinion you are opening yourself up to a world of evil and darkness that you have little idea about.
Hi Dave, I understand what you are trying to say, I have never done yoga formally. But things are not so clear cut in my opinion.

I saw a book that acknowledge that acupuncture for minor surgery worked for some 70% of the test subjects. I thought it was interesting. At the time I was interested in joining PMRS (para medical rescue service), as an EMT, I read that such group would go to places where disaster struck, and voluntarily tried to help. Acupuncture to help in western medical treatment seemed like an ok option.
Thank God never did join, and never did I get involved.

The situation with Yoga is a complicated one. They talk about Chakras (energy vortices), that are present in our body and serve as processors of energy systems. From what I have read, the lower energy systems, have been associated with strange entities, and supposedly affect you, but not sure which way and why.

In Tai Chi exercises (Chinese), energy from the Earth must be visualized to enter via the feet, and distributed all around for health benefits.

Some American scientists, were born with the ability to see auras (human magnetic fields), they allegedly attest to the existence of chakras, and they noticed that imbalances in energy have a correspondent physical condition (could be disease), but not sure which is the cause of what.

One particular scientist talks about bioenergetic streamers, and suggest that 90% of communication is non-verbal. Allegedly we use the bioenergetic streamers to connect and communicate with other human beings.

The tough part is that Jesus said that rivers of living water would flow out of believers, and some Christians have had visions in which energy emanating from the lower belly, was able to negatively affect evil spirits...

I think we have not been able to study in deep all of this field. I wish some persons could go to Charismatic services and describe what they see.

The scientist using higher sense perception to look at the human aura, could know when someone was a cocaine user, because she said that such activity creates an ugly mucus like energetic substance near the most used nostril.

Mind blowing, a lot of caution needed about all this because it may all be a devil trap.

Yoga also encourages to blank thought and let the senses expand, so that while meditating, the practitioner eventually can tell the presence of other entities at a distance.

All very strange. When Jesus talked about cords of love to bring persons to Him, and sin as binding the person, some think the speech is akin to bioenergetic streamers.

So the question is: if there is wordly, demonic, natural knowledge, and knowledge from on high, can there also be wordly (as in Earthly), demonic, an godly energies?

In charismatic services where miracles occur, there is usually a description of electricity like energy felt right before the healing, and Pastors usually associate it with the Holy Spirit. We know the Holy Spirit is not a power, force or anything like that, so maybe such manifestations are just the result of His work.

I think a lot of research is needed in all of this.

Kind regards.
 

Demi777

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2014
6,877
1,949
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Germany
#37
U cant make devil worship, which yoga is, holy. Same like Halloween, seances mediums etc.
 

Hamilton

Active member
Nov 26, 2018
142
44
28
#38
U cant make devil worship, which yoga is, holy. Same like Halloween, seances mediums etc.
I have not practiced yoga formally so I do not know if is devil worship (maybe indirectly if worshipping the sun and the like).

Now remember that different traditions have different outlooks. I do like some of the thoughts in Baptist mission work:

They see themselves (at least the outreach ministry ones), as redeemers of the bad parts of culture. When they go to preach the gospel to areas where lost people live, they have learned to not introduce cultural ways more of the North American west type culture.

Example: music. They missionaries have learned to redeem the aboriginals (or whatever ethnicity they are ministering) musical legacy.

After reading the Bible, and understanding that many psalms are praise type, they are encouraged to worship God, give thanks to Him for the salvation, and announce His great deeds in their own musical format.

So the sounds, instruments, and other stuff used before to invoke and call demons, now is used to praise the true creator of it all, the true original foundation of all that there is, and is wonderful.

I guess their idea came from the Bible where it says that people from all tribes, tongues, ethnicity, etc adore. I bet they will not be using the western instruments only, as if they are the only appropriate means.

Redeeming the bad parts of culture: what a wonderful concept.

Not saying that yoga is something to be done by all, but I could very well learn the physical aspects of it, and change the names and do it for the Glory of God, and get physical benefits, while being of testimony that only God is worthy of worship, because He is and will always be alone the one having self-existence.

Lasers, martial arts, internet, are not inherently bad, but the use you make of them is what would make them an instrument of evil or wickedness. In the end is you and your inclination to do things for the glory of God, or of someone else.

My own non-expert opinion of course, and I respect if you disagree. But we both must understand that we do not have full ultimate orthodoxy, and thus absolute truth, but God.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 New International Version (NIV)
Paul’s Use of His Freedom
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Kind regards.
 
Aug 12, 2013
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#39
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.
I haven't done it, I looked into it and even found a Christian who used to teach it and he knows what all of it means. He even used to be a of Buddhism. Here is a video where he explains why it is wrong.


All I know, is if something had a sinful purpose to begin with, and just because we aren't doing it for the purpose is what created but we are still doing the action, that doesn't make it good.
That is like doing magic, you don't do it for evil or use it for evil, but it is still magic and evil.

I'm sure there are other things you can find to help you feel better, exercise, breath and all that yoga does. It's not the only program in the world that is good for your body and mind.
 
Aug 12, 2013
306
75
28
#40
I have not practiced yoga formally so I do not know if is devil worship (maybe indirectly if worshipping the sun and the like).

Now remember that different traditions have different outlooks. I do like some of the thoughts in Baptist mission work:

They see themselves (at least the outreach ministry ones), as redeemers of the bad parts of culture. When they go to preach the gospel to areas where lost people live, they have learned to not introduce cultural ways more of the North American west type culture.

Example: music. They missionaries have learned to redeem the aboriginals (or whatever ethnicity they are ministering) musical legacy.

After reading the Bible, and understanding that many psalms are praise type, they are encouraged to worship God, give thanks to Him for the salvation, and announce His great deeds in their own musical format.

So the sounds, instruments, and other stuff used before to invoke and call demons, now is used to praise the true creator of it all, the true original foundation of all that there is, and is wonderful.

I guess their idea came from the Bible where it says that people from all tribes, tongues, ethnicity, etc adore. I bet they will not be using the western instruments only, as if they are the only appropriate means.

Redeeming the bad parts of culture: what a wonderful concept.

Not saying that yoga is something to be done by all, but I could very well learn the physical aspects of it, and change the names and do it for the Glory of God, and get physical benefits, while being of testimony that only God is worthy of worship, because He is and will always be alone the one having self-existence.

Lasers, martial arts, internet, are not inherently bad, but the use you make of them is what would make them an instrument of evil or wickedness. In the end is you and your inclination to do things for the glory of God, or of someone else.

My own non-expert opinion of course, and I respect if you disagree. But we both must understand that we do not have full ultimate orthodoxy, and thus absolute truth, but God.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 New International Version (NIV)
Paul’s Use of His Freedom
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Kind regards.
So with God, with originally humans making something for worshipping another god or false religion, do you think he would want his people to continue doing that stuff even if they aren't doing it for worship of another God?

Music is different. It was intended for good but can be used for evil. Yoga was for other things of another false god and to live in the ways they believe in their religion, so it was originally something I know would upset God. I see we can just ignore the religious meanings, but I don't think God would want us posing poses he knows that mean things invented for a false religion and lies. I'm sure he would rather us find something else or even make up our own way to exercise.