YOGA AND CHRISTIANITY

I Corinthians 10:19-23

Should Christians do yoga? Is yoga a sin? Can a demon come into a Christian who does yoga? Can a Christian do yoga if he just stretches and thinks about Jesus? What about meditation?

There is no such thing as Christian yoga. Any kind of yoga is dangerous because most of these practices come from Eastern mysticism. God forbids us from practicing and doing the things that other people do to worship their gods (demons). The bible teaches us that behind every false god (idol) is a demon (I Corinthians 10:19-22).

For many Christians who don’t understand the history behind it, yoga is simply a means of physical exercise and strengthening and improving the flexibility of the muscles. However, the philosophy behind yoga is much more than physically improving oneself. It is an ancient practice derived from India, believed to be the path to spiritual growth and enlightenment.

Should Christians practice or do yoga? We have to first understand what yoga really is. Many Christians see yoga as relaxing, stretching exercises, improving flexibility. Real yoga instructors know the philosophy behind it. Yoga is not just a normal relaxing exercise. Yoga is over 5,000 years old, it started in India and it was created to be a path to spiritual growth and enlightenment with the god Brahman.

The word yoga means "union," and the goal is to unite one’s transitory (temporary) self, the mind and the body, 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 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. This is essentially self-worship disguised as high-level spirituality and it is against God’s Word. Yoga teaches oneness with god (Brahman) and nature. It teaches you to find your answers in life in this state of consciousness, to find unity with your divine self. We know through God’s word that this is a lie (Romans 1:22, 25).  

Is it possible for a Christian to isolate the physical aspects of yoga as simply a method of exercise, without incorporating the spirituality or philosophy behind it? Yoga originated with a blatantly anti-Christian philosophy, and that philosophy has not changed. It teaches one to focus on oneself instead of on the one true God. It encourages its participants to seek the answers to life’s difficult questions within their own consciousness instead of in the Word of God. It also leaves one open to deception from Satan, who searches for victims whom he can turn away from God (I Peter 5:8).

Some Christians think that it is alright to do yoga because they think that it’s just stretching exercises. They reason that if someone dedicates an activity or practice to Jesus, it is automatic, by definition, Christian. One can simply dismiss criticisms with two words: Jesus Christ. Claiming devotion to the Lord Jesus is the ultimate argument-stopper to anyone who criticizes the practice of yoga among Christians. Practicing yoga should not be an issue because God always looks at the heart. As long as you’re practicing yoga to glorify God, then there should be no problem.

Don’t be naïve, yoga is dangerous. It’s just like saying I’m going to play with the ouija board just for fun; I don’t believe in it, it’s just a game. You think it is just a game, but the demons don’t. If you do yoga you are taking part in something that was created for a false god, and we know that the Bible teaches that behind every false god is a demon (I Corinthians 10:19-20).

Listen to the instructors of yoga and see what they do and say when doing yoga. Why do you think they use mantras while they do yoga? Why do they have idols statues or pictures of them in their classrooms? As Christians, we should stay away from all occultic New Age practices. Yoga is dangerous because it opens you up to receive psychic impressions. Don’t involve yourself with, or seek after these things, spiritual experiences that God warns us about in Scripture (Leviticus 20:6, 18:10-13). This is very dangerous, if you are partaking of these occultic things or New Age things you’re opening yourself up to demons to come into you (Ephesians 5:11).

We as believers are commanded by God to meditate, meditation is defined as contemplation. The kind of meditation that God instructs us to do is on Him and His Word just as it declares throughout the Bible to meditate on His word day and night. This kind of meditation is very different from the way and the kind that is practiced by the New Age religions and the Eastern religions (Psalm 1:2, 145:5). It does not mean to zone out and open yourself up to spiritual forces (demons) in the air or to think about nothing.

God’s Word tells us just the opposite, to be sober-minded (1 Peter 5:8). True biblical meditation is taking some time and putting God first in your life above everything else. Going to that secret, quiet place where you can be alone with God, thinking about Him, His Word, and talking to Him. God wants a relationship with you so he wants you to spend time with Him (Matt. 6:6). The Christian doesn’t have to do strange things to connect with God. We should not try things that the Word of God does not teach, such as mantras, controlled breathing, chanting, strange relaxation techniques, or yoga.

Yoga is an ancient spiritual discipline whose central doctrines are utterly incompatible with those of Christianity. Even Hatha yoga, often considered to be exclusively concerned with physical development, is best understood as merely a means of helping the yogi reach the goal of samadhi or union with their god  “Brahman.” If you look through an introductory text on Hatha yoga you will see many different postures illustrated. Many of these are similar, if not identical, to exercises and stretches that many yoga students are doing.

Many yoga scholars have stated that yoga philosophy cannot be separated from yoga practice. Dave Fetcho, formerly of the Ananda Marga Yoga Society, has written, “Physical yoga, according to its classical definitions, is inheritably and functionally incapable of being separated from Eastern religious metaphysics.” What’s more, yoga authorities Feuerstein and Miller, in discussing yoga postures (asana) and breathing exercises (pranayama), indicate that such practices are more than just another form of physical exercise; indeed, they “are psychosomatic exercises.” Separating theory from practice is simply impossible with yoga.

People who practice yoga or meditation do it to achieve spiritual awakening which they think will let them experience the spiritual realm, the Hindus refer to it as opening the third eye. They think that it is a kind of doorway to all things psychic. The only forces that are in the spiritual realm are God, the angels, and the devil and his demons. There is nothing more than that. There is not a strange kind of reality or another kind of truth out there. But, the devil and his demons will try to make you think that there is. They will deceive you if you open yourself up to the spiritual forces in the air. Demons can let you experience strange things, but remember what you feel, what you think you see is not from God (John 8: 44).

Many people do yoga and meditation because they want to find peace, relax, and to find rest. We as children of God don’t have to do yoga we already have peace and rest in Him (John 14:27, Philippians 4:6).