I’ve got to be honest with you, a lot of people are offended by the concept of Christian yoga. Some Christians are concerned because of the yoga part, while some Hindus are offended because of the Christian part. It’s not my goal to offend or alarm anyone. My goal is to help others achieve a healthy body, mind, and spirit through the techniques derived from yoga.
Body and Spirit are connected.
And even though we as Christians are practicing a posture with our bodies, for the sake of exercise, that does not originate in our faith, I believe that we can learn from other cultures to better connect with our own faith.
We all worship best in different ways, and we sometimes expect people to fit into one box but the truth be told, I think we need to understand our personalities and learn how to live out our spiritual disciplines in a way that helps us best connect with God. Yoga can be one of those ways to connect.
2 Corinthians 10:23 “I have the right to do anything; but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything but not everything is constructive.”
We must be discerning when practicing the freedom of Christian Yoga. Acknowledging that we are borrowing from a culture and even a faith that does not worship the same God we do. For some Hindus, yoga is a very spiritual thing in relation to their gods.
And for many in our culture, yoga is a philosophy that teaches relative truth (many paths lead to God. Truth is what you create it to be rather than the black and white of reality) Another aspect of the modern yoga philosophy is that we are all we need for our spiritual health. They seek to embrace themselves and embrace the Earth, looking toward the creation for healing and wisdom rather than the Creator.
As Christians, we recognize that the “light within us” is the Holy Spirit and we can not save ourselves, so we come to Christian Yoga broken and humble, ready to rest in the presence of God and allow His sovereignty to be our strength.
