Yoga ?

[Mirko]

Originally Posted by GlorytoGod

What are peoples opinions of practicing hatha yoga ?

I have done yoga on and off for years but since being born again I dont think I will touch it again.

As far as I am concerned yoga and even hatha yoga is a hindu spiritual practice and therefore as a christian its not something I am will to partake off, all my spiritual needs should be met by my faith Christianity and if I have to look outside of that then that would indicate a problem.

how about if your back hurts?
millions use yoga and yoga derived practice to relax and exercise
it is proven to help in many conditions
it is also very helpful even without a condition
my dad does it sometimes for better bowel movement
i tried it for stress relief but id get distracted

if your spiritual needs should be met by your faith then dont partake of the spiritual in yoga, if any
i dont know what you were doing, but there are so many variants of yoga today, many stripped down to the simple physical exercise and relaxation techniques, you can chose any number of variants and derivates of yoga that have no religious conotation at all

because what you ask is similar to asking if christians should practice karate, as it is clearly a buddhist thing, and as such dangerous, and can lead to ocultism, no?
or football, that foul, pagan, blasfemous practice, how can a christian go to the stadium and partake in it?

[GlorytoGod]

Originally Posted by Mirko

how about if your back hurts?
millions use yoga and yoga derived practice to relax and exercise
it is proven to help in many conditions
it is also very helpful even without a condition
my dad does it sometimes for better bowel movement
i tried it for stress relief but id get distracted

Pilates, Alexander, Technique, Physio etc, in fact many of the postures in yoga are also proven to be dangerous and unhealthy for your body.

if your spiritual needs should be met by your faith then dont partake of the spiritual in yoga, if any
i dont know what you were doing, but there are so many variants of yoga today, many stripped down to the simple physical exercise and relaxation techniques, you can chose any number of variants and derivates of yoga that have no religious conotation at all

because what you ask is similar to asking if christians should practice karate, as it is clearly a buddhist thing, and as such dangerous, and can lead to ocultism, no?
or football, that foul, pagan, blasfemous practice, how can a christian go to the stadium and partake in it?

all yoga is a spiritual practice IMO even hatha yoga, its opens chakra's or energy centers in your body which can leave vulnerable to spiritual forces that are not of God, and a major part of hatha yoga is the Sun Salutation which is basically sun worhsip and therefore idolatary IMO.

As for karate I never practiced karate so I dont know much about it but many eastern martial arts are demonic in origin and therefore unsuitable and incompatible with christianity.

at the end of the day you make your own choices, but IMO hatha yoga is not merely physical it is also spiritual and the suggestion that it is not is a deception.

[seattlegal]

Don't worry, GlorytoGod, no one is going to compel you to practice yoga.

Galatians 5
Christian Liberty

1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. 2 Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. 5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Love Fulfills the Law


7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind; but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is.
11 And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased. 12 I could wish that those who trouble you would even cut themselves off!
13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
Walking in the Spirit


16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

[Dream]

Good selection, SG.

1 Corinthians 8:1-4 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." "Knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up. If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if one loves God, one is known by him. Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that "an idol has no real existence," and that "there is no God but one."

GlorytoGod,
your concern for others is the most effective power you possess; and it is not despoiled so easily. Idolatry requires more than passive activity. Look at the story of Namaan who met with Elijah. Namaan converted from idol worship to worshipping the God of Israel, yet he continued to bow down at his master's side to the foreign idol yet Elijah sent him out in peace. Namaan merely took a bit of Israel's soil with him as evidence of his change of heart, and his conversion was blessed.(2Kings 5:17-19) He knew that the idol was nothing, so to him it was nothing. Don't worry about your fellow Christians even if they go through movements of the sun, because they are not worshiping the sun. Worry if they lose their love. Jesus alludes to this real problem in the parable of the sower and the seed. Several things could stop the seeds from growing, but even the 'Devil' couldn't take the seeds once they had gone into the good soil. (Matthew 13:3)

Consider the rite of jealously in the Law for the husband who found himself gnawed by jealous feelings. (Numbers 5:14-31) For spiritual purposes this passage teaches us that idolatry is a matter of the heart, because God is the husband and all Israel is the bride. (For practical purposes this law actually provided legal protection for wives against malicious accusations from their husbands, restricting the legal course that a jealous husband could take to following this rite. He could not beat the truth out of his wife, or start openly accusing her. ) This means that if someone appears to you to be in idolatry but they claim to worship God, then there is no way to know otherwise but by the soil of the temple, the soil of Namaan, or the soil of the Seed of the Sower, which grows into the fruit of the spirit. You must also judge yourself by your spiritual fruit and not by mere appearances. You may one day be forced to bow to something you would not or may, in passing, appear idolatrous. You may even one day be accused of demon possession but by your soil's fruit (your spiritual fruit) you can honestly judge yourself.

Originally Posted by Deuteronomy 32:9-12

Exodus 34:14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as
the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her
wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

[seattlegal]

Exodus 34:14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

Interestingly, Galatians 5:20 lists jealousies as a work of the flesh, and would come under the Law, whereas there is no Law against the fruits of the Spirit.

[Dream]

Originally Posted by Seattlegal

Interestingly, Galatians 5:20 lists jealousies as a work of the flesh, and would come under the Law, whereas there is no Law against the fruits of the Spirit.

Thanks for bringing that up. Paul talks about it when he defends against those false apostles who try to take away life by the spirit, who he consideres men that boast in the 'works of the flesh' . He doesn't accuse them of endorsing sin but opposes their claim that the Law, weakened by the flesh, could ever truly overcome sin. He says they preach a different 'Gospel'. Under the law alone we would be condemned because we could not do the things that we would: Rare is the man who has never been jealous or felt envy, for instance. We even despaired that the kingdom could not come to us until we reached perfection, yet it came unexpectedly to us one day with the words 'live by the spirit'.

Originally Posted by 2 Corinthians 10:17--2 Corinthians 11:7

"Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord." For it is not the man who commends himself that is accepted, but the man whom the Lord commends. I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. I think that I am not in the least inferior to these superlative apostles. Even if I am skilled in speaking, I am not in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. Did I commit a sin in abasing myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel without cost to you?

[Alex P]

I guess sometimes it can be entertainment to watch it, but not my thing... And yeah it is a hindu practice, but to some I guess it can be ok to par-take and others will tell you it isn't that is the choice of both parties... I don't really have an opinion on it as it is very minor, there are more important things within christianity to dwell upon.

[lunamoth]

The kind of 'yoga' that is done in a fitness club would probably be almost unrecognizable as yoga to a true practitioner. I find it very relaxing and it has dramatically improved my core strength and flexibility. There is a meditative aspect to it, but I train that part of the exercise on quietness of mind and the love of the God I meet in Christ.

I do not think it can be harmful if one is intentional in their spiritual life and focused on God. In fact, I don't think it could lead you 'astray' unless you were intentionally trying to cultivate a different spirituality.

[lunamoth]

One other thought (as I leave for my yoga class ). Even secular fitness programs such as pilates, weight circuits, even running, all have their spiritual aspects. What is the spiritual focus, for example, of pilates? Joseph Pilates acknowledged the mind-body connection and in fact that is a large part of the philosophy behind pilates.

Is it better to have a self-based or secular-based focus as part of a fitness regime?

If you sweep the room clean, doesn't it make room for many more demons unless one is intentional about their spiritual focus?

Note, I'm not saying that pilates or weight-lifting are spiritually dangerous, just pointing out that yoga is no different from any other mind-body discipline.

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by Dream

2 Corinthians 10:17--2 Corinthians 11:7
"Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord." For it is not the man who commends himself that is accepted, but the man whom the Lord commends. I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if some one comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you submit to it readily enough. I think that I am not in the least inferior to these superlative apostles. Even if I am skilled in speaking, I am not in knowledge; in every way we have made this plain to you in all things. Did I commit a sin in abasing myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel without cost to you?

This gives me an idea for a new thread: Jealousy

[Mirko]

Originally Posted by GlorytoGod

Pilates, Alexander, Technique, Physio etc, in fact many of the postures in yoga are also proven to be dangerous and unhealthy for your body.

that would explain why it is considered an extreme sport
theres no point to that statement, all the techniques you mentioned, while all just as good as yoga, or for some purposes even better, can be just as dangerous and unhealthy, much in the way lifting a table can be dangerous and unhealthy

Originally Posted by GlorytoGod

all yoga is a spiritual practice IMO even hatha yoga, its opens chakra's or energy centers in your body which can leave vulnerable to spiritual forces that are not of God, and a major part of hatha yoga is the Sun Salutation which is basically sun worhsip and therefore idolatary IMO.

where in the christian holy scripture or any other article of faith does it say you have chakras? i mean god forbid you ever be open to something youre not sure is christian, but if you are a christian why worry about chacras?
and there is no sun worship in yoga
hindu believe in a solar personification, a lesser divinity of sorts, that has some mantras and one temple dedicated to him
this is not included in any part of yoga
the exercises and positions are named after what they resemble or when they are done, like "dog" or "archer"
that whole body bending movement is good for the blood pressure and the bowels also it is a good stretch so it is done in the morning
the sun comes up in the morning
so it is called salutation to the sun
in other books it can have other names
like morning exercise, or exercise tipe #1.

Originally Posted by GlorytoGod

As for karate I never practiced karate so I dont know much about it but many eastern martial arts are demonic in origin and therefore unsuitable and incompatible with christianity.

i dont understand demonic in what way? why would a eastern martial art be demonic in origin? they were carefully thought up and perfected by practice usually by people in need of self defense
what is the demonic part?

Originally Posted by GlorytoGod

at the end of the day you make your own choices, but IMO hatha yoga is not merely physical it is also spiritual and the suggestion that it is not is a deception.

well it is yoga, it has been and is a spiritual and even religious practice for millions of people over thousands of years
the point is, firstly it does not have to be practiced as a spiritual practice, any more than pilates or swimming or jogging, and secondly it is silly, especially from the perspective of a believing christian, to be aprehensive or afraid of something like yoga
obviously there is no real reason why you should chose yoga over any other method of exercise, or ever do yoga or even think about it again, in fact we have no way of assuming why you started doing yoga in the first place, and you have not told us if there was something in your direct experience that made you believe yoga is opening you up for something or someone, but now that you have found your god, or however you put it, what reason do you have to worry about spiritual influences of something people generally use to stretch in the morning?

and is that part on demonic origin your personal opinion or did someone teach you that?

[GlorytoGod]

Originally Posted by seattlegal

Don't worry, GlorytoGod, no one is going to compel you to practice yoga.

hey I'm not worried been there an done that

Out of interest are you born again seattlegal ?

[seattlegal]

Originally Posted by GlorytoGod

hey I'm not worried been there an done that

Out of interest are you born again seattlegal ?

I became a Christian as an adult, so yes. (Although sometimes I feel like I'm still being born. )

[GlorytoGod]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

One other thought (as I leave for my yoga class ). Even secular fitness programs such as pilates, weight circuits, even running, all have their spiritual aspects. What is the spiritual focus, for example, of pilates? Joseph Pilates acknowledged the mind-body connection and in fact that is a large part of the philosophy behind pilates.

Is it better to have a self-based or secular-based focus as part of a fitness regime?

If you sweep the room clean, doesn't it make room for many more demons unless one is intentional about their spiritual focus?

Note, I'm not saying that pilates or weight-lifting are spiritually dangerous, just pointing out that yoga is no different from any other mind-body discipline.

There is no spiritual aspect to weight lifting ? Pilates I dont think so but I have never done it so I could be wrong on that.

I would say is hatha yoga is unsuitable for Christians for these reasons

Kundalini, the coiled serpent of energy at the base of the spine, the practice of hatha yoga opens various energy centres in your body causing this energy to rise,

and these chakra alegedly relate to specific hindu gods.

Salute to the sun, sun worship idolatry.

If you are comfortable with all of that, then thats your choice. But for me I dont think I will ever practice yoga again. My body is a temple for the Holy Spirit not kundalini

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by GlorytoGod

Pilates, Alexander, Technique, Physio etc, in fact many of the postures in yoga are also proven to be dangerous and unhealthy for your body.

What is your basis for making this claim please? Physiotherapy, for example, is a well established means of treating muscular and joint problems. I have had a great deal of help from a physiotherapist when I have had hamstring and back problems, for instance. It is not dangerous. It is not unhealthy. Where is it "proven" otherwise please?

As for karate I never practiced karate so I dont know much about it but many eastern martial arts are demonic in origin and therefore unsuitable and incompatible with christianity.

How so? What demons? Some basis for your claim would again be welcome.

s.