“My mom practices yoga, but she doesn’t pray to the sun or anything like that. She believes in God and I am not worried about her. ” or “I only do it for the stretching, I am not doing anything spiritual in my opinion” – I hear phrases like that all of the time.
Should we be worried about Christians practicing Yoga? Isn’t it just a form of exercise?
As I mention in my testimony, each Yoga class begins with sun salutations (a series of repetitive movements that you are told are being done to “warm you up”). They are also known as Surya Namaskar in Hindu. They are actually a form of worship to the Sun. The Hindu refer to the symbolism of the Sun as the soul and the source of all life. Therefore, you can see that there truly is a meaning behind this repetitive movement that the western world has embraced as a meaningless form of exercise to tone the body.
Should Christians practice religious movements that are designed to worship the sun? Because that is what they are. They are not JUST a movement made for exercise. That is what you need to understand.
The western world has made a great product of this ancient spiritual practice. The power of marketing can truly have you deceived.
Now you may tell me that you simply practice the physical movements for the purpose of exercise, but that your INTENTION is not to worship anything other than the God of the Bible. I think that if you truly understood what you are doing – a spiritual/religious practice; you wouldn’t. I think that you are trying to justify an action that you have grown to embrace, because it is so well marketed as exercise. Do not underestimate the power of mass marketing and the power of suggestion. As Christians, we need to remember that the one true God of the Bible is jealous for you and does not want us worshipping anything else, but HIM.
The point is, you cannot remove the spiritual root of these Yoga movements, because they go hand in hand.
Here is an quote from a Yoga website confirming the importance of Sun salutations and their spiritual root in a daily yoga routine (also known as asana practice):
“… let me repeat that no asana practice is complete without sun worship. Without its focusing of mental energies, yoga practice amounts to little more than gymnastics and, as such, loses meaning and proves fruitless. Indeed the SURYA NAMASKAR SHOULD NEVER BE MISTAKEN FOR MERE PHYSICAL EXERCISE –for something incidental, that is, that simply precedes the asanas of yoga. Therefore, it is necessary, before beginning the sun salutations, to PRAY TO SURYA […] to bestow upon us the good fortune of having only good thoughts, of hearing and speaking only good words, and of attaining a sound and strong body, so that we may have a long life and, one day, achieve oneness with God.”
-Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, “Suryanamskara”
As you can see, no yoga practice is complete without sun worship and they should not be mistaken for mere physical exercise. These words are coming from a Yogi. I have yet to see a yoga class that did not practice them. To take this point further, every yoga posture has a spiritual meaning and spiritual purpose. Therefore, even if you were to “skip” the sun salutations, every consequent movement has a spiritual design to it. Each yoga pose is a prayer to a different (Hindu) god/goddess. They claim their purpose of doing the poses (praying to their occult spirits) is to “awaken” (conjure) the “kundalini” spirit – which is – a “serpent spirit”. It supposedly resides at the base of your spine – and once “awakened” (conjured up) it starts wrapping itself around and around your spine til it reaches the back of your head – and supposedly covers your mind/brain. So basically – when you do the yoga poses and meditation, whether you realize it or not, you have just invited the kundalini demonic spirit into your soul/body.
Yoga was NOT invented to exercise your body. It was invented to awaken your spiritual energy – the energy of the Kundalini.
If you want to simply stretch, please do yourself a favour and don’t do yoga! Do not join a Yoga class, because unfortunately every yoga class is associated with the spiritual side of it. There is NO such thing as just yoga exercise. It always comes with a spiritual side. And yes I have heard of Christian Yoga and unfortunately I believe that is a blasphemy in itself. The world we live in today is very confused about what is from God and what is from the Satan and he will use that to his advantage.
To take it further, the word itself “yoga” means to yoke. So what are we yoking to? The yoke meant to be experienced through yoga is with the spirit of Kundalini I mentioned above – the energy of the serpent. Kind of ironic if you remember who the serpent is in the Bible.
The following videos can be of interest to you :
Is it wrong for Christians to do Yoga?
I know this can be incredibly hard to believe, since every yoga studio is welcoming and has that peaceful vibe to it. I went to Yoga class every month, if not every week for many years. I still remember the smell of sandal wood incense that made me feel so peaceful each time I walked into a Yoga studio. However do not be deceived…what you think is peace, love & light is an illusion.
“But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” – 2 Corinthians 11:14
Meet the author
Johanna – Hebrew for “God is Gracious”
I’m a former New Ager, Yogi & spiritual nomad turned Christian after a moment of illumination in 2017. I created this website to help you differentiate between light & darkness and to answer questions about spiritual topics from a Catholic Christian worldview. ->Find me on IG @myjourneytojesus