Can Yoga Be Christian?

Posted on April 06, 2010
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(20) comments

Here's part of an article published yesterday in the LA Times: Christian pop music played quietly in the background as instructor Bryan Brock led a recent yoga class at the nondenominational Church at Rocky Peak in Chatsworth. Incorporating prayer and readings from the Bible, Brock urged his class of about 20 students to find strength in their connection to their creator through yoga's deep, controlled breathing. "The goal of Christian yoga is to open ourselves up to God," he said. "It allows us to blur the line between the physical and the spiritual."

The instructor then recited the Lord's Prayer while his students moved slowly through a series of postures known as the sun salutation.

Such hybrid classes, which combine yoga practice with elements of Christianity or Judaism, appear to be growing in popularity across Southern California and elsewhere.

Is Yoga able to be redeemed?

Would you offer a 'Christian' Yoga class in your church?

Todd

Comments

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Paul Wilkinson on Wed, April 07, 2010

A quarter century ago, the hot question was, “Would you offer rock music at your church?” The people who answered “no” did so because they defined “rock music” as the music, the clothing, the attitudes, the values and the lifestyles. In other words, the music was a minor part of the equation. And there was much discussion at the time that music, in and of itself, was spiritually “neutral.”

I’m all for relaxing, deep breathing, and centering my thoughts. “Being still…” has a scriptural backing. Obviously, the Eastern religious nuances are a deal breaker.

So the next question is, “Is the yoga question, the same as the music question?” Or, “Is the simple ‘exercise’ that is used in yoga spiritually neutral?”

I think this just raises a lot of other deeper questions. For me, right now, if I were a church leader, I would err on the side of caution and not have it. But as I’ve hinted, the opposite answer can be easily rationalized.
Christopher Fontenot on Wed, April 07, 2010

Should Christians be separate from worldly things are should we be indistinguishable from the world? What about Christians and ouija boards? How about Christians praying the prayer of Islam 5 times a day? or nudist camps? or opium tents….where do we draw the line? We should be SO peculiar so that no one could ever confuse us with the world. You might say that I am taking it too far…I am on purpose because if we cross the line by a toe or a mile, we have crossed the line. Why open the door to anything that satan could use to make us, or others, fall?
Ronnie on Thu, April 08, 2010

I wouldn’t have it in church. I am just not comfortable with the Yoga’s close association with an eastern religion and in Malaysia, Yoga classes are everywhere! Those Christians who go Yoga sessions are not bound for hell but must be taught and cautioned about the meditation part at the end. They must not glorify Yoga when they found it to be good for them. Anyways, there are thousands of ways to stay healthy!
Ric on Mon, April 12, 2010

It’s such a sad commentary on the state of Christianity and the Church that believers would even bend towards anything that gives the slightest appearance of confusion to the rest of the body. It appears that we are content on making the chasm between light and darkness so much wider and so much grayer in color. Let’s move back towards HIM.
Fulvic Acid on Fri, April 23, 2010

Yoga is apart from religion. It has origin with Hinduism but it has no conceptual relation with Hinduism all it defines is the way of living healthy and peacefully.