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JOURNEYS
YOGA FOR CHRISTIANS
WILL YOGA THREATEN MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST?
THE SHORT ANSWER? NO.
Peace. My name is Christina Victoria. My name literally means Victorious in Christ, and I made this website to document my own spiritual journey and help others.
I have practiced yoga for many years and after producing a yoga magazine and even opening a studio, I quit yoga for almost 3 years because a segment of Christians demonized me for standing on my head and doing backbends. I literally chose my faith over yoga, but after I started to have back pain and lose the calm and cool mind I had developed, I realized how yoga really improved my life and how it is truly possible to balance my Christian faith with literally balancing on my head.
I began practicing again and came to a new realization about how beautiful yoga truly is. I have taught Jewish groups, Christian groups inside Christian churches, people from toddlers to seniors, even professional athletes, and wanted to help other Christians wondering about this topic and dispel some very loud and very wrong bro knowledge floating around about Christianity and yoga.
I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
Romans 14: 14-18
IF YOGA IS EVIL TO YOU, DON'T DO IT.
Not everyone follow's Paul's teachings, but I find them helpful in this situation. Not everyone will agree on everything. Paul spends much of his letters telling the body of Christ to stop judging and arguing with each other about petty things.
I, for one, avoid eating pork and shellfish. Paul would say that nothing is unclean and that all things are lawful, though not equally beneficial. So the one who eats pork shouldn't judge the person who doesn't. The one who doesn't shouldn't judge the person who does.
Paul goes on to say that if something is unclean for you, then it is unclean. If it is clean for you, then it is clean. So if yoga is evil to you and would cause you to feel separated from God, please do not practice yoga.
But if you feel that yoga helps you to better connect with God and feel Christ's healing power in your body, then enjoy your practice.
We have to accept that we are all in different parts of our journey toward God, and we all have different lessons to learn, so that what is best for you right now cannot be extended to laws that everyone needs to follow.
Ultimately, what matters is that your heart is oriented toward glorifying God in all things, toward loving God and others, and toward righteousness.
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10: 23-24, 31
COMMON FEARS & MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT YOGA
I HEARD yoga is a religion, based IN HINDUISM.
Yoga is not a religion.
Let's discuss what "Hindu" means, as the word has been misused and misunderstood by the West.
The word “Hindu” evolved from meaning a geographic designation to a cultural and ethnic one. It referred broadly to the people, languages, customs, and practices of the Indus Valley, now called the Indian subcontinent.
"Hinduism" is an artificial grouping by the British during colonization of various disparate Indian indigenous practices. It would be like an alien coming to the United States and lumping together Christianity, Universalism, and Satanism all together as "Americanism" because they're all practiced by Americans. Before the British, "Hinduism" was not a native term to India.
So technically, Yoga is Hindu (Indian) in the same way that Tai Chi is Chinese. Your favorite Tikka Masala could easily be called Hindu food. Hindu is a regional and cultural designation of practices indigenous to India and Indian people.
I KNOW THAT YOGA MEANS TO YOKE. AM I BEING YOKED TO HINDU GODS WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE?
Yoga does mean to yoke. Our definition of yoga is to yoke or unite body, mind & spirit - human & Divine - all of humanity.
First, there is only one God. Interestingly, those who talk about other gods seem to believe that they actually exist. There are no gods except for the one true God the Most High, the Creator, Sustainer of all things. Anything else is just clay or wood and is not actually real. Every culture across the world has attempted to access this same Source of all things, so even if a different culture uses a different word for God, there is only one Source and Sustainer of all things.
Yoga creates union within and without. This can be described as harmony or coherence, where everything flows in alignment. When we are out of alignment, it can be difficult to follow God's will or even hear from God. With increased alignment, it becomes easier to tap in or communicate with and hear from God.
You cannot accidentally worship another deity. God knows your heart, so unless you are intentionally trying to place something above God the Most High, you can't be "duped" into accidentally worshipping something else without your consent.
SOMEONE TOLD ME yoga openS you up to demons and spirit possession.
While it's wise to be discerning,
yoga does not summon spirits.
If you think of restriction in the body, addiction, and mental illness as demonic possession and suppression, yoga actually does the opposite.
Yoga offers liberation from restriction and physical strongholds. Yoga can freeing people from mental illness, helping people to come out of their imagination and into the present moment. Yoga can help to heal numerous physical issues that doctors have said requires surgery. One could even say that yoga helps with the release of suppressing spirits.
IF YOGA ISN'T BAD, THEN WHY DO SOME CHRISTIANS HATE YOGA SO MUCH?
First, while some Christians (and perhaps the loudest ones) fear yoga, most do not. There are millions of Christians quietly practicing yoga, who have found it possible to balance their faith in God and Jesus Christ with their desire to stretch and breathe.
But there are two main reasons some denounce yoga.
Some people simply fear what they don't understand. They may be well intentioned but fear yoga because they are simply ignorant and have been misinformed about what yoga actually is.
Second, there are many powers and principalities that want to keep people sick, dependent on pharmaceutical medication, and ignorant of their own power and the genuine healing power of God.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12
Let me speak in no uncertain terms. There is nothing that the demonic realm wants more than to keep the body of Christ infighting, confused, and in a state of mental and physical restriction.
Yoga is deeply healing and liberating, and helps you to know God directly, which some people want to prevent, and so they will use fear tactics to try to prevent you from accessing this healing and empowering information.
"For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7.
Anyone who is provoking a spirit of fear over faith and is acting out of judgment over love is not moving by the power of the Holy Spirit and has not truly understood and adopted the liberating, healing, and love-filled teachings of Christ Jesus into their heart.
For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
CAN THESE DRY
BONES LIVE?
"I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”
It's funny to me that the same people who denounce yoga will happily take all kinds of blood pressure medication and run to the doctor for every cough and cold, while calling me *a yoga practitioner* crazy for actually believing that God can heal.
Do you believe that Jesus healed or do you think it was just a fairy tale? Do you genuinely believe that God is Jehovah Rapha or do you just kind of believe because that's what good people do? If you believe that a doctor can heal us and that God gave us pharmaceutical medication as a method of healing, why is it so hard to believe that God also gave us methods to heal the body naturally?
I know people who were told they required spinal surgery for a twisted spine and bulging discs, who are completely healed and walk upright completely through backbends and twists.
I know people who had severe sciatica and could barely walk, who are now pain free due to releasing restriction in the hips.
I know people who have recovered from addiction and mental illness through deep breathing and focusing the mind and body in harmony and coherence.
If this is not evidence of the miraculous healing power of God and Christ, then I don't know what is.
On the most basic level, yoga is an offering of Divine healing and intelligence into the innerworkings of the human body on an energetic level.
By practicing postures and improving alignment within the spine, we we increase nerve function, increase blood flow to parts of the body that were previously cut off restoring the sinews and flesh to dry bones.
By deep breathing, we welcome the spirit of the living God into our slain bodies that we may live again.
This is why God gave me Liveology®, which is simply dedicated to teaching others how to achieve life more abundantly, which was already given to me as a free gift through Christ Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
More life. More yoga.
The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”
Ezekiel 37: 1-14
Union
"Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3
Perhaps, in the Garden of Eden, yoga was not necessary. Neither was medicine.
But in a fallen world that is far out of alignment, that is out of step with the natural rhythms of life and with God's consciousness, yoga is a gift from God to help us come back into harmony and balance, back to union.
Yoga has a way of bringing out our child-like wonder. Looking at the world upside down for the first time or learning how to open up the heart again through backbends brings out a sense of freedom, joy, and liberation, the child-like nature often suppressed as we get older.
This innocence, wonder, and freedom is the state we see in children, whom we all acknowledge are somehow more connected to the Divine spark.
This is what it means for yoga to yoke or unite us with God. We are not being united with some random entity. We are returning to our natural state of innocence and wholeness, which naturally connects us to God.
Yoga has helped me to not only witness the true and literal healing power of God and Christ in myself and others, but it has helped me to release fear and regain a child-like wonder about life that was lost for many years.
In this way, yoga is indeed spiritual, but it is not a religion. Yoga is a method of restoring us to our natural state of Eden so that we can return to total union with God.
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Luke 17: 20-21
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