Deleted
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Sept 19, 2024 21:46:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2014 1:26:00 GMT
Not looking to start an argument thread, really curious about this. I was driving a couple hours for work today and channel flipping on the AM stations, and came across a program where the guy was saying how he had to stand up against his child's school because they were doing yoga there, and it's important for Christians to speak out against it.
Maybe I missed something, I didn't hear the first part of the program, but I was like "WHAT???" in my inner Despicable Me voice.
Someone please educate me about this. I've taken yoga classes before and don't recall anything remotely religious in them.
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
Jun 26, 2014 18:51:17 GMT
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Post by perumbula on Jul 2, 2014 1:32:19 GMT
When Yoga first became popular in the 70s the religion that developed it was often taught along with the exercises. (From what I gather it was more that the yoga instructors often practiced the religion themselves and their belief would frame their remarks in class rather than the instructors evangelizing in class.) It's not a Christian religion, so a lot of conservative Christians became very against it.
These days it's very easy to find a studio that teaches Yoga without any religious overtones whatsoever and it's easy to separate the exercise form from the religion.
Basically: he's a crackpot that's 40 years behind the times.
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Post by ten&rose on Jul 2, 2014 1:32:56 GMT
If I understand it correctly, Yoga began as a way to pray and the poses are prayerful poses. Of course now we use it as exercise. I know there is a "Catholic Yoga" on the market but I think it's all silly. I can do yoga for exercise and if it causes me to meditate about Jesus, all the better.
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Deleted
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Sept 19, 2024 21:46:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2014 1:33:15 GMT
I remember hearing... and this could be really wrong.. that because your mind is opened and not focused on Jesus, that the devil can enter.
I'm sure there's more to it than that, but that's what I remember from church long ago
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Post by jojam on Jul 2, 2014 1:34:44 GMT
I remember hearing... and this could be really wrong.. that because your mind is opened and not focused on Jesus, that the devil can enter. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but that's what I remember from church long ago This is what I've heard as well.
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Post by moveablefeast on Jul 2, 2014 1:42:30 GMT
Some of the classes in my school do yoga sometimes. I mean, they are preschoolers so we are talking very basic stretches and movements but the basis is something that looks like yoga.
Now once in a while we have parents who balk at the word yoga. They feel that the origin of the practice was a spirituality that is not compatible with their faith, and that even practiced in a Christian environment with Christian teachers, it is still incompatible with their faith. It is their perception that the various poses were at one time intended to connect a person with a spiritual realm that we should not be connecting to - because the spiritual reality that we should be connecting to is the Kingdom of God. Some parents feel their children's budding faith is vulnerable to diversion and don't want them to have to be open to this kind of thing just yet.
So even though we are not going all namaste on the kids, some of the parents still aren't digging the idea of their kids doing yoga. And I don't have a problem with that. So we started calling it creative movement and adopted a sequence of movements written by an evangelical Christian and everyone is happy again.
I like yoga and don't have a problem with it - but I respect a person who decides it isn't for them on the basis of their faith. I just figure it's better if you don't decide it's not for me on the basis of your faith.
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Post by mama2three on Jul 2, 2014 1:48:57 GMT
Our priest's wife is a yoga instructor who teaches yoga classes in the church hall so it's not every church that frowns on yoga.
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Rainbow
Pearl Clutcher
Where salt is in the air and sand is at my feet...
Posts: 4,103
Jun 26, 2014 5:57:41 GMT
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Post by Rainbow on Jul 2, 2014 1:51:13 GMT
Wow. I have never heard that before. I have yoga on my Wii and didn't see anything religious about it. I was sore the next day though, that surprised me.
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Post by annabella on Jul 2, 2014 1:52:30 GMT
There's a lot of talk in class about spirituality and chanting in another language. Some yogis do become part of the yoga religion. Honestly only fanatics call it anti-Christianity. You can opt out of bowing with hands in prayer position afterwards if you want to.
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Post by Goldynn on Jul 2, 2014 1:53:08 GMT
I remember hearing... and this could be really wrong.. that because your mind is opened and not focused on Jesus, that the devil can enter. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but that's what I remember from church long ago Well this must certainly be true, because I remember a recent thread at 2peas where someone confessed how she's often "in the mood" after yoga sessions. It's all those "devilish" poses
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 19, 2024 21:46:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2014 1:57:19 GMT
When Yoga first became popular in the 70s the religion that developed it was often taught along with the exercises. (From what I gather it was more that the yoga instructors often practiced the religion themselves and their belief would frame their remarks in class rather than the instructors evangelizing in class.) It's not a Christian religion, so a lot of conservative Christians became very against it. These days it's very easy to find a studio that teaches Yoga without any religious overtones whatsoever and it's easy to separate the exercise form from the religion. That's really the best I could explain it, except to add that some of the things said/mantras can be religious. However, I think that is the more 'traditional' yoga practice; the more 'modern' approaches do not tend to have these religious components.
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katybee
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,447
Jun 25, 2014 23:25:39 GMT
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Post by katybee on Jul 2, 2014 2:12:38 GMT
My teammate had a parent complain to our principal because we sometimes do Cosmic Kids yoga for rainy day recess. The lady tells harmless stories about animals as she teaches the poses. She says Namaste at the beginning and end--but that is often times just a polite greeting. Here's a link to one of them so you can see how harmless they are: youtu.be/jSZvMHlw9vsMy principal encouraged us to keep doing the videos.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 19, 2024 21:46:11 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2014 2:13:37 GMT
It's not.
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sassyangel
Drama Llama
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Jun 26, 2014 23:58:32 GMT
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Post by sassyangel on Jul 2, 2014 2:20:25 GMT
Interesting. Maybe its because of the origins of it? It has roots in both Hinduism and Buddhism from what I remember. Which are different schools of faith than Christianity, and as such deemed in conflict for those schools of christian thought for whom that matters? It sounds like something you'd hear in Footloose regarding dancing though.
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Post by Miss Ang on Jul 2, 2014 2:27:28 GMT
My yoga instructor does not do this.
And I am a Christian and take a yoga class at least once a week and practice at home. I do not see yoga as a spiritual exercise. I relax and stretch. Period.
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Post by traceys on Jul 2, 2014 2:27:35 GMT
I've never heard that before. There are several of us from my church looking for a yoga class because we thought it would be a good program for flexibility.
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Post by Miss Ang on Jul 2, 2014 2:28:29 GMT
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Mary Kay Lady
Pearl Clutcher
PeaNut 367,913 Refupea number 1,638
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Jun 27, 2014 4:11:36 GMT
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Post by Mary Kay Lady on Jul 2, 2014 2:28:59 GMT
I can understand why some people might be concerned about yoga being taught in schools if there's the spiritual aspect included in the way that those particular yoga classes are presented. I've done yoga quite a bit and I've never taken a class that had the chanting or other aspects of the spiritual side of it.
I think that a lot of yoga classes are offered that the concentration is on the physical aspects of yoga; the stretching and breathing. At least the classes that I've taken that's been the case.
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Post by sugarmama on Jul 2, 2014 2:32:30 GMT
I think it's because of how it originated. I am a Christian and have been practicing yoga for over 10 years. It is a spiritual practice, in my opinion. At the end, when we are in resting poses, I often pray. I agree with a previous poster who referrred to the religious fanatics calling it anti-Christian.
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Post by lumo on Jul 2, 2014 2:35:33 GMT
It's not. The end.
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Post by hennybutton on Jul 2, 2014 2:38:06 GMT
Yoga originated as part of the Hindu religion. I have taken yoga classes where the teacher instructs the students to open their third eye chakra and talks about other chakras. That's part of the Hindu religion from which yoga originates. When I was taking yoga, I'd tried to avoid the teachers who got all new-agey because it bugged me.
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Post by *KatyCupcake* on Jul 2, 2014 2:46:07 GMT
Yoga is fun and I enjoy it. But my instructor is not one of the new-agey types. And I'm happy to see moveablefeast has joined us!
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Post by moveablefeast on Jul 2, 2014 3:51:28 GMT
There's a lot of talk in class about spirituality and chanting in another language. Some yogis do become part of the yoga religion. Honestly only fanatics call it anti-Christianity. You can opt out of bowing with hands in prayer position afterwards if you want to. I guess I'm just reluctant to call it fanaticism if Christians don't want to engage in spiritual practice that is not specifically Christian, or to chant in a language they don't understand. I don't feel the same way but I wouldn't want to be called a fanatic because (insert practice here) is not compatible with my belief system. I don't say the Pledge of Allegiance, for example, because I feel in my heart that I should not be offering my allegiance to an institution of men but to God alone - and I don't think that makes me a fanatic. Just a person with a religious conviction.
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Post by Amelia Bedelia on Jul 2, 2014 4:05:25 GMT
I remember hearing... and this could be really wrong.. that because your mind is opened and not focused on Jesus, that the devil can enter. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but that's what I remember from church long ago This is the precise reason all the evangelicals I know are opposed to yoga or meditation. Unless they're meditating about Jesus, but then they don't call it meditation. Sort of like the old proverb "idle hands are the devil's playground" but for your mind. I'm sure that it's origins being rooted in another religion don't help, but I've never heard that excuse. And obviously not all Christians believe yoga is the devil.
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M in Carolina
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Jun 29, 2014 12:11:41 GMT
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Post by M in Carolina on Jul 2, 2014 4:09:18 GMT
In the Fundamentalist Christian Cult I grew up in, we were taught that Yoga was part of The New Age Movement which sought to mainstream Eastern Philosophy beliefs. Yoga had meditation, which was leaving your mind open to nothing instead of meditating on Christ--1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing." Some people believe that means literally pray constantly during waking hours, not just praying on Sundays or meals. I think it means having a meditating heart and praying during the day as things come up and you think of people, see an accident on the road, or an ambulance (I've been in ambulances and felt such peace, I could tell people were praying for me.)
These people also believed that the "Om" chant was satanic and called for demons. I'm not going to chant, but I don't think demons are hanging around yogo studios. (if I were a demon, I'd hang out in a church)
I think there *are* some yoga sessions I would have a problem with. Opening the chakras, would definitely be on the list.
My mom was so insulted by a large ad poster of a woman in yoga pose for her bank that she demanded that the bank manager take it down. He didn't. She wrote corporate. Nothing. She changed banks. But everyone in my life agrees my mom is a fanatic. Just thinking about all the things she gets in a tizzy about gives me a migraine.
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alison
New Member
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Jul 2, 2014 4:26:46 GMT
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Post by alison on Jul 2, 2014 5:18:46 GMT
When I was growing up in the UK in the 1970's the Church of England's had a stance against mediation in general because, as already stated in this thread, it opened up the possibility of opening the mind to unseemly influences. Yoga today seems to be more of an exercise routine.
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Pinky Zebra
Full Member
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Jun 26, 2014 5:37:40 GMT
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Post by Pinky Zebra on Jul 2, 2014 5:44:49 GMT
I feel like that adorable older lady that was on Ellen. I love Jesus, but I do yoga a little.
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Post by peasful1 on Jul 2, 2014 6:03:03 GMT
Had no idea some Christians are threatened by yoga. Learn something new every day.
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Post by jmd74 on Jul 2, 2014 6:07:13 GMT
I have never heard that before. Makes no sense to me!
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anniebygaslight
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Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Jul 2, 2014 6:10:20 GMT
I've done yoga for years. No chanting or philosophising takes place in the group I go to.
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