should christians practice yoga?

Have you ever had one of those moments where you thought, "This is what I was meant to do.  This is me?"   I had that thought while at yoga school in California.  I was not a Christian, but I was on a spiritual journey.  I had witnessed a few close friends become Christians and was enraptured with their conversion of an unshakeable peace and joy.  I wanted that.  I was seeking it.  As I sat in lotus position during meditation, I thought, "I've finally found what I am created to do."  

I was raised a practicing Catholic, attending mass every Sunday.  My story reads like the majority, I was a good kid, rebellious in my teen-age years, and seeking my own "religion" during my college years.  I did my own thing, drank a lot of alcohol, smoked a lot of pot, climbed a lot of mountains, and travelled the world.  

I was first introduced to yoga at LSU.  I took an Eastern Religion class, because that's what you do when you're a hippie.  Yoga was a new term to me in 1996.  I found a place, took a class, and was sold!  College was stressful and to be able to stretch and rest in shivasana for 10 minutes was everything my body and mind needed!   The more stressful the semester, the more classes I took. 

What even is Yoga?

Siddhayattan.org explains "Yoga is an ancient system from India. This system includes asanas (postures) that help you to become healthier, balanced and can create the opportunity to enter deep states of meditation. The yogic system helps you become flexible, release tension, and burn toxins so that you can experience peace, calmness, relaxation, and clarity. On the surface, yoga can be merely perceived as exercise, though the philosophy and spirituality behind yoga goes much deeper. For thousands of years, the Yoga system was taught to help purify the body and mind, so that a practitioner can burn karma and awaken their soul. This included breathing techniques, concentration, meditation, practicing nonviolence, discipline of mind and body, fasting, truthfulness and non-attachment among others."  
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Yoga is rooted in Hinduism.  I won't get into details about the Hindu religion, but know that it is polytheistic, meaning that it acknowledges and worships many Gods.  Death does not end in heaven or hell, but the soul is recycled back to earth.  Depending on karma (basically, the good and bad things done in a lifetime), will determine your next life on earth.  

Fast forward to graduating from college to having a professional career and being in a sinful, unhealthy relationship.  I hadn't done yoga in a long time.  I went to one class, and it gave me time to sit and think.  It was the first time that I had talked to God from my iffy conversion experience a year earlier.  "God, I need you in my life.  I am not doing well."  The second I returned home, my boyfriend, whom I had needed to break up with, said he was moving out of state.  I knew at that point, God had heard me and I was on a spiritual path.  

My yoga practice became daily.  My lifestyle cleaned up physically.  I began meeting new, healthy friends.  I gave my two weeks notice to my Occupational Therapy job, and planned to move to California to live on an ashram and become a yoga teacher.  They sent me a huge binder with tons of homework to do before the teacher training.  It all seemed absolutely wonderful.  Until the first red flag popped into vision.  When I got to the chapter about astral bodies and chakras, something in me said, "This sounds wack."   Not really knowing what to do with red flags, I pushed it down and moved forward.  
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What are astral bodies and Chakras?

Good question.  One you should ask if you do yoga or are interested in yoga. 

​Hridaya-Yoga France states that  "The chakras are specific frequencies in the ocean of universal energy and are defined by specific energies, prana, and distinct psychological and mental activities. In other words, each chakra displays a certain power and a different level of individual consciousness. By using the system of the six chakras, we can discover through direct experience that the macrocosm (the Universe) exists within the microcosm of the human being. We can also see the chakras as “devices” that receive and emit energy and information on different frequencies." 

I was taught that after each posture, I was to channel that energy up my spine to my crown (or head).  So I did that and focused on enlightenment during my mediation time, which took place after each yoga session.  I never really fully grasped meditation.  For me, it involved sitting quietly for too long, trying to remove every thought that entered my mind.  I did not find myself to walk away enlightened or selfless or fully content with life, but boy, did I try!  

Life on the ashram was serene.  It was located in the Sierra Nevada foothills, gorgeous in nature.  Our diet was entirely vegetarian, with no speaking during breakfast. Everyone was friendly, with half of us on a spiritual journey, and the other half still partying and checking off their bucket list.  There were many permanent residents that had joined the spiritual community and lived on the land; a couple of them attended our teacher training class.  

At this point in my life, I had clocked in many hours of yoga practice, doing it daily.  I was well on my way towards God and had been attending church some.  I only brought the basics to CA, and the bible was the only book I brought.  I was simplifying and trying to weed out the noise of materialism, distractions, and chaos.  I think I wore the same 3 outfits the entire time I was there.  

The first thing that struck me as odd while I was there took place during the first few days of class.  On the wall in our practice room were pictures of 4-5 men, Jesus being one of them.  His picture was placed a little bit higher than the other yogi masters.  Of course, I had to raise my hand and ask why.  The response I got was that it was random.  He was just a prophet like the others.  Anyone could attain enlightenment and perform the miracles he did.  

I began reading books sitting on coffee tables in the commons room.  All of them downplayed Christianity, saying that Christianity was not the only way to heaven.  They interpreted scriptures from a universalist perspective.  In Matthew 6:22 it reads, ​“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light."

Yogis explained this 'eye' to be the Crown Chakra, which is the seat of divine consciousness and connects us to divine grace and intelligence.  It is also called the 'third eye'.  It is said to be a timeless place, where life and death meet.  

On many occassions, I would ask others what they thought about Jesus being the only way to heaven.  I was ready to debate and explore this idea, but I was met with almost venom.  One man turned on me like a snake ready to attack.  Every question or thought that I had to truth was shot down with exactly the opposite lie.  Jesus was just a prophet.  We can all attain his position.  Christianity is a cult for the feeble minded.  

​One time I was seated with a small group for evening yoga and meditation.  A very loud gong was hit nightly to announce dinner.  This sound is what alerted us out of the meditation time and was placed outside of the room.  On that particular night, we never heard the gong.  It was a very deep meditation and all of us agreed that it seemed very powerful.  As our fellow classmates, who hadn't attended practice that night, sat down with us at the dinner table, we made a comment that they forgot to hit the gong.  They responded with shock saying that it was the loudest gong sound that was made yet.  We were baffled that we didn't hear it.  

Another time, we had just heard news that there was a shooting in a nearby town, killing and wounding many.  We held hands in a very large circle and prayed, held space, collectively sent good thoughts and it began snowing the second we did that.  

I witnessed more instances like this.  I filed them as miracles, and they helped water down the validity of Jesus.  By the end of my stay, I had accepted their definitions and terms that I could attain the enlightenment of Christ.  I returned home and began teaching yoga.  I was on cloud nine and believed I had everything answered.  Except one thing.

My sin. 

Nothing in yoga dealt with my sin.  Despite all of my good works, I still had evil in me at the root of my being.  Yoga left me on a hamster wheel of maintaining good works.  It left me playing God.  My pride ultimately led me to the realization that I needed a savior and his name was/is Jesus.  I finally realized He was the one my heart belonged to, needed, and wanted.  I fully surrendered and my life has never been the same.  

Yoga teaching did continue for a while.  I taught but had a conviction that I was leading people in the wrong direction.  I had people coming to me who did not know Jesus and the truth of the gospel.  Despite me reading scriptures during class, I knew some of them were on a spiritual path and yoga was taking them in the wrong direction.  I finally quit teaching in 2003.

So the big question 'Is yoga bad?'

In my opinion, if you know the truth of Jesus and are solid in your theology, I think just the physical stretches of yoga are okay.  I continue yoga to this day.  For me, it is stretching and strengthening my body.  It does help with stress, flexibility, strength, posture, better breathing, and more.  I think everyone needs to be stretching, weight bearing, and deep breathing.  I also think that in the fast-paced western culture, yoga provides a gentle exercise that slows one down.  There are now Christian yoga classes, many that you can find online.  

It is not for everyone though.  If you are not solid in your walk with Christ, have a shaky theology, and are prone to naively try new things, yoga can lead down a deceptive path.  I've seen many a good Christian embark on the essential oil trend who are now into numerology, crystals, and more.  If this is your case, pilates or cardio followed by deep stretching will suffice in physical benefits.  Remember, anything that takes the place of God is idolatry.  Keep your proper perspective and keep things in there rightful place.  We are to worship the creator, not His creation.  

I try not to be legalistic.  If God called me to teach yoga again, I would.  He was a Jew who walked through Samaria and spoke with a Gentile woman.  Where God sends me to reach the lost, I will go.  In my rational mind, I realize I could send people in a bad direction since the exercise is rooted in a different religion.  But God transcends my reasoning, and I trust His leading.  

And this is where I leave you.  God leads and we are called to follow His way.  If you are a Christian, seek His guidance, as well as a couple of spiritual mentors.  He desires that none of us perish, and that we remain in his green pastures.  Do not be naive, check and balance everything you do with the word of God.  If He convicts you to not do yoga, obey.   If you receive a green light, remember we are always called to stand on a watch tower, wary to observe the things that are not of God.  Above all, do not get caught in legalism.  Before you point the finger at your yoga practicing Christian friends, remove the plank in your own eye.  Then, approach them from a sincere heart of love and concern if you see them being led astray. 

Many blessings to you!