Furthermore, the Christian Yoga teachers are not telling Christians about the hazards of yoga. If they were there would not be such a huge growth of yoga classes within the church.
Click here to read more about the Hazards of Yoga at the Spiritual Research Network
~ SRN
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Yoga: Posture of Apostasy
Can yogic practices be integrated with the Christian faith?
by Larry De Bruyn
"Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet . . ." Rudyard Kipling's words accent the difference between eastern and western spirituality, between Hinduism and Christianity. But the two, "the twain" as it were, are now meeting via yogic practices being promoted in various places of worship and activities of spirituality. Take for example, one Jewish synagogue. The weekly Shabbat services of Congregation Beth-El Zedek have included such activities as "Torah Yoga," which asks congregants to "stretch and take deep breaths" as the Torah is read, or when as worshippers enter the synagogue, they are "welcomed by Torah meditations set to drums and chanting."[1] But Jews are not alone in adopting yogic postures and practices.
"Christian yoga" is also gaining popularity. Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher, recently released a book titled, Yoga for Christians, by Susan Bordenkircher.[2] In an interview with the Denver Post, the author, a fitness instructor, explained, "What we are attempting to do with a Christ-centered practice is fill the heart and mind with God, becoming 'single-minded' as Scripture calls it." Unapologetic for promoting so called "Christian yoga", she explains that "Christ-centered yoga is definitely not just a repackaging of . . . yoga. The difference, she says, lies in the intention: shifting the focus from self to God with yogic postures ('breathing in' the Holy Spirit, for instance), integrating health as critical to effective godly service, and slowing down enough 'from our fast-paced lives to actually hear God's voice.'"[3] Wow . . . "breathing in the Holy spirit . . . slowing down . . . to actually hear the voice of God."
The instructor's words betray an ominous and foreboding ignorance of Christian truth. Believers do not breathe in the Holy Spirit. When by faith people are justified (i.e., saved), in a millisecond of time they are regenerated (Jn. 3:3, 5-7) and instantly indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. Corporately and individually believers are the "temple" of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). As Paul wrote to the Roman believers, "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (Rom. 8:9). There are only two types of persons in the world: saints and "ain'ts"--those in whom the Holy Spirit lives, and those in whom He does not. Given the Spirit's abiding presence in the life of the believer, how can He then be inhaled into the soul via yogic practice? Answer: He can't, because at salvation the Holy Spirit makes the justified believer's soul His sanctuary! Hopefully this yoga instructor isn't suggesting that regeneration takes place by a sort of yogic "inbreathing" of the Holy Spirit. If she really is, then by adding a human mechanism (i.e., "breathing in"), her version of spirituality stands in blatant contradiction to the salvation that comes "by grace . . . through faith" (Eph. 2:8-9). Her spirituality formula also opposes Jesus' testimony that like the wind, the Sovereign Spirit blows when and where He "wishes" (Jn. 3:8). The Sovereign Spirit will not be manipulated or controlled by yogic "inbreathing."..
Read full article...
http://www.frbaptist.org/bin/view/Ptp/PtpTopic20060522141106
Also check these out:
Ankerberg Theological Research Institute:
- Yoga Pt.1: Description, Claims,Occult Potential, Dangers
- Yoga Pt.2: Yoga and Children - Purpose of Yoga
- Yoga Theory and Practice: Separable? - Part 1
- Yoga Theory and Practice: Separable? - Part 2
- Yoga: Kundalini Yoga
- Yoga: The Occult
- Innocent Yoga? Altering Consciousness in an Occult Direction
