Why Do Christians Practice Yoga

Yoga is exercise. It is a form of fitness that promotes strength, flexibility, and stillness. Most yoga classes that I attend are void of religious references. You pose, you hold it, and you release the pose. Many times you're trying so exhausting just to balance, keep your arms elevated, or stand in a strenuous position for several minutes that you don't have the time or energy to think about anything else. I am persuaded that most Christians who oppose yoga have never even taken a yoga class.Yoga is also form of meditation. It is a moving meditation. It features a spiritual side, which is probably where most of the controversy about yoga resides. Yoga features a mind-body-spirit connection. Central to yoga is ( Meditação ) our breathe. When the breathe slows down, the mind slows down additionally. In fact, the purpose of yoga was to prepare the body for meditation. When the mind becomes still, we enter into a state of inner peace. When our mind is at peace, we create a greater space for God in our lives, to hear and experience Him on a deeper level, a spiritual level. The Bible says that "the spirit of God is within you." Therefore, it is up to us to prepare our hearts to fellowship with Him. This is why yoga appeals to many Christians.Those who are against yoga believe it opens Christians up to evil spirits and demons lurking in the darkness. They believe by being still and quieting our minds, we become prey to a host of spiritual unknowns. The majority of Christians who practice yoga grasp where their allegiance lies and they're not so easily persuaded or manipulated. We grasp that Jesus is our Lord and we can use yoga to strengthen our relationship with him. We grasp in our heart and mind how to use yoga as a form to worship God.I believe there are far more sinister practices that lead Christians down the path of deception and darkness than yoga. These include television, godless movies, well-liked music, and secular magazines. If Christians want to denounce evil and lead individuals towards the path of righteousness and holiness, help them to understand how the media is undermining their Christian walk every minute of everyday, not just the several hours per week spent at yoga class. Through the media, we are being feed a daily diet of anti-Christ ( Meditação ) propaganda that is deceiving us and keeping us from pursuing an intimate relationship with the Lord. Yoga on the other hand, does quite the other. Christians can use yoga to detach from these illusions, enter into oneness with God, and create a deeper connection with His spirit.Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 23: 13, "Woe to you, academics of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in individuals's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. The growing interest in yoga to the Christian may be a result of spiritual hunger. Going to church, taking note of a sermon, serving in the church is not filling the gapping hole that continues to grow in Christians who don't want more programs but more God. They are not finding it in the building, so they are wanting elsewhere. Yoga or a Christ-focused yoga various is just another tool that permits Christians to put into practice the scripture that says, "Be still and grasp that I am God."When was the last time you we're taught about meditating on God or practiced meditation in the church? When was the ( Meditação ) last time you stayed dwelling in God's presence in the sanctuary? I can honestly tell you that for me the answer is very rarely. Most churches don't worth the quiet. Many might argue that abiding with God may be a personal matter; however, many trendy-day Christians aren't even familiar with this concept and if they are, they have been discouraged to try to to so. In fact, there are Christians who have been brainwashed to believe that meditation is of the devil. But I believe that there is "no" greater practice which will help a Christian understand a personal, thriving, and growing relationship with God, than to spend time with Him in silence and solitude meditating on his word and abiding in his presence.In all this condemning of yoga, Christians have forgotten the love and liberty that we have in Jesus Christ. John said in 1 John 3:21, "If our heart condemns us not, we deem towards God, which means God is in a position to convict his youngsters of sin or wrong-doing. Therefore, if in your heart you are feeling yoga is not of God, then you are obligated to not practice it, less you sin. In many such selections God provides us a personal selection. He never appointed judges and juries to tell us to try to to this or that. That's what the Holy Spirit is for. The Bible says, When the Holy Spirit comes you'll not would like any man to teach you as a result of the Holy Spirit will teach you all things. I actually have really heard stories of people receiving Jesus Christ on a yoga mat. What a beautiful chance to disciple the globe. They return for yoga and acquire saved!If Christians practice yoga as a form of worship, as a away to like and honor God and grow in relationship with him, what right has anyone to tell them any differently? Paul in Romans fourteen:four declares, "Who are you to evaluate somebody else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is in a position to create him stand." If as a Christian we practice yoga with the correct motives and out of a pure heart, God receives our praise.Are all yoga classes created equal? Fully not! There are yoga classes that are smothered in Hinduism, so Christians should be discerning when choosing a yoga class or teacher. I actually have really walked out of yoga studios accessorized with huge Buddha statues, not as a result of I don't believe Buddha was a wise or enlightened man, but being a Christian I don't worship Buddha, I worship the Lord Jesus Christ; there is no confusion in my heart. Hatha yoga or Yogafit are several sorts of yoga that have extracted all the religious parts of yoga. Conjointly, many gyms like twenty four Hour Fitness offers yoga classes primarily for fitness and relaxation. God does not want us to be discerning just about yoga, he desires us to be discerning concerning all aspects of our life additionally. How we spend our time, cash, what we eat, and where we attend church conjointly have positive and negative ramifications.Roman fourteen:a pair of says, "One man's religion permits him to eat everything, but another man whose religion is weak eats solely vegetables." Ought to we so all become vegetarians? Perhaps people who oppose yoga ( Meditação ) believe that "they" themselves lack the strength to practice yoga while not being seduced off from the Lord. Verse 13 declares, "Let every one be totally convinced in his own mind. He who regards the day [yoga] as special does so to the Lord. He who eats meat [or practices yoga], eats to the Lord, for he provides due to God. Therefore allow us to stop passing judgment. Blessed is the person who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the person who doubts is condemned [if he practices yoga], as a result of his eating [yoga practice] is not of religion; and everything that doesn't return from religion is sin."1 Corinthians eight:four tells us, "We grasp that an idol is nothing in the slightest degree in the globe which there is no God but one. For whether or not there are so known as gods, whether or not in heaven or on the planet (as indeed there are a number of "gods" and many "lords) nevertheless for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live and there is but one Lord…"Yoga will still be a controversial topic amongst Christians, but that is okay. God has given us the liberty and liberty to serve him in ways in which that not everybody will approve of. Christians who practice yoga, do so unto the Lord, Christians who don't practice yoga, do so unto the Lord, so irrespective of what side of the fence you stand, if you are using your religion to exalt and honor the Lord, in step with the scriptures, it's extremely no bodies business, but yours and Gods.