You thought you were building a stronger, more flexible body doing your yoga workout. You thought you were learning to quiet your mind to ease tension, anxiety or depression. So does practicing yoga really go against your belief in Christianity?
Some Christians argue that yoga is a religion designed to create oneness with Brahman, Hinduism’s concept of god. Far from the personal deity of Christians (as well as Jews and Muslims), Brahman is a spiritual substance, an impersonal being that simply exists. The most ardent opponents have even claimed the practice is the work of the devil.
It is true that Hindus use the meditation, breathing exercises, and physical yoga workout in their religious traditions; however that doesn’t necessarily make yoga a religious practice. Even some Hindu purists contend that yoga is strictly religious and the practice cannot be separated from Hinduism.
Yet other observers note that Eastern religions use yoga as a way to become closer to their deities, much like people of many other faiths, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, use prayer to get closer to God.
In fact, some Christians have adopted yoga as part of their religious practice. For example, practitioners in a Christianity-based yoga program might chant the name “Yahweh” or “Jesus” during mediation. The instructor might lead the group with scripture, prayer or Christian reflections.
Yet yoga itself is not a religion, according to the American Yoga Association. There is no fixed creed, prescribed deity or religious organization. As practiced by most people in the United States, it’s a way to create a more healthful lifestyle that includes better strength and increased flexibility as well as better stress relief. Yoga and yoga workout is practiced by people of many faiths and beliefs.
When you take a yoga class, the instructor may ask you to recite a chant or say a word, typically in the Sanskrit language (which is an ancient language of India.) Again, don’t hesitate to ask what the word means. While you’ll find that most of them aren’t religious in nature, if you are uncomfortable with a chant, substitute one of your own. For example, you might chant a word like “God,” “Jesus,” or even a relaxing sound.
When you attend yoga classes and do your yoga workout at the local fitness center or “Om” along with a yoga DVD, you’re more likely to find a way to create balance in your mind and body rather than, as some anti-yoga advocates argue, a gateway to hell.
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Most people associate a complete harmony of mind, body and spirit when they think of yoga. This was the purpose of yoga in the early days and today still is. These intentions have remained the same for centuries. They’ve simply been improved or refined in recent years. The yoga history has a great deal of tradition associated with it. It is, explained in its most bare-bone form, a system that affects physcial, mental and spiritual health and the fitness of the practitioner. Yoga roots go back thousands of years to the system originally devised in India. All through the four different periods in history beginning with the pre-classical period, the classical period, after which came the post-classical period right up to the present which is our modern era.
Yoga, as a word, means “yolk” or something that joins another thing together. A good example is the joining of the cart to an ox through the use of a yolk. Based on the definition of yoga, you can figure out that yoga has mainly to do with creating unity in every human being by using every aspect and moulding it into a single entity.
Do not believe that yoga is simply a matter of forcing the body into odd poses. While this is done in yoga, this is just a small part of it. There is more involved in yoga such as ethics, breath control, meditation and the physical postures.
In the modern history of yoga, this form of exercise has gone through what some might consider to be a renaissance. It became more globalized and the religious aspects of yoga have been separated to create a form of exercise. The yoga history has seen the opening of many schools or branches of yoga. The practice of yoga has branched out into the different philosophies that have sprouted.
There’s no denying that yoga has changed all throughout history. But there is a common thread among all yoga forms that has changed very little over the years. The basic underlying goal of yoga, as it has been throughout all of the known history of yoga, was and is to create harmony of the body and mind, and even the environment. This modern era in the history of yoga has developed a more comprehensive way to get that greater control of body and mind. Yoga is not just a means to stay in shape and keep your body trim and firm. Yoga is a whole body and mind health practice that helps you empower your life.
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