I have to agree. Our greatest gift from God, and the greatest responsibility is free will. I truly believe that God not only gave me the power to choose good over evil, he gave me the ability to decern the two (I can ignore the difference, I can choose not to see the difference, but if I am honestly seeking HIM, I cannot mistake Evil for Good.

I have done yoga in the past and to me it is more about my body and the relaxing way that you can do this exercise and get in touch with your body and mind. I have found that it has increased my flexibility and to me that is important.

Although it may be generally connected to some religions we don't have to follow the religious side of it unless we choose to.

Just do it and enjoy.

God bless,
Jennylee

Honestly, some of these posts seem to be reading WAY too much into Yoga.

I'm Jewish and I like yoga, but in no way does it make me less Jewish or more suseptible to become whatever religion yoga supposedly is derived from.

Its just exercise!

Some forms of yoga (Kryia for example) are strongly religious.

The yoga posture practice (Hatha) need not be religious at all. In my area four of the best Hatha classes are held at Christian churches. The local minister and her husband are in one class and in the class at the Roman Catholic class you will find two of the parish priests.

So yes, Christians can do Yoga. You just have to pick the right branch of Yoga to practice.

I think if a person wants to be, or considers themselves a "faithful" practitioner of any religion or denomination or sect within a religion, they're obligated to understand their own beliefs. It then becomes obvious when someone is trying to "convince" or "con" you into something you know to be untrue. Sure some people are able to be very persuasive, but if you understand what you believe, it becomes much more difficult for anyone to decieve you or change your perspective on even minor doctrinal matters. In fact, it tends to be quite annoying (which is why I think "door to door" and "bible thumping," evangelism leaves such a bad taste in many, even devout, mouths).

Born again, Baptist-ish ... I believe that 'intent' is the operative word here. If you have prayed and considered this in a Godly fashion and you consider it a sin ... If you keep doing it, you are sinning.

Changing my belief structure based on the teaching of one person, is akin (in my mind) to worshipping someone other then my God.

I don't mean to be flippant but just because some 'christians' do something does not make it right between you and your God.

The ability of evil to 'getcha' when you're not paying attention is a matter we will never come to agreement on.

I don't usually join in religion discussions. I find they only lead to anger and ill feelings. God is BIG and capable of so much more than we could possibly imagine .... I'm not sure what I meant by that but I felt lead to type it.

This is a fascinating thread. I am kind of on the fence here. I'm a Muslim and we don't bow to anyone but the Almighty, so I really have an issue with the namaste/bowing thing - I attended a few weeks of yoga class but had to stop because of an acute health issue. I told her I couldn't bow but I put my hand to my heart when she greeted me - that's a kind of greeting in some Muslim cultures - to show some kind of respect, but in a way that doesn;t go against my religion.

I enjoyed it, and the teacher was a Christian lady - well, I assume she was because she wears a cross around her neck, whilst doing the namaste/bow. She made the point that Yoga isn't about religion, and I also read somewhere that it is something that evolved parallel to Hinduism in India, so it's separate. Although I understand that some forms of Yoga are more spiritual and/or tied into Hindu practice.

I have only done very basic stuff so far, but the teacher did mention the "Sun Salutation" which I had heard of before. I am feeling very conflicted about that, because to me it sounds and looks like worship, with bowing postures etc. As a Muslim I definitely do not want to be bowing to the sun, only to the sun's Creator.

So I'm not sure about going back when the docs clear me for exercise again. I couldn't do half the postures anyways - too fat and unfit But I liked the relaxation at the end...

I may or may not go back. Will have to work out the philosophical/theological issues in the meantime...

As a Hindu, I can assure you, yoga is not religious.

Hi, seagreenwater. Thanks for your input. Could you expand on that - how do Hindus view it? Do they look at it as others look at exercise or aerobics? And do you know the origin of the "sun salutation"? I am curious about that.

Thanks

Yoga is one of those things--to those who wish it, it can have religious conotations, to those who do not, it won't. As far as the sun salutation, in the modern context one doesn't learn to say a prayer with it, which means it's nothing more than a bunch of different poses. It may have started that way hundreds (thousands) of years ago, but as far as the videos people watch and learn yoga or the classes they attend it is all about what they want to think about, what they want to focus on and what they want to believe each pose means. If you went to a Hindu temple and then learned the Sun Salutation, well that might be completely different. But, I'm betting most people, including myself, did not learn it that way. I learned it watching a video. I know what it originally meant (an introduction to the day, a thankfulness the sun rose another day), but that's not what I'm thinking about when I do it. I can assure you all I think about is keeping my feet flat on the ground. Therefore, even as a Hindu, I'm doing nothing religious because I'm not focusing on something religious. Does that help?

thanks, seagreenwater - that put a different spin on it for me. I wonder if all the names of poses meant something different before and don't mean the same now in wstern yoga practice. The instructor told us the names of some of the poses, like cat and downward-facing dog etc.

I'm Jewish, have been doing yoga off and on for about 15 years. I have also read a couple of the yoga magazines. One thing that stuck out in my head in regard to meditation/yoga: these magazines would give you a quote to say, but then it would say "hey, if you don't like this phrase, think of something else that will bring you internal peace."

That's what much of WESTERN yoga is about. The original Eastern-thought yoga has been changed once it hit American shores, and it is definitely a more lay-minded practice now.

I find this whole conversation facinating. And I have to belive--you're only open to "evil" (whatever that may be for you) if you let it come into you. Negativity is all around us, but it's your response to it that really matters. For me, the movement of flow or Hatha (breathing) yoga helps calm my brain down from the bombardment the day can have on it.

But go with your own conciounse (I know I butchered that word). You can only do what feels right internally, otherwise you don't have personal peace.

Lynn[/B]

Um I am a very devout baptist ans a faithful yoga practicer. I believe with my whole heat that its is great to do yoga but you have to be careful what you are putting your meditations in to. I use this time to connect on a closer level with God. There are Christian Yoga instructors who teach the same thing. Just tell them it all matters what you are meditating about. And I always say thats a time for me and my one and true God.

This is a great book for anyone who has questions, concerns or doubts about the truly Spiritual roots and nature of the art and practice of yoga: "The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice".

That is such an excellent point! I never even though of it that way!