Continued from Part 2
Health Benefits
There are many people who testify to the health benefits of doing yoga. Celebrity instructor Ninie Ahmad blogged that:
“From the age of age of 13 to 17, I suffered chronically from asthma, requiring me making biweekly visits to hospital for treatment, subsequently inhibiting me from participating in physical activities and sports. After my introduction to yoga at the age of 18, God willing, I have not experienced a single asthma attack since…”
Check out Ninie’s fun post also, it is very humuorous.
Many Christians who practice yoga readily admit to its health benefits. There is no dispute that doing yoga poses makes you feel good. It is interesting that the bible does not mention exercise but remember that at the time of Jesus, people travelled on foot in contrast to our society today.
It is safe to say that people then are generally healthier compared to people today. The bible says that for believers, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, so presumably God wants Christians to look after their body. I believe that yoga at its basic level can be an exercise which helps you achieve that.
However yoga at its deeper, spiritual level involves additional elements. For example, the first and second limbs are known as Yama and Niyama, and have to do with right behaviour at a personal and social level.
The elements of Yama include practising non-violence, speaking truthfully, exercising sexual control, being honest and generous.
The elements of Niyama include purity, contentment, discipline, spiritual exploration and surrender to the divine.
A full appreciation of yoga involves a moral and spiritual element which I’d say most yoga students are unaware of.
Author Deepak Chopra in his book The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga says:
“When the fire of a yogi’s life is burning brightly, she is a beacon of light radiating balance and peace to the world…. The seeds of wisdom are sown when you surrender to the unknown.”
(p37-38)
In contrast the bible teaches that God is light and the true source of all wisdom. Contrast also the need for high level yogis to meditate in the wild and isolation with what Christian author Rick Warren says in his best selling book The Purpose Driven Life:
“It may seem easier to be holy when no one else is around to frustrate your preferences, but that is false, untested holiness. Isolation breeds deceitfulness; it is easy to fool ourselves into thinking we are mature is there is no one to challenge us. Real maturity shows up in relationships.”
(p134)
Summing it all up…
Yoga IN ITS TRUE FORM does not sit well with the Bible. The Bible does not specifically prohibit yoga, but at the same time warns that the devil is a deceiver and masquerades as an angel of light. As early as the Garden of Eden, the devil deceived Eve with the false promise that she would be like God if she ate the apple. Likewise the promise of some super spiritual power is at the heart of real yoga.
It is unclear whether the yoga classes offered in Malaysia are of that level (most likely not), but if you pursue yoga spiritually through meditation, then I believe there will be some risks.
“I am afraid just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”2 Corinthians 11:4