Let's Talk Christianity and Yoga | Mindfulness

"I would never practice yoga again, not even christian yoga because it's demonic. The poses are to worship certain God's within the practice."  

Discourse around yoga and christianity and if yoga is a sin leaves many people feeling conflicted and convicted about practicing yoga as a christian. Within this blog post we explore the practice of yoga and christianity and how to practice yoga as a christian for your mental health (if you choose). 

A conversation with a relative resulted in me halting yoga because their arguments were convincing, or so I thought at the time. After discussing their opinions on yoga they closed by saying, "I would never practice yoga again, not even christian yoga because it's demonic. The poses are to worship certain God's within the practice." After sitting with that comment, I made the decision to stop attending yoga indefinitely. 

Yoga for me was a method to stretch, assist with my back pains, improve my flexibility,  slow down, and connect with my body. I enjoyed attending yoga weekly and had established a set routine. However, the desire to please God (and others) served as a strong enough reason to quit cold turkey. 

Months passed and I realized that although my relationship with God was the best it's ever been (not as a result of quitting yoga), I missed stretching my body and exercise alone was insufficient. Gradually, I began to slowly engage in at-home yoga sessions for stretching courtesy of Youtube, but I missed going in person. 

During a recent session with a client, we were engaging in identity exploration related to their religion. They shared that establishing a relationship with God versus engaging in ritualistic practices to appear perfect and devout is their goal moving forward. While we were not discussing yoga within the session, the conversation made me consider, how does yoga impact my relationship with God?

After much consideration, it doesn't. Yoga did not impact my relationship with God and never once did I feel the need to decenter God while engaging in Yoga, instead I included them. 

Reframing how you view yoga and christianity

The practice of yoga is not inherently religious but a spiritual practice within Hinduism. Due to colonization and the now commodification and rebranding of the historical practice, yoga is heavily condemned as a demonic and wicked practice. 

Within any exercise class a great instructor will say "use modifications when necessary." Engaging in yoga as a christian is your choice and making the necessary modifications where you see fit is an alternative. If when they say "namaste" you employ an "amen" that's your prerogative. If when they lie down for "corpse pose" you leave or internally reframe how you label the pose (or stretch) that is also your choice.

How do you engage in yoga? 

Yoga is a great form of somatic movement. Somatic therapy explores how the body reacts to painful or traumatic experiences and counters that through deep breathing and the exploration of one's stress-responses through mindfulness practices. Somatic yoga and somatic therapy are great at assisting those interested in healing trauma and connecting with themselves, which is worth considering. 

Biblical yoga 

Have you heard of it? There are yoga instructors and classes that are specifically based in biblical beliefs and practices. Christian yoga also employs scripture to allow you to connect with yourself and God through the practice of mind, body, and spirit work. 

Mindfulness

Yoga for me is about mindfulness and it's my favorite form of mindfulness mediation. In church we are often told to "meditate on our scripture," and whether you realize it or not within your religious practice you are engaging in mindfulness practices of a different name.

Which are you most focused on religion or relationship? 

As a competitive athlete, exercise and conditioning are not therapeutic for me. Instead, exercise feels rather ritualistic. With yoga I have a relationship with my mind, body, and thoughts. The benefits of mindfulness are endless and have done great wonders for me. Within our workbook we discuss eleven tips to help reparent yourself. Tapping in, engaging in self-concept development, and exploring unmonetized hobbies and rest are three tips that can help you figure out how to practice yoga as a christian. 

If you're still questioning "can christians do yoga" or "if yoga is a sin" these are two questions between you and God, which could be reframed to center you. "As a christian, can I do yoga?" Make attempts to remove any shame and guilt to explore yoga for yourself. Answer the questions proposed within the blog and allow yourself to make an informed decision about engaging in yoga for yourself and your mental health.