Christianity & Yoga

A few months ago I signed for a family membership at our local YMCA. Afterward I acquired a copy of their schedule to see what kinds of group fitness activities were available. Their fitness activities ranged from aerobics to cardio boxing to power flex to cycling to zumba dancing to yoga and more. I attended a few of these classes to get an idea of which one would be best suited for my personal fitness goals. Finally I attended a yoga class.

After attending about four or five classes and liking the results, I made an announcement in Facebook that I have begun studying yoga. Not long after that, one of my Evangelical Christian brothers sent me an email and expressed his concern about me taking up yoga, thinking that I might be compromising my Christianity due to the fact that yoga has its roots in eastern mysticism. For many years, I had avoided yoga for that reason; I was a little hesitant going to my first class and wondered how much of this eastern stuff I was going to have to sift through.

As for the yoga class that I am attending, there is nothing going on that I would consider to be in conflict with Biblical Christian values. The most eastern thing we do was at the very end of the class where we all sat in the lotus position and folded our hands and they said a word in Sanskrit that means peace. Other than that, it was all a bunch of stretching, breathing and balancing exercises.

Keep in mind, I have attended less than a dozen classes at only one location so far. I can't say that the class that I am taking at the YMCA is representative of all the yoga classes given or even the average yoga class. The class that I attend doesn't get into the meditation part of yoga and I think that's probably where it takes its turn to the east.

I take the attitude that yoga is similar to the martial arts insofar as you can master the physical techniques of the discipline without embracing the eastern philosophy. However, after I did an internet search on Yoga & Christianity, I discovered that not all Christians are in agreement with me on this point. I read arguments on both sides of the issue in the various web sites that I perused. There are even a few books out on this subject as well.

I read one opinion on the con side of the debate that stated that Christians should not engage in yoga in any way shape or form. And, that one can achieve the same degree of agility and flexibility by taking up low impact aerobics, gymnastics and ballet. I don’t agree with that opinion at all. Although flexibility is needed in order to be good at those disciplines, stretching and flexibility is one of the main cornerstones of a yoga workout. Yoga contains a vast vocabulary of stretching exercises covering all the major muscle groups that the other exercise disciplines just don’t offer. Of course, I recall being involved in a similar debate over 30 years ago concerning Christianity and Rock Music. There were those who argued that Christian rock was not a legitimate form of Christian Music.

I read another opinion from one of those hardcore swami/guru Hindu types from India who believed that if one wants to be a true student of yoga, then one must embrace the entire yoga package. He said, if you are doing only the exercises, then you are not really studying yoga, you are just doing yoga exercises. This guy might have a legitimate point. If he is right, then maybe I should amend my April 28, 2009 announcement on Facebook. Instead of saying, “I have started studying yoga,” maybe I should say, “I have started studying yoga exercises.”

The main thing I think that has gotten lost in the debate among Christians over yoga is the concept of us being a good steward of our temporal earthly body and trying to keep it as fit as possible in order to be in a position to better serve God during our finite amount of time here on Earth. I think the best way for a Christian to approach yoga is to approach it from a fitness perspective as opposed to a spiritual perspective as the Easterners do.

In closing, allow me to offer some tips for those Evangelical Christians who might be contemplating a yoga exercise program:
1. Try to find a yoga class at your local YMCA or someplace like the Y. Those kinds of venues tend to teach a more westernized version of yoga as opposed to going to a Hindu Temple;
2. Remember that yoga is an art form as well as an exercise program. So, not all yoga classes are exactly the same. The degree to how eastern the class is will depend on who the instructor is. Some classes hardly contain any eastern stuff at all. While other classes may vary in degrees. If the class contains a little bit of eastern elements, you can always abstain from those activities. It the class has more eastern stuff than you are comfortable with, then you might want to just look for another class. Let your conscience be your guide.
3. Talk to the yoga instructor and let him or her know that you are a Christian and that you are only interested in studying the physical exercise side of yoga. Even if your instructor may be more eastern in his or her thinking, he or she might still be supportive of you just pursuing the physical side. Remember, your yoga instructor is more than likely getting paid to teach this class. Yoga instructors are not any different than any other kind of instructors teaching in the private sector. They want to have as many students as possible in order to keep their job. If there are enough Christians that speak up and let their light shine before all men, they will be more open to adjusting their program to fit their audience.
4. Try to find a beginner level class if one is available. The class that I am attending is a mixed level class because there are not enough beginners to form an entire class. If you find yourself in a mixed level class, approach each exercise (or pose) with caution. Some of these poses will take several weeks and months and sometimes years to master. If they are too difficult for you at first, ask your instructor to show you the beginner level version of that pose. In most cases your instructor will be more than happy to show you the beginner version of a pose if there is one. But, you might have to take the initiative and ask.
5. Yoga exercises are best done on special mats designed for that purpose. More than likely the place where the yoga class is being held may have a mats for those who don’t own their own. However, once you have decided that yoga is something that you will want to continue doing, you might want to buy your own mat. Yoga exercises are best done with bare feet and you don’t exactly know where other people’s bare feet have been when using a shared mat.
6. Be sure and drink a lot of water before attending your class in order to prevent any muscle cramps. Some of these poses will be exercising and stretching muscle new groups that are yet not accustomed to a yoga workout and you might experience a cramp or two. Hydration is the best way to prevent cramping.

And now for the bonus tip. WARNING!!! If you are a prude, do not read this last tip.

7. Avoid eating any flatulentary foods before attending your session. Some of these yoga poses may feel awkward to you at first and the last thing you would want to do is to create any embarrassing noises while executing these poses. Plus, controlled deep breathing will play a big role in executing these poses. So you don’t want to do anything that will adversely affect your air quality.