This is a new one "Yoga means you are worshiping the devil"

Ryewhisky75

So, I recently told my Mom all the things I've been changing up in my life to get healthy. I have never had the best relationship with her, she is very one sided, her way or the highway type of person, very old school and judgmental. I'm the total opposite. I love everyone the same, open to hearing new things, and have the biggest heart (or so I've been told).

Anyways, I told her I started doing yoga a little. Good grief. You'd think I was literally going to some cultist group meetings and worshiping the devil. In her words "Christine! You have to stop doing yoga!!! That is the gateway to worshiping Satan!! I can't believe you are doing that! I raised you better than that!!!!!!!"

So, anyone up for some gateway exercise today? I'ma going to start calling it that bahahahaha

P.S. She is flying out to see me tomorrow. For the first time since I moved far away from her. It was a fun conversation when I told her last year I was moving to Vegas - Sin City! Wish me luck! She'll be here for 11 days, maybe I'll have some fun conversations to post

BecomingMoreAwesome

I have a few older relatives who believe that both yoga and meditation let in the devil and demons because you’re susceptible to evil whenever your mind is calm. I, uh, think that says something about their choices of stress-avoiding mechanisms.

your_future_ex_wife

idk about devil worship, but i do know some people find it offensive to try to separate the physical from the spiritual practice.

Westerners are exceptionally secular, especially now in this post- christian culture (i mean as a whole, not individually). We live a predominately non-religious life. We often co-opt religious symbols, imagery, celebrations without thought to their original meanings. i don’t see why yoga should be any different.

caco_ethes

You ask me, it’s the treadmill that’s a devil machine

Bushw12

Got to be a US thing....devil worship does anybody really do that crap??

cwolfman13

Your mom is likely not separating the secular practice of yoga for the purpose of exercise vs the origins of yoga which is a Hindu spiritual practice of enlightenment. When I was a kid my family was very involved with the mega church movement and yeah...anything like yoga or meditation would be basically devil worship.

deputy_randolph

I'm not sure when "Satanists" would have the time to do yoga...between the worshipping and church burning.

Although, I've never done yoga or participated in any devilish rituals...maybe your mom is on to something.

RunsWithBees

She must be talking about hot yoga!

Unknown

This content has been removed.

priara31

If you're open as you say you are, then ask her and listen to her why she feels this way. Whatever denomination she practices, ask her to show you were it says that Yoga is wrong to practice. As a mom, I've often done the same thing as your mom and realized that isn't always the best way to handle things. Duh! And I was a lot like your mom too, my way or the highway type person. As I've grown closer to MY faith, I realize that this shuts down all communication between parties. Obviously you know your mom, better than anyone here, but coming from that personality type, what typically shut me up (or opened me to learning more) was someone questioning in a respectful way, why I believed what I believed. And I had to learn more about my faith and what was truth and what I parroted because I learned from my mom. Just food for thought!

Gisel2015

In before this thread is closed…

I learned about this believe a couple of years ago, and it came as a surprise to me too. I have done yoga on and off since my 20s in a very reflective way; I am now 75 years old.

I did some readings about this topic, and it seems that very religious (in this case catholic) people believe that the mind shouldn't ever be calm or free of other interference and it should be always "busy" and only open to the Christian though and god of worship. It seems that practicing yoga is like worshiping the devil and performing any of the yoga poses is allowing the “devil” to take hold of the spirit. I hope I described my interpretation of the readings correctly.

I talked about this concept with different people taking yoga classes with me now, and they all confirmed that they had read about that "ideology/believe." It was a surprised to me, because one of my previous yoga instructors was a very catholic and church going, lovely lady with central American roots. She never mentioned anything about it; however, she was not too keen on meditation either.

I love yoga, and the only thing that I consider “devilish” is some of the poses . The calming of the mind and thoughts is something beneficial to me. I used to be better at it, but I was also practicing meditation alone at night without outside interruptions. I don’t get the same results in a full class, but it is better than nothing.

Here are some links about the topic of this thread that some of you may find interesting.

https://www.the-saltoftheearth.com/the-danger-of-yoga
https://www.intellihub.com/vaticans-chief-exorcist-warns-that-practicing-yoga-is-satanic/
https://www.cai.org/testimonies/spiritual-deception-yoga
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/christians-get-into-a-devil-of-a-twist-over-yoga-1259655.html

newmeadow

Each yoga Asana (pose) pays tribute to the Hindu deity associated with the pose.

So yes, technically and culturally, going into these poses and calling it "Yoga" is a religious practice even if the Westerner is not aware of the religious association.

Monotheistic religions do not recognize polytheism. Theologically, polytheism is a no no in all 3 Abrahamic religions. Including Christianity, yes.

So there's the facts. Scoff, mock, clutch pearls, roll your eyes, make of it what you will. But at least get the facts straight.

priara31

Gisel2015 wrote: »

In before this thread is closed…

I learned about this believe a couple of years ago, and it came as a surprise to me too. I have done yoga on and off since my 20s in a very reflective way; I am now 75 years old.

I did some readings about this topic, and it seems that very religious (in this case catholic) people believe that the mind shouldn't ever be calm or free of other interference and it should be always "busy" and only open to the Christian though and god of worship. It seems that practicing yoga is like worshiping the devil and performing any of the yoga poses is allowing the “devil” to take hold of the spirit. I hope I described my interpretation of the readings correctly.

I talked about this concept with different people taking yoga classes with me now, and they all confirmed that they had read about that "ideology/believe." It was a surprised to me, because one of my previous yoga instructors was a very catholic and church going, lovely lady with central American roots. She never mentioned anything about it; however, she was not too keen on meditation either.

I love yoga, and the only thing that I consider “devilish” is some of the poses . The calming of the mind and thoughts is something beneficial to me. I used to be better at it, but I was also practicing meditation alone at night without outside interruptions. I don’t get the same results in a full class, but it is better than nothing.

Here are some links about the topic of this thread that some of you may find interesting.

https://www.the-saltoftheearth.com/the-danger-of-yoga
https://www.intellihub.com/vaticans-chief-exorcist-warns-that-practicing-yoga-is-satanic/
https://www.cai.org/testimonies/spiritual-deception-yoga
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/christians-get-into-a-devil-of-a-twist-over-yoga-1259655.html

As a Catholic, I don't agree that we're suppose to keep our mind "busy" and that our mind should "never be calm or free of other interference" ...if that was the case, we'd have demons attacking us all the time with all that "interference"... My apologies, if that's what you were led to believe.

And we can mediate, but yes our focus on meditation should be on something holy. A lot of Catholic individuals practice yoga, although I'm not one of them and I understand the 'why' behind this line of thinking. There is this great site that does 'yoga-like' moves and meditation upon our Catholic beliefs, the rosary - https://soulcore.com/what-is-soulcore/

Although I myself have not tried it yet...chalk it up more to laziness, I do think it's good to know that there's something out there for people like myself that would like to incoroprate these types of moves into our faith.

Sunshine_And_Sand

This isn't really a new thought process. I first heard about the yoga being anti-Christianity thing several years ago due to its religious ties to Buddhism and that lots of the poses were originally named for Hindu gods/goddesses.
I've done yoga for years and have personally never been to a class that I would say was using yoga as a Hindu religious practice, probably due mostly to the area I live in. All of the classes I've been to separate from that aspect and are using it as exercise. I have been to some classes that spout a lot of woo (ex: twisting to detox), but that's another topic, and I don't have a problem ignoring that.
Now, whether or not you consider yoga anti-Christianity is going to be something you have to decide for yourself.
For me, I feel that there is nothing wrong with doing yoga for the exercise aspect, but I may feel different in a class that was led as a religious/Hindu rooted class. There is nothing inherently wrong with the poses, and if they were originally used by someone I don't know, in a part of the world I've never even been to, to worship gods/goddesses I don't even believe in, why should I worry about it when I'm not attaching the same meaning to it. To me, saying that's wrong would be comparable to me saying I can't use the thumbs up gesture because another country I've never even been to equates that to giving the middle finger (considered an obscene gesture in the US). If somebody else feels it's wrong and can't separate the motions from what they mean as far as being tied to Hinduism and that person finds him/herself always feeling guilty about it, then it may not be a good idea for that person.

newmeadow

Pilates and Barre and stretching classes are the alternatives for anyone wanting to calm the mind and increase flexibility without doing yoga.

Gisel2015

newmeadow wrote: »

Pilates and Barre and stretching classes are the alternatives for anyone wanting to calm the mind and increase flexibility without doing yoga.[/quote

Not really. Balance, flexibility yes, calm mind not so much. Only Yoga do that for me.

Ryewhisky75

Thank you everyone for the responses! To be clear, I had tried explaining to my Mom that I am not doing Yoga for any reason other then exercise. I had never viewed it as anything else. I asked her why she thought that it was a gateway to anti Christian things and all she said was it is, everyone knows that. She couldn't actually come up with reasons or facts. When she gets here tomorrow, I'll show her simple at home yoga and maybe it'll set her mind at ease that isn't anti Christian lol

newmeadow

Ryewhisky75 wrote: »

Thank you everyone for the responses! To be clear, I had tried explaining to my Mom that I am not doing Yoga for any reason other then exercise. I had never viewed it as anything else. I asked her why she thought that it was a gateway to anti Christian things and all she said was it is, everyone knows that. She couldn't actually come up with reasons or facts. When she gets here tomorrow, I'll show her simple at home yoga and maybe it'll set her mind at ease that isn't anti Christian lol

If you really want to upset your mother, take her to a goat yoga class. In a casino. In Vegas. Nothing weird about that.

priara31

Ryewhisky75 wrote: »

Thank you everyone for the responses! To be clear, I had tried explaining to my Mom that I am not doing Yoga for any reason other then exercise. I had never viewed it as anything else. I asked her why she thought that it was a gateway to anti Christian things and all she said was it is, everyone knows that. She couldn't actually come up with reasons or facts. When she gets here tomorrow, I'll show her simple at home yoga and maybe it'll set her mind at ease that isn't anti Christian lol

"...everyone knows that... " LOL! Good luck!

Daisy_Girl2019

I have heard that too before. I was told that Yoga is part of Hinduism/Buddhism and if you're christian, you're not suppose to practice yoga.

Gisel2015

Sunshine_And_Sand wrote: »

This isn't really a new thought process. I first heard about the yoga being anti-Christianity thing several years ago due to its religious ties to Buddhism and that lots of the poses were originally named for Hindu gods/goddesses.
I've done yoga for years and have personally never been to a class that I would say was using yoga as a Hindu religious practice, probably due mostly to the area I live in. All of the classes I've been to separate from that aspect and are using it as exercise. I have been to some classes that spout a lot of woo (ex: twisting to detox), but that's another topic, and I don't have a problem ignoring that.
Now, whether or not you consider yoga anti-Christianity is going to be something you have to decide for yourself.
For me, I feel that there is nothing wrong with doing yoga for the exercise aspect, but I may feel different in a class that was led as a religious/Hindu rooted class. There is nothing inherently wrong with the poses, and if they were originally used by someone I don't know, in a part of the world I've never even been to, to worship gods/goddesses I don't even believe in, why should I worry about it when I'm not attaching the same meaning to it. To me, saying that's wrong would be comparable to me saying I can't use the thumbs up gesture because another country I've never even been to equates that to giving the middle finger (considered an obscene gesture in the US). If somebody else feels it's wrong and can't separate the motions from what they mean as far as being tied to Hinduism and that person finds him/herself always feeling guilty about it, then it may not be a good idea for that person.

I agree. I practice yoga for the exercise part but also for the calming effect that it has on my mind. I never attach any religious believe or meaning to exercise and I don't see any conflict either. On the other hand I am not a practicing or very religious person, so the meditation attached to yoga serves me well.

kam26001

This was the Church of Satan in San Francisco, also called The Black House. I always thought it looked cool as hell. (lol no pun intended)



Anyway, it got torn down and they built some million dollar studio apartments in its place. Probably some trust funders living there now doing yoga on the rooftop. It's sad when we lose a piece of history.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

blackhawkgirl91

Gisel2015 wrote: »

In before this thread is closed…

I learned about this believe a couple of years ago, and it came as a surprise to me too. I have done yoga on and off since my 20s in a very reflective way; I am now 75 years old.

I did some readings about this topic, and it seems that very religious (in this case catholic) people believe that the mind shouldn't ever be calm or free of other interference and it should be always "busy" and only open to the Christian though and god of worship. It seems that practicing yoga is like worshiping the devil and performing any of the yoga poses is allowing the “devil” to take hold of the spirit. I hope I described my interpretation of the readings correctly.

I talked about this concept with different people taking yoga classes with me now, and they all confirmed that they had read about that "ideology/believe." It was a surprised to me, because one of my previous yoga instructors was a very catholic and church going, lovely lady with central American roots. She never mentioned anything about it; however, she was not too keen on meditation either.

I love yoga, and the only thing that I consider “devilish” is some of the poses . The calming of the mind and thoughts is something beneficial to me. I used to be better at it, but I was also practicing meditation alone at night without outside interruptions. I don’t get the same results in a full class, but it is better than nothing.

Here are some links about the topic of this thread that some of you may find interesting.

https://www.the-saltoftheearth.com/the-danger-of-yoga
https://www.intellihub.com/vaticans-chief-exorcist-warns-that-practicing-yoga-is-satanic/
https://www.cai.org/testimonies/spiritual-deception-yoga
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/christians-get-into-a-devil-of-a-twist-over-yoga-1259655.html

"and it seems that very religious (in this case catholic) people believe that the mind shouldn't ever be calm or free of other interference and it should be always "busy" and only open to the Christian though and god of worship."

What?

Just a google search of "Catholic Meditations" will prove you wrong there.

BTW, those sources are horrible.

Signed, a Catholic.

brenn24179

I recently heard that from a friend, I said weird, I just go for the exercise. I did google it and read some nonsense about evil and yoga.

newmeadow

brenn24179 wrote: »

I recently heard that from a friend, I said weird, I just go for the exercise. I did google it and read some nonsense about evil and yoga.

Read this entire thread. I explain everything.

Gisel2015

blackhawkgirl91 wrote: »

Gisel2015 wrote: »

In before this thread is closed…

I learned about this believe a couple of years ago, and it came as a surprise to me too. I have done yoga on and off since my 20s in a very reflective way; I am now 75 years old.

I did some readings about this topic, and it seems that very religious (in this case catholic) people believe that the mind shouldn't ever be calm or free of other interference and it should be always "busy" and only open to the Christian though and god of worship. It seems that practicing yoga is like worshiping the devil and performing any of the yoga poses is allowing the “devil” to take hold of the spirit. I hope I described my interpretation of the readings correctly.

I talked about this concept with different people taking yoga classes with me now, and they all confirmed that they had read about that "ideology/believe." It was a surprised to me, because one of my previous yoga instructors was a very catholic and church going, lovely lady with central American roots. She never mentioned anything about it; however, she was not too keen on meditation either.

I love yoga, and the only thing that I consider “devilish” is some of the poses . The calming of the mind and thoughts is something beneficial to me. I used to be better at it, but I was also practicing meditation alone at night without outside interruptions. I don’t get the same results in a full class, but it is better than nothing.

Here are some links about the topic of this thread that some of you may find interesting.

https://www.the-saltoftheearth.com/the-danger-of-yoga
https://www.intellihub.com/vaticans-chief-exorcist-warns-that-practicing-yoga-is-satanic/
https://www.cai.org/testimonies/spiritual-deception-yoga
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/christians-get-into-a-devil-of-a-twist-over-yoga-1259655.html

"and it seems that very religious (in this case catholic) people believe that the mind shouldn't ever be calm or free of other interference and it should be always "busy" and only open to the Christian though and god of worship."

What?

Just a google search of "Catholic Meditations" will prove you wrong there.

BTW, those sources are horrible.

Signed, a Catholic.

I only wrote in my comment what I read, so I am not wrong. The person that wrote the article probably is, but I don't care. I do Yoga, I love Yoga, and I meditate.
Signed also a Catholic but not a practicing one.

CoffeeAndContour

Ryewhisky75 wrote: »

So, I recently told my Mom all the things I've been changing up in my life to get healthy. I have never had the best relationship with her, she is very one sided, her way or the highway type of person, very old school and judgmental. I'm the total opposite. I love everyone the same, open to hearing new things, and have the biggest heart (or so I've been told).

Anyways, I told her I started doing yoga a little. Good grief. You'd think I was literally going to some cultist group meetings and worshiping the devil. In her words "Christine! You have to stop doing yoga!!! That is the gateway to worshiping Satan!! I can't believe you are doing that! I raised you better than that!!!!!!!"

So, anyone up for some gateway exercise today? I'ma going to start calling it that bahahahaha

P.S. She is flying out to see me tomorrow. For the first time since I moved far away from her. It was a fun conversation when I told her last year I was moving to Vegas - Sin City! Wish me luck! She'll be here for 11 days, maybe I'll have some fun conversations to post

They teach a yoga/meditation at my sons catholic school. And the church around the corner has a family yoga class on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights. I don’t know what you’re Mama is talking about, but do you girl.

samtarlyonadiet

I, for one, refuse to sin in a downward dog position... While doing yoga.