Greek Orthodox Church (and some others) think so:
Downward dog, sun salutations and all other yoga practices are "absolutely incompatible" with the Christian faith, the powerful Greek Orthodox Church has said.
Yoga has no place "in the life of Christians," the governing body of the Church has ruled.
It said it intervened after Greek media recommended yoga as a way to combat stress during coronavirus quarantine.
Other religions have also advised against the practice in the past.
I would agree about spiritual stuff and meditations, but I also heard one preacher explain that most of what passes for "yoga" nowadays in the West are actually physical exercises developed by Lutheran missionaries in India in the 19th century for the soldiers to keep fit and they have very little to do with Hinduism thus we are free to practice them.
What do you think?
I think I have to agree with the preacher--Unless you are participating in the meditations and trying for out of body experiences or such, then the exercises of yoga are good for the body. Our bodies are meant to stretch and move everyday, doing so is good for our mental and physical health.
ReplyDeleteI once watched a vid of some guy who used to be in a wheelchair due to combat injury but after doing yoga he could walk and even run again. I think physical exercise is good for us but the spiritual stuff is dubious. It's like vegetarianism, you can do it for health/environment reasons, or you could be practicing some Eastern religion. Hinduism is obviously incompatible with Christianity (polytheism), but I also heard some say that Buddhism has some similarity with Christian beliefs. I'd stay away from both, though.
ReplyDeleteIts like organic food. Sure it seems to have a pattern of "good health" but there may be incentives behind it.....pay a higher price, put away all "creation/bible" beliefs, join with groups that support organic food. In the end food is food and stretching is stretching.
ReplyDeleteIt probably depends on how "organic" is determined. In my country, we have strict standards for "biological" (that's how it is called), products, including in terms of animal welfare and the food they get (gmo/non-gmo), etc. It doesn't matter much to me whether my veggies/fruit are biological, however, animal products are a different thing.
ReplyDeleteI think yoga has long since ceased to become a religious activity. Kind of like Joel Osteen's church.
ReplyDeleteThere are "religious" things you can partake in and never catch even a whiff of the supposed spiritual element. I think yoga is safe.
CORINTIOS, CAPITULO 10, VERSICULO 23: TODO ME ES LICITO, MAS TODO NO ME CONVIENE........ BENDICIONES DESDE ARGENTINA.
ReplyDeleteElspeth, I think it's true for most people, except those who are practicing it as a part of Hinduism or something.
ReplyDeleteSirviendo, nearly deleted your comment as spam, if you can't write in English than at least, don't use capital letters, please:)
LAMENTO NO PODER ESCRIBIR EN INGLES, SE MUY POCO DE ESCRITURA Y SIEMPRE ESCRIBO EN MAYUSCULA ES UNA COSTUMBRE, PERO SI QUIERES BLOQUEARME, ESTAS EN TU DERECHO. DIOS TE BENDIGA.
ReplyDelete