DEBUNKING YOGA AND MEDITATION

Who doesn’t want to experience inner peace and freedom and escape the stress and anxiety this world showers on us? We’re all looking for that fix. But are we looking for the best place for it? Yoga and meditation have been the gateway to exploring the spiritual experience to connect with one’s inner peace and freedom. To some, yoga is just simply exercise. Or is it?

Can yoga and meditation really heal us from our stress and worries? Or is it just numbing the pain and giving us a temporary fix of peace? Everyone seems to be doing it so it must work, right? You know what, let’s even bring it into the church and call it ‘holy yoga’. Chant some biblical scriptures whilst worship music is playing in the background. Now this is a heavenly experience to get closer to God, right?

Can Christians do yoga? Is ‘holy yoga” even a thing? Is the term meditation in the bible the same as the meditation we speak of?

Let’s find out as we take you through debunking yoga and meditation into 3 topics:

1. Yoga Is Not Exercise

2. Yoga and Meditation Cannot Liberate You

3. Holy Yoga and Meditation Is Not A Thing 

Let’s get to it!

1. Yoga is not Exercise

Yoga is not exercise! It is connected to Hindu spiritual beliefs. You cannot do Yoga as an exercise without spirituality because its foundation is based on it. It is like trying to get close to a fire without getting burnt. There are numerous ways to exercise without having to do Yoga. Yoga has been introduced to the mainstream world as exercise. 

But is it really?

The word “yoga” means “union” or “yoke” in Sanskrit. The question is to unite or yoke with what? It does not mean the union of the body and mind according to popular belief. It is a union of the Atman (i.e., inner divine self) with Braham, the supreme Hindu god. 

Yoga is also defined as an awakening to and union with your “higher self” or “higher consciousness” in the New Age culture so that one can come to terms with their inner divine self (3).

The goal of Yoga is to yoke yourself to the Hindu godhead through the realisation of your divine-self which is often called “Self-realisation” (4). This concept is integral in Hinduism as the spiritual belief teaches that our innate nature is God, so to realise this knowledge is to go through training of refocusing the mind. Not coming to this self-realisation is deemed to be the cause of our bondage.

But the Bible speaks against yoking ourselves to ungodly people, gods and practices.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16a:

 “14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?”

Usually, this verse is used to explain that Christians should not marry unbelievers, which is true. But Paul meant much more than that. It also applies to any environment where we let the world influence our thinking. When we are being conformed to this world and are not being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), we join together with unbelievers in an ungodly way.

God knows when we allow ourselves to follow what the world teaches us it will lead us away from being followers of Jesus. Paul is not saying that Christians cannot associate themselves with unbelievers but more so that we should not let the culture of the world influence our Christian lives of godly living. 

I would say doing yoga would be.

It would be us yoking ourselves to ungodliness and bonding us to sin, although its so-called purpose is to supposedly do the opposite, I would say otherwise.

Here is why.

There are various types of yoga designed to accomplish the purpose of ‘self-realisation’, the main one used in culture today is Hatha Yoga. The word “hatha” means “force” which alludes to anything you would do physically with the body e.g. yoga poses (asana), breathing techniques (pranayama), chanting (mantra), hand gestures (mudra), and cleansing techniques (shatkriyas and shatkarmas) (5). 

Traditionally Hatha Yoga is not exercise, it is uniting and balancing the sun and moon in you as the word “ha” means “sun” and “ta” means “moon” through physical poses/postures (6). 

The goal of Hatha Yoga is to elevate your consciousness by getting your body into different poses. The yoga poses are a form of meditation to train the body to submit to deeper meditative states in order to aid in the path to enlightenment. Some of the yoga poses honour Hindu gods, for example, the warrior pose honours the Hindu god Shiva, who created a warrior, Virabhadra, to avenge the death of Shiva’s wife (3).

However, the Western world has adopted yoga as a type of exercise absent from any sort of spiritual connection, and yoga gurus have openly viewed this as unfortunate (6). They do not hide from the fact that yoga is not exercise. It is far beyond that. It is spiritual!

The question is where is it spiritually leading you? 

What is it spiritually doing to you?

The belief is that one can overcome the lower self and become more divine than God through Hatha Yoga. This means to become more divine than God we must therefore believe that we too are God ourselves.

But this refutes scripture.

1 Corinthians 8:5-6:

 “ 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” 

Scripture acknowledges that in this world there will be gods claiming to be God, including practices which will make us believe that we are God. But like scripture clearly states there are “so-called gods”, not the “one [true] God”.

So, by doing yoga and believing that you are connecting to your inner divine nature which is God, you are being deceived and in fact, sinning. This is ungodly and idolatry. As a Christian, doing yoga that stands on the philosophy that there are many gods and you are one too, takes away from the Christian belief that there is one God, the Father and one Lord, Jesus Christ.

Can you really be a follower of Jesus and yet still do yoga?

The answer is simply no.

Not because I said so, but because God’s word speaks for itself.

2. Yoga and Meditation Cannot Liberate You

Meditation is usually packaged as a method to reduce stress and anxiety. But can it really liberate us from it all?

Meditation originated in Hindu and Buddhist spiritual practice but the Western world has adapted it to achieve their modern goal of relaxation and reduction in stress and anxiety. In Hinduism, meditation is taught to connect to your true self which is deemed to be a part of the godhead. In order to reach your true self you have to endure a path of spiritual enlightenment through entering a state of pure consciousness, disengaging the mind and loss of self-awareness of your surroundings (7).

Sounds relaxing and harmless.

But in fact, it is not, there are many hidden dangers.

How?

Well, when you are getting into a meditative state the mind enters an altered state of consciousness, in other words, a trance or a hypnotic state. The exercises involved in meditation such as the special breathing exercises are designed in a way to close rational judgement and discernment, leaving room to open the mind to any influences present. These influences have been described by instructors as dangerous as one enters into the spiritual world of darkness (7). 

Doesn’t sound so peaceful or harmless now?

You may feel physically at peace but spiritually what is going on is far from it. You are joining yourself to dark forces in the spiritual realm. Some will call it spirit guides, but that is just dressing up the reality that you are coming into contact with demons.

Don’t believe me?

Read our blog post on the Enneagram, where we went into quite some depth about spirit guides backed up with biblical evidence. 

The same goes for the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness is a term from the Buddhist spiritual practice of meditation. The purpose of this type of meditation is to empty one’s mind. Buddhist call it “sitting”; it is a form of just being in the moment.

Now, it is not a bad thing to want to be present and still in the moment. But, then what makes this type of mediation bad?

Its appealing nature makes you believe that your emotions of worry and fear no longer have control over you, but you have control over it. However, this detachment is simply numbing your emotions giving you a false sense of peace. This mindfulness is only a temporary state of mind. You’re not being freed from your negative thoughts or emotions but rather repressing them only making you more yoked to it all.

In the Psalms, we see that David went through many emotional rollercoasters but always ran to the presence of God.

Why?

Because the presence of God provides peace, protection and restfulness (Psalm 23, Psalm 91:2-12). Jesus is literally the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

Don’t get me started on the New Age idea of Creative Visualisation; the belief that an individual can create their own reality through visualisation. Don’t get me wrong, it feels good. It feels good to somewhat feel in control of your own reality, that you can manifest anything that you wish. But entering this trance state through breathing exercises accompanied by positive thinking is witchcraft; a teaching used in occultic practice.

Want me to prove it?

Only God can plan out our lives and it leads to prosperity and no harm (Jeremiah 29:11). So, what do you think happens when we try to manifest our own plans according to our own will? Well, it is surely not leading us to a path of prosperity and no harm, but simply towards a path of destruction and danger. Especially when it is witchcraft, that’s the only path it can take you towards. A path taking you away from God only leads to disappointment, destruction and danger. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy but Jesus comes to give you life more abundantly (John 10:10).

Jesus is the only One who can give us true freedom and peace.

Galatians 5:1:

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Today, people think living in freedom and peace is doing whatever your heart desires or sinning as you, please. But this is false liberty.

Jeremiah 17:9:

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?”

People say “Follow your heart” or “It makes me feel good” to justify what is wrong to be good. But your heart and your emotions are fleeting and always changing. Yes feel, and yes have emotions but don’t be led by them. Don’t put your trust in them.

True liberty is the freedom from sin and condemnation which is the number one thing that keeps you in bondage. Liberty can only be found in Jesus as He set us free from sin through dying on the cross for our sins so we can no longer be slaves to sin.

Meditation and yoga are about yoking/uniting you with a Hindu god which is idolatry.  This is sin, so doing yoga is keeping you in bondage to sin instead of having the freeing experience it sells itself to be.

Liberation and peace are not found in yoga or meditation but in Jesus Christ.

3. Holy Yoga and Meditation Is Not A Thing

Ever heard of “holy yoga”?

Holy yoga combines yoga with Christian practice attempting to use yoga as a Christian worship experience to deepen our faith in God (8.). So, instead of chanting names of Hindu deities during holy yoga sessions, Bible scriptures are being chanted with worship music playing in the background, yet still doing the yoga poses which we’ve acknowledged are poses worshipping Hindu gods.

Does this make sense?

Not confusing or sinful at all? 

By the way, just because the Bible mentions the word “meditate” doesn’t mean that it means the meditation we know today. 

Psalm 1:2:

“but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.”

The word “meditate” there means to ‘murmur’ and to be ‘concerned about’ in Hebrew. In Greek, it means to ‘deeply reflect’ or to ‘contemplate the meaning’.

Psalm 19:14:

“May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Luke 6:45:

“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”

Thus, biblically speaking, meditation is repeating and reflecting on the word of God daily until it seeps into your heart and your mouth speaks out of the abundance of your heart. The word of God should be repeated over one’s mind and become the chief concern over one’s life. The constant recollection of God’s goodness by hearing scripture and repetition of thought should produce faith and confidence in God (Romans 10:17). 

Biblical meditation is about God, not self, and it’s about filling your mind and heart with God’s word not emptying your mind. 

So, tell me now how can Christians do yoga and meditate the way the world does?

We need to stop looking outside of God’s word in order to have a deeper spiritual experience. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17:

“16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Reading the bible and praying may seem mundane to some but doing this basic biblical practices guide us to know how to live life.

John 14:6:

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus is the only way to God the Father not yoga or meditation. You cannot reclaim something that is clearly pagan to be “Christian” or “holy”. The meaning of the very word “holy” is to be set apart or separate. Set apart from what? From evil and sin, that’s what.

1 Peter 1:16:

“for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.””

God is called holy because He is separate from evil and sin as He is good and perfect. 

He then calls us to be holy like Him, to not associate ourselves with what is evil and sinful for we are to represent Him as we are made in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). Therefore to do yoga which we now know means “unite” or yoke” Aham (yourself) with Braham (the Hindu god) is evil and sinful and thus far from holy.

Also, the philosophy of yoga is very centred around the Self, that you are God.

Does this sound biblical to you?

Matthew 16:24:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Jesus tells us that we are to “deny” ourselves in order to be considered a follower of Him. This means to “die to self”, to have less focus on you and more focus on Jesus. So, when yoga, whether it is “holy” or not is teaching us that it is a way to connect to God or our ‘inner God’, how does that match with Jesus telling us that He is THE way, meaning the ONLY way to connect to God? Who is part of the triune God, by the way.

Are you telling me Jesus doesn’t know how we should connect with Him?

We can clearly see that there is nothing holy or biblical about yoga or meditation. Yoga and meditation is a Hindu and Buddhism practice not Christian.

Holy yoga and meditation are not a thing!

 I hope this blog post has taught us a lesson, the importance of knowing the source of the thing and if it aligns with scripture.

It is so easy to be deceived out here in the world, especially whilst trying to live out a life that reflects Jesus and His word.

But this is why we have the Bible, it is the manual for believers to live out this Christian walk.

Without it, we are clueless and easily fall into the traps of the devil.

Not let the enemy’s work be easy. Let us live out the word of God unashamed, in truth, confidence and grace.

To do some further research on this topic, we have some recommended resources for you below to check out.

Stay blessed,

Divine L.

Resources:

1. The Holy Bible! – https://my.bible.com/en-GB/ 
2. “The Basic Spirituality of Yoga” – MidWest Christian Outreach – https://midwestoutreach.org/2018/03/08/the-basic-spirituality-of-yoga/ (Website)
3. “The Heroes, Saints, and Sages Behind Yoga Pose Names” – Yoga Journal – https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/heroes-saints-sages/ (Website)
4. “Yoga: Yokes, Snakes, and Gods” – Christians Answers For The New Age – http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Yoga.html (Website)
5. “What is Hatha Yoga?” – Ekhart Yoga – ​​https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/philosophy/what-is-hatha-yoga (Website)
6. “What is Hatha Yoga”? – Isha Sadhguru – https://isha.sadhguru.org/yoga/yoga-articles-hatha-yoga-asanas/hath-yoga-science/ (Website)
7. “Out Of Your Mind: Meditation and Visualization” – Christians Answers For The New Age – http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Meditation.html (Website)
8. “What is holy yoga?” – Got Questions – https://www.gotquestions.org/holy-yoga.html (Website)
9. “Why Christians Should Avoid Yoga” – Doreen Virtue – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PkGIQNkJC8&t=334s (Video)
10. “Why I quit “holy yoga” – Former instructor speaks out” – Doreen Virtue – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W05B4Ci9pjo (Video)