Yoga is dangerous?

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S_A_M

S_A_M

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i just heard that yoga is not good, even dangerous…

it could make humans to be more like animals (obsessed with sex, unhealthy sex, incest, etc)

is it true?

please share your informations and links about this
 
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The only danger that I can think comes from the spiritual aspect Yoga. Traditionally, it comes from Hinduism which denies that there is only one infinite Being who created the world.

But as a strictly physical practice, there is nothing wrong with it.

Here is Catholic explanation from someone,

 
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If you like to read a lot, you might find this useful:

Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation

It is mostly about prayer and meditation. Section VI, “Psychological-Corporal Methods,” would apply to yoga and other movement and posture methods. To that, I would also recommend this passage as an introduction:
  1. The majority of the great religions which have sought union with God in prayer have also pointed out ways to achieve it. Just as “the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions,” neither should these ways be rejected out of hand simply because they are not Christian. On the contrary, one can take from them what is useful so long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements are never obscured…
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S_A_M said:
i just heard that yoga is not good, even dangerous…
it could make humans to be more like animals (obsessed with sex, unhealthy sex, incest, etc)
is it true?
please share your informations and links about this
Click to expand...
That is the craziest I have heard. I dont do yoga much anymore because I lack the discipline. But even at my most enthusiastic times quite the opposite was true.
 
Apparently, yoga positions are an outward expression of worship to each of the 330 million Hindu gods. George P. Alexander, Ph.D., World Religions at Biola University says
To a Hindu, yoga is the outward physical expression of a deep spiritual belief. You cannot separate one from the other.”
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And this article continues:
Since yoga is tied so strongly to Hinduism, can there be such a thing as “Christian yoga,” or would that be an oxymoron (a contradiction in terms)?

Many practicing Hindus as well as Christians agree that since yoga IS Hinduism, the two cannot be combined.

One of our PraiseMoves Instructors spent three months on a missionary trip to India several years ago. She said her group often saw people performing yoga poses in front of statues of the gods in the streets! Some brought offerings of flowers, some fruit, some themselves…

Acts 15:29 tells us to “abstain from things offered to idols.”
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I’m almost certain that constant spiritual practice of yoga certainly opens a door to the demonic. But I do appreciate the physical aspect of yoga classes and feel they are good for my particular needs—self control and core strength. But I only take classes from certain non-spiritual instructors, and at that, not very often. My intent is not god worship.

As far as the sexual aspect, I once heard yoga was for religious sexual pose worship, but according to this article from yogajournal.com, that is a mistaken belief.
Redirect Notice
 
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S_A_M said:
i just heard that yoga is not good, even dangerous…

it could make humans to be more like animals (obsessed with sex, unhealthy sex, incest, etc)

is it true?

please share your informations and links about this
Click to expand...
Seeking powers leads away from God. However, there is more than one type of Yoga, the main types being:
  • Bhakti - path of devotion,
  • Karma - path of service,
  • Jnana - path of wisdom,
  • Raja - royal path of meditation (Patanjali),
  • Hatha - supplementary physical techniques and meditation.
So I suppose that the answer depends upon what you mean by Yoga.
 
Depends why you are doing it? If you are rejecting “religion” and turning to eastern practices without any real understanding?
 
They burn incense in Hinduism and Buddhism and yet we obviously have no problem with it as Catholics unless one intends to honor a Hindu god or Buddha.
 
I stretch every day to help my aching back, and the stretches I do are identical to those found in Yoga. Am I doing Yoga? I’m doing many of the same poses and stretches, but I am not praying to any supposed Hindu deities! I do pray to God for health and healing before I start my stretches, and when I feel relief in my lower back after the stretching, I do thank God. In that way, it is part of my life of Christian prayer.

Two Catholic priests, both with the blessing of their religious superiors, Benedictine Fr. Jean-Marie Dechanet in the 1960s, and currently Paulist Fr. Thomas Ryan, have both written extensively about how Yoga can be incorporated into Christian prayer and practice.
 
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“Women Of Grace” had an entire episode devoted to yoga and why it is not to be gotten involved with. You might look on the Women Of Grace website for a copy.
 
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lilypadrees said:
http://www.womenofgrace.com/en-us/default.aspx]
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I clicked on your link and I guess you have to pay $10 a month to watch the video and subscribe, bummer! Which I still might do. I do like the show. I read an article on yoga shared on her site, and it was talking about what I had mentioned in my above comment with the discrepancy of bodily worship poses. They, in themselves, are Buddhist forms of worship, and the article compared the poses to the sign of the cross. So I would think a non-Hindu practicing it in a non-spiritual way would be more upsetting and blasphemous to the Hindu than it is to the person who is practicing the pose outside the bounds of its proper religious context? If we actually take the poses seriously, it actually gives weight to the truth of their gods. The question is, does it obscure what Christian prayer is? And then we have the Catholic understanding of the body, which is the extension of the soul, and not a cage for the soul. Our forms of God worship are not inward, abnormal poses, but are alive, natural, extended in loving action towards the service of others, most noble, the least of the kingdom.

I am mostly undecided on the issue but find the subject very interesting. Lots to think about.
 
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Iirc, hatha yoga and kriya yoga were two mentioned as being used by Satan to deceive Christians (not just Catholics). Johnette and her guest discouraged viewers from involving themselves in any kind of yoga. While it is good exercise, the rest of it is just too dangerous for a Christian to get involved with. Like the Quija board, it seems innocent on the surface but the danger lies within.
 
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I was joking. I don’t think yoga is dangerous in the ways you describe. I do (actually seriously) worry about mental and emotional degeneration due to excessive social media and Internet use. I think this is a much more potent threat to human beings than doing yoga, which has many beneficial effects.
 
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If people are not comfortable with it or it bothers their conscience then avoid it. But let’s not be superstitious about it. It is so good otherwise. It helps us relax. it gives flexibility, balance and muscle strength… I really do not see the danger. In fact, even after listening to all the cautions I am not sure what the danger is or how it is a danger.
 
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