Today I am going to write about yoga. I really like yoga. I don't like what I dub 'crazy yoga'- of which there are many varieties. This is yoga where you beat your stomach with others beating their stomachs while counting to 10 for 5 mins. This is supposed to stir up energy or something. I call it crazy. Or yoga where you lay down for 30 mins in the dark and think about every part of your body and then when you finally sit up you just snort air out of your nostrils. I don't have time for that. I need exercise. I need to relax. I can lay down and think about my body in my own bed while I am about to fall asleep and am not needing exercise.
Anyway, doing yoga as a Christian has gotten me in trouble. I got kicked out of a ministry for it because the person in charge of the ministry was so against it. She thought that there was no separating the exercise from the spiritual practice.
A lot of Christians feel this way. They don't think that it is possible to engage in the exercise without inherently immersing yourself in the spiritual element. I agree that if you are insecure in your faith and you go in blindly without the awareness that there is a spiritual component to it, you may get off course into some spiritual philosophy that is not in agreement with the Bible. But I find it ridiculous to assert (sorry, my mind is still in legalese here) that there are certain things that cannot be separated from their symbolism. If that is what Christians believe then they should not have a Christmas tree any more because the Christmas tree is a pagan symbol.
So basically I try to avoid crazy yoga and look for yoga that is minimally spiritual. A few Oms are ok, but don't start getting into a treatise on yogic philosophy. As aforementioned, I'm here to release tension (because law school has turned me into Type A) and exercise.
I found this great special at a studio nearby. It as $40 for unlimited classes for an entire month. You can't beat that. Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to screen the place for craziness beforehand. I decided the deal was worth taking a chance. I got a report from a friend that it was a legit place. So I was relieved.
But then I go in and there is this huge podium of Ganesh at the front of the studio, with a background of Buddha, and another Hindu god. I do not want to stare at Ganesh for the entirety of my yoga class. I am thinking this may disrupt the peace I have. And then I sensed that God wanted me to stay. I need not be threatened by the presence of these figures. Indeed I felt like Jesus was not threatened by them. I felt like I could bring the presence of Jesus into the studio. And I said a nice prayer for everyone there. That was that.
I once tried out a free yoga class put on by this non-denom church. I was excited. I was so stressed out and I was grateful for free yoga. But it was so lame. In the attempt to make the yoga "Christian" the instructor started the relaxation time by reading the first chapter of John. Do you know how long it takes to read an entire chapter out loud? Like 5 mins. So I am trying to relax and instead am getting annoyed and am just wanting her to stop reading Scripture. Seriously, this is something ridiculous that Christians do. God can be present in an activity without adding something to make it overtly Christian. That was the first and last time I went to "Christian" yoga.
After my pagan yoga I got to talk to the teacher and this other guy I had been in 2 classes with. I shared with them a little about my healing classes. I asked about their yoga practice. The one guy from class had a Sanskrit name and everything. I started talking to him because he mentioned Osho, this meditation guru I became familiar with when I was in Burma. I told him I had the opportunity to walk around Osho's meditation center in India.
I left thinking that if as Christians we are so put off by the practice of other people's religion, how in the world do we ever expect to engage people? Are we that easily tainted by being in the presence of an icon we find idolatrous? If that is the case then our faith has very little influence or power behind it.
Now I'm not going to go seek out the Satan worshipers to infiltrate their meeting to prove that my God is more powerful. No reason to needlessly seek out darkness just to prove the light is stronger. But I think it's time to stop disengaging situations where another religion is prominent. If that is how Christians want to focus their efforts, then you need not wonder why we have a limited impact on the culture around us.
So I'm going to keep going to yoga!
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