As published by Miss Millennia Magazine.
The title above this article is completely false. Many people also assume that Harry Potter conjures up Satan as well, but no, yoga is not the work of the devil, and quite honestly, I didn’t know how this thought crossed anyone’s mind until I had a conversation with a concerned exercise enthusiast. Apparently the veil of this mysterious foreign practice still frightens some religious individuals living in Western culture, and for some odd reason I find this to be hilarious.
I spoke before in a previous article about how yoga is actually incredibly beneficial to those looking to ease stress and how it is focused on disciplining the mind through yoga sutras and health and purity of the body through Hatha yoga, however, some find it stressful to even think about yoga.
I kid you not, but there is something out there called “Christian yoga” where they change the names of Yoga Sutras and poses into “more biblical concepts” so that their body strengthening poses can try and avoid “the source of the [preternatural] power within the postures.” Of course even then many Christians believe that changing the name of the poses doesn’t stop the power of Hinduism within them or something like that.
“It is an outrageous thing to say—yoga is not a religion but a spiritual discipline,” said Vanda Vanni, of the Italian Yoga Association to the Daily Mail. “It is about freedom and a search to find one’s inner self. It does not touch religion and has nothing to do with Satanic sects nor does it encourage people to join them”
Yoga is more about a philosophy or way of life than it is a religion and reading books such as “The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice” by Georg Feuerstein or “Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice” by Mark Singleton can help anyone realize this.
As I’ve said before in my other post, “upon strength training, increasing flexibility, and relieving stress, yoga has also been known to promote improve posture, fortify your concentration and better your mood. Yoga can be practiced any place and anywhere just by taking deep breaths in stressful situations. Yoga is for people of all ages, [faiths or lack thereof] and all skill sets who seek to better their mind, body and spirit,” and of course you will not go to hell if you start stretching and strength training.
Jazzed About Stuff 
The churches fear people finding one’s inner self. It’ll put many churches out of business if people relied on their inner self, inner teacher, intuition since they will no longer feel the need to be preached at or told how to live and pray. More blogs like this will hopefully be seen and open peoples eyes.
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I agree with this assessment of the reasons yoga is feared. Let’s hope people come to their senses — in their heads and in their bodies. xoA
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I love yoga and the way it helps with pain management (sciatica) and I am a Christian. I think lack of knowledge is a dangerous thing and causes a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions regardless of who or what one is referring too.
When I read your title I was a bit taken back but completely understood why you used it once I read your post. Which is wonderful.
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I sort of hesitated to use this title because of it’s shock value. And I had to add the first sentence to make sure no one assumed I actually believed yoga was somehow evil.
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Almost 18 years ago, Yoga saved my life. It brought me to stillness and myself and helped me get through a rough time. I will always be grateful for the “intentions” that our instructor had us set at the end of class, when my mind was open and ready to receive. It was interesting how all through the next week, when challenging moments appeared, that week’s intention would pop into my head, and I would stand taller and be able to gather my courage and go on. xoA
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This is absolutely the reason why I love yoga. I, most likely, would be a total mess with out it.
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Good post. my sister-in-law is hanging onto yoga as her health declines. Yoga gives her peace, joy and the realization that she can still function. It would take a while to explain her health issues, but I do know she needs yoga to keep her identity.
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Thank you. I’m glad more and more people are finding yoga and are using it to better themselves.
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