So, most of you are probably familiar with yoga-- it's big business in the health world in America. A yoga class consists of stretching and strength positions as well as breathing exercises. These positions have names like downward facing dog, crane, and mountain.
Yoga was first mentioned in the Vedas, ancient Sanskrit scriptures. Yoga is also mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. The word "yoga" is usually translated as "yoked" or "union" and refers to the union of the body and the mind through the meditation and stretching done as a part of yoga. According to the Bhagavad Gita, there are three types of yoga: "Karma yoga was based on selfless action; bhakti yoga was a form of devotion and prayer; and, jnana yoga referred to scholarly pursuits." (www.howstuffworks.com/yoga). Later texts, the Yoga Sutras of the Patanjali, were more precise about how yoga should be done. But this text emphasizes philosophical and meditative principles rather than exercise, which is just mentioned briefly as helpful preparation for meditation. Hatha yoga, an athletic yoga, was developed throughout the 1800's and Ashtanga yoga was developed out of that in the mid-1900's, which is basically the athletic yoga you can take at gyms pretty much anywhere in America. It was during this time that Westerners went to India to learn from yogis there, then brought the form back.
One of the major figures to bring yoga to the United States was Indra Devi, who de-emphasized the mystical aspects and emphasized the physical benefits. He realized that celebrities would be a great way to popularize the form, and even worked with Marilyn Monroe. Not much has changed in the culture of American yoga. In America, yoga continued to be popular as a form of exercise, which angered the yoga purists, who felt they had missed the boat as the exercise was really secondary to meditation. There are lots of different types of yoga: from ashtanga yoga, in which you move quickly from pose to pose, to bikram yoga, which is done in hot room, to lyengar yoga, in which you hold poses longer than in ashtanga yoga. Other types of yoga forcus more on the spiritual elements: jivamutki, kudalini, and ananda. (www.howstuffworks.com/yoga)
Yoga is widely known for its health benefits, but how should we deal with its spiritual aspects? The second part of John's question-- should Christians participate in yoga-- I am far less comfortable answering. I have heard Mark Driscoll state that Christians should not. I have also heard John MacArthur agree that Christians should not participate. I think it is important to consider the spiritual aspects and background of yoga. It is obviously not Christian in origin. I also think it's important to understand the ways in which Eastern meditation differs from Christian meditation. Where Eastern meditation focuses on emptying the mind, focusing on nothingness, as well as attempting to achieve union with the universe, Christian meditation works in the opposite direction: it requires focus on a particular verse or Biblical doctrine; it is a filling of the mind rather than an emptying of it; it seeks to unify with God (the creator) rather than the universe (creation). The meditation that would be done as part of yoga is then the opposite of what Christians do. Nonetheless, I am not a pastor or spiritual leader. I can only adjure each of you to consider this issue for yourselves. You should pray about it and research it yourselves. If you feel a strong conviction about it, then follow what you feel God is telling you through your time in prayer and research. I would be curious to hear what other leaders in the Christian community have said regarding this.
I got most of my information from this website How Stuff Works (one of my favorites). Here is their article on yoga: http://www.howstuffworks.com/yoga.htm
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