Interesting insight…
Before I start, Happy Friday…have a blessed weekend…and I am not writing this to stir up any controversy.
I hate conflict more than any one could possibly know…but I read this information in an email advertisement from Chico’s and I can’t shake it.
They have a new spokeswoman for one of their departments and she is a Yoga instructor.
Please hear me…I understand and have heard many dear Christians share that they find the stretches and such in this to be beneficial for many health reasons.
I also see it incorporated into schools, show choir workshops, etc etc….and I am not writing this to hack anyone off, believe me….we have more than enough fodder for division on a regular basis these days.
I just want to simply share the information that appears on an advertisement for clothing that I happened to read….
I don’t know how to copywrite an advertisement, but this is the excerpt and I have highlighted the phrasing that stood out to me as a follower of Christ.
“Yoga is thought of as fitness, which is fine. Whatever gets somebody in the door is great, but I guarantee you once they’re in the door, they will get so much more. It does keep you in amazing shape and it keeps you healthy internally, but what it’s really doing is training the mind. The postures which are called ‘asana’ that we think of as yoga are not really the yoga. The yoga is the state of ‘nothing missing’….when the mind is not constantly chattering, or making up stories, or running after something that you want, or pushing away something that you don’t want. That’s what we call the ‘monkey mind’. The asana practice clears out the stories in the body. Your body is a roadmap. Every fear, every insecurity, every trauma, it’s all encoded in the body, and we just keep covering it up. When we get into a yoga class it’s possible for the whole world to open up for you, if you’re willing to take that next step and unlock in the body what is hidden and buried there, and in some ways, make friends with it.” Colleen Saidman Yee, on Chico’s website.
You all can do with that as you decide between you and God, but for me…
the “whatever it takes to get people in the door…” line…creeps me out..and please, oh please, Church…let us NEVER adopt this mindset in drawing the lost to Jesus…
and then, my heart just beats so hard in my chest thinking how contrary so much of this is to the promises of God to regenerate me…
to take the old and make it new….
to use everything that was meant for evil done TO me and BY me; and work it for my good and His glory…
the call to bring my thoughts into obedience to Christ….
the command to “Be still and KNOW that I am God”….
to not make friends with the world…
and how He placed on His own Son, all the sin OF all the world, and my own sin, so that I, and anyone who receives Him as LORD and Savior…am/are forgiven and accepted as His child in the company of the Beloved.
It is clear in this article, that; at least for this particular practitioner, instructor and owner of studios, there is far more on the table than physical fitness.
I love your unseen, unknown faces and hearts too much to not urge you…
if you are participating in a class…or if your children are being asked to participate…and IF you are a believer…and IF the words of this one instructor’s quote at all trouble you…pray about it…ask questions…don’t blindly accept that the instructor is just viewing it as exercise.
Make wise decisions about the teaching you allow yourself to come under.
No judgment…no condemnation…just passing along what was openly shared on an ad from some clothing store…
I pray for each of us to have hearts that are so open and tender to the voice of our good Shepherd…who loves us and gave Himself for us.
Blessings dear ones…if you are still with me…and I hope to see you Monday <3
You are exactly correct. Be watchful!
Thank you Kenny <3
Well first of all, thanks for sharing this article. Yoga seems to be the ‘in’ thing these days. And you don’t know what you don’t know. So when it comes to the practice of yoga, it all seems so harmless from the outside. I learned more about yoga a while back from another Christian woman and I was so grateful that I did. The one thing that I found so totally contrary to what I believe as a Christ follower is this: yoga is said to clear your mind. This is totally not in alignment with what God’s word says we are to do with our minds. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” Roman 12:2. Until she brought to my attention that one of yoga’s goals is to open up and clear out what is in your mind (I didn’t even check out her facts to see if this was right) I would have thought yoga was a harmless stretching exercise. Anyway, we are taught in scripture that we have the mind of Christ. We don’t want to open up our minds to anything other than what is of God. Any teaching, or concept, or religion, or mindset, or exercise, or whatever that does not have its roots in scripture should be looked at with great caution. We have to be on guard at all times, fitted with the armor of God, because the enemy is on the prowl looking for those he can devour. Let’s not make ourselves targets without even knowing. God bless you Laura.
Amen Susan! As I read more about it…and not what critics say, but what the practitioners themselves say, I consistently find things like what you pointed out that are contrary to the teachings of Christ. We each one must examine our own hearts in light of the Scriptures, and then each one work it out with God. My prayer is that as a Believer and follower of Christ, that I would have wisdom and discernment. Thanks Susan!