It has been a good week. I managed to work out 3 times and I was pretty active on the days I elected not to work out. I have struggled with sharing something that I came to terms with due to wanting to avoid people thinking I have lost it. But, I am going to go out on a limb here and think that maybe I have some friends who have wondered the same thing and were curious. One of the types of workouts I have always enjoyed is Yoga. In certain circles, this is perfectly normal but in others it gains some raised eyebrows. I have been on somewhat of a spiritual journey for the past year or more (not related to the subject of Yoga). I deeply want to grow closer to God and figure out what He really thinks about this world and see what He sees in other people.
As I did my yoga video last Thursday, I was struck by some things. I suppose they were things I just flew over before but this time they landed and made me scrunch my face. Certain terms such as chakra, kundalini, the greeting of "Namus dei" meaning the god in me greets the god in you. Now, these things struck a cord in me and something made me feel weird about it. My Gran had warned me about a year ago on meditating on things that were not of God and I argued that this was not what was going on in Yoga. However, the ladies talked alot about "honoring yourself" and "setting your intention, and swallowing it down". Yoga appeared to me as a very self centered thing. After researching for a while I learned Yoga is a religious practice from the Hindu culture and is a common practice among Buddhists as a form of worship to their false gods. According to Swami Vishudevanadar, one of today's most influential yoga teachers hatha yoga (the type that we practice when exercising) "prescribes physical methods to begin … so that the student can manipulate the mind more easily as he advances, attaining communication with one's higher self."
After reading several sites on Yoga and its origins I had to ask myself if this was something I should participate in and I believe whole-heartedly the answer I was given was, no. I do not have enough room here to elaborate on what I found out about Yoga so feel free to google some topics related to Yoga and see what you come up with.
I shared this with one friend already who posed the question, "Sure but what if you are only doing it strictly for the health benefits?" To this I answered her as I already had answered myself. I told her that dabbling in things that are not of God will always lead to more. That is Satan's way of getting us to believe things are innocent when they are, in fact, very dangerous. On top of that there are other exercises that can bring the same benefits to your body that are not Yoga related. God will relieve my stress and committing to eat better and exercise will enhance my strength and physique. Yoga is not the only answer to achieving these things.
Following this enlightenment I had to throw away 6 of my 10 or so videos, due to the yoga practices included on them. Bummer. So, now I am back to looking for new videos to keep from boredom.
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