Should I Yoga?
I know what you’re thinking… This guy is an idiot because yoga is not a verb but a noun, but it caught your attention, and now you’re here! So, who’s foolish now? Please don’t close this article! I promise it’s more helpful than you think.
So, I received a question recently that made me realize I have been so busy with family, ministry, and school that I have not answered a question in a while. I received the question below. Take a look at it.
“I normally go to yoga, but I have been hearing from other young Christian folks…” “…they said something about yoga having witchcraft.” “Do you have any information about that?”
I do, in fact, have something to say about that, but God has more to say. But let me tell you first off that the Bible does not specifically speak about yoga. But it does deal with issues such as this. I will begin by stating what I know of Yoga. I know that today it is used as a form of exercising and stretching, but it does have religious ties. The question for Christians is not simply, “Did yoga come from a religious background?” The deeper question is, “Can a practice with religious origins be separated from its original worship meaning, and how should Christians use wisdom, conscience, and love when deciding?”
But first, I want to provide 10 facts about it from my friend Chatasha GaPaT, who will provide source material for those who want to do more research on the subject.
Yoga
I’m Chatasha GaPaT, Chris’s assistant in this space, and my role here is simple: help bring some order to the noise. Yoga is one of those subjects people tend to discuss with either panic or dismissal, but neither one helps much. So before this article moves into biblical reflection and Christian discernment, I want to offer a brief factual overview of yoga’s history, religious background, and modern-day use, along with source material for those who want to study it more deeply for themselves.
Yoga started in ancient India as a spiritual discipline, not just a workout.Source: The Origins of Yoga and Tantra by Geoffrey Samuel.
Its early roots are tied to Indian religious and ascetic traditions. Source: Cambridge scholarship on early yoga history.
Yoga has strong connections to Hindu thought and practice. Source: Oxford Bibliographies on Yoga and Philosophical Yoga.
Yoga also overlaps historically with Buddhist and Jain traditions. Source: major academic surveys of yoga’s development in Indian religions.
Ancient yoga focused more on meditation, discipline, breath, and liberation than on poses. Source: Oxford Bibliographies and Cambridge history of yoga.
Modern postural yoga is partly a remix shaped by modern fitness culture. Source: Oxford Bibliographies on contemporary globalized yoga.
So yes, yoga has real religious and spiritual roots in its history. Source: Cambridge and Oxford academic overviews.
But a lot of people today practice yoga mainly for wellness, flexibility, or stress relief. Source: contemporary yoga scholarship and health research.
Research shows yoga can help lower stress and anxiety for many people. Source: 2024 systematic review.
Studies also show yoga may help with chronic low back pain and physical function. Source: meta-analyses and reviews on back pain.
Now that you are caught up with all the information about Yoga, I want to help you understand this from a biblical perspective. As I previously stated, Yoga is not explicitly forbidden or spoken about in the Bible. But there are situations similar to these in the Bible. Yoga was used in the past as a part of religious practices, including breathing, stretching, and poses, etc. But today, there are useful benefits for stretching that are good for the body that are no longer attached to religion. The breathing exercises are usually no longer a part of the religious practices. A Christian today should distinguish between physical movements used for health and spiritual participation in another religious worldview. Stretching the body is not the same as praying to another god. Breath control for calming the nervous system is not automatically the same as mystical union. But if a class intentionally leads participants into Hindu devotion, chanting, spiritual invocation, or a worldview that conflicts with Christ, then the Christian should not treat that as spiritually neutral. Also, the ability to stop, focus, and meditate is useful for the busyness of today. So, where in the Bible do we see a conflict between practices that were once evil and hold different meanings and benefits later?
The first place I go to is 1 Corinthians 8 when asked about this. 1 Corinthians is a letter written to a Church in the city of Corinth. It was a place of vast culture and many different religions. The new converts were more than likely very familiar with worshipping many gods. While the worship of these gods would shock us, it would have been very normal for them to see such things. So they were dealing with an issue within the Church. In the ancient temples to false gods, they too made sacrifices of animals. There would be some burnt, and then more meat leftover. This meat was convenient for people to access.
There were members of the Church who were eating the meat from the sacrifices given in the name of the idols. Think of it like this. Have you ever bought the bits and pieces of abnormal cuts of bacon? It’s the same meat, just ugly and cheaper. It is just as good as the prime cuts but there is a benefit to eating it as it saves you money. The Church members were eating food from the temples that were dedicated to idols. But there were members in the Church who thought that it was sinful. Was it sinful for them to consume meat that came from the temple of gods other than YHWH God? So, who was right? Idol worship is sinful. But is consuming the meat from those temples evil and sinful as well?
Paul explains very clearly in 1 Corinthians 8:4, “Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘an idol has no real existence,” and that there is no God but one.” The Apostle Paul makes an argument that the gods that are worshipped in the temple are not really God and he continues to make the argument that whatever it is that they do sacrifice to is inferior to the God that we serve. But as Paul moves on in verse 7 he begins to explain that while some may have the maturity to understand that these gods are not gods at all and that this is not all sinful, we still must consider the believers who have not come to this knowledge yet. We all mature at different speeds and once we reach a certain level of maturity it is very easy to forget that we have not always been where we are. Paul cautions them to not be a stumbling block to the weak for in doing so we sin not only against them, but Christ. Verse 13 is key in his argument as he contends, “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” 1 Corinthians 8 helps us think about conscience and Christian liberty, but 1 Corinthians 10 keeps us from being careless. Paul does not say, “Since idols are nothing, go participate in idol worship.” He warns believers not to share in the table of demons. So the issue is not only the object itself, but the meaning, setting, and participation attached to it. Romans 14 also reminds us that believers must not despise one another over matters of conscience. One Christian may be able to participate in a stretching class without spiritual confusion. Another Christian may feel convicted to avoid it because of conscience, history, or past spiritual bondage. The mature response is not mockery in either direction. The strong should not look down on the cautious, and the cautious should not condemn the strong.
How to still Be LED?💡
Ask yourself:
Is this practice being presented as worship, spirituality, or merely exercise?
Are chants, prayers, mantras, or invocations being used?
Does this pull my heart toward Christ or away from Him?
Does this violate my conscience?
Could my participation confuse or wound another believer?
Am I free to stop if the practice becomes spiritually unclear?
In our maturation and growth into Christ we would do well to understand that when it comes to disputes among believers, the most important thing is not who is right, but if community is left intact and a path to God through Christ still remains.
So is yoga automatically sinful for every Christian in every setting? I do not believe Scripture requires that answer. But is yoga spiritually neutral in every form? No. Its history matters. Its setting matters. Its language matters. Its spiritual claims matter. The Christian must practice discernment, guard the conscience, refuse idolatry, and walk in love toward the body of Christ. Stretch if you stretch. Breathe if you breathe. But worship belongs to God alone.
