In the photo of the yoga class accompanying this article, do you notice how the women are worshiping with their posture? They have their hands in the air and they’re bowing on their knees.
They’re doing the “sun salutation” series, which is a standard part of every yoga class. This series of poses idolizes the creation instead of the Creator and glorifies the Hindu sun deity. Even so-called “Christian yoga” classes include sun salutation poses.
How do I know this? Because I engaged in yoga almost daily for over 20 years until God saved me in 2017 and I then threw away my yoga mats. I went to Seminary full-time to earn a master’s degree, and now I warn other Christians about the dangers of New Age deception.
Christians can’t treat yoga as “just stretching” or harmless exercise. Scripture calls us to flee from idolatry and remain upon the narrow path, and yoga stands in direct conflict with those commands. We should only bend our knees to worship Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Yoga’s foundations came from Hindu worship. The poses were specifically crafted to mimic and glorify Hindu deities. So, here are 5 of the many reasons why Christians should avoid yoga:
1. Yoga Violates the First Commandment
God said: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Yoga was created as a spiritual discipline in Hinduism as a way to unite the practitioner with Brahman through poses, breathwork, and meditation.
When Christians participate in a system built for the worship of other gods, they step outside the boundaries that God established. Christians can’t bow the heart or the body toward deities He condemns, as we are commanded to worship God alone.
Even if someone claims they’re only exercising, the form itself came from a pagan spiritual system and our intentions don’t rewrite origins. And excuses like “God knows my heart” or “It’s okay because I’m thinking of Jesus and reciting Bible verses while doing yoga” are just cover-ups for rebelliousness.
2. Yoga Pulls Christians Off the Narrow Path and Away from Christ Who Is the Only Way
Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). God calls believers to walk a narrow path that stays fixed on Christ as Lord.
Yoga, in contrast, leads the mind toward self-focus, self-divinity, and spiritual ideas that oppose the Gospel. Christians can’t mix counterfeit spiritual paths with the one true path that Christ laid out. The narrow way doesn’t allow side roads that were designed to lead toward pagan deities.
3. Yoga Violates the Second Commandment Because Its Poses Were Crafted to Imitate Hindu Deities
God said: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Exodus 20:4). Many yoga poses were created to twist the body to mimic the shape of a Hindu deity, and the yoga movement of the body becomes part of the ritual.
Christians shouldn’t reshape their bodies into postures that honor idols. According to ancient Hindu texts, yoga poses were created for pagan devotion. When Christians twist their bodies into these poses, they step into a pattern that God condemns.
4. Spiritual Warfare Always Follows Idolatry and Pagan Practice
Scripture warns that idols are demonic influences that seek to deceive and enslave. God’s Word says that those who sacrifice to idols are sacrificing to demons (1 Corinthians 10:20).
When believers practice yoga, they engage in sin and rebellion that leaves them vulnerable to spiritual warfare because they’re engaging in practices shaped by pagan worship, mantras, meditation techniques, and New Age beliefs.
Many Christians report nightmares, anxiety, oppression, or increased confusion after involvement in yoga. This shouldn’t surprise us because God already warned that idolatry brings spiritual consequences.
5. Yoga Can’t Be Redeemed, and It Isn’t Like the Neutral Meat in 1 Corinthians 8 or 10
Some Christians argue that yoga is neutral, yet Scripture doesn’t support that claim. Meat sacrificed to idols was neutral because God created the meat; the temple rituals didn’t create it. Yoga isn’t like that because yoga IS the ritual. It’s inseparable from its spiritual origin since the poses, breathing practices, and philosophy were invented for worship.
This is why attempts at “holy yoga” or Christian yoga fail: blending pagan worship with Christianity is syncretism, and God condemns syncretism throughout the Old and New Testaments. God exhorts people to worship Him alone, and not to mix His name with practices that came from pagan deities.
It’s healthful and natural to stretch when it’s ordinary movement. I now do Pilates without any yoga asanas. As a Christian, I could never engage in yoga classes again.
Yoga is unnatural pagan worship that no Christian should engage in because God commands His people to flee from idolatry, not rebrand it. Christ rescued us from darkness and He bought us with the price of His shed blood on the cross.
So, we shouldn’t engage in practices that came from the darkness from which He saved us. Christians honor God when they reject yoga and choose obedience, purity, and loyalty to Christ who redeemed them.
For more information, please see “Yoga & Spiritual Warfare” available to read for FREE at https://a.co/d/8XukSY5
