I once wrote a paper on the benefits of yoga in the classroom and the biggest roadblock to introducing it into classrooms is the religious objections. Even when every Namaste was taken out, the mere name "yoga" was controversial for the religious right.

Well, since there is neither a literal Heaven nor a literal Hell (not to mention demons of any kind), I guess I'm not too worried about yoga practitioners.

And I'm all for pagan practices. But I doubt I'll ever be able to get my legs behind my head like I've seen some people do.

Wow, that was a revelation. I always thought it was a clever way to separate me from my spine.

I know a Christian who told me of his experience many years ago, in his youth, when he attended some yoga class (more the spiritual side of yoga, not the exercise classes we think of), and he felt something that frightened him while engaging in some aspect of meditation. He spoke to the yogi about it, and claims she said nothing but laughed an "evil little laugh." Uh huh. Whatever.

what a fool! for his punishment he is going to miss out on the serenity and good health that a yoga
habit gifts you.

what a fool! for his punishment he is going to miss out on the serenity and good health that a yoga
habit gifts you.

I LOVE yoga. I use controlled breathing that I learned from yoga to calm down frequently. As soon as the grandchildren are old enough to understand I am going to teach them about controlling their breathing, and maybe do yoga with them.

Do you ever think that these bloggers are just hollering about shit to get their readership up?

Wow. A little too pious for my liking. Yoga being demonic is a crock of sh-.

What a load of bollocks, next they'll be saying that dancing raises the devil from his sleep

There must be deamons involved in yoga! It seems like every time I prepare to do yoga I am stressed, frustrated with at least one thing (but usually several things), and contemplating causing physical harm to people. After I've finished shivasina I'm calm and feeling in harmony with the world for just a little while. Anything that can make that level change to a person's mood that does not come from a pharmacy has to be evil magic of the worst sort and should be banned.

Says the the folks who brought you the devil so you could be tempted, led astray and redeemed. Yoga is a great way to strengthen both the muscles and the mind. Its cheap, anybody can do it and nobody needs to contribute a dime to some evangelical scam to benefit from it.

Reminds me of the time I heard a sermon in church in which Transcendental Meditation (TM) was mentioned in a list of "Satanic" practices. After I'd read "The TM Book", which opens with three letters written by high-ranking clergy of varying faiths, all praising the efficacy of TM and outlining how it does not at all conflict with their spiritual beliefs--one of whom was a Lutheran minister. I cringed so hard when I heard that sermon...

Okay.

Christians often have an irrational fear of any practice that originated from "THE EAST".

The fear is perpetuated by the ministers. It's a great example of tribalism, where they can find an enemy to rally the congregation against.

I heard teachings against yoga and meditation while I was in Pentecost. Pretty silly.

Why would anyone ever want to go to heaven? It’d just be full of people like that. The real party would be in hell.

Good grief! Too many whackjobs, not enough strait-jackets.

The Church Of Satan @ChurchofSatan
The Ouija board was designed as a fun party game and only later had "spooky" connotations added. Calling yoga "Hindu worship" is completely ignorant. Matt Walsh is a superstitious buffoon who apparently can't do a google search. [twitter.com] …
I know a Christian family that once did yoga. They all spontaneously combusted & their relatives got charred letters that said "We are in hell now; don't yoga."
What’s it like to be this scared of everything dude
My neighbor started doing yoga and then mysteriously my dog died three years later.
My friend sneezed and I said ‘gesundheit’. Now we’re both German. I should have been more careful.
So I'm gonna have to assume your celebration of Christmas doesn't include decorating a tree ????
I don’t know, man. One minute, you’re in downward dog, and the next minute, you’re ambushed by Ouija boards and accidentally become one with the universe. Can’t be too careful these days.