Yoga: It's Not Just Exercise, It's Religious Practice

A lot of people would pooh-pooh the idea that playing with a ouija board or taking the "Charlie Charlie Challenge" are spiritually dangerous and can be conduits for evil spirits. "They're just games," they might say. I was inclined to think that way about yoga until I had a serious conversation with a friend and did a little research. "It's just exercise and stretching." Well...maybe not.

 Some of yoga's practices are clearly dangerous. The whole idea of "emptying yourself" in meditation is the opposite of Christian meditation where you are "filled" with the Holy Spirit. A person who is sitting and chanting a mantra and trying to dispel any thoughts, deliberately empty himself, is like the man in the parable who has a demon which is driven out. The house is clean and swept...and empty. The devil goes out, finds seven devils worse than himself and returns to "fill up" the empty house. [Luke 11:26]