"Christian Yoga is An Oxymoron" Reveals Expert, Laurette Willis
Why Yoga Is Not Compatible with Christianity
This is part two of what was supposed to be a three part interview with yoga expert, Laurette Willis.
After ruminating on the interview, I found it necessary to break it into four parts. In part one I shared that Laurette Willis was involved with yoga and the New Age for 22 years, beginning at the age of 7. During that 22-year period, she was a yoga instructor and blessed by Swami Satchidananda. Her life was one of chaos, but she finally found peace when she turned to Christ. Read part one of the interview: The Simple Way This Yoga Instructor Finally Found Peace.
This second part will discuss the basic definition of yoga and why it is not compatible with the Christian religion, according to Willis. Part three will provide additional evidence to support this claim. You can read it here. And part four will share an exciting Christian alternative to yoga as developed by Laurette Willis. You can read it here.
Willis' longterm involvement as a yogi lends her the authority to conclude that there is no place for yoga in the Christian realm. "Christian yoga is an oxymoron," she claims. "Kick yoga out of the churches."
Why does she make these claims? Her evidence is chilling and compelling.
More Than Exercise
"I sensed the...time would come, and that time is now, when people would be so deceived that they thought yoga was just exercise." But, according to Willis, the very definition of yoga reveals that yoga is not just exercise. Yoga is a form of worship to one of 330 million Hindu deities. And, she claims, it is the missionary arm of Hinduism, promotes salvation by works, and is designed to prepare its practitioners for death and entrance into a new life through reincarnation.
And this is not Willis' own opinion. She says, "I'd really like to share what yoga is, what Hindus say, what New Agers say...."
In her eBook The Truth About Yoga, Willis quotes Professor Subhas Tuwari of Hindu University of America. "Yoga is Hinduism.” [1]
The two cannot be separated, Willis says.
"There is a Lord over yoga, and it is not the Lord Jesus Christ," she claims. "So what are we doing with a practice that's dedicated to a different Lord? What is that doing in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ?"
We will talk more about the lord over yoga in part three of this interview. But now we will focus on the practice of yoga.
Defining Yoga
"Yoga is a sanskrit, or ancient Indian language word that means 'to yoke,'" says Willis. "To yoke means, achieving union."
She continues, "In Miriam Webster's Dictionary (you can look it up) it says yoga is (and I quote) 'a mystic and ascetic Hindu discipline for achieving union with the supreme spirit through prescribed poses, meditation, and breathing techniques.' Wow! does that sound like salvation through works, or what?"
Christians know who is the true Supreme Spirit. That, however, is not the same supreme spirit that yoga seeks to achieve union with, says Willis. It is a false spirit, a false god.
While the goal of yoga is reason enough to stay away from the practice, Willis further explains why the prescribed poses, meditation, and breathing techniques of yoga are not compatible with the Christian faith.
Prescribed Poses
Willis acknowledges that stretching itself is good for the body, but the "prescribed poses" in yoga serve another purpose, she says.
"The poses in yoga are actually offerings to the 330 million Hindu gods."
Willis gives an example of the cobra pose, which, she says, releases the kundalini spirit, and does nothing to honor the Lord Jesus Christ with our body, which is His temple.
"The kundalini spirit is demonic. It's a manipulation."
In a testimony on Willis' website, PraiseMoves.com (which I will share more about in part four of this interview), a reader writes, "I took one yoga class and as I did the cobra position I felt a slithery snake feeling come over me. It scared me so much I left the class immediately, never to return." [2]
Romans 12:1 says we are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God — not to 330 million false gods through prescribed poses.
Meditation
The meditation involved with yoga, claims Willis, is not the kind of meditation the Bible prescribes. "The meditation is not upon God's Word. Yoga calls for an emptying of the mind."
The Bible, on the other hands, tells us to meditate upon things that are true and right and lovely. We are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, not by emptying them. An empty mind is an open doorway for all kinds of dangerous thoughts and spiritual influences.
The Yoga Journal explains that yogic meditation is the means to achieve union with the universe. "Yoga (or union) happens when the mind becomes quiet. This mental stillness is created by bringing the body, mind, and senses into balance which, in turn, relaxes the nervous system." [3]
"In the yogic context, meditation, or dhyana, is defined more specifically as a state of pure consciousness. It is the seventh stage, or limb, of the yogic path and follows dharana, the art of concentration. Dhyana in turn precedes samadhi, the state of final liberation or enlightenment, the last step...." [4]
What is the "final liberation"? Death, says Willis.
"Yoga is a discipline of death. That's what it is. It is to prepare your body for death because when you believe in reincarnation, as the Hindus do, let's get this life over so you can go on to the next one. This is why yoga has such a seemingly calming effect on the body," she claims.
And while the meditation is designed to empty the mind, the breathing techniques serve as a door way to let in the "universal energy" which ultimately leads only to fear and confusion.
Breathing Techniques
Again, Willis acknowledges that breathing exercises are good for the body and can improve our ability to sing, speak, and project our voices. "Physiologically there are excellent things that stretching exercises do — and deep breathing, diaphragmatic breathing. But what we have in yoga is the pranayama [yogic breathing technique], which is the manipulation of life force energy."
Willis associates the pranayama, with the prince of the power of the air, namely Satan, our great enemy.
"You hear things [in yoga] such as 'bring up the energy from the earth. Bring it up. Breathe in the universal energy through the top of your head. Reach up your hands and send out the energy through your fingertips. Bring in the positive energy. Let out the negative.'"
"These things are taught in yoga schools," she says, "— even 'Christian' yoga."
Willis also associates the pranayama with "the battlefield of the mind, where thoughts come...this is why it is so important to have on the helmet of salvation...and take every thought into captivity."
Emptying the mind and allowing in the so called "universal energy" gives the forces of spiritual darkness the opportunity to wreck havoc in one's life, says Willis. And that is exactly what happened to her.
Fear and Confusion
"I used to be such a fearful person," she says. "Part of that was the whole New Age, the yoga... I allowed different spiritual influences in my life that made me very fearful. That's why I was an alcoholic and a compulsive overeater."
Fear was not Willis' only struggle, but also chaos and confusion.
"God is not the author of confusion. If you have confusion in your life, know that that's not from God. The word of God says that God is not the author of confusion."
Converting to Christ and filling her mind with truth (rather than emptying it and breathing in the universal energy) helped Willis overcome the fears and the confusion yoga brought.
"I learned by studying the Bible and...the truth about what God says about something (instead of just what man says)...if God doesn't give the spirit of fear, where does it come from? That's what worry is actually. Worry is meditating on the devil's thoughts. Meditate on God's thoughts as seen in the Bible instead. "
If you are a Christian involved in yoga and remain unconvinced of the dangers of participation, I invite you read part three of this interview, which is slated to post July 18, 2016. There we will journey with Laurette Willis as she discusses the faux trinity of the Hindu religion, the so-called lord of yoga, and the dangerous missionary arm of Hinduism.
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Next: Christian Yoga Is The Missionary Arm of Hinduism, Claims Expert Laurette Willis
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[1] Time Magazine Sept. 2005 http://www.truthaboutyoga.net
[2] http://praisemoves.com/category/testimonies/
[3] http://www.yogajournal.com/category/meditation/
[4] Ibid.