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Yoga is hugely popular in this country. A recent CDC study found that one in six people practice it. Many do so because they believe it to be exercise or stretching, and that it improves their health. But unfortunately, most who practice yoga—including devout Catholics—have no idea that they are engaging in a spirituality disguised as exercise.
After almost twenty years of both practicing and teaching yoga, I learned this the hard way. Challenging life situations brought me to my knees, and I experienced a brush with the devil. Shortly thereafter, I had come to Jesus moment, and He began to make the truths of yoga crystal clear to me.
A Path to Spirituality
I eventually learned that the yoga I loved, believed in, and promoted was not the exercise I thought it was, that it is not a path to health but a path to spirituality. Spirituality might seem like a good thing, but yoga is not about developing Christian spirituality; it’s about Hindu spirituality—and the two are very different.
Christians worship Jesus; Hindus worship Hindu gods, the highest of whom is Brahman. Yoga seeks union with this deity—it has nothing to do with the Judeo-Christian God. Unfortunately, Christians, through yoga practice, unknowingly and unintentionally engage in a practice intended to worship other gods.
One’s lack of knowledge about the truths of yoga does not preserve him or her from potential spiritual harm. Because yoga engages in worship of other gods, it opens a door for evil spirits to enter one’s soul. This can lead to spiritual bondage, including becoming oppressed and even possessed by the devil.
Yoga’s Origins
Origins reveal important things, so let’s look at the origin of yoga. From where did it come?
We know that Jesus is God. He came here to create His Kingdom on earth, and so He founded His Catholic Church.
Yoga’s roots come from Hindu Scripture. As Hinduism Today states, “Yoga is, and always was, a vital part of Hindu religion and culture.” It is a central part of a Hindu’s religious and devotional practice, a sacred ritual intended to do just what the word yoga means, which is “to yoke” or “to unite.” What is it intended “to yoke” us to? The supreme Hindu deity, Brahman. It does not unite us to Jesus, who promised that His yoke would be easy and His burden light.
While many yoga classes make references to “god,” “divine,” “universe,” “spirit,” or “energy,” it is important to understand that these things have nothing to do with the one True God, but Hindu gods. And though yoga may be marketed in the West as exercise, I can assure you that it is not.
It’s worth noting what two of yoga’s most popular contemporary teachers have to say about the practice. Ashtanga yoga is one of its most popular types. Its founder, K. Patthabi Jois, said, “using it for physical reasons is of no good, it’s just a lot of pushing, sweating and heavy breathing for nothing. The spiritual aspect, which is behind the physical aspect, is the real purpose of yoga.” BKS Iyengar, founder of another type of popular yoga, calls it one of six systems of Indian philosophy.
Where Yoga Leads
Behind the visible, physical practice of yoga lies a hidden dimension of spirituality. When it comes to the spiritual realm, anything that does not lead to God leads to evil spirits.
The practice of yoga also often becomes a gateway to the New Age. It can subtly lead people to embrace ideologies that reject and replace religion and ultimately God. This includes things like crystals, numerology, channeling, the Law of Attraction, and more. As people are inconspicuously led away from God, they can experience oppression and even possession. There are countless stories of people being impacted by evil spirits who hide behind yoga and the New Age. They provide stark and scary warnings. We must learn from them.
Even devout Catholics justify their yoga practice by saying their intentions are what matter and that they don’t participate in or subscribe to yogic philosophies.
That’s what I said, too.
But in the long run, the two worlds will eventually collide, as I came to learn. When we practice conflicting spiritualities, they are like oil and water; they cannot mix. We may want to think and believe that we will be kept safe, but our thoughts and beliefs do not keep us safe—only living in God’s truth will. Our intention is not an adequate shield when it comes to the realities of the spiritual realm and demonic warfare. I learned this the hard way, that the spiritual impact of yoga is very real, and it is how I came to see the devil with my own eyes.
Through my years of yoga, I came to embrace the non-Christian practices of the chakras and Reiki. I became a Reiki Master. I had no idea these New Age practices are of the occult. Reiki is touted as a perfectly safe healing method. It uses “reiki guides,” who are said to do all the work, that they know exactly what to do. But these guides are evil spirits. Reiki does not offer true healing, because it does not come from God.
This is precisely how Satan works. He likes to make seemingly harmless things appear good and light filled, but within them he hides his darkness. It is there he wreaks his havoc.
My hope and prayer is that by sharing what I have come to learn about the truth of yoga, others can be protected from the very real dangers that lie behind it and all that goes along with it. May my 20 years behind yoga’s veil serve as a warning to the many unsuspecting Christians who practice yoga so that it can protect them from experiencing spiritual harm.
Author’s Note: I openly share my journey, including my encounters with evil spirits, in my book, Yoga Unveiled: My Spiritual Journey from Darkness to Light, available from Sophia Institute Press. I pray that it serves as a stark warning to others exposed to yoga’s evils and keeps them safe in the light and truth of Christ.
