I nearly signed up for a stress management workshop at work but when I was told that the facilitator will be using yoga as part of the stress management tools, I am relieved I did not.
I am one with the conviction that Christianity and yoga are not compatible. They have differing beliefs and spiritual foundation. I have heard of Christians who justifies it by saying, "it is just exercise". It is more than that and even the Hindu practitioners agree that yoga is more than just exercise and that it cannot be reduced to just an exercise. From the moment you take part in yoga, you delve into the very core of what it is.
For more information, check out what Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has to say about it: The Subtle Body — Should Christians Practice Yoga? He says, "When Christians practice yoga, they must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga. The contradictions are not few, nor are they peripheral."
And here is a surprising agreement from Rajiv Malhotra, the founder of Infinity Foundation, The Dharma Initiative in his article in The Huffington Post: A Hindu View of 'Christian Yoga'.
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