Veterans Doing Yoga (photo: 2-second YouTube video clip; used in accordance with the US Fair Use Act: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=159&v=nLPsigrVkZY, from the US Veteran’s Health Administration)
The September 2018 issue of The American Legion magazine has a cover headline: “Warrior Pose—Veterans Find Healing Through Yoga.” The article states:
American Legion posts host yoga sessions for veterans grappling with PTSD. . . . After leaving the Marine Corps, Jeff Drake felt alone. He lacked a community. He felt angry and hostile. Drake’s demons raged for the next dozen years before he hit rock bottom. . . . Drake [sought] help for his post-traumatic stress disorder. In time, he found yoga—the “meds” that soothe his soul. . . . Now, Drake . . . engages in a 90- to 120-minute daily routine of breathing, prayer, mantras, and meditation. . . . Drake . . . traveled to India last summer to better understand [yoga].
The article explains that a nonprofit organization called VEToga, founded by a Marine Corps veteran, is now currently leading classes around the country for about 10,000 students.
In the last decade and a half, Yoga has exploded worldwide. Today, Yoga classes are being offered in health, military, all levels of education (including elementary), government (political), business, religious, and arts, media, and entertainment sectors of society. More recently, Yoga has crossed into the evangelical realm where an increasing number of women (and men) in evangelical churches are now doing Yoga, either in their own churches or in their communities.
While our hearts go out to veterans who are struggling with serious physical, mental, and emotional issues, what a tragedy that many are now turning to New Age practices such as Yoga and mindfulness, and what a further tragedy that so much of the church is joining them rather than offering them the only true lasting help through the person of Jesus Christ and His Word. We are certainly for veterans becoming healthy with good nutrition and exercise, but they will not find lasting peace and joy in their lives through Yoga or meditation. Only a relationship with Christ can provide that, and who better to be an example of that than Christians? But, unfortunately, so much of today’s evangelical church has grabbed hold of powerless substitutes in exchange for the real thing . . . as the world watches on.
Jesus said, in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Our good works, according to Scripture, is that we believe on Him who died for our sins and conquered death in His resurrection. How can the world see our faith in God if we compromise it and hide that light under a load of worldly (not to mention spiritually dangerous) practices?
Related Information:
Yoga, Mindfulness Meditation Taking Place at Arlington National Cemetery to Commemorate Memorial Day
Efforts Underway to Train U.S. Military Chaplains and Personnel in Eastern Mysticism
To Understand Yoga:
Kody, again, as with our booklet on Mindfulness meditation, would you allow us to send you something we have published on Yoga. Just send your mailing address to editors@lighthousetrails.com. I believe we can help you understand where we are coming from.
I’ve read all the articles and comments under your YOGA section and I’m failing to see any comments relating to negatives. Can someone please explain to me why YOGA is bad? I’ve done it a few times and noticed it helped me relax, but I didn’t notice any negatives. I’ve also read research on how it can be helpful, but never anything bad. If research is showing it can help vets with PTSD, then what necessarily do you have a problem with?
Sandra Lee Smith, I appreciate your comments and concerns. I knew about the abridgement of military chaplains’ freedom to minister in the name of Jesus (a friend’s husband who was a chaplain retired from the military for this very reason), but I did not know about these things concerning the VA. 🙁
I was very fortunate to find a copy of Louis Zamperini’s autobiography not long ago. It is much better, has much more information about his post-war Christian life than the popular biography, Unbroken. I mention that here because the power of God liberated him from PTSD which resulted from horrible personal persecution and torture he suffered in a Japanese prison camp during WW2 — he did not need yoga because Christ Jesus the Lord set him free! A new movie is out this very weekend about this, which was not covered in Unbroken. I’m hoping to see it ASAP.
Dear sirs: The VA began using this about 3 years ago, when they began pushing alternatives for “pain management”, instead of dealing with chronic pain, and touting it as a “safe alternative”; mind you that was less than a year after then began prohibiting chaplains from praying in the name of Jesus or in anyway mentioning Him in the VAs! They can’t even do so at veterans’ funerals now. I hoped it wouldn’t catch on; that people would investigate before buying into it, but no, and as a”mere client” at the VA, I have no authority to speak out against it except to individuals and to refuse to participate myself, having learned what Yoga actually is, many decades ago, in the process of studying other religions as well as Christianity, so as to understand where they were in error. Yoga belongs in the same dust bin with astrology, seances, fortune tellers, and many other of Satan’s LIES. It’s nothing more or less than a worship of false deities, and Christians especially need to become aware. Not only is Yoga a path to idols, so too are all the “martial arts” as they were originally developed as forms of worship as well. They really aren’t military; and they aren’t innocent or harmless ways to exercise, any more than “meditation”on anything but God’s Word is harmless relaxation.