YogaFaith is an organization that has been around for more than a decade that teaches and promotes what they call “Christian Yoga.” However, as Lighthouse Trails has shown for many years, there is no such thing as Christian Yoga. It’s an oxymoron because the two terms are diametrically opposed to each other.
A number of years ago, we read an article by a Hindu professor (of Hindu University of America) titled “Yoga Renamed is Still Hindu.” In the article, Professor Subhas Tiwari stated:
The simple, immutable fact is that yoga originated from the Vedic or Hindu culture. Its techniques were not adopted by Hinduism, but originated from it. . . . Efforts to separate yoga from its spiritual center reveal ignorance of the goal of yoga. . . . If this attempt to co-opt yoga into their (Christians) own tradition continues, in several decades of incessantly spinning the untruth as truth through re-labelings such as “Christian yoga,” who will know that yoga is–or was–part of Hindu culture?
After reading that article, we e-mailed Dr. Tiwari and received a response from him. He gave us permission to share some of it with our readers:
Hello and Namaste,
Namaste is a universal Hindu greeting which recognizes and bows to that Divinity within you.
Mantra and its practice is a core component in Hinduism. The language of Sanskrit which predates any and all languages known to humanity, and which hasn’t evolved and became something other than what it has been from its inception, forms the oldest mantra, the first cosmic sound of OM (aum). One of the four sacred spiritual scriptures the Vedas, the Sama Veda is written in chants. The written forms of the Veda are pegged at 3500 to 5000+ BCE. (They are recited all over the world among Hindus exactly as they have been handed down). . . .
Hinduism and its offshoot spiritual traditions, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikkhism, have never chosen the path which states that we are superior to everyone else and therefore deserve to engage in crusades and conversionism on global scale. That would be incongruent to our core belief tenets which holds all creatures are part of the Divine creation, and equal in the eyes of that divine parent. The moment we lose sight or consciously choose to believe and behave otherwise means we are acting from a place of limitation, superiority, arrogance and according to Vedanta, from a place of individual and global ignorance, avidya. Imagine any religious or spiritual tradition which defines its strength based on converting that which is already divine in nature, and the audacity to claim that they are doing the work of that Divine? There is only one Divine.
Sincere Regards, Subhas
Professor Tiwari set the record straight. There is no such thing as “Christian” Yoga, even though a fast-growing number of Christians, especially Christian women, are involved in “Christian Yoga” classes through organizations such as YogaFaith.
Nearly twenty years ago, we posted a portion of an article titled “There Is No Christian Yoga” written by Yogi Baba Prem, who is a Hindu Yogi, a Vedavisharada trained in the traditional gurukural system. In his article, he stated:
It was quite astonishing to see on the flyer “Christian Yoga! This Thursday night. . . .” I could feel the wheels spinning in my brain. “Christian Yoga,” I thought. Now while Christians can practice yoga, I am not aware of any Christian teachings about yoga. Yoga is not a Judeo/Christian word! It is not a part of the Roman Catholic teachings and certainly not a part of protestant teachings. It is not found within the King James Version of the Bible. It is a Hindu word, or more correctly a Sanskrit word from the Vedic civilization. So how did we get “Christian Yoga”? (source)
Yoga is like a “gateway drug” because it can lead to more intense forms of occultic New Age meditation; and tragically, a growing number of Christians (and churches) are engaging in Yoga practices. If you know someone who is practicing “Christian Yoga” or any other Yoga activity, we encourage you to ask him or her to read the material Lighthouse Trails has provided, warning about Yoga. Two of our authors, Chris Lawson and Ray Yungen, have written excellent booklets on Yoga. These may be purchased inexpensively or can be printed for free from this site:
“YOGA and Christianity – Are They Compatible?” by Chris Lawson
YOGA: Exercise or Religion—Does it Matter? by Ray Yungen
We also have a database on Yoga with over 100 articles and reports. And if you have never watched Caryl Productions documentary called Yoga Uncoiled, we encourage you to do so. Caryl Matrisciana, who was raised in India and later became deeply involved in the New Age movement (before becoming a Christian believer) leaves no room for question in her film that “Christian Yoga” is a New Age practice and a great deception. Her film can be watched on YouTube for free or purchased as a DVD.
Incidentally, it’s worth noting that YogaFaith founder and lead trainer Michelle Thielen presented an online class in 2023 called “The Enneagram for Spiritual Formation.” Both of those practices (Enneagram and Spiritual Formation) are frequently addressed at Lighthouse Trails because of their New Age/occultic roots. Thielen has also been quoted in an article in Yoga Journal that was promoting Yoga in public schools. Thielen stated: “Sometimes I just have to scratch my head. . . . I’m like, “Christians, are you not reading your Bible? Because meditation is in there.” So is chanting, mudras, and even some of the yoga postures.”
(Image is from the cover of Chris Lawson’s booklet, Yoga and Christianity – Are They Compatible?
I have wandered into and out of Yoga, of 1 kind or another, for years. It feels good awhile, then I just quit doing it. The same goes for Tai chi and gi gong. I’ve taken Tai chi classes. Mostly for the socializing with a group. I tried exercise dvds, Laurette Willis exercise, based on her getting out of Yoga. I didn’t like these at all.
Yoga just didn’t work for me. Must’ve been the Lord working. It’s too easy to get involved with yoga, Tai Chi and gi gong. It’s everywhere. Getting out is easy. I just quit. Staying out is tough.
There needs to be advice, messages about getting out, Staying out.
I go on long walks. Swimming. Those feel good.
…continued.
So I decided to buy a King James Bible when I searched on Amazon. I didn’t know anything about translations or that there were big Study Bibles. And I don’t know why I chose a KJB. It was just plain text, no notes, no concordance, nothing. But Dave Hunt mentioned prophecy in the Bible so I started to check out the places in the Old Testament that predicted Jesus. The more I read, the more excited I became. I couldn’t believe that right there, in front of my own eyes, in black and white print was a real, verified, evidential and blatant supernatural phenomena that was printed and unalterable. I had experienced some odd things in meditation but it was all subjective. I had even experienced demonic things in various ways, some of which was semi-objective. But now I had real proof, real evidence of the supernatural and it was in the Bible! God drew me in and I remembered Caryl’s book at that time too. Then I discovered that she had been friends with Dave Hunt. What a surprise! There I was, years earlier, mocking the whole thing and now I couldn’t deny what I knew and was seeing. As I read the Bible a little more it started to actually take on the quality of being alive, with my own eyes I was staring at the pages and light was coming off of them! Living light! Then God regenerated me and I was born again. Praise be to God! It was a most awesome thing. God changed me in only the way God could have. Otherwise I would probably still be a lost person today.
God is magnificent, majestic, Holy, light, life, peace, joy perfect, pure, good. The peace of his presence was utterly beautiful, I could feel it tangibly. Heaven will be flooded with that tranquility forever and ever, what a mind blowing thing! What utter beauty and bliss and joy! We down here on earth can’t even fathom how awesome eternity will be, our minds cannot really contain it.
What a blessing Dave Hunt was. And Caryl. And some others. Sadly, Dave Hunt passed away a few months before I was saved so I never got a chance to talk to him. I look forward to seeing him and telling him that his influence led to my salvation. And to think – he grew up in California around the corner from the Yogi’s church, the guru I was stuck with before. What an amazing set of coincidences.
So if you want to know if yoga is bad, yes it is – it creates demon possession. Yogis hate Jesus and they hate Christians and Christianity. I know that, because that used to be me.
I can identify somewhat with all this. Would want to share part of my testimony but can’t do so without referring to myself. I live in a suburb of London, England and used to visit a second hand bookstore in my little area. Was searching for spiritual books, esoteric, yoga etc. Surprisingly found a lot there. The store owner was a conspiracy theory type of person into UFOs and weird things. Had a Tarot card reader in a tiny both inside the tiny store. Well, I found Gods of the New Age by Caryl Matrisciana in there one time and actually purchased it because I wanted to know what “crazy” Christians thought about Hinduism etc. At the time (around 2007) I remember while reading this book that it was absolutely crazy and stupid. But for some reason I didn’t throw it out.
I think it was because of some similarities between Caryl’s story and my own that I kept the book. But a seed was planted that sprouted 6 years later in my life. I had forgotten completely about that book until my meditation practice came to a dead end due to having automatic movements of my body while sitting down still. All I wanted was for the movements to stop so I could concentrate while meditating. But they continued against my will. I had a huge collection of New Age type of books, more Hinduism and psychology than New Age and had recently purchased another book about Bhaktis in India who go into trances and get “Divine” possession. I noticed similarities between these automatic body movements, which included strange breath holding stuff, and it felt like a force was trying to rise up out of my throat and speak, so I made a gutteral sound with my throat, and I’d heard that type of noise in some trance mediums I had listened to on the internet. So basically I suspected I might have been possessed.
I started searching online about all this. I kept on coming across Bible references. Then I strayed upon a Youtube video of a girl who was Indian who had left Yoga and come to Christ. Her experiences were very similar to mine so I emailed her and she replied. She was extremely gracious to me even though I was rude to her initially. I kept on thinking about that and it wasn’t so much what she said to me but that she never retaliated or got angry with me and that really impressed me. I was a lost person of course and antagnostic towards Christians (My interactions with them over the years online was negative but I followed the teachings of a Yogi who blended Hinduism with Christianity – interesting isn’t it?). So this girl recommended I read a book called Occult Invasion by Dave Hunt. I got the book. And boy did that hit me over the head! I had a collection of around 3000 spiritual books on most topics, science, psychology, yoga, philosophy, Hinduism, Buddhism, and a few New Age ones. As I read Dave’s book my eyes were opened to the fact that practically all these books I had were being debunked by Dave in every chapter of his book and he linked loads…
Thank you, Lighthouse Trails, for setting the record straight. I appreciate you as a Light for The LORD in such a dark world 😉❤️