The Truth About Yoga
The attractive couple on the television screen gracefully moved their bodies into the next yoga pose: arms extended, head tilted slightly back, a deep breath in. In front of the TV set, a seven-year-old girl and her mother did their best to mimic the posture. The little girl, Laurette, loved this special time with her mom.
It was 1965, and Laurette's mom, Jacquie, didn't think twice about exercising along with this yoga program that came on the TV after Jack La Lanne. She developed a passion for yoga, and began instructing free classes in her home. Laurette served as the demonstration model for her mom. The young girl relished the attention—and her family never suspected this seemingly innocent exercise would open the door to a New Age lifestyle that would affect Laurette for the next 22 years.
Speaking Out
Now 46, Christian speaker/author Laurette Willis tells everyone she meets about the dangers of yoga. The Oklahoma resident addresses groups across the country, speaking from personal experience and her knowledge as a certified personal trainer and aerobics instructor. She's developed a prominent presence on the Internet, largely due to her new exercise program, PraiseMoves, which she calls "a Christian alternative to yoga." She shares her testimony on the website (www.PraiseMoves.com) in a pull-no-punches style, and responds to numerous e-mails—some curious, others critical of her stance on yoga. Additionally, she posts comments on the message boards of other fitness and religion websites. She's also self-published a book and video about PraiseMoves.
So what caused Laurette to become vocal about yoga? And is yoga really all that bad? Her testimony is a bold answer to both questions.
Throughout her childhood, Laurette's family regularly attended church. "If someone had asked us, we would have said we were Christians," she says. "But we never heard the message of salvation at our church." Lacking knowledge about the Christian faith, Laurette's mom found herself drawn to New Age practices, and began reading books by Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce (both claimed to have psychic abilities) and taking Laurette to an ashram, a Hindu yoga retreat.
As an adult, Laurette immersed herself in every New Age and metaphysical practice she came across: chanting, crystals, tarot cards, psychics, channeling spirits.
"I tried everything—Kabbalah, Universalism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism —because I was spiritually hungry," Laurette says. "I call the New Age movement 'Burger King' because it's like the fast-food restaurant's motto: 'Have it your way.' That's what the New Age movement tries to do, to achieve God on its terms."
There was one thing Laurette wasn't remotely interested in pursuing: Christianity. "I thought Christians just wanted to give me a bunch of rules and dogma," she says. "I didn't know they were speaking about a relationship with Jesus."
Originally published in: Today's Christian Woman, 2005, March/April, Vol. 27, Issue 2, Page 40
Related Topics:
Christian Alternatives, Exercise, Hinduism, Meditation, New Age, Occult, Yoga
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Nn
I wouldn't pay much attention this woman. She as many has just found a clever way to cash in on this fast growing spiritual industry. She would have attended a marketing seminar or read a book that told her how to create her own brand. Yoga is an ancient discipline that is a way of maintaining physical wellbeing. It is not a religion and has nothing to do with new age stuff like channeling. It is in no way new age either, it's over 5000 years old!
Anonymous
Christians always need to prove that other religions are wrong! Why can't they just accept that somethings work for some people and other things work for others and that maybe not everyone feels that the book they live by is applicable to them?
B
I'm a bit confused..... So yoga didn't work for her and now she's totally against it? She didn't have the experience she expected and now it's some kind of evil? She says that "Yoga wants to get students to the point of complete numbness in their minds..." but I don't think she's ever experienced the beauty of moving meditation (which yoga effectively is) in any form really if she makes a comment like that. Yoga doesn't numb the mind, it opens it up to yourself and the universe. I have nothing against Christians but in my opinion following other peoples experiences out of a book, like the bible, is pretty mind numbing. You're not experiencing anything, but rather living your life based on others experiences....
suzanne
Reading this article is proof that some people are just plain ignorant and jugdmental. I have been practicing yoga for sometime now and not once during my practice have I ever not known that Jesus is my savior. This is pure nonsence to suggest that people who practice yoga will be put under a spell and suddenly become Hindu! Really? How insecure are you in your own faith that having the word Namaste said to you or your saying it back makes you an non Christian? People please get real! Life is hard enough without some much judgment!
Susan
I think God gives us the ability to discern and make decisions individually on these things. The exercises of yoga are very good for you healthwise, and meditation is also good for you... if you are doing it on the right things. As a Christian woman, I 'meditate' by praying and having my own conversation with the Lord, thriving in His presence, just as I do at other prayer times. Remember that it isn't the yoga exercise that is the problem, but rather the practictioner and how they choose to apply it.
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