The Truth About Yoga
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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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chad Johnson
i think that the author of this post hasn't had a good opportunity to study yoga as a philosophy within the context of its native (indian) culture. i see a lot of xenophobia in her message, rather than an intelligent argument against it. fyi, according to her own thinking, if you think, you're going to hell. because logic was developed by ancient pagans who believed in not-jesus. maybe that's why so few evangelicals do it? c'mon.
tintsui
To P, I thank God much to let me see this article and able to see and write something truly happened to myself. Yoga, Taichi and Shaolin Kungfu and Qi Gong trained you to empty and numb your mind; pilates no. have done pilates for 10 years after few attempts with yoga. I like the feelings of yoga " mind detox " which pilates gives 0, I told myself isn't it sound a bit familiar ? I quit and jumped to pilates forever. Yoga, Taichi and Shaolin Kungfu and Qi Gong could be a danger ONLY 1) if you are closed to Jesus, Devils enjoy more to see you down , + 2) you do excellent jobs in emptying your minds through meditation lastly, if you thought you're very close to God during the meditation and feel delighted or even given some magic power to do things better than others, you were exactly what I was before. God never asked us to meditate in order to see him or talk to him. meditation is playing fire. my siblings not belive because they all live happily and well.just no God.
tintsui
5 stars !! thank you Kyria.
tintsui
thank you so much for the write up. God and Devil are watching it . we got to strengthen our minds and be alert. Meditation opens up to let evil in. It took us who meditated daily in a different levels. i am a devoted christian while my other siblings are not. two went churches but only for boys, the other two believes taoism and buddhism. in the end , I am the one who badly hit and could not function my life for more than 25 years and admitted to psychic clinics. as for my siblings - they are living good life and completely no places for Jesus or Tao or Buddha anymore.
Kb
A year ago, I would be the last one to agree with you. I would laugh at you. I had been meditating every single day for a few years, very into the Science of Mind, yoga and allllll that and did not believe in Evil. I'd accepted Evil to simply be the "absense of light".I'd been a massage therapist for 7 years and taught it. I taught the Law of Attraction, as it was a part of then CURRICULUM in the massage school business class. Then, I gave Jesus and the Bible another chance existence on Earth.. changed. It's JESUS and I NEED him. I am a sinner. I cannot not make mistakes. But,In fact, I continued to meditate after I read- thinking they'd go together great. Turns out, the last time I meditated, I had one of the scariest days I've experienced yet, and I truly believe that God was showing me that Malevolence is very real. Satan is real. There is so much to be said on the subject of Metaphysics vs. Christianity, but I just want to thank you for this article. It's true.
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