Is Yoga a Sin?

I have always enjoyed doing yoga–it is something that brings me stress relief and helps me move my body while clearing my mind. The other day however, my friend and I were talking about certain yoga workouts and she brought it to my attention that yoga goes against Christianity due to some of the divination tactics typically employed in it. Being a Christian, I wanted to explore this a bit more, as yoga to me has always been a harmless workout that encourages positive thoughts, not something of occult practices.

In A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and the Occult, New Age spirituality is discussed, which is a holistic practice focusing on mind, body, and spirit. I found it amusing to learn about New Agers, as I’ve always heard about the hippie revolution of the 70s, so it’s funny to finally put a name to the movement. Yoga and meditation are described to be two ways that New Agers enter spiritual release and gain greater self-knowledge. In the book, yoga seems like a positive practice for someone to participate in, as it is meant to “nurture self-esteem and positive thinking,” and who wouldn’t want that (pg 287)?

Considering the book had mostly positive things to say regarding yoga and its intentions, I turned to Christian sources to better understand what the Bible’s stance on yoga is. I found an article written by Crossroads Church, a major church in the country. The gist of the article is that Christians can practice yoga, but only if they are able to remove the spiritual aspect from it due to yoga’s Hindu and Buddhist origins. Additionally, the article argues another flaw being that while yoga encourages finding one’s divine self, Christianity teaches that only God can be divine, not humans. Another major argument is that Christians do not need to achieve another level of enlightenment to be with God, which yoga encourages. 

Learning this is tricky for me, as I do want to adhere to Christian beliefs, but I am a bit confused. A question I have is, why does it matter if I participate in the yoga manifestations if I don’t actually believe they’re true and ultimately believe in God? Also, would growing my own self-esteem actually strain my relationship with God? As far as next steps for me and my yoga relationship, I am going to be paying more attention to what is said in the closing meditation techniques to see if they really are building one’s divine self or simply uplifting one’s own confidence. To answer my own question though, I would say that yoga does not have to be a sin depending on how you practice it.