Are you Worshiping the Sun or the Son?

I know what you’re going to say. It’s exercise! It has nothing to do with God. Let’s look at what the Wikipedia says about the word yoga:

1. a school of Hindu philosophy advocating and prescribing a course of physical and mental disciplines for attaining liberation from the material world and union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

2. any of the methods or disciplines prescribed, esp. a series of postures and breathing exercises practiced to achieve control of the body and mind, tranquility, etc.

3. union of the self with the Supreme Being or ultimate principle.

Not a valid source? How about hatha yoga Webster's Dictionary?

a system of physical exercises for the control and perfection of the body that constitutes one of the four chief Hindu disciplines

If you're a Christian and you're taking Yoga classes, or doing them on you're own, you're practicing a form of Hindu ritual. Sorry, but that's what you're doing.

Yoga opens doors to a New-Age lifestyle. If someone is not grounded in Christ they can easily be awed and drawn into the philosophy that is yoga. Often people subscribe to yoga magazines once they begin classes, and in these magazines lurk new age teachings, swami's, yogi's and guru's all hawking their wares.

Perhaps you can see how easy it is to get involved with eastern mystic religions. You can start out with taking yoga classes, then find yourself dropping your guard when it comes to your own Christian faith when you begin to read about expanding your soul, fountains of energy, and reading "God is in everyone." Yoga classes include short periods of meditation, sometimes incense burning, eastern music and New Age or Eastern religion readings. Sometimes you're given a mantra. If you're reading their material, you've taken the next step away from Jesus Christ. Yoga is a lure, but the postures are just the invitation into an entirely different belief system. Here is an example of some of those beliefs that are incorporated into the poses.

Lotus Pose, in Hindu the Lotus is the thousand fold petals of the soul.

Namaste means the divine spark located in the heart center, so you are bowing to the "god" in each of us. As one yoga teacher states in the Yoga Journal:

Ideally, Namaste should be done both at the beginning and at the end of class. Usually, it is done at the end of class because the mind is less active and the energy in the room is more peaceful. The teacher initiates Namaste as a symbol of gratitude and respect toward her students and her own teachers and in return invites the students to connect with their lineage, thereby allowing the truth to flow—the truth that we are all one when we live from the heart.

Om means the cosmic sound of all of God

Chakra is the Sanskrit word for wheel, and these "wheels" were thought of as spinning vortexes of energy.

Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutation) is symbolic and has mythic overtones for worshiping the sun.

Yoga always teaches philosophy and "wisdom" with poses. Here is one such wisdom taught, this is from a popular yoga magazine:

Step by Step. If you've been practicing yoga for a while, you're familiar with asana, pranayama, and meditation. But you might not know much about the first two steps of the path: the five yamas and five niyamas. These are the ethical precepts, or core values, of yoga as well as its starting place—meant to be practiced before you do your very first Sun Salutation. They provide a recipe for living in the world with ease. Yoga Journal

Now, watch the "onion unfolds" as you start with postures and end at the "royal path."

Asana: A body position that will give you the control you need to sit in states of God communion.

Pranayama: Breath control, to teach you to become "breathless" so you will become one with God.

Yamas: Rule or Code of living, usually a strict way of life, including vegetarianism, abstinence from sex (even if married).

Niyama: set of behaviors codified as "the observances" in numerous scriptures including the Shandilya and Varuha Upanishads, Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Gorakshanatha, the Tirumantiram of Tirumular and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. All the above texts list ten Niyamas, with the exception of Patanjali's work, which lists only five. They comprise the "shall-do" in our dealings with the inner world, and Swami Vivekananda describes them as the second step of Raja yoga (Sanskrit: राज योग). (Wikipedia)

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a foundational text of Yoga.[1] It forms part of the corpus of Sutra literature dating to India's Mauryan period. In Indian philosophy

Raja Yoga: ("royal yoga", "royal union", also known as Classical Yoga) is concerned principally with the cultivation of the mind using meditation (dhyana) to further one's acquaintance with reality and finally achieve liberation.

This opinion has nothing to do with intolerance. This has to do with knowing what you're signing up for, where yoga originated, where it's going to take you, and if there is another form of exercise you can do that does not include a Hindu disciplines repackaged into something benign.

Are you worshiping the sun or the Son?

BASIC Steps to Godly Fitness: Strengthening Your Body and Soul in Christ

Biblical resources: 1 John 5:21

"Dear Children, keep yourself from Idols."

An idol is anything that substitutes for the true faith, anything that robs Christ of his full Deity. (Life Application Bible, NIV, Zondervan)