and i will soar on wings like eagles everyday of my life...Wednesday, May. 18, 2005
-yoga..-
Something interesting to
>ponder upon especially since I know of some ladies who do yoga.
>
>----------------- Yoga led Laurette Willis into a New Age lifestyle. Now
>she's warning others of the spiritual pitfalls.
>
>Taken from www.ChristianityToday.com
>
>
>
>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.
>
>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."
>
>But in Laurette's quest to find herself, she only found a deepening sense
>of loneliness. "God will use whatever it takes to bring you to your knees,"
>she says. "I'd made a mess of my life. I was an alcoholic. I'd been
>promiscuous. I tried every form of religion, never coming to any knowledge
>of the truth."
>
>One day in 1987, a thought popped into Laurette's head: What if everything
>I thought about God was completely wrong? Two days later, she fell to her
>knees. "I didn't know anything about the Bible or Jesus. I just cried out
>to God from the depths of my soul, 'I give up! You win! If you can do
>something with my life, you can have it.' "As Laurette asked God to take
>control of her life, she felt a physical weight lift from her body.
>
>"I learned much later that the weight was sin," she says. "I hadn't
>realized sin was real. New Agers think the word 'sin' is an acronym for
>'self-inflicted nonsense.' That's the deception of the Enemy, because if
>there's no sin, then you don't need a Savior."
>
>She remembers the change at the moment she accepted Christ: "I felt peace
>descend upon me for the first time in my life." After giving her life to
>God, Laurette began devouring the Bible. She burned her New Age books and
>disengaged from everything associated with her turbulent past-including
>yoga.
>
>The Problem with Yoga:
>
>The physical benefits for which yoga is often touted: improved flexibility,
>weight loss, reduced stress, and improved circulation, to name a few.
>
>The goal of all yoga, Laurette explains, is to obtain oneness with the
>universe. That's also known as the process of enlightenment, or union with
>Brahman (Hinduism's highest god). The word "yoga" means "union" or "to
>yoke."
>
>"Yoga wants to get students to the point of complete numbness in their
>minds. God, on the other hand, wants you to be transformed by the renewing
>of your mind through his Word," Laurette says.
>
>Before she became a Christian, Laurette used subliminal tapes to train her
>mind to empty itself. These tapes are often used in yoga classes, she says.
>She also taught yoga classes and instructed her students in astral
>projection, or "stepping outside" of the body, which Laurette says poses a
>serious spiritual danger.
>
>"If there's nothing in your mind, you're open to all kinds of deception.
>After coming to Christ, I wondered who-or what-came into my body when I
>'stepped out.' While I don't believe Christians can become possessed, I do
>believe we can become oppressed by demonic spirits of fear, depression,
>lust, false religion, etc. These are all things designed to draw us away
>from Jesus Christ."
>
>But what about hatha yoga, the less overtly spiritual form of yoga taught
>at most gyms? Even in this format, Laurette says there are commonly used
>words and poses antithetical to God's Word. For example, the word
>"namaste," often said at the close of yoga classes, means, "I bow to the
>god within you." The sound "om," chanted in many yoga classes, is meant to
>bring students into a trance so they can join with the universal mind. And
>the "salute to the sun" posture, used at the beginning of most classes,
>pays homage to the Hindu sun god. Laurette believes it's impossible to
>extract Hindu spiritualism from yoga-and she's gotten a bit of confirmation
>on this from an unlikely source:
>
>"I received an e-mail from a staff member of the Classical Yoga Hindu
>Academy in New Jersey. The staff member wrote, 'Yes, all of yoga is
>Hinduism. Everyone should be aware of this fact.' This staff member
>included that she didn't appreciate my 'running down the great Hindu/Yogic
>religion,'" Laurette says.
>
>Her statements about yoga have also drawn criticism from some Christians.
>Some accuse Laurette of being judgmental. Others say her fears about yoga
>are irrational. She doesn't back down from her stance on yoga. When she
>speaks with Christians who practice yoga, she encourages them to pay close
>attention to any hesitation they feel-and then to check out the facts for
>themselves.
>
>Numerous Christian women have told Laurette they decided to quit yoga after
>learning about its Hindu roots.
>
>It's a hard decision for those who've invested many years and many dollars
>into the practice.
>
>Laurette says, "I tell people that if their reasoning is, 'But I've already
>paid for these yoga classes,' or 'But I just bought these cool yoga pants
>and a yoga DVD,' to ask themselves: Am I willing to give these things up to
>know the truth?"
>
>Proceed with Caution:
>
>There's a new practice popping up at churches and fitness clubs around the
>country. Dubbed "Christian yoga" or "yoga for Christians," these programs
>supposedly offer the physical benefits of yoga along with Christian
>spirituality. But is it really possible for yoga to be transformed into a
>practice for Christians?
>
>Doug Groothuis, author of Confronting the New Age and a professor of
>philosophy at Denver Seminary, says proponents of
>
>"Christian yoga" are misled-and are misleading others.
>
>Christian yoga' is an oxymoron.
>
>Yoga is rooted in Hinduism and cannot be separated from it," he says.
>
>"There's nothing wrong with stretching and calming down one's breathing.
>But yoga isn't really about that; it's aimed at transforming human
>consciousness to experience the Hindu god, which is a false god."
>
>TCW found several "Christian yoga" instructors who are affiliated with
>secular yoga organizations that have a Hindu or New Age bent.
>
>When investigating a Christian yoga class, be on the lookout for:
>
>Sanskrit language. Many words commonly used in yoga pay homage to Hindu
>deities.
>
>Metaphysical jargon. Phrases such as "breathing in positive energy and
>breathing out negative energy," "focusing on the third eye," and "getting
>in touch with the divinity within you" have New Age implications.
>
>Projection. Beware being told to empty your mind or to step outside your
>body.
>
>Feelings of discomfort. Pay attention to those feelings. Even if you can't
>pinpoint why you're uncomfortable, this may be the Holy Spirit's way of
>letting you know the class isn't for you. -H.V.R.
be still... 2:21 p.m.
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