I did some reading a few weeks ago on yoga. People from my former churches have been doing it for years and there are “Christian Yoga” teachers.
We have been assured that it is either “not spiritual” or “centered on Christ.” Right. Everything that I found talked about energy and respect. The motions were designed to transmit that energy through different portions of your body.
This afternoon a clip was posted of an interview between a Lutheran and a woman who had formerly been involved with transcendental meditation. Everything that she described reverberated with what I read about Yoga, from a serpent-like energy working its way up your spine to bad dreams (spiritual?) following years of use.
The most disturbing part of the interview was that the talk show host played a sermon clip from the associate pastor of a very well-known church, known as Mars Hill Bible Church (not to be confused with Mars Hill Church, which has its own fun). The clip is of him leading the congregation into transcendental meditation.
If you can spare an hour, I would recommend listening to the interview: