Birthlight Forums

Hi

I've just been refused hire of a church hall because of "the conflict between yoga & christian values". I was offered the chance to "appeal" but struggled to find the words as I was shocked about the messages I was getting. IHaving 'Googled' yoga & christianity, there seem to be plenty of articles suggesting that yoga & christianity are incompatible. I wondered if anyone else had had a similar experience or could offer any advice!

 Victoria

Hi Emma,

 This attitude is surprisingly common as there are many people out there who are not knowledgeable about yoga. This is why there are lots of classes run in church halls that are called stretch and tone or something similar so as to get round the problem.

Don't let this discourage you. I am sure you can find a solution

Bye for now

Chris XX

Dear all,

Just happened to see this message come through.  In the spirit of learning and open communication, I thought I'd put these questions out there.

As a Christian I have heard of the conflict between yoga and Christianity.  But not being as familiar with yoga, I am curious as to the spirituality of yoga.  I have done a little reading on this but am more curious as to what it is like in practice for you all? 

 Is there a spiritual side to yoga for you?

 If so, what is its source?

How does the spiritual side play out in your classes?

Cheers,
Jeff
Birthlight webmaster
support@birthlight.com

Hi Jeff

Thanks so much for putting some great questions out there - I'm intrigued to see what the responses will be & am thinking about my own reponses to those questions.

 Victoria

Hi

earlier this afternoon I wrote quite a lengthy post in response to this. As usual with my postings on this site it has gone into cyber space somewhere!

Never mind.  in response to your questions----And I hope this finds its way to the forum

Yoga is a personal experience for each individual

by it's nature yoga brings the body and mind closer togeather, awakening a deeper understanding of self.

Inturn this will bring an awareness about individual belief, faith, trust in their higher power.

My personal journey and al thanks to practicing yoga, has brought me back to my christian faith and to a very strong relationship with God (my higher power)

This is totally personal, is never discussed at any level in any of my classes or birthlight trainings.

yoga being non judgemental opens it's doors to everyone.  All classes are open to everyone who wishes to attend.

In N. Ireland cross community work is extremely important (same everywhere, but we have many many bridges to build).  What better way of helping bring peace and tranquility to communities across the world, than by offering a peaceful, non violant, non judgemental class especially to the infants in their formative years.--  The most important learning years in everyones life.

liz x

chek this out......

http://www.praisemoves.com

check this out......

http://www.praisemoves.com

This question was going to appear on the Forum sooner or later as many of us have faced it either when hiring Christian venues or in our practice.  Liz is right in saying that spirituality is not mentioned in Birthlight classes or training beyond the simple universal moral principles of full respect for fellow human beings (in Christian terms, treat others as you would like to be treated and forgive offenders), non-violence (do not harm fellow creatures, not even going as far as offering the other cheek), and compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves.  The Christian teachings that those who have faith, if they lack 'charity' (compassionate love and care), cannot enter the realm of God have remained ingrained in me since childhood.  So in terms of morality, the yama and niyama practical rules of Yoga have a lot in common with all the world religions and particularly with Christianity and Buddhism.  Personally I am quite spiritually minded and I have read a lot about this: I would recommend the writings of Yogananda, the letters of Aurobindo, the beautiful little book of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi entitled 'love and God'.  My father was a friend of Andre Van Lisbeth and together they found answers to the French and Belgian Catholics who questioned the possible contradictions between Yoga and Christianity.  The most difficult point of contention is the assertion in yoga that the body is God's temple, with the extrapolation that by purifying and refining our physical consciousness we can become Godlike, partake in God in the sense of universal knowing/loving force.  In Christianity, in spite of a lot of Jesus's teachings being quite close to this idea, there is also the belief that the flesh and the soul are more divided, that we need to mediate our prayers through the Church, that the Holy Trinity needs to be respected as such, as part of the dogma of Christian faith.  Within Christianity there is a wide range of dogma and interpretation of fundamental dogma but perhaps the attitude to the body as a temple is the greatest source of misunderstandings about yoga among Christians who reject it.  A lot of yoga practitioners I know, as Liz say, have been drawn back to their personal faiths through yoga.  For me, this is certainly a beauty of yoga, that it enhances spirituality in whichever religious expression one has been brought up in or chosen.  Birthlight, on the basis of the name itself, refers to spirituality, the light of birth, but my teachers' message has always been that practice will lead the practitioner to spiritual pursuits better than any preaching.  Moreover I think that this is a very personal matter, to be respected among all of us teachers and the people who attend our classes.  The idea is to remain 'light' and open about it, and accept that there are people out there who are prejudiced until they find out for themselves about yoga.

Francoise. 

hi

I have just had a look at praise moves and read why the alternative.  wow I can not help but get the feeling this lady carries a lot of anger.  However I am not here to be judgemental.  she is quite entitled to her believes.  My story is quite the reverse to hers. as I said before I thank yoga for bringing me into a world of Christian faith.  i guess what I learn from all of this, as in everything in life it is differant for each individual.  (It being whatever you wish it to be yoga, christianity, or even just life!)  As I see it both yoga and the christian gospel ask us to live and let live, to treat others as ourselves etc etc.  There will always be differance of opinion where there is religion  is this not the base of all warfare?

I was sad to read the ens of this page and learn that the Norwegian prison had given up.  As in all self healing therapies/practices things need to get worse before they get better.  But this was a major example and would be very neccessary to have professional back up to work through the healing.  I pray for all concerned

Liz

Hi,

I have been recently looking around for a venue to start a Prenatal Yoga class (I am working towards my Diploma). One of the places I contacted was a church in Dundee. And, I was invited to the venue and was shown around different possible rooms I could use at that place. They were fine with having a yoga class there. However, after leaving the place, I wondered whether by having a class there I would be excluding mums-to-be from other religious backgrounds. How comfortable would a muslim woman feel about attending a yoga class at a church (especially when there are visible symbols)? So, I am looking for a place which has no religious association, so that I would not be, even potentially, excluding anyone.

Githa