Should Christians Practice Yoga?

I recently read an article that posed this question, answering it with a derogatory assessment of our tendency as a culture to assimilate the parts chosen among the plethora of options available from the pantheon of world religions to form a homogenized, shallow version of spirituality. I agree with the overall assessment of how superficial and inadequate this post-modern tendency is in comparison to real faith and how counter-productive it can be to fostering real faith. However, I do not agree the traditions themselves, like yoga, should be summarily rejected based on the context they came from or how they may be misused. Veracity of truth should be evaluated by objective, universal evaluation of the claim or practice itself, not by the way it is culturally misunderstood or wrongfully applied.1

When the body is tense and the mind is cluttered, yoga is one of many relaxation techniques that can help to focus on fellowship with God and the transformation of the mind by the truth that allows the discernment of his good and perfect will. (Rom. 12:2) As such, I find the discipline to be beneficial to my Christian faith. How can that be true if it is a discipline formed in a pagan tradition? The answer is the beliefs of pagans are not all untrue.

C. S. Lewis warns in Mere Christianity that truth evident in other religions does not become untrue simply because it is couched among great untruths. Among Christians or pagans, the sun is still the sun no matter on whom it is shining or how it is observed. Therefore, I do not see why an effective discipline developed for inspiring pagan meditation cannot be used by Christians to beneficially inspire meditating on God and his word, especially since the original context is a farce.

However, I do see potential for problems among the spiritually immature that might be susceptible to being led into the intended pagan practice. While good for some, yoga is not good for everyone, just as drinking alcohol and eating sweets is not good for everyone who cannot enjoy these blessings in moderation. For the sake of conscience then, we who find it beneficial should be careful as to whom we recommend it and where we practice it. Likewise, for those to whom it is a temptation, they should avoid it while also being careful not to impose their prohibition on others lest they be guilty of calling what is good, evil. We should all strive to ensure that all we do and say be for the glory of God alone.

1 http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100921/the-subtle-body-should-christians- practice-yoga/index.html
2 (1 Cor. 8:4-13), (1 Cor. 9:20-24), (1 Cor. 10:19-33), (Isa. 5:20)