Clearly Yoga is a very dangerous practice... at least, if you're a Fundamentalist or a conservative Christian. If you are a member of such a church, it's probably best for you to stay away from Yoga altogether. Here is how the situation might be explained by Yogic philosophy:

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If Yoga is causing spiritual turmoil in someone's mind, it is causing violence to his or her religious beliefs, and Ahisma proposes non-violence. It can lessen devotion (Ishvara-Pranidhana) and can turn it into something murky and undefined. Under these circumstances it is impossible for many conservative Christian believers to be pure (Shauca). See? If Yoga contradicts your religious beliefs, even Yoga itself advises against practice! Those who are seriously concerned about the religious implications behind Yoga should gain flexibility and ease stress through other physical practices - Pilates, maybe, or just plain old, athletic stretching. And pray.

But what about the rest of us who have no such conflicts and who enjoy Yoga unfettered by religious dogma? There's a lesson here for us, too. Yoga is not for everyone and we should suspend judgment. For those who have certain religious beliefs, Yoga can be very damaging to the psyche and we should respect that. These people don't want to hear that Jesus Christ was "a great Yogi" any more than we may want to hear that unless we accept Christ as our Lord we will go to Hell. Certainly you can be Christian - or any other religion - and practice Yoga. The practice of Yoga embraces all religions; not all religions, however, embrace Yoga. As a result there are bound to be conflicts now and again. Usually the way of tolerance will win, but sometimes it won't. Truth is the only real religion, and that requires a higher level of consciousness than 99.9 percent of us have. The only answer is to use your heart as your starting point, and to forge your path from there.

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