Yoga done purely for exercise purposes: good or evil?

I don't believe in the Hindu religion. I don't believe in chakras and I don't plan on doing any sort of meditations or prayers while doing Yoga. I don't believe that standing in a certain way would allow demons to posess me.

But there are people who say that Yoga is automatically worship of the Hindu gods and that if I practce it I will lose my faith.

*sigh* What do you think?

If you climb a tree, does that make you a squirrel?

Most people that will say that to you are either too weak to try or they fear what they do not know. Poisoned by their blind faith.
Yoga is a form of exercise to keep your body supple and your mind focused to whatever you do in life.
It is an exercise to find the real you inside and will prepare you with agility and wisdom to fight your own demon.
Do not be afraid if someone is telling you that it is a work of the devil, the devil is everywhere even in the very midst of the people who say those things to you. Most of the time actually, it is the devil that will prevent you from finding out your own self.
Yoga is just one of the ways to search and find reality from the truth which the devil is afraid you may find.
Since you said you do not believe in it, do not do it if you are just curious because your prejudices will always prevail.

Yoga is a wonderful practice and can very easily be done without any spiritual aspect or worship. Yoga can be used for stretching and strengthening as well as relaxation. The physical and mental benefits behind Yoga are countless!

Go to a book store and pick up a book on Yoga, one that explains breathing and postures as opposed to the spiritual aspect. There are many good books out there, as well as videos...

Well, I'm an agnostic, and I appreciate how yoga centers me. As exercise, as meditation, what can be wrong with it? I've been to several different yoga studios, and there's no worshiping of deities. Meditation is just a way of relaxing, releasing tension, and concentrating on YOU.

"Namaste," by the way, just means that the highest in you reaches out to the highest in someone else--I don't see any religious connotations there.

My Jewish neurologist is very big on Yoga, and he's still a practicing Conservative Jew. He told me the meditation aspect of yoga has the same effect on blood flow in the brain as does prayer, so he offers silent prayers during meditation.

He also recommends it to his migraine patients.

I have many Christian friends who take yoga classes. I've never heard of it affecting one's faith.

Good question above about climbing a tree. I have an uncle fond of saying "If you walk through a barn, does that make you a horse?"

I think they are uninformed and fear mongering with that kind of response, honestly.

Avoid Kundalini yoga as it does focus on the chakras and leans more toward the spiritual origins of yoga.

I attended some yoga classes for a few weeks and never were any gods mentioned or even the chakras (and if they are, you can just ignore it if you choose not to believe in it, that's the beauty of our freedom).

Yoga is an excellent exercise that promotes strength, flexibility and stamina like no other. It gets oxygen to parts of the body that usually get minimal, and it makes your whole body healthy. I'm noticing that even my fingers and toes are stronger, in addition to the rest of my body, from doing yoga only a couple of hours a week!

Treat it as an exercise. It's not what other people say, it's what you choose to think and believe while you practice. Many people don't realize that a LOT of the stretches you are taught in gym or that athletes do originated from yoga. It's just a smart thing to do for your body, you can leave the religion out of it. Think for yourself, and don't let the opinion of others steer you away from something you know is good and right, just because they are not informed or they are afraid.

Good luck!

I think that we ought to be patient with those souls, speak kindly to them, and not make any sudden movements or loud noises around them.

The meditations in yoga, if they are anything like martial arts meditations, are more for calming your mind and helping your mind and body function at their best. If you find a meditation that is disturbing or whatever, just find a different one.

There is just one target of traditional yoga (bihar school) - to stop mental noise of your thoughts. When your brain keeps silence - your organism's parasimpatic system take the chance to automatically tune...let's say to mother-nature 8) No hinduism gods, demons, mantras and all that sh*t. I'd say yoga is quite pragmatic and useful.

Yoga comes from God, that is why Krishna is called "Yogesvara", the master of the yoga system. The word yoga means connecting or linking with that original source. Yoga is the Sanskrit word meaning "connection. The word yoga is very popular in the West, but is been used as bodily exercise .
What faith are you talking about? Faith in Jesus? There is no difference between the father and son. Don't worry unnecessary.

Oops....I've been a Christian doing yoga for years ; ) and I did the breathing exercises!

I really don't think I lost faith in Jesus by exhaling as I stood on my toes. Catholic Christians believe in meditative prayer, so you could easily incorporate that into your yoga if you wanted to, but I can't imagine that you could accidentally worship a Hindu God.

Good. The stretches helped a lot with my back. But I would look for a class that only teaches the exercises and not the philosophy.
Similarly, I take Karate with the United Studios of Self Defense, an American organization which does not teach of philosophy of the Buddhist monks who invented the art.

I did Yoga while I was pregnant with my first son. I still occasionally join a class if I'm feeling very stressed. I've never considered myself to be worshiping any deity in any way while doing the poses. I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

Yoga is absolutely good, I don't see any reason why it would even test your faith, not that that is a bad thing. Meditating isn't worshipping another god its a form of peaceful thought, use it to think about yourself and your god.

Yoga is very good for increasing your flexibility and strength. It's a great workout that will help reduce injuries. You don't need to explore the chanting, meditation and cosmic stuff if you don't want to.

Enjoy your dobily exerzie don't live in fear. i do the same stuff whether it's martial arts or yoga. Just enjoy. It's better than being out of shape

exercise is good for your body. If you end up having a problem with some demons, tell them Jesus said they had to leave, and if they don't go, his dad's gonna beat up their dad.

There is nothing at all wrong with meditation or yoga. Neither of them require you to believe in any Gods at all. Fear mongering is how the Christian religion keeps its adherents.

I don't like Yoga because I can't stay calm.

I like to shout, talk, jump around. I can't really stay calm but it's not bad.

You can follow your own faith and still you can do Yoga. Yoga tuns both body and mind. Even you can follow your own faith better if you do Yoga.

Yoga is a good workout. If a good workout is ungodly, then your god kinda sucks.

Yoga is good for your body. It is far from evil.

It might be evil:)lol

Wouldn't be much different than secular Christmas. Go for it, you're just stretching your body.

I do think. Therefore it's a non issue. Why don't you use thinking and figure it out yourself.