{"id":1562,"date":"2005-05-16T10:38:08","date_gmt":"2005-05-16T15:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=1562"},"modified":"2005-05-17T12:27:03","modified_gmt":"2005-05-17T17:27:03","slug":"possessed_by_yo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2005\/05\/16\/possessed_by_yo\/","title":{"rendered":"Possessed by yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><P><A href=\"http:\/\/www.uwec.edu\/greider\/WorldReligions\/Images\/yoga.christy.turlington.jpg\"><IMG alt=\"\" hspace=20 src=\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/DevilYoga.jpg\" align=right vspace=10 border=0><\/A>Does yoga cause demonic possession? That would explain the <EM>The Exorcist,&nbsp;<\/EM>which, little-known fact, features an obscure asana called the &#8216;spinning wheel.&#8217; Beware that <A href=\"http:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/tcw\/2005\/002\/14.40.html\">Hindoo voodoo<\/A> (thanks, <A href=\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/001561.html#comment10599\">RC<\/A>):<\/P>\n<BLOCKQUOTE>&#8220;&#8230; [yoga is] aimed at transforming human consciousness to experience the Hindu god, which is a false god.&#8221; &#8230; She also&#8230; instructed her students in astral projection, or &#8220;stepping outside&#8221; of the body, which Laurette says poses a serious spiritual danger. &#8220;If there&#8217;s nothing in your mind, you&#8217;re open to all kinds of deception&#8230; I wondered who&#8211;or what&#8211;came into my body when I &#8216;stepped out.&#8217; &#8220;<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>Next up: PraiseFu, drunken master style:<\/P>\n<BLOCKQUOTE>She&#8217;s developed a prominent presence on the Internet, largely due to her new exercise program, PraiseMoves, which she calls &#8220;a Christian alternative to yoga.&#8221;<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>My name is Laurette and I&#8217;m a recovering New Ager. This is like abstinence videos from the 1950s:<\/P>\n<BLOCKQUOTE>&#8230; her family never suspected this seemingly innocent exercise would open the door to a New Age lifestyle that would affect Laurette for the next 22 years&#8230; As an adult, Laurette immersed herself in every New Age and metaphysical practice she came across: chanting, crystals, tarot cards, psychics, channeling spirits.<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>Let The Eagle soar:<\/P>\n<BLOCKQUOTE>There&#8217;s &#8220;The Eagle&#8221; stretch, where the arms are pulled back to resemble a bird in flight. While students hold this stretch, Laurette reads Isaiah 40:31: &#8220;But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles&#8221;&#8230;<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n\n<p><P>Yes, let&#8217;s eliminate all New Age fuzzy-mindedness by concluding that the Holy Spirit is a gym teacher:<\/P>\n<BLOCKQUOTE>When investigating a Christian yoga class, be on the lookout for: \n<P><\/P>\n<P>Sanskrit language. Many words commonly used in yoga pay homage to Hindu deities&#8230;<\/P>\n<P>Feelings of discomfort&#8230; this may be the Holy Spirit&#8217;s way of letting you know the class isn&#8217;t for you.<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>Did you know that when Hindus say whazzup, they&#8217;re actually trying to convert you? \n<BLOCKQUOTE>&#8230; the word &#8220;namaste,&#8221; often said at the close of yoga classes, means, &#8220;I bow to the god within you.&#8221;<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>Oh dear, WWJD with his cool yoga pants?&nbsp;Nobody said salvation was easy, babe. \n<BLOCKQUOTE>It&#8217;s a hard decision for those who&#8217;ve invested many years and many dollars into the practice&#8230;. &#8216;But I&#8217;ve already paid for these yoga classes,&#8217; or &#8216;But I just bought these cool yoga pants and a yoga DVD&#8230;&#8217;<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>So, after learning a bad ripoff of a practice intertwined with religion, it took <EM>22 years<\/EM> for Laurette to figure out that the religion is Hinduism. That&#8217;s as good an indictment of New Age as I&#8217;ve ever heard:<\/P>\n<BLOCKQUOTE>&#8230; be on the lookout for&#8230; [m]etaphysical jargon. Phrases such as &#8220;breathing in positive energy and breathing out negative energy,&#8221; &#8220;focusing on the third eye,&#8221; and &#8220;getting in touch with the divinity within you&#8221; have New Age implications&#8230; After giving her life to God, <STRONG>Laurette&#8230; burned her New Age books&#8230;<\/STRONG><\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>You go, girl. In all seriousness, she gives one of the most lucid theological breakdowns I&#8217;ve ever heard:<\/P>\n<BLOCKQUOTE>&#8220;&#8230; if there&#8217;s no sin, then you don&#8217;t need a Savior.&#8221;<\/BLOCKQUOTE>\n<P>Stay back, succubus, with the yoga mat and tights! I&#8217;ve found my calling. Because when I think of the Old Testament, the first word that comes to mind is &#8216;flexible.&#8217;<\/P>\n<P>Anyhow, forget emptying your mind, beware emptying your wallet. Laurette is now selling what are essentially, uh, <A href=\"http:\/\/www.praisemoves.com\/\">yoga videos<\/A>. Having seen the light, I&#8217;m going to sell Hindu versions of these funky <A href=\"http:\/\/images.google.com\/images?q=menorah\">eight-armed candlesticks<\/A>.<\/P>\n<P>Previous posts: <A href=\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/001561.html\">1<\/A>, <A href=\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/001499.html\">2<\/A>, <A href=\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/001326.html\">3<\/A>, <A href=\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/000499.html\">4<\/A>, <A href=\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/archives\/001012.html\">5<\/A><\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does yoga cause demonic possession? That would explain the The Exorcist,&nbsp;which, little-known fact, features an obscure asana called the &#8216;spinning wheel.&#8217; Beware that Hindoo voodoo (thanks, RC): &#8220;&#8230; [yoga is] aimed at transforming human consciousness to experience the Hindu god, &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2005\/05\/16\/possessed_by_yo\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[25,1,14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1562\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}