Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research (ajmr)

Other Religions and Faith towards Yoga 

Christianity 

Certain Christians combine physical elements of yoga devoid of Hinduism's spiritual foundations 

and other facets of Eastern mysticism with prayer, meditation, and Jesus-centered affirmations. 

 Additionally,  the  practise  involves  renaming  postures  in  English  (rather  than  utilising  the 

original Sanskrit names) and discarding complex Hindu chants as well as the Yoga philosophy; 

Yoga is linked with and reframed within Christianity.  This has resulted in accusations of cultural 

appropriation  from  different  Hindu  groups;  academics,  however,  remain  dubious.    The  Roman 

Catholic Church and a number of other Christian groups have previously voiced reservations and 

opposition to some eastern and New Age activities, including yoga and meditation.  

The  Vatican  published  two  papers  in  1989  and  2003,  Aspects  of  Christian  meditation  and  "A 

Christian  perspective  on  the  New  Age,"  both  of  which  were  mostly  dismissive  of  eastern  and 

New Age activities. The Vatican released the 2003 paper as a 90-page guidebook outlining the 

Vatican's  stance.    The  Vatican  cautioned  that  focusing  only  on  the  physical  elements  of 

meditation  "may  devolve  into  a  body  cult"  and  that  associating  physiological  experiences  with 

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ISSN: 2278-4853         Vol 10, Issue 9, September, 2021        Impact Factor: SJIF 2021 = 7.699