Is Yoga Controversial?

Yoga has been accused of many things like being called a religion, dangerous, fake, not for women, just for fit people, all about sex, all about going off to live in a cave, developing magical powers, astral traveling, worshipping symbols and statues…. I could go on.

I suppose the most fearful concerns are connected with the chanting and use of Sanskrit names which some think makes it Hinduism. It’s not.

As explained in an earlier blog entry (see The Om of Yoga), Sanskrit is a sacred language that has been around longer than Hinduism.

Yoga is not a religion. It’s a practice.

Christians practice yoga. Jews practice yoga. Sufis practice yoga. Rastafarians practice yoga. Hindus practice yoga. Yoruba priestesses practice yoga. Wiccans practice yoga. Agnostics practice yoga. Buddhists practice yoga. Roman Catholics practice yoga. Atheists practice yoga.

And that’s just the short-list based on people I know who practice yoga!