Real Life Struggles: Is Yoga a Religion, Cozy Yoga Life Ep 17

Is yoga a religion? Many yoga teachers encounter students who worry that yoga conflicts with their faith. In this episode, I share common misconceptions about yoga and religion, including:

🔹 Is yoga Hinduism or a religious practice?
🔹 Does chanting “Om” or meditating contradict faith-based beliefs?
🔹 How can yoga teachers address student concerns with empathy and inclusivity?
🔹 How to make your yoga classes accessible to all belief systems?

As a yoga teacher, you may have students who are hesitant about yoga due to their religious background. This episode will help you confidently navigate those conversations while keeping your classes welcoming and respectful.

#YogaAndFaith #YogaTeachers #IsYogaAReligion #TeachingYoga #InclusiveYoga #ChristianYoga #FaithAndYoga #YogaMisconceptions

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Transcript

0:06

You're listening to Cozy Yoga Life, the podcast for yoga teachers who crave more from their practice and lives. I'm Shannon Caldwell and I'll be your guide on this journey of simplicity, self care and self discovery. So let's cozy up, unwind, and dive into today's episode. Welcome back Cozy Crew to another episode in Season 2 of The Real Life Struggles of Yoga Teachers. I'm going to be honest, I debated for several weeks whether or not to do an episode on this particular topic because it can oftentimes lead to a heated discussion. My intent, however, with the Cozy Yoga Life podcast is to inform you with my knowledge, share my experiences, and let you know that you're not alone on this journey of being a yoga teacher. We all come against challenging teaching moments and if some of my experiences help you through one of your challenging moments, then I consider that a success. So in today's episode, I'm going to do my best to navigate and balance the topic of religion, faith, fear, and most importantly, misconceptions. I live in Texas, in a predominantly conservative Christian region, so I'm sure you can imagine some of the questions that I have fielded in regards to yoga and religion. These questions have come from students who have come to my studio. They've come from potential, potential teachers who are interested in teaching yoga, and they have come from complete strangers off the street who want to ask me questions when they learn that I practice and teach yoga. Here are some of the comments and questions that I have received over the years about yoga and religion. Is yoga a religion? Is yoga a part of Hinduism, a part of Buddhism, or a part of any other kind of religion? Don't you worship gods and other deities when you practice yoga? Do you believe in reincarnation? Isn't yoga practicing the occult? Isn't yoga demonic? Isn't yoga new age? Aren't you afraid of emptying out your mind and letting demons in? Meditation breaks the ethereal web and allows in demons and negative thoughts. Christians shouldn't practice yoga. It goes against our belief. What do you think about a certain Christian leader who has said X, Y, and Z about yoga. While the questions may vary, they all stem from the same concern. Will yoga lead faithful servants away from their religion or their beliefs? All valid concerns. I believe a lot of the concerns come from the fact that yoga has been shrouded in mystery and mysticism for thousands of years. It's only really been in the last 50 to 70 years that we are truly learning more about yoga, its benefits, its history, its philosophical roots. And that's because those who learned and were practicing yoga were finally able to travel and spread the word across the world. It's human nature that when we don't understand something, we tend to fear it. We tend to be afraid that it may cause us harm. So we'll label it, we'll push it aside, we'll make it so that other people won't be harmed by it either. However, what I find discouraging is that usually the people who are yelling the loudest about how harmful something is are the same people who don't put in any effort to learn more or to understand what it is that they're yelling against. They simply regurgitate and perpetuate what somebody else has said negatively about the topic, and in this regard, that's yoga. I think that it's important to emphasize that yoga is a spiritual practice. However, it's not a religious one. Yes, yoga originated in India. Yes, many of the postures that you practice and the names associated with those postures are associated with Hindu deities. However, when you study the historical and philosophical roots of yoga, you find that at its core, yoga is a personal practice and a path to self awareness. Even better, it's flexible and adaptable to whatever belief system you possess. Since yoga originated in India, there is a lot of Indian culture such as Sanskrit and chanting and meditation that are, that is intertwined with yoga. However, a lot of yoga's modern practices focus in on the physical and the mental benefits that you can derive from practicing yoga. You're going to hear me say that word again and again throughout this episode, practice. Yoga is a practice of well being, mindfulness, and self awareness, and it is a practice that is growing worldwide for relaxation, stress reduction, and health benefits. And if you look at some of the individual practices within the bigger one of yoga, like chanting, or when we do mantras, or when a class chants Aum together, those are all tools that we use to create mental focus, to bring us into the present moment, into to the here and now. The same can be said for meditation. Viewing it as a tool. Meditation isn't demonic. It's something that we do to regulate our nervous system, to reduce stress, to calm anxiety, and to bring us into the present moment and have more focus, be more productive. And with regard to the concern of yoga being new age, I find it ironic that yoga is lumped into that when yoga predates the new age movement by thousands of years. As I mentioned earlier, yoga is becoming a worldwide practice. And with that, you're seeing many Christians and people of all different kinds of faith integrating the yoga practices into their spiritual beliefs. Yes, you can approach yoga from strictly a physical and mental type of practice, but I can tell you through my own personal experience and for many teachers who've gone through training with me, we have all shared about how our practice in yoga helped to strengthen our spiritual beliefs and to deepen our connection to God. I grew up going to church regularly. As a child, I attended a denomination that leaned to way more conservative views. When I got to college, I drifted away from going to church. At the time, being young and in college, I wasn't sure what I was looking for. I just knew that where I was going wasn't working for me. It wasn't until I got into yoga that I was interested in pursuing that path again, interested in pursuing that connection with the higher power. So how would you go about addressing a student's concern when it comes to is yoga religion? Will yoga go against my faith? I can tell you that how I answer this question now differs from how I answered it 20 years ago. Whether answering the question then or answering the question now, I always approached it with respect. Respecting the individual's concerns. Making sure that I addressed it without offering an opinion. I always tried to be empathetic and usually Led with one of the following, emphasizing that yoga is a practice and not a religion that we do this for personal growth and awareness with the key word being personal, meaning that you can be exposed to all these different tools and practices within yoga. You take what works for you and you leave the rest behind. If an individual is not comfortable with certain aspects of yoga, then for sure, they are welcome to not participate, to not adopt or adapt that into their own personal beliefs. Adhering to any particular style of spirituality or religion, that's, that's not required to practice yoga. One thing I've always strived for when I am teaching and training is to provide the why. Why is an individual doing this? Why are we practicing this deep breathing? What benefit is happening because I'm practicing this quiet stillness or meditation? Thankfully, 20 years later, there's so much more scientific research that I can use to help inform people about yoga. Here are studies on yoga and stress reduction. Here is a study on yoga and Here's another research on yoga and improving strength and flexibility. So use those to your benefit. Help overcome people's skepticism with facts. One thing I've always tried to do when a person comes to me with this type of question is to acknowledge and respect where they are without arguing. However, you may come across somebody who all they want to do is argue. They want to debate with you until you agree that they're right. You don't have to do that. That is a great opening for you to let them know, Hey, I, again, respect where you're coming from, and based on how you believe, my classes, my teaching, just is probably not going to be the right fit for you. And then remove yourself from the conversation. Another solution that yoga teachers and yoga studios have adopted to address concerns regarding religion and yoga is they will strip away yoga classes. If chanting and mantras and OM and the Sanskrit terminology in the Sanskrit names of postures, if that makes students and members uncomfortable, many yoga studios will offer alternatives. And I did the same thing when I first started and had my first studio. Yoga was not popular. People walked in the door like, what is this? I don't know what yoga is. And I would go through and I would explain it. And I would offer the English alternatives to the postures. I rarely used Sanskrit. Looking back, I feel like that can be a slippery slope where we strip so much of yoga's origins and history and philosophy that we move into the realm of misappropriation. So just food for thought, if you are looking to modify the language that you use during your yoga classes. I truly believe that there is a practice of yoga out there that everyone can practice. I encourage you to try out all the different tools and find the ones that really work for you, that you can adopt and bring into your life. And it doesn't have to be affiliated with anything spiritual. And a lot of times, if you are someone who is struggling with your faith, struggling with your spiritual beliefs, yoga can help you find your way to the right path for you. I've seen that happen again and again with people. The people who I've seen have the most success with a yoga practice are those who approach yoga with an open mind. They're willing to listen, willing to learn, and willing to have an open and honest discussion about what yoga is and isn't. It's your turn, listeners. I would love to know if you are teaching yoga, have you been asked the question, is yoga a religion? Drop it in the comments and let me know. And until next time, stay cozy crew.. That wraps another soul nourishing episode of Cozy Yoga Life. As always, thank you for letting me be a part of your yoga journey. If you enjoyed today's authentic conversation, please subscribe, rate, and leave a review. Until next time, stay cozy, take care of yourself, and keep it real.