Yoga
It only takes one minute to search online to see that yoga is a Hindu spiritual discipline. Many Christians have fallen for marketing messages that say that yoga is good for flexibility and beauty, and unknowingly bowed before idolatrous teachings and offended their Creator. Praise God that He will forgive us for posturing in honour of Hindu deities when we confess and repent.
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See Yoga is a dangerous spiritual discipline.
A prayer to repent of doing yoga
“Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for being the Source of life and the only One I bow down to.
Today, I want to repent for bowing down to Hindu idols through yoga. Just as I cannot separate basic spiritual disciplines, such as communion or the meditation of God’s Word, from my worship of You, oh God Almighty, I recognise that I cannot separate yoga from worshipping Hindu idols. Yoga is not just an exercise. Please forgive me for my ignorance and for participating in yoga. I confess that I find it hard to give up yoga completely, and this is already a sign that I am already under bondage to yoga spirits. My faithfulness and devotion to You have been compromised. Father, please help me as I pray!
2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God…
Joshua 1:8 ESV This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
The word, yoga, means to yoke (or connect) myself spiritually to the “Divine” worshipped in Hinduism. I confess I have yoked myself with ungodly spirits through yoga and bowed down to Satan as a result. Today, I repent of doing (name all types of yoga you have participated in e.g. Hatha, Ashtanga, Kundalini, Hot, Bikram, Vinyasa, Iyengar, Yin, Jivamukti etc.) yoga and cut spiritual ties with all spirits related to these forms of yoga in Jesus’ name.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 ESV Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
Father, I repent of doing all the yoga poses where I unknowingly honoured different Hindu gods and sages. I also cut spiritual ties with the spirits honoured through those poses, my yoga/fitness/physio instructors such as (name all the instructors you can remember), their yoga masters (name them if possible), as well as the yoga groups, communities and places I have been to, such as (name the studios, retreat centres, schools or other venues).
Deuteronomy 5:9-10 ESV You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Please forgive me for participating in meditation during yoga that sets my mind on my fleshly body and releases control over my mind to ungodly spiritual influences. I command all spirits that have an influence over me as a result to leave me in Jesus’ name, submit to Jesus and do not come back. From today onwards, I choose to set my mind only on the Holy Spirit so that I can receive Your life and peace.
Romans 8:5-7 ESV For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.
The Bible reminds me that at the name of Jesus everything must bow, not in the name of Hindu philosophy that is propagated by evil spirits.
Philippians 2:9-11 ESV Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Colossians 2:8 ESV See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Where I have said “namaste” and unknowing said that “the Spirit inside me bows to the spirits inside you”, I now repent to my Heavenly Father, God Almighty. I am sorry for grieving the Holy Spirit! In the name of Jesus, I also cut off all ungodly ties to other people I have greeted and the spirits operating in them. Father, I will be more careful how I use this body You have given me, and that includes my mouth.
Psalm 19:14 ESV Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Matthew 12:36 ESV I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Where I have chanted “Om”, the sound used to call upon the highest spiritual power in Hinduism, I now repent and cut off all spiritual ties with the spirits I had called upon. I also cut off all association with Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Devi, Mahesha and other Hindu deities and idols that are revered through the practice of yoga and Om.
Ephesians 4:30 ESV And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Where I have said, “I love yoga” or “I love doing yoga,” I repent in the name of Jesus Christ. I will love the Lord with all my heart, soul, strength and mind.
Luke 10:27 ESV And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
I also repent for encouraging other people to do yoga. Instead, I should have pointed them to the Source of all healing, health and eternal salvation, Jesus Christ. Please give me opportunities to lovingly show them the Truth that will set them free from spiritual blindness and bondage to Satan.
John 8:31-32 ESV So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Where I have “opened my chakras” and given the enemy a foothold in my body and soul, I now confess my mistake and ask the Holy Spirit to please cleanse me and close those entry points I opened to the enemy.
Revelation 3:19-21 ESV Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
In the name of Jesus, I command all spirits related to these practices, people and places to leave me and submit to Jesus and not to return to me. In particular, I command the Kundalini spirit to leave me in the powerful name of Jesus. I send you to the feet of Jesus and command you not to return.
Father, where I have sought an alternative higher way, truth or life outside of Jesus, I repent, please forgive me.
John 14:6 ESV Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Father, I repent of touching unclean objects and books used in yoga. I will destroy all my yoga mats, props, towels, clothes, books, and gifts, and cut ties with the yoga brands, retreat centres or schools I admired such as (please name them) in the name of Jesus.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 ESV … For we are the temple of the living God, as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
I confess I have fallen for a great deception and grieved the Holy Spirit through my ignorance. Satan is the father of lies and he has deceived many people into prostrating before many idols, with the seductive promise of beauty, health, and flexibility. I went to unholy sources for blessings. All my blessings are from You alone, Father.
John 8:42-45 ESV Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
I confess that I listened to people and marketing campaigns more than I have sought Your opinion, Father. In the process, I subconsciously came to believe I could do yoga without offending You. Please forgive me for my hardened heart and exchange my heart of stone for a heart of flesh. Please wash my conscience, my thoughts and my body clean. From today onwards, I want to walk only in Your statutes and ways. Please renew me and teach me.
Ezekiel 36:22-23,25-27 ESV …Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Today I entrust my body, Your holy temple, back to You to cleanse, renew and restore. Please heal me of my spiritual and physical afflictions and make me new again. (If possible, do consider taking communion to honour the death of Jesus and thank Him for the forgiveness of our sins.)
Father, thank you for Your great love, patience, and mercy, and for forgiving me for my sin of bowing down to idols and false teachings. Thank you for being faithful to me even when I have been faithless towards You. I ask that the curses from yoga to please not pass down to my future generations.
2 Timothy 2:11-13 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
Please show me what else I need to confess and repent in Jesus’ name, as I am still and wait upon You, Holy Spirit. I praise You, Father, for Your great love! Thank you for Jesus, to Him alone will I bow.
Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”
In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.“
For more, see Meditation can corrupt.