13 Comments »

1. Lisa:
   January 24th, 2007 @ 10:04 am

   To Rob: Very interesting that although you claim to be Christian you probably go to church on “Sun”day. If so, this is terribly pagan of you. Of, course, I might be presumptuous here. Maybe you are a Quaker and use the term First Day, in which case I apologize.

2. Olga:
   January 24th, 2007 @ 11:19 am

   I love my yoga routine! It’s never boring like running on a treadmill or overly exertive like lifting weights. It’s just a type of physical excercise that I enjoy the most. While it’s true that Yoga as a means of spiritual attainment is central to Hinduism, in the West it has evolved into numerous subdivisions and variations as forms of purely physical exercise. I can’t believe Rob failed to notice such crucial difference.

   I am laughing inside imagining how I assume a “Downward Facing Dog” pose and Vishnu suddenly appears, or how my my “Single-Legged Pigeon” pleases Krishna. What’s next? Meditation? Close your eyes, take a deep breath, clear your mind while listening to noise of nature or ocean waves crashing into a beach – yep, I just opened the door for demonic activity! And God forbid Asian martial arts – there’s a clear conflict between the believe in self-protection and Christ’s teaching “to turn the other cheek.”

   As I put my palms together in “Prayer” position to start my yoga “Sun Salutation” sequence, I can’t help wondering if Catholics really believe they were first who came up with this gesture?

3. Allison:
   January 24th, 2007 @ 11:59 am

   Giggle.

   Really, just GIGGLE.

   Rob, you are obtuse.

4. Terra:
   January 24th, 2007 @ 4:09 pm

   Noell,

   Love your response-especially the last sentence.

   Also, I”m assuming you’ve seen this already, but my bf sent me this post yesterday and I thought of you.
   http://possummomma.blogspot.com/2007/01/possum-1-makes-us-proud.html
   If you’re ever questioning the way you raise your children (not that you should!) read this essay and know that you’re doing your children a wonderful service by letting them find their own spiritual path.

5. Ei:
   January 25th, 2007 @ 9:07 am

   Actually, from what I understand, yoga was developed in the Hindu faith as a form of exercise to keep the body limber enough to be able to tolerate long hours of meditation. It would be the meditation, not the yoga, that would be the spiritual practice.

   I really enjoy your blog, AgnosticMom!

6. should be quiet instead:
   January 25th, 2007 @ 10:55 pm

   You should all realize that every time you drink water you are worshiping Poseidon, and every time you throw something away you are making a sacrifice to Oscar the Grouch!

   Losers!
   And you call yourselves ‘agnostic’.
   Humph, worthless, the lot of you.

   Now I’ll go and pretend a saltine becomes a dead triumvirate man/god’s flesh when a potential (in that its statistically significant) child molestor puts it in my mouth (making me a cannibal), like any other rational human being would do. Then I’ll go condone me some slavery while keeping my ears perked for talking donkies and shrubbery and keeping a watchful eye out for giants or a miracle – like the time god sent bears to eat a few dozen children for making fun of a bald man.

7. Kate:
   February 24th, 2007 @ 4:05 pm

   Thank you for this post. I’m a rationalistic atheist and have also been studying yoga for the past 5 years or so. Recently I’ve become very passionate about my atheistic views, and have considered renouncing my yoga practice completely because I couldn’t figure out a way to reconcile my strong rationalist beliefs with engaging in a practice that is inextricably tied to religious roots. Even if I don’t believe in any of the gods, prana, what have you (which I don’t), the movement was designed to reach those gods, to unify with them — how can I put my body through motions that were created for this purpose?

   I’ve done some research, and I’ve read articles from a few other non-religious yoga-goers who have espoused the same views as you have — Yoga feels good FOR ME, and it makes no difference whether it has religious roots or not, because none of it actually exists. It makes sense. I’ve been thinking of starting up a secular yoga studio. I think it might draw somewhat of a crowd…I’m sure there are many others like me who are sick and tired of being preached to about “the divine” when they’re just trying to get in touch with THEMSELVES.

8. Lydia:
   May 24th, 2007 @ 3:20 am

   Kate, may i ask where you are in the world….? i too really need to develop atheistic yoga and i really believe it is possible and totally worthwhile. please would you and other yoga atheists email me on fluid53@hotmail.com as i NEED to connect with like minded folk!!!! to talk this out and get it right!!!

   my yoga practise has healed me SO MUCH physically and mentally and yet i am not at all interested in gods/religion/dogma/reincarnation etc etc. it is possible and yet i would really love people to email me about this. PLEASE DO!!
   Lydia

9. ollie:
   June 10th, 2007 @ 3:35 pm

   Interestingly enough, I asked the yogis at the yoga.com message boards if there were any atheists there.

   I am someone who loves yoga practice and loved books like “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins.

   Yoga gives good health benifits and I find it aids meditation which helps center me.

   But I see nothing requiring the belief in anything “supernatural”; there are no spirits, pixies, deities or gods to please or anger, and nothing that will alter physics on my behalf.

10. Yoga, Nazis and Good Intentions « blueollie:
    June 11th, 2007 @ 5:35 am

    [...] Maybe? [...]

11. David:
    August 31st, 2007 @ 7:43 pm

    I’m been practicing Yoga now for over 3 years, and last year I started leaning a class at local health club. I also consider myself an atheist and don’t see any reason a person needs to have a set of dogmatic beliefs in order to enjoy the practice of yoga. I practice yoga for the physical and mental well-being. Yoga gives me a chance to focus on the here and now. It allows me to slow down and think about what is important in my life.

12. Heather:
    January 5th, 2008 @ 5:32 pm

    Actually, yoga predates Hinduism. (There is some controversy over this theory, but it is generally accepted now.) It did come from the same region and was the basis for many beliefs in Hinduism.

    Anway, I am a new hatha yoga instructor and am agnostic. Heck, it’s to the point where I might as well call it atheism. There is no reason to assume you must believe in a god or gods to practice yoga. You can still get the physical AND spiritual benefits! Meditation does not have to be about a god or gods, but about realizing that everyone and everything is connected. It is also about realizing the true/higher self. Some people call it “God,” I call it self-actualization. (That’s a psychological term, not my own invention.)

    Besides that, yoga can evolve like everything else in the world. Just because something was intended for one thing does not mean it must be used in the same way later. High heels were originally intended for men, weren’t they?

    I do believe that there is more to yoga than exercise. Perhaps some agnostics and atheists are scared by the word “spirituality,” but it doesn’t have to imply religiosity! I feel that people can insert their religion into yoga easily, but agnostics and atheists can benefit just as much.

    *cough* I will step off of my soap box now. Anyway, I am glad to see that there are other people who feel similarly (if not the same way) about yoga and agnosticism/atheism. I happy to hear about the way that you are raising a family with no religion. I mean, is it really your religion if you don’t choose it? Thank you for showing me that there are others like me!

13. lucy bingham mcandrew:
    February 11th, 2010 @ 9:18 am

    I’m inclined to bouts of depression which even quite vigorous exercise and a strict diet of health-giving food doesn’t lift. I tried Prozac (I had an eating disorder for 25 years and was actually prescribed for that) but didn’t like the sense of dislocation it gave me. I’ve got kids and am acutely aware that my depressive bouts do them no favours. I’m also a yoga teacher, evidently not some ideal guru perched on a cloud but a suffering, struggling human animal, engaged in attempts to free myself, periodically, from the agonising mental turmoil that threatens to obscure anything of worth in my life. I’m an agnostic too, but only in the rational sense. Emotionally, I’m closer to being an atheist. And yet there’s no contradiction to me in saying a) that I’m interdependent with other forms of life around me, from viruses (which are parasites, by the way, and therefore generally do not benefit from my demise) to my own kids and enormously tolerant but sometimes exasperated husband; and b) that this interdependence demands of me morally that I make every endeavour to push myself towards my own well-being because that will also affect the well-being of those around me. So I do yoga. And no, it’s not a miracle cure and there are days when I want to curl in a ball with the pain and humiliation of living. It’s also really important to me that I remember to have compassion towards myself and not to jurdge myself, particularly morally, if I’ve behaved appallingly towards those around me. This is not to say I think anything goes. Just the opposite. But I recognise that when you’re in agony, mentally or physically, you tend to lash out. I don’t think there’s anything magic about yoga but I do think it’s a comprehensive system of stretches with a focus on well-being which leads, in a directed way, towards a focus on moral well-being. Moral well-being need have nothing to do with religion. Personally I believe in evolutionary morality, but that’s a whole other story.
    Be good, or at least be well, or at least, be until you can be better!
    Lucy

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment

Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>