Jeanna Williams Professor Ingram English 1102 October 30, 2012 Is Yoga a Sin: Argumentative Essay The question

of what makes someone healthy is a hard one to answer. Some people can be physically, mentally, or even spiritually healthy and consider themselves healthy as a horse. After doing research all semester I have come to the conclusion that yoga allows one to be physically, mentally, and spiritually healthy all at once. Some people bypass the fact that yoga can help one physically and mentally; they are more concerned with, vague, spiritual aspect of yoga. Some church officials think doing yoga is a sin because the ritual content conflicts with their religious beliefs. They want Christians to stop practicing meditation and anything that can be perceived as a religious connection to yoga. The church misses the fact that yoga is something people do to benefit themselves; whether it be for spiritual, physical or mental reasons, one cannot get the full nourishment they need from yoga if asked to refrain from incorporating their religious beliefs. Yoga has become a nationwide phenomenon. Everyone from cancer victims to health conscience housewives have taken up the exercise. Considering all the people who do yoga they might do it for spiritual, mental, or even physical reasons, but when one combines all three they have truly grasped the major benefits of yoga. According to the Roberts Groups webpage, Yoga Movement, Yoga is an ancient practice that helps create a sense of union in body, mind, and spirit. It brings us balance. Yoga can help one mentally by forcing them to concentrate on their breathing while they do each pose. This attention to breathing allows one to feel claim and relaxed. Most people take the yogic technique and use it in their everyday lives, lessening stressful situations, such as when they are stuck in traffic. With this new technique people are able to take the time to asset stressful moments

and address them in a reasonable way. Also the poses used in yoga allow one to release tension. The poses can reduce the anxiety and create a healthy mental state. The Roberts Group also allows their reader to know the physical benefits yoga can have on ones body as well. Unlike the mental benefits, the physical ones are very apparent in some people. Yoga pose are designed to tone ones body while making them stronger and flexible. Yoga can improve ones respiration, energy, and vitality. Also yoga can help one to maintain a balanced metabolism. Research has also shown that yoga can promote cardio and circulatory health. Some people have contested that while practicing yoga they have witnessesed a reduction in pain in other parts of their body. Older people are fond of the physical benefits of yoga as it helps you look and feel younger than your age. There has also been a case where athletes have said doing yoga has improved their performance. The spiritual portion of yoga, just like the mental and physical parts, is crucial part yoga. Yoga is practiced by people from all religions; it is nondenominational. Yoga teaches "right" living in how we deal with ourselves and others. Doing yoga can build awareness of your body, your feelings, the world around you, the needs of others. Also students who practice yoga have a clear interdependence between mind, body, and spirit. The balance between all these aspects of yoga is very important to have a true understanding of yoga. Without this complete balance one will never reach the full benefits of yoga can offer (Conor) There would be no true point in doing yoga if one couldnt get the full benefits. Lately the church has come out saying that they believe doing yoga is a sin. To begin with, the church thinks that while meditating, people open their souls to demons (Connor). They believe that ones religion should be taken out if their yogic practices. The Vatican says that they would not have an issue with yoga

if it were just basic stretching (Connor). They want people to take the religious part of yoga out. As stated before the main part of yoga is to make sure ones body is fully balanced. If yoga students did what the church wanted, there would be no point in continuing to practice yoga. They also want students to separate their religion from yoga because when one mediates they say

terms such as Om or Aum (Connor). These terms are mantic words chanted in meditation. Paramahansa Yogananda called it the "vibration of the Cosmic Motor." This one word is interpreted as having three sounds representing creation, preservation, and destruction (Brahma). The church thinks that by using these Hindu words one is praying to another god. They see that in Indian history there are three main gods; Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer (Brahma).They also see that praising any other god, other than the Lord, is a sin. Priest thinks that when yoga students do yoga they are worshiping these gods. The church has made it very clear they do not have a problem with the mental and physical parts of yoga; its just the spiritual part. For all the reasons listed above they have come to the conclusion that one should separate yoga from any religion. What the officials of church dont understand is yoga will not be the same if they want students to cut ties with their religious background once they start doing yoga. In ancient India, people useed to do yoga as a way to connected with their gods (yoga words.). People in America have come up with holy yoga as a way to allow their students to get all the benefits of yoga, but with an emphasis on the spiritual part (Is it sin). The church is upset because they think that yoga is only for those who serve a different God, but America has changed yoga so much that yoga is not just for those who practice Hinduism (yoga words). America has changed it into something and Americanized it. They have so many different forms of yoga, from hot yoga to lite yoga (yoga words.). The idea that yoga only caters to Hinduism, in this day in age, is completely ridiculous. Yoga is a type of exercise that can help someone have true balance in their body and lives. There are so many misconceptions about yoga that could all be solved if the church would just see that the spiritual and religious part of yoga is essential. Not only is religion important when it comes to practicing yoga, times have changed it so much that it can cater to any religion.

Yoga empowers the body, and cannot do such a job without a full balance of the mind, body, and soul.