Jacqueline Bourne’s Story
After 10 Years of Practicing Yoga, She Was Spiritually Awakened While Doing "The Goddess Pose"

“Want to go to yoga with me?” My very close friend asked me to go along with her. I just had my fourth baby and the idea of getting my body back in shape, all while having a Mom’s day out and spending time with my friend sounded nice. Honestly, I never had the desire to practice yoga before that, but it seemed like a good time to try it, so I accepted. Once we got to the class I was impressed with how cozy and inviting the room was. The lights were dim, instrumental music was playing, there were candles and incense burning, essential oils diffusing, and the room was warm and inviting. I felt calm, safe, and completely relaxed.

Our instructor was very knowledgeable, fit, kind, and thoughtful. He led us through a variety of flows, poses, and breathing techniques. Savasana was my favorite part, lying as still as possible and clearing my mind of any and all thoughts and to do’s. After class I couldn’t believe how great I felt, so I purchased a yoga mat, colorful yoga pants, and continued practicing and attending yoga classes. I couldn’t wait to go back and within a month I started to see the results in my toned arms, legs, and stomach. It even helped with my back pain.

Over the years I attended studio classes, free online classes, classes on the beach in Costa Rica, and I’d even invite my friends over and we would all do a yoga class from our favorite You Tube channel together in my living room and enjoy brunch afterwards. I recruited my husband, children, family, friends, and all my acquaintances to try it! My kids especially loved it!

A few years into practicing yoga, I started to become aware of the parts of yoga that made me feel uncomfortable: chanting, meditating, third-eye acknowledgement, chakra energy, heavy breathing like Lion’s Breath, saying namaste, and bowing to the instructor. So, I decided that when I felt out of place and uncomfortable, I would pray in my mind, quote a scripture, and just wait until those awkward moments passed. The uneasy feelings never went away though. In fact, I felt a small conviction in my heart that sparked and began to burn more strongly. Why do I still feel so uncomfortable? I kept thinking to myself.

My full spiritual awakening began ten years after my first yoga class. I was to finally understand why I had those uneasy feelings practicing yoga. I credit the awakening to the desire to strengthen my relationship with God. My prayer was for God to reveal the areas in my life that were not His ways. What a crazy request, I thought. I was doing pretty good, not perfect by any means, but trying my best anyway. I knew I would need to remain humble, meek, and ready to receive what He was going to reveal to me. In fact, the passage of Scripture I thought most about was:

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

I was excited to see what the Lord would show me. And guess what? He will do that very thing when we ask Him.

Matthew 7:7-8
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

My answer came as I was participating in what would be my last yoga class (even though I didn’t know it at the time). We had just finished our warmup when the instructor led us into what she called “the goddess pose.” That’s when it happened. God began to lead me. “Is everyone in goddess pose,” she said. I checked my posture in the mirror, “Yes, I was standing in the ‘goddess pose’” and that’s when I thought, “Huh, if I am a daughter of the Most High God, the living God, and my body is the temple of God, then why am I standing in a goddess pose?” What does God think? Isn’t this idolatry? What would Christ think? I can’t imagine either of them joining me.”

I left that class deeply considering my exercise choice. “I’m much more important than a goddess; I don’t want to be a goddess,” replayed over and over in my mind. As soon as I returned home, I began to research the origins of yoga, specifically the goddess pose, and the results were appalling. I typed into Google search bar and the first link that came up was an article on “The True Light Project” website titled, “Ten Yoga Poses that Offer Worship to Hindu Deities.” About halfway through the article I got my answer from God: “The goddess pose (Utkata Konasana) is a worshipful offering to the fierce, dark, intimidating goddess named Kali.” Then it went on to explain that Kali is a Hindu goddess of death, time, and destruction, representing divine feminine power. She is depicted wearing a garland of skulls, a skirt of ripped off arms, extending a blood-covered tongue, holding a bloody sword and lifting up a decapitated head. She is reverenced for representing womanhood. Nothing within me wanted to emulate or awaken Kali-like qualities. I thought, “I would be arrested if I was to look like her in a yoga class!”

My mind immediately went to the “Virtuous Woman” described in Proverbs 31. Then I thought about Ruth and Esther, women who are true examples of love, virtue, strength, femininity, and womanhood. They loved and served God only. Those were the type of women I wanted to imitate.

Further investigating unveiled the deep Hindu roots attached to yoga and the meaning of yoga. It is a spiritual practice through which you are ‘yoked’ to the Hindu concept of God. Then, I looked into my favorite pose—Savasana—also known as the Corpse Pose. That yoga posture is about surrendering deeply to an “energy” that prepares us for the inevitable, our death. I was disgusted! Yoga can’t do that. Only Jesus can do that. Only real salvation can do that. Only being born again can do that (the spiritual rebirth offered in Christianity—John 3:1-7) when the Lord Jesus Christ washes our sins away by His precious blood and resurrects us into newness of life—when He comes to dwell within our hearts.

I kept digging. The warrior pose represents Virabhadra, a god created by Shiva for vengeance, who slaughtered all the guests at some mythical celestial party and beheaded a king, as imagined in a Hindu fable. Those who do the Warrior Poses I, II, and III supposedly invoke and invite the “warrior” spirit of Virabhadra within. I didn’t need to read anymore. The overwhelming desire to repent before God weighed heavy on my heart. I hit my knees in tears, asking my Father for forgiveness:

“Thank You, Father in Heaven, for forgiving me for my ignorance. Oh, how You patiently wait for eyes to see and ears to hear. Thank You for loving me and leading me out of a new age practice and from the worship of false gods to Your truth.”

What was most comforting during my yoga awakening and repentance was that moments later, as I finished my prayer, a strong Christian woman and friend of mine reached out to say that she believed yoga to be a practice of worship to false gods. She also shared with me other testimonies from both students and yoga instructors that realized the demonic influence associated with this Hindu practice. That was all the confirmation I needed; God had established it. I later prayed for those who I encouraged to try yoga and shared with them my testimony. As a family, we just grew stronger in unity. My husband and I sat down with our children and told them our error in allowing yoga in our home. We also asked for forgiveness as a family. Our sons were able to learn from our misguidance and use it to enlighten and strengthen their individual spiritual walks with God.

Yoga is much more than just stretching, clearing the mind, and relaxing. Yoga is a Hindu ritual, offering oneself to Hindu deities. Yoga means to unite, marry, combine, connect, and to become one with. What exactly are we uniting with? For this reason, it is dangerous for a child of the living God to participate in yoga. We should only offer ourselves to God and to the loving service of magnifying His glorious kingdom. The most subtle way for a child of God to be defeated is through ignorance, false truths, and distractions. The beauty of the Lord is seen most in His longsuffering, patience, forgiveness, grace, mercy, strength, peace, and love. He winks at our momentary ignorance, but He doesn’t want us ignorant for long. He warns:

Hosea 4:6
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

We should prayerfully seek God’s will and a loving relationship with Him:

Ephesians 5:1
Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children.

We are made in His image:

Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

We should only worship God:

Matthew 4:10
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Exodus 20:3-5a
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.”

I find all the peace I need, not from yoga, but from God’s Word and Christ’s example:

John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.”

We need only to be yoked to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Matthew 11:29
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

Now, my family and I enjoy walking, hiking, biking, swimming, stretching, rebounding, and CrossFit as a means for exercise. I found simple exercises and stretches to be very helpful for my back and core. We incorporate lots of sunshine, trust in God, rest, nutrition, adequate water, temperance, and plenty of fresh air in our daily lives. We are much more cautious and prayerfully consider anything different, new, or trending in the world. When asked if we practice yoga we simply say, “No longer” and love explaining why. We must always strive to love and encourage one another to walk a stronger, committed, unclouded path—never judging, just loving. I’m enjoying an even closer walk with God as He continues to show me how to walk brighter every day. Every day is an opportunity to grow stronger and wiser.

Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

It’s important to understand, yoga cannot be Christianized. Christianity and yoga are not compatible. Yoga cannot be justified by playing worship music during practice, reciting scripture during classes, or hosting it in a church. Yoga cannot be modified to fit within a certain Christian module. Hindu yoga gurus will testify that yoga cannot be separated from Hinduism because yoga is so deeply rooted in Hindu culture and ‘sacred’ writings. Yoga is a religious practice expressing worship to many different Hindu deities, including Shiva (the god of death and destruction), who is also called “The Lord of yoga.” Because of that, every yoga posture is a physical expression of worship to him. Yet the Bible says:

Romans 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Jacqueline Bourne is a wife, homeschool mother of four sons, business owner, and founder of OK B Healthy (a food preparation and supplement company), entrepreneur, social media influencer, health motivator, refined sugar-free innovator, Bible-based health advocate, testimony teller, unapologetically Christian, and enjoys encouraging others to be the best versions of themselves.

I would like to thank and acknowledge The True Light Project and other online sources for providing wisdom in my search for truth. Here is the link to the article on this website that became a turning point for me:

https://www.thetruelight.net/wp/10-yoga-poses-that-offer-worship-to-hindu-deities/

You may contact Jacqueline at the following email and website addresses:

okbhealthy@yahoo.com
www.okbhealthy.com
www.facebook.com/okbhealthy