Abstract
At the intersections where different religious frameworks collide, spiritual practices become open to reinterpretation and renegotiation. Such is the case for forms of modern postural yoga practiced by evangelical Christians in the Pacific Northwest. Based on my own ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the summer of 2019, this paper explores how yoga-practicing Christians navigate tensions around yoga’s connections to Hinduism and so-called Eastern spirituality. I describe three strategies— “testing the spirits,” sincerity, and resignification—by which evangelicals engage yoga’s perceived dangers and reorient the practice toward an acceptable Christian spirituality.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Religious Commonalities and Differences
KEYWORDS
Yoga, Christianity, Spiritual practice, Religious identity, Religious tension
