Churches, Synagogues Mingle Yoga With Beliefs

In so-called Christian yoga, "They have separated yoga from Hinduism, which is in effect stealing," Param said. "Is there Hindu baptism or Hindu Communion or Hindu Mass or Hindu Torah? No."

Some Christians agree with him, rejecting the idea that yoga can be adapted to a church setting. As an alternative, some of them have promoted something called "Praise Moves," a light aerobic exercise combined with Scripture readings.

"As Christians, we need to be careful of the religious practices that we participate in," said Kathleen Porter, who is starting Praise Moves classes in Frederick this month, the first in the Washington region. With Praise Moves, "we're giving [Christian] people an alternative. It doesn't have connection to other religions or other gods," she said.

Despite such criticism, the enthusiasm for spreading yoga to people of all faiths appears to be growing.

Praveen Tewari, a member of the board of trustees at Durga Temple in Fairfax Station, said he believes the yoga principles of fitness of mind and body are universal and should be shared.

Durga and at least one other Hindu temple in the region -- BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha in Beltsville -- offer free yoga classes, which organizers say are non-religious. Several non-Hindus attend the weekly class at Durga.

"Why not share the joy? Why miss out on it?" asked Tewari, who added that he has a Christmas tree in his home. "My firm belief is that ultimate reality is the same. Every religion teaches basically good things."

Larissa Blechman, 43, of Annandale said that she started practicing yoga in a secular vein but that the exercises led her back to her Jewish roots.

She was introduced to yoga through a class at Congregation Olam Tikvah in Fairfax County. The class was non-religious -- the instructor was simply renting space from the synagogue. But during the sessions, Blechman would hear the evening prayer services from the sanctuary.

The experience, she said, led her to create "Shalom Yoga," a name she trademarked for a form of yoga that begins with readings from the Torah and features poses named after Hebrew letters. She teaches Shalom Yoga at Congregation Olam Tikvah, the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia and a couple of Jewish schools.

"Before I started working on Shalom Yoga, I was Jewish and I kept a kosher home and I was raising my children Jewish, but it wasn't really personal," Blechman said. "I didn't have an understanding at a physical, meditative level that I do now. I get up and I pray every morning; it's part of my yoga practice."

June Young, a Forestville resident in her fifties, said that she tried yoga years ago, hoping to find health and relaxation, but that she felt uncomfortable. One instructor told the class to get into a standard yoga stance called the warrior pose and then pretend they were shooting a gun, which seemed an unnecessary reference to violence, Young said. In another class, she said, "They were calling on something I didn't know, in foreign words."