Is Yoga a Religious Thing?

Currently it seems that a debate is on in USA if yoga is something religious or not. May I contribute my two cents to the debate seeing that there are articles by me on the net on yoga and for yoga teachers e.g. what is yoga, Entropy yoga and in this blog on Kriya Yoga?

The simple and clear answer is that there are many different types of yoga. Some are religious and some are not. The one being advocated in the USA presently and by the Lady Obama and President Obama is not religious. It is a yoga that involves primarily physical exercises and/or breathing exercises and such yogas that may go by the name of hatha yoga, pranayama as well as numerous modern names are not religious.

However a yoga that involves physical exercises that includes a posture called Surya Namaskar involves worshipping the sun and it is a religious yoga.

The kriya yoga described in another post in this blog is a religious yoga but it is ecumenical and universal and does not belong to any specific religion since the only bit of religion involved in it is belief in God and that is common to most major religions and is a part of the constitution of some countries through the words, In God we Trust

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