The Yoga Deception
The Yoga Deception

sobersalvationpodcast

Christa Marie Hewson shares why, after years as a 500-hour yoga teacher and nearly eight years sober, she now rejects yoga as spiritually unsafe for Christians. She connects yoga’s Hindu roots, new age practices and occult elements with her own recovery journey, grounding her stance in extensive Bible references and personal conviction.

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40:45•10 Aug 2026

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The Yoga Deception: A Sober Christian’s Warning from Inside the Studio

Episode Overview

Christa explains that, as a former 500-hour yoga teacher, she now believes yoga is inseparable from its Hindu religious roots and is spiritually unsafe for Christians.
She describes how yoga became an obsession and spiritual "idol" in her early sobriety, offering a deceptive sense of escape and self-improvement.
Drawing on scripture, she frames yoga, mantras, crystals, tarot and similar practices as forms of idolatry, witchcraft and occult influence that open doors to spiritual danger.
She outlines the historical spread of yoga into Western culture and argues that rebranding it as fitness or relaxation does not strip away its spiritual foundations.
Christa credits Jesus, daily Bible study and prayer for nearly eight years of sobriety, urging people to repent, rely on the Holy Spirit, and choose Christ over practices rooted in other religions.

“"Bottom line, Christians shouldn't be practicing yoga or having anything to do with yoga."”

Curious about how others turn their lives around after addiction? This conversation from the sobersalvationpodcast follows Christa Marie Hewson, a Christian with almost eight years of sobriety and a former 500-hour certified yoga teacher, as she explains why she now sees yoga as spiritually dangerous for followers of Jesus.

Speaking directly to Christians in recovery or anyone mixing faith with "wellness" practices, she shares how yoga once felt like an innocent outlet: exercise, stretching, weight loss, and a mind–body escape in early sobriety.

But as she studied yoga in depth during 2020, she came to believe, in her words, that "there's no way to make yoga godly" and that "bottom line, Christians shouldn't be practicing yoga or having anything to do with yoga." Christa traces yoga’s Hindu roots, explaining concepts like kundalini, Brahman, mantras, bhakti, puja, and tantric practices.

She links these to what she calls "new age deception" and compares opening oneself through yoga to opening spiritual doors—much like alcohol or drugs can lower defences. She also walks through the history of yoga’s rise in America via figures like Swami Vivekananda, Indra Devi, and celebrity culture, arguing that repackaging it as fitness doesn’t remove its spiritual core.

Throughout, she weaves in extensive Bible references—from Exodus and Genesis to Galatians, Ephesians, Romans and the Gospels—framing yoga, crystals, tarot and similar practices as forms of idolatry and occult influence. She describes being "convicted out of the new age nonsense by Jesus" and talks about clearing her home of statues, decor and tools she now sees as spiritual traps.

For anyone sober or seeking sobriety who is caught between yoga culture and Christian faith, this episode raises stark questions: are you chasing a "spiritual high," or are you grounding your healing in Christ alone?

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