ABSTRACT
This chapter features common Christian responses to yoga in North America (mainly in the United States), as well as common Hindu responses to Christians who practice yoga in North America. It begins with a brief overview of the historical roots of Christian understandings of yoga, as these understandings were crystallized during India’s colonial period in ways that continue to influence contemporary Christian perceptions. In the subsequent three sections, Christian responses to yoga in North America are broadly construed as “anxious,” “ambivalent,” or “accepting.” Finally, the chapter discusses Hindu responses to Christians who practice yoga. While both historical and contemporary popular Hindu discourse is characterized by widespread acceptance of most anyone practicing yoga, it is also important to take into account historical and contemporary critiques from various Hindu voices concerned with Westerners appropriating and practicing yoga on their own terms. Christian yoga practitioners are frequently implicated in these Hindu critiques.
