Yoga is a Hindu practice that originated to help Indian culture purge and detoxify spirits, negativity, and toxins.  This belief of cleansing is deeply rooted in positioning the body while opening up one’s spirit to deliverance of such intoxicating oppressions.  We have picked it up as an exercise regimen or a health protocol over here in America, yet negate its intention to deliver one from evil influence. Some of the physical problems in India occur from overindulgence in curry, so it helps them sweat out toxins with the high heat that they have on their terrain.  We don’t have such extreme temperatures here in America, so the need to purify and be cleansed isn’t even necessary for our bodies adaptation.  Yet, we choose to embrace the physicality of yoga as a holistic practice without discerning that its roots are spiritual, blaming the person for partaking in behaviors or attitudes that have hindered him or her and therefore must constantly be purging oneself of. 

Sounds like we’re not too far off in Christianity as a comparison.  All of the attempts to get rid of what’s bad inside seem like quick fixes that bypass a deeper journey to sustainable healing which is walking through internal conflict hand in hand with a Father who encourages conversation.  However we long to be set free from emotional or physical suffering, will determine our desperation to turn outside of ourselves which creates more confusion on the inside.

I believe that so many lures in culture distract us from the parts of us that we negate because it is too hard to understand their nuances.  Communal engagement can help us sweat out tension but doesn’t encourage the redemption or restoration that knowing one’s self from the inside out can.  The parasite craze on our land is substantiated through fear that has migrated from India where both belief and practices are native to a completely different demographic and spiritual context. 

If we approach our faith with the same mixture of stripping away the bad without being subjected to the same elements, then the remedy is misaligned.  As individuals we have the ability to heal by receiving the love intended for us that comes naturally from heaven.  You and I don’t need to migrate outside of our relationship to self or Christ for wholeness. In the parts who seek to be set free, healing starts with curiosity, “How can I heal from within?” The parts who hold toxic thoughts, behaviors and beliefs need some acceptance for how they navigated tough situations in your childhood. Once they express their methods of survival  you can understand why you searched for significance in avenues that were fleeting.  This understanding offers compassionate exchange for better choices that offer sustainable healing.  The focus of getting rid of negative traits and problems can subside. 

Turning back to who you are, to integrate all opposing views that need settling within your internal family system, is a supernatural journey.  It can be a whole body experience to look at your life with an awareness of all the cultures that have shaped your present state while deciding what to lay down for the sake of healing forward.  Less purge, less condemnation, less cleansing, because Our Father in heaven already sent His Son to do the suffering for us, and we don’t need foreign strategies to add to it.