{"id":5130,"date":"2022-12-28T13:50:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T18:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/?p=5130"},"modified":"2022-12-28T13:50:21","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T18:50:21","slug":"youre-opening-demonic-doors-former-psychic-warns-christians-against-yoga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/christnewstoday\/2022\/12\/youre-opening-demonic-doors-former-psychic-warns-christians-against-yoga.html","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou\u2019re opening demonic doors.\u201d Former Psychic Warns Christians Against Yoga"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A former psychic who has now come to Christ spoke to\u00a0<\/span>Billy Hallowell of CBN News<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and warned against the dangers of yoga, particularly to Christians who try to separate it from its demonic origins and use it as a form of exercise.\u00a0<\/span>Jennifer Nizza<\/span><\/a>\u00a0formerly worked as a psychic medium for many years and was involved in many New Age and occult practices before coming to Christ. She details her conversion in her book\u00a0<\/span>From Psychic to Saved<\/span><\/em><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/em>and now works to help others leave the occult. \u201cI was lost to the deception and the lies of the devil before God miraculously intervened and lifted the veil from my eyes that had kept me blind for so long,\u201d Nizza writes on her website.<\/span><\/p>\n

In speaking with Hallowell, Nizza aimed particularly at yoga, warning that \u201cYoga is a Hindu spiritual practice, and the word \u2018yoga\u2019 is rooted in Sanskrit. It means \u2018to yoke to\u2019 or \u2018to unite with\u2019 what they\u2019re doing. They have deliberate postures that are paying tribute, honor, and worship to their false gods, and they have over 330,000,000 false gods, which are demons, and they\u2019re honoring them with these postures.\u201d She warned Christians that it is more than just \u201cstretching and breathing\u201d and to remember the words of the Bible that warn against the worship of other gods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nizza stated she was speaking from her personal experience as a former psychic and that the meditation aspect of yoga opened her up to communicating with evil spirits. She warned that churches should not be opening themselves up to yoga with the intention of only using it as a way to stay fit. Hallowell and Nizza also discussed the concept of \u201cmeditation,\u201d which is generally a word in Christian circles synonymous with prayer. In discussing New Age meditation, Nizza warned that it is used to open the mind to other influences, particularly demonic. She quoted Peter 5:8, which states that \u201cthe devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Nizza is not the first to sound the alarm on yoga. In 2018, pastor\u00a0<\/span>John Liddell<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of James River Church in Ozark Church criticized yoga in a sermon that dealt with the occult just prior to Halloween. Like Nizza, he pointed out that the positions in yoga have a reference to demons. \u201cEvery single body position has a meaning. Let me say this, yoga positions were not designed by your local fitness instructor. They were designed, and they were created with demonic intent to open you up to demonic power. Because Hinduism is demonic. Every false religion is demonic. Hinduism is not a mild, gentile, pacifist religion. Anybody who says that has not visited India. Neither is Buddhism. We may have a sanitized view of it in our Western culture, but it is not a pacifist. It is demonic. It is idol worship,\u201d he warned. He also stated that simply chanting \u201cJesus\u201d does not take away from the demonic influence. \u201cDemons don\u2019t care what you chant as long as you open the door to them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t care if you are in peace, harmony, have the energy or are in great shape as long as you give them access.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Liddell faced criticism after his sermon, including from Christians who practice yoga. Christian yoga practitioner Reggie Harris\u00a0<\/span>stated<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that his relationship with Christ \u201chas gotten deeper through yoga.\u201d Serita Jakes, wife of pastor T.D. Jakes faced\u00a0<\/span>criticism and support<\/span><\/a>\u00a0after posting an image of her women\u2019s group, The Potter\u2019s House of Dallas, getting a \u201ctaste of yoga.\u201d In a discussion about how Christians should approach yoga,\u00a0<\/span>John Piper<\/span><\/a>\u00a0encouraged approaching it with a \u201cmaximalist\u201d approach, saying, \u201cWill it make me more Christlike? Will it make me more devoted to Jesus? Will I be more powerful and full of the Holy Spirit? Will I be more effective in prayer because of it? Will it make me bolder in witness, or weaken me? Will it help me be spiritually discerning of the ways of Satan in the world, and will it help me lay up treasures in heaven? Will it help me find joy in God and all that he is for me in Jesus?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former psychic who has now come to Christ spoke to\u00a0Billy Hallowell of CBN News\u00a0and warned against the dangers of yoga, particularly to Christians who try to separate it from its demonic origins and use it as a form of exercise.\u00a0Jennifer Nizza\u00a0formerly worked as a psychic medium for many years and was involved in many…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":5133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cYou\u2019re opening demonic doors.\u201d Former Psychic Warns Christians Against Yoga<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former psychic warns Christians that yoga is "opening demonic doors."\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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