A statement was made by the Vatican's chief exorcist calling yoga the work of the devil. 86-year-old Father Gabriele Amorth, who says he has cleansed hundreds of people from evil spirits, went on to say the stretching exercise is Satanic because it leads to Hinduism and a false belief in reincarnation. He compared the workout regimen to Harry Potter promoting black magic.
"It's inflammatory and I wonder what the reasoning behind it is," said Crenshaw. "What is the purpose? It always seems to repeat itself."
Crenshaw got into yoga when he was 22. He studied the art in Asia and has been teaching it for 27 years. Crenshaw said statements, like this one, breed fear.
"We are a world full of fears and the one thing we need to do is to make sure we have everyone informed about things. But instilling fear is not necessarily the best way to do these sort of things," said Crenshaw.
Crenshaw admitted some are not using yoga for its intended purpose.
"There are people who are teaching naked yoga," Crenshaw. "My teacher was a Hindu version of a pope, he would say, 'no son.'"
Crenshaw said the comments made recently have a polarizing affect, dividing groups of people. He said what everyone really needs to do is the opposite.
"We need to look beyond the difference to see the similarities so there can be world peace," said Crenshaw.
