Any relaxation method that prompts ‘mind-emptying’ is not of God

Twenty-six years ago, stressed by looming exams, a cassette caught my eye in the library on relaxation. Intrigued, I checked it out and headed home.

The cassette recommended a quiet environment so I shut my bedroom door and pressed play on my Walkman. A soft-spoken woman named Ann introduced herself and proposed we begin with “breath-work”. I followed her breathing patterns precisely. It was difficult at first but over the following week I perfected the skill and was amazed I could slow my heart-rate down at will.

 “Our aim should be to empty our minds” and apparently this could be achieved by repeating a word like ‘Om’ 

The following week I progressed to meditation, “Our aim should be to empty our minds” and apparently this could be achieved by repeating a word like ‘Om’ or visualising a happy scene and not allowing our mind to wander. Although difficult, I enjoyed this and by week three was eager to combine my new skills to achieve the final part - entering a “deep state of relaxation.”

Ann suggested choosing a finger and focusing sole attention on the tip, “It’s normal to feel the tingle” she confirmed. “Now picture a string lifting your hand… it’s lifeless, it’s lifting, it’s weightless, you feel limp as the balloon lifts you.”

I felt the finger beside my pinkie tingle, then my arm felt like it had left the bed and was taking my body with it. I’d never felt anything like it. “You can now make any body part do this at will” Ann stated casually at the closing of the course.

Transfixed, I now looked for any opportunity to enter that deep state of meditation

Transfixed, I now looked for any opportunity to enter that deep state of meditation. The feeling was intoxicating and I hungered for more. One night before bed I again entered that deep meditative state, this time I decided to concentrate on my whole body. Just minutes in I felt myself lifting out of myself. I was flying, aware my physical body was on the bed. The curiosity and awe  enveloped me but when I tried to get back into my body, I couldn’t. I was terrified. When I finally re-entered, the relief and solace were inexplicable. Grabbing my duvet and pulling my knees to my chest, I vowed I’d never do it again. 

I was now acutely aware of the spirit realm. I went back to church after years of non-attendance. I was reading my Bible and about to devote my life again to Christ when this trance-like state starting occurring against my will - every time I was between the wake and sleep state and I’d feel my spirit begin to lift from my body. I feared bedtime.

I then started experiencing full-blown sleep paralysis. I’d wake up unable to move or scream, my body felt like dead weight. This was happening every night. Pre-internet ubiquity, I’d nowhere to go for answers.

One evening I told my grandmother, expecting her to laugh, however, she explained calmly, “There’s a spirit world and at the minute I think there’s a battle for your soul.”

I got down on my knees and I asked the Lord Jesus into my heart. I surrendered my life to him and I never suffered from another episode of this. I’ve thought about this season in my life many times and now know, thanks to testimonies from ex-New Agers who are now Christians like Doreen Virtue, Jenn Nizza, Jac Marino Chen et al that these ‘relaxation techniques’ are dangerous and can open doors to demons. Breath-work causes trances and out of body experiences like Astral Projection - and sadly for many, can be the gateway ‘drug’ to the occult.

It terrifies me that other Christians could innocently stumble upon seemingly innocuous relaxation apps and experience what I did. I believe yoga and any Eastern meditation can open doors to demonic experiences. Remember, we wrestle “against the rulers of the darkness of this world” [Eph 6:12]. We must “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).

As a final thought - remember, any relaxation method that prompts “mind-emptying” is not of God as biblical meditation is about filling your mind with God’s Word. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as “wise as serpents” and we really must remain vigilant because these techniques are now prevalent  thanks to smartphone apps.