Testing Yoga & Hypnobirthing Against Scripture: Biblical Discernment of Birth Practices, Ep. 2
Hey mama, welcome back! If you've ever wondered whether prenatal yoga is really "just stretching," or whether that hypnobirthing course everyone raves about is truly as neutral as it sounds, this post is for you. Today we're continuing our Biblical Discernment of Birth Practices series by lovingly holding two of the most mainstream birth practices up to Scripture. My prayer is that by the end, you'll feel equipped to discern with confidence, not condemnation, and encouraged that God's ways for preparing your body and mind for birth are always better.
🎧 Listen to the Episode
A Quick Refresher: The Three Questions We're Asking
If you haven't listened to Episode 1 of the series yet, I'd really encourage you to start there, because it lays the foundation for this entire series. But here's the quick version. When we look at any birth practice, we're asking three questions from Scripture:
1. What is the source? This comes from Deuteronomy 18, where God told His people not to adopt the spiritual practices of the nations around them, even the ones that seemed to work. So we ask where a practice actually comes from.
2. What is the framework? This comes from Colossians 2:8, which warns us not to be taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy that depends on human tradition and the spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. So we ask what set of beliefs a practice needs in order to make sense.
3. What is the fruit? This comes from 1 Corinthians 10:23, which reminds us that not everything permissible is beneficial. So we ask what a practice is actually producing in us, not just physically but spiritually.
Why Yoga and Hypnobirthing Belong in the Same Conversation
I put these two practices together because they share the exact same defense. You've probably heard it: "These are just techniques. Yoga is just stretching, and hypnobirthing is just deep relaxation. Take the spiritual stuff out and it's neutral."
I understand that claim, but it's also exactly what Colossians 2:8 asks us to examine. Philosophies rarely announce themselves. Paul warns us about things that look harmless precisely because that's what makes them deceptive.
Back in the 1980s, a Christian author named Johanna Michaelsen wrote a book called Like Lambs to the Slaughter, and her warning was that spiritual practices were being repackaged for the mainstream simply by changing labels. Meditation became "centering." Trance became "deep relaxation." Her point was simple and piercing: changing the name of a practice doesn't change its nature. She wrote that over 35 years ago, and our culture is proving it true every single day.
Yoga: What the Word Itself Tells Us
The word yoga comes from a Sanskrit root meaning to yoke or to unite. So from its very name, the whole purpose of yoga is union. That leads to an important question: union with what? In the Hindu traditions where yoga developed over thousands of years, the answer is union of the self with the divine.
Now, I want to be careful and fair here, because there's a real distinction between what yoga was originally created to be and how it's practiced in most Western studios and gyms today. Historically, yoga wasn't designed as exercise. It was a spiritual discipline, a path toward enlightenment, and the physical postures were one piece of a much bigger spiritual system. This isn't just Christians saying that. Many Hindu scholars have objected to the Western fitness world stripping yoga of its spiritual meaning, because to them, that meaning is the whole point.
At the same time, the average prenatal yoga class today may look nothing like that, and plenty of instructors teach it purely as movement. Both of those things are true at once, which is exactly why discernment matters. The question isn't whether stretching is wrong, because it's not. God made our bodies to stretch. The real question is whether the system that stretching is packaged in is spiritually neutral.
Yoga Through the Three Questions
The source. Yoga is a Hindu spiritual practice, and many of the traditional postures were developed as postures of devotion. The sun salutation, the backbone of most classes, has historically been connected to reverence for the sun deity. Does your instructor know that? Maybe, maybe not. But does that history disappear just because we don't know it? That's the question Deuteronomy 18 puts in front of us.
The framework. Even in a class that never mentions Hinduism, listen to the language. Breath is often taught as prana, which in the original framework isn't just air but life force energy you're channeling. Classes often end with namaste, which carries the meaning of the divine in me honoring the divine in you. Underneath most yoga, even watered-down Western yoga, is the idea that the divine power you need is already inside you, waiting to be awakened. That idea cannot depend on Christ, because if Christ is who He says He is, we don't awaken divinity within ourselves. We receive His Holy Spirit as a gift.
The fruit. I want to be honest here: the physical benefits of yoga are real. Better sleep, less back pain, more flexibility, a greater sense of calm. But our test isn't simply whether something produces a result. The issue in Deuteronomy 18 wasn't whether the practices worked. The issue was whether God's people were seeking help in ways He had forbidden. So the deeper fruit question is this: what is this cultivating in my heart, soul, mind, and spirit? Is it dependence on Jesus, or is it nudging me toward the belief that everything I need is already inside of me? That's the same temptation we see all the way back in Genesis.
I'll be honest with you, because I've lived this one. For a few years before I was a mom, I occasionally went to yoga studios, and I genuinely enjoyed the movement and the calm. But looking back, something in my spirit noticed the deities, the symbols, and the words spoken over me that I didn't understand. I just never stopped to dig into that discomfort with the help of the Holy Spirit. And here's what I want you to hear from my story: when I finally came to understand the origins of yoga, God didn't meet me with condemnation. He always provides a way out, and His ways are not just an exit, they're an upgrade.
Faith-Filled Alternatives for Movement in Pregnancy
Our God is not a God of scarcity, so I never want to suggest laying something down without pointing you to something better. Your body genuinely needs movement, stretch, strength, and breath, and there are so many wonderful ways to meet those needs. Pilates, swimming, dancing, and strength classes are all great options. During my pregnancy with Isaac, I loved doing Body Pump at the YMCA. And walking is probably the most underrated pregnancy exercise there is, especially when you turn it into a prayer walk.
One more thing: slow, intentional breathing is not yoga's property. That's God's engineering. You can practice slow breathing while praying Scripture, and that's not just a substitute, it's an upgrade, because now your breath is anchored to truth.
Hypnobirthing: Real Physiology Fused to a Mind Power System
Hypnobirthing has swept the Christian birth world. There are even Christian-branded hypnobirthing programs now, and that's exactly why we need to slow down and look carefully.
Here's the history, because there's genuinely some good in it. In the early 1900s, an English doctor named Grantly Dick-Read observed that fear creates tension in the laboring body, tension creates pain, and pain creates more fear. This fear-tension-pain cycle is physiologically sound, and it's part of the reason I named my business Faith Over Fear. That insight is not the problem.
The problem is what got built on top of it. In the late 1980s, a hypnotherapist named Marie Mongan wrapped that insight in hypnosis. Her method teaches self-hypnosis, which means intentionally entering a deeply relaxed, highly suggestible state, along with visualizations and affirmations taught as tools for reaching the subconscious mind. And the mind power stream this method draws from is the same stream that gives us manifestation culture and the law of attraction.
The simplest way I can put it is this: hypnobirthing is two things fused together. It's true physiology about fear and relaxation fused to a mind power system. One of those is a gift. The other is something we really need to pay attention to. Not every program teaches the same things today, so you'll want to look at the specific one you're using, and this episode will help you know what to look for.
Hypnobirthing Through the Three Questions
The source. The fear-tension-pain piece comes from medical observation, and that piece is fine. But the method itself comes from hypnotherapy and mind power philosophy. Deuteronomy 18, the very passage our first question comes from, includes warnings about practices that involve influencing and binding the mind. I'm not saying your hypnobirthing track is a spell, but Scripture treats what we do with our minds as spiritually serious territory.
The framework. Hypnosis rests on the belief that the subconscious mind is where the real power is, and the way to change it is to quiet the conscious mind. Now hold that up to Scripture. 1 Peter 5:8 calls us to be alert and sober-minded, because our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion. A sober, alert, guarded mind is a repeated command throughout Scripture, closely tied to spiritual discernment and protection. A trance state is designed to do the opposite: it intentionally quiets the discerning, analytical part of the mind in order to become more suggestible. And labor is already one of the most physically, emotionally, and spiritually vulnerable moments of a woman's life. Personally, I can't find a biblical reason to intentionally set aside sober-mindedness during the season it's needed most.
The fruit. Just like with yoga, the fruit is mixed. Many women really do report calmer births, because the relaxation piece is real and the physiology works. But ask about the spiritual fruit. In most programs, what's being taught to your heart is that your mind is power, your words create your reality, and you are in control. There's a big shadow to that mindset: if your birth doesn't go how you hoped, you believe you failed. And that is not freedom.
The Real Thing Hypnobirthing Is Reaching For
Here's why this matters so much to me. Hypnobirthing is popular because it's reaching for real things: peace in labor, freedom from fear, a renewed mind. Every single one of those is a biblical promise. The counterfeit is only compelling because the real thing exists.
And mama, wanting peace as you head into labor is not weakness or a lack of faith. It's a God-given longing. But we have to seek that peace from the Lord Himself. There's no quick fix for that kind of peace. It comes from walking with the Lord over time, reading His Word, truly knowing Him, and inviting the Holy Spirit into all of it. That's a slower road, but it's the real deal.
"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Look at how God says renewal happens: not by bypassing your thinking mind, but by engaging it. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, think on these things. And Isaiah 26:3, which might be my favorite verse for labor, promises that God will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in Him.
How This Played Out in My Own Labor
I don't just believe this theologically, because I've lived it. When I was in labor with Isaac, in between contractions, my husband Brian read the Scripture-based [birth affirmation cards](LINK TO AFFIRMATION CARDS) I created, speaking truths over me like "God is with me in every moment of this labor." As he read those words, I was being transformed by the renewing of my mind in real time, in the middle of a very difficult physical and emotional challenge. My mind wasn't being emptied. It was being filled, and it was being fixed on Jesus.
Isaac was coming seven weeks early, which was not at all the story I had imagined. There were real moments of fear. But every time my mind started drifting toward fear, the Lord brought me back to the truth. Looking back, what stands out to me most isn't how I managed labor. It's how faithfully God showed up and carried me through it. His peace didn't come because everything went according to plan. It came because He is the Prince of Peace.
If Something Is Stirring in You
I don't know where you're at as you read this. If you've engaged deeply with one or both of these practices, hear me say this: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Absolutely none. You likely pursued these things because you wanted to steward your body well, and that desire is good, and it came from God.
Remember, conviction and condemnation are not the same thing. Condemnation drives you away from God into hiding, while conviction draws you toward Him into freedom. 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confession simply means agreeing with God, and repentance is simply turning. Maybe that looks like laying down a practice, deleting an app, or choosing different ways to prepare your body for birth. Whatever it looks like for you, repentance isn't punishment. It's an invitation into freedom, and Acts 3:19 promises times of refreshing when we turn to God.
📖A Scripture to Anchor You
And if you feel like you need wisdom for your specific situation, James 1:5 is the promise this whole series stands on: you have a Father who gives wisdom generously and without finding fault. So ask Him. Be a Berean. Take everything I've shared here, hold it up to Scripture, and let the Holy Spirit lead you into truth.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." – James 1:5 (NIV)
🙏 A Prayer for You on Your Journey
Let me pray over you the same prayer I prayed at the end of this episode:
Lord Jesus, I thank you for the mama reading this right now. I thank you that you see her and that you care about how she prepares her body, her mind, and her spirit for this birth. I pray that you would help her to be alert and sober-minded as she discerns the practices she's engaging with. And if she's feeling the weight of conviction right now, I thank you that your kindness is what leads us to repentance, and that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. As she confesses and turns, I ask that you would flood her with times of refreshing and keep her mind steadfast and fixed on you. Keep her in perfect peace, Lord, and guard her heart and mind with a peace that surpasses understanding. We love you, and it's in your name we pray. Amen.
If fear or uncertainty is weighing on you as you prepare for birth, take it to the Lord in prayer. He is so faithful to meet you there.
📎Resources & Links Mentioned
✨ Christian Mama Birth Prep Library - Free birth prep tools, including the NEW Birth Practice Discernment Guide to walk through this framework yourself
💕 Work with Me 1:1 - Virtual Doula Support & Schedule a Private Coaching Call
✝️ Online Christian Childbirth Education - Explore my complete birth preparation self-paced course
🎴 NEW Christian Birth Affirmation Cards - You can now purchase them here
📗 Glorious Freedom by Percy Burns - A helpful resource for understanding spiritual warfare, deliverance, and finding lasting freedom in Jesus
📚 Like Lambs to the Slaughter by Johanna Michaelsen - A former New Age practitioner's classic on how occult spiritual practices get rebranded for the mainstream
📣 Let’s Stay Connected
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Meet Your Host —
Natalie is a certified birth doula and childbirth educator in Jacksonville, FL. She's trained through DONA International, certified as a Body Ready Method Pro, and an advanced VBAC doula. Through Faith Over Fear Birth, she equips Christian women to experience peaceful, faith-filled births through both virtual and in-person support.
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📄 Full Episode Transcript
Whether you're brand new to the podcast or you've been listening for a while, I am especially glad you're here with me today. This episode is a little different than anything I've done before, because it's the beginning of a conversation that the Lord has been stirring in me for quite some time now. In many ways, this series grew out of a few questions the Lord was asking me, and I was not ready to answer them.
Today is the first episode of a whole series I'm calling Biblical Discernment of Birth Practices. Over the next several months, because I'm releasing these episodes every other week, we're going to be walking through some of the most common birth practices, and this is also applicable to pregnancy and motherhood in general. Things like yoga, hypnobirth, acupuncture, homeopathy, placenta encapsulation, the Enneagram, and so much more. For each practice, we're going to look at three things: where did this practice come from, what belief system is it built on, and how should we think about it in light of Scripture and God's Word?
I'm not here to just hand you a list of rules and tell you "do this, don't do this." My goal is really and truly to help you think biblically, discern carefully, and bring these questions to the Lord for yourself. Because ultimately, my opinion is not what matters. God's opinion is what matters.
Before we go any further, I do want to be transparent, because I have personally engaged with so many of the practices we're going to be discussing in this series, things like acupuncture, placenta encapsulation, yoga, and using the Enneagram. I engaged with these things without even questioning where they came from. Most of them were recommended to me by friends or birth professionals, or they were just common things I saw in the birth world, and I never stopped to ask where they came from. But over time, the Holy Spirit began nudging me with questions that I did not have answers to. So instead of stifling those questions and pushing them way deep down, I decided to go looking, and that's what this series is: the things I'm learning along the way.
I want you to know my heart. I just want to share what I've been learning and what the Lord's been showing me. One thing I'm really prone to is a feeling of condemnation, but there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That's Romans 8:1. So if you are going through this series with me and you start to feel conviction about certain practices, that comes from the Lord. But any condemnation is not from the Lord, and I want to encourage you in that. The goal of this series is not to shame you. It's to help you discern.
Our salvation rests entirely on the finished work of Jesus Christ. His last words on the cross were "tetelestai," which means "it is finished," paid in full. We are not saved by making perfect decisions or successfully avoiding mistakes. We are saved completely by grace through faith. What we're talking about in this series is sanctification, the lifelong process of learning to think and live and love more like Jesus, and to lay down our will and our way for His perfect will and way for us. So when the Holy Spirit brings conviction, it's an invitation, not shame. It's an invitation to greater freedom.
Again, I'm very prone to feeling condemned when I realize I've done something wrong, and I think it's because I think too highly of my own performance and I forget who God is. Tim Keller gives this beautiful recap of the gospel. He says, "The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe. Yet, at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope." Ooh, amen. That's the posture I want us to carry into every single episode of this series, and I'm wrestling with it too, because I've suggested things to my clients and to you on this podcast that I no longer want to associate with. So if this series is stirring something like regret in you, know that you are not alone in that.
Something fascinating about birth is that it has always been recognized as spiritually significant. Across cultures and throughout history, people have treated birth as more than just a medical event, and I actually think that points to something very deep: birth is sacred because life is sacred. The problem isn't the desire for meaning, community, or healing. The problem is that we source healing, community, and spiritual significance from things that are not from God.
Scripture repeatedly calls believers to exercise discernment because we have a real spiritual enemy who operates through deception. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. And 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. He doesn't present lies as obvious lies, because who would follow a lie? He presents them as wisdom, healing, empowerment, and ancient truth. That's why discernment matters, and that's why it especially matters in the birth space, where there's such a hunger for spirituality. It's also one of the places where deception has unfortunately found such a foothold.
Jesus tells us in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy." Only to do those things. That's his ultimate agenda. Everything he does is aimed at death and destruction, especially for God's children. He wants to destroy us, but here's what makes him especially dangerous to us as believers: he's all about the counterfeit. A counterfeit bill doesn't work because it's obviously fake. It works because it looks just like the real thing. And in this season of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood, he works really hard, because he's all about destroying life, and pregnancy, birth, and motherhood are all about life. If you have any level of experience in the birth world, you know it's saturated with spiritual lures and counterfeits of all kinds. So I want us to be discerning of what is of the Lord and what's not of the Lord.
Something that's been really clarifying for me as I've researched for this series is understanding what "occult" means, because that's spoken about in Scripture. It comes from the Latin word meaning hidden or concealed, and that's exactly the point. When you look at it through that lens, the list of potential practices becomes much larger. Think of energy healing, crystals, yoga, manifestation practices. These are all things that, at their root, are attempting to access a power or a knowledge that is not of God. And the Bible doesn't just caution us about these things; it warns us plainly and repeatedly to have nothing to do with these practices.
I'm also going to read you John 14:6. This is Jesus speaking: "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Jesus is not a way, or one option among many others that are just as valid. Jesus is the way. He is the narrow gate that He describes as Himself in Matthew 7. And it's narrow because truth is specific. Jesus is not just one spiritual truth or option alongside valid others. He is the only valid option.
Some of the practices we're going to discuss aren't just theologically problematic at an intellectual level. They are actually entry points for spiritual darkness, and many of us are probably needing deliverance from these different spiritual darknesses, even as believers. This is a whole other topic, but I will say that if that's a new or strange idea to you, I would love to encourage you to start studying Scripture in regard to spiritual warfare, and understanding what Jesus was doing when He was casting demons out of people. There was very much a real spiritual battle that Jesus equips His followers for, and that's not just for people who don't know Him. That's for believers as well, because we are also extremely susceptible to spiritual oppression. I'm going to leave some resources in the show notes that have been helpful for me personally in understanding spiritual warfare and deliverance, and again, the real spiritual battle that we're in. This is not something hypothetical.
One of the sobering reasons why I felt like this series really mattered to me, not only as a mother but as your sister in Christ, is that what we engage with spiritually isn't just affecting us. It also affects our children. When a parent opens themselves up to spiritual darkness, their children are also susceptible to that. Matthew 18 shows us just how seriously Jesus takes the spiritual vulnerability of children. He places a child in front of the disciples and says, "Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for a millstone to be hung around their neck." Jesus is not just casually saying these things. It's because He is deeply protective of children and deeply serious about what they are exposed to spiritually. And in Mark 9, when a father brings his son to Jesus, he tells Him that his boy has been tormented by a demonic spirit since he was a child. So spiritual oppression in children is real, and it can begin early and persist for years without resolution, especially if we are not even aware that that's possible.
I want to be extremely careful here in how I'm sharing this, because I don't want you to hear me and think, "Natalie's trying to instill fear in me." This is not the final story. Jesus has victory over this. So if you have engaged with any of these practices that may have opened up spiritual darkness in your life or in the life of your children, the good news is that it can be closed off in the name of Jesus.
Some of us, probably most of us, are dealing with some level of spiritual oppression, and it doesn't always look dramatic. Sometimes it just looks like fear that you cannot shake, or anxiety that you can't shake, no matter how much you keep bringing it to the Lord in prayer. Sometimes it looks like depression that lifts for a little bit but then comes right back, or a heaviness that you feel, or a hopelessness. But I also want to caution you: that doesn't necessarily mean every instance of these things is automatically demonic or spiritual oppression. At the same time, I don't want you to think these things are all just in your head or just biological. There very well could be a spiritual dynamic at play, and Jesus alone is able to deliver you from that. If you've tried over and over again with discipline and prayer and accountability to overcome something, but you just have not found lasting victory, there's a really good chance there is a spiritual aspect to it. Jesus came to proclaim freedom for the captives, and that is not metaphorical. That is literal. If you want to explore that further, there's a beautiful book called Glorious Freedom by Percy Burns. He shares a lot about ways to find freedom with Jesus from these different spiritual darknesses we might find ourselves in.
I want to give you a model for us to think through, and it comes from Acts 17:11, the story of the Bereans. It says, "Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." I love that they weren't just accepting whatever they were being told, even from Paul, who was an apostle. They received it eagerly and openly, and then they held it up to Scripture and made sure it lined up with what was true. This is the posture I desire for you as we go through this series: that you would be eager and discerning and willing to take in this information, then take it to the Lord and have Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, help you examine what is right and what is true.
1 John 4:1 gives us a companion command that fits right alongside the Berean model. It says, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." It's our job as believers to test the spirits. Not every spiritual experience, practice, or teacher is from God, even if it produces a feeling of peace or healing. John is telling us that discernment is what God calls us to. The Bereans tested teaching against Scripture, and John tells us to test the spirits against that same standard. That is going to be our posture through this whole series.
Every episode, we're going to run each practice through three questions, so I'm going to walk us through those briefly.
The first is: what is the source? This comes from Deuteronomy 18:9-14, so I'm going to read that to you. It says, "When you enter the land the Lord your God has given you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist, or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. You must be blameless before the Lord your God." Now, I want to read that carefully with you, because your first instinct may be, "Okay, I'm not doing witchcraft. I'm not engaging with mediums or doing these detestable things." But underneath all of it is this desire to channel and have access to spiritual knowledge, power, or guidance apart from God. These practices all assume there is spiritual reality accessible outside of God's self-revelation, and they aim for us to tap into it through dark and demonic power. That principle is still applicable today. The specific practices may look different, but the category is still the same. Anything that promises spiritual insight, healing, alignment, or protection through a channel other than God and His power is not from the Lord.
Now let's talk about the second question: what is the framework? This question comes from Colossians 2:8, where Paul says, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ." The Colossians were being pressured by false teaching that mixed Jewish legalism, Greek philosophy, and early mysticism. People were telling them they needed additional spiritual practices and knowledge beyond Christ. The framework question is essentially: what does this practice assume to be true about the world? Does it assume there is a universal life force or energy flowing through the body? Does it assume the divine is within you or within nature, rather than a personal and transcendent God? Does it offer spiritual access through something other than Christ? Because those assumptions get into us whether we intend them to or not.
And then the third question: what is the fruit? This comes from 1 Corinthians 10:23, where Paul writes, "'I have the right to do anything,' you say, but not everything is beneficial. 'I have the right to do anything,' but not everything is constructive." That's actually the Corinthians themselves saying, "I have the right to do anything," which was something they regularly said to justify their choices. This question might be the most convicting, because it's asking: does this practice lead me to more Christlikeness? Is this practice deepening your dependence on Jesus, or is it giving you an alternative place to put your hope, your trust, and your glory? Are you attributing your healing and blessing to something that's not God?
So again, those three questions. Number one, what is the source? Where is this coming from, and what spiritual system is it built on? Number two, what is the framework? What does this practice assume to be true about reality, and is that in line with the Word of God? And number three, what is the fruit? Does this genuinely build Christlikeness in me, and is it beneficial to the body of Christ?
I would love for you to actually be able to work through this framework for yourself, so I've created a companion handout called The Birth Practice Discernment Guide, which will walk you through all of these questions and give you space to work through the answers yourself. It's inside the Christian Mama Birth Prep Library, so if you are not already signed up for that, you can sign up at faithoverfearbirth.com. I'll also include the direct link for signing up in the show notes.
Before we move on, I don't want to brush past a question you may be asking yourself: what if these birth practices are actually working? You know, acupuncture did put me into labor and helped alleviate pain, or the Enneagram felt very accurate and helped me understand my personality more. The wild part is that some of these practices really do work and produce real, actual results. But that's exactly what makes this conversation so important, because just because something works doesn't mean we should continue to use it. Something can work and still not be from Him, and we could be opening ourselves up to darkness in ways we never intended.
With all of that in mind, I want to give you a picture of what's ahead and what to expect from this series. Over the coming months, we're going to be looking at several different categories together. I haven't completely worked out how I'm going to break them all up, but some of the things we'll be covering are energy-based practices, like acupuncture, Reiki, and homeopathy. We're also going to look at ceremonies and rituals, things like a Blessing Way ceremony and placenta practices. We'll look at the birth space itself, including crystals and sound healing. We're also going to go into the spiritual frameworks that have saturated birth culture, like the sacred feminine movement and spirit baby communication. And then we'll look at more subtle practices that are harder to discern, things like the Enneagram and hypnobirth. We'll close the series with what I think is the most important conversation of all: what God actually offers us, and why His way is so much better than any of these other options.
Before I let you go, I would love to pray over you and over this series, because I really don't take lightly what it means to steward your ears and your heart through this. If I'm being completely honest, I feel such a weight even recording this episode, because I know the weight of the spiritual battle we're in, and I just want to honor the Lord with the words I'm putting out and what you're hearing and receiving.
So let's pray. Lord Jesus, I thank You for this mama who's listening, who found this episode today. I thank You that You're not afraid of hard questions, and that You invite us to seek and to ask and to knock, and to seek wisdom from You, Lord. I pray that this series would be exactly what You intended it to be, nothing more, nothing less. I ask that the Holy Spirit would be the teacher, and not me, that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide. And I pray for the mom who's longing to honor You with her choices in this season. I pray that You would give her grace and truth, and remind her continually that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. I ask that the end result of this whole series would be surrender to You, and sanctification, that we would become more like You, Jesus, and that You would receive all of the glory. In Your precious, holy name, amen.
If this episode and this series in general is resonating with you, would you please share it with a friend? This conversation is so far reaching, and I feel like I'm just scratching the surface on so much of it. And as a reminder, sign up for the Christian Mama Birth Prep Library, which includes that Birth Practice Discernment Guide, where you can walk through it yourself with the Holy Spirit and hear what He has for you.
I want to leave you with this final bit of encouragement from James 1:5, which says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." I love that so much. You don't have to have this all figured out right now. Just ask the Holy Spirit, invite Him to come in and guide you in that wisdom and discernment.
That's really the heart of this series. It's going to be very simple: looking at these birth practices and running them through those three questions. If you're a believer and you have the HolyWe are in episode two of the Biblical Discernment of Birth Practices series, and today we're going to be looking at two of the most mainstream practices out there: yoga and hypnobirthing. If you haven't listened to episode one of this series yet, I would really encourage you to go back and listen to that episode, because that's where I share the foundation for this whole series.
But just as a quick refresher, when we look at any birth practice, we're going to be asking ourselves three questions from Scripture. The first is, what is the source? This comes from Deuteronomy 18, where God told His people not to adopt the spiritual practices of the nations around them, even the ones that seemed to work. So we ask where a practice actually comes from. Second, we ask ourselves, what is the framework? That comes from Colossians 2:8, which warns us not to be taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy that depends on human tradition and the spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. So we ask what set of beliefs a practice needs in order to make sense. And third, what is the fruit? That comes from 1 Corinthians 10:23, which says, "Not everything permissible is beneficial." So we ask what a practice is actually producing in us, not just physically but spiritually as well. So again, we're going to be looking at source, framework, and fruit.
Let's bring those three questions into yoga and hypnobirthing. The reason I put these two together is because they share a similar defense. You may hear something like, "Well, these are just techniques. Yoga is just stretching, and hypnobirthing is just deep relaxation. If you take the spiritual stuff out, it's very neutral." I understand that claim of neutrality, but it's also exactly what Colossians 2:8 asks us to examine. Philosophies rarely announce themselves, so Paul is warning us about things that look harmless, even empty of spiritual content, and that's exactly why they're deceptive, because they look like it's just stretching, it's just breathing. So today we're going to kindly and honestly ask ourselves whether that's actually true.
One thing I would love to point out as a great resource: back in the 1980s, there was a Christian author named Johanna Michaelsen, and she wrote a book called Like Lambs to the Slaughter. Her warning in that book was that spiritual practices are being repackaged for the mainstream by simply changing labels. Meditation got renamed to centering, trance got renamed to deep relaxation. These techniques were built for contacting the spiritual realm, but they just got rebranded as other things. Her point was so simple and also very piercing: changing the name of a practice doesn't change its nature. She wrote that over 35 years ago, and I would say that today our culture is proving it to be true every single day. So hold onto that idea, because we're going to see how it plays out in both of these practices.
Let's look first at yoga, and let's look at the word itself, because that word can tell us a lot. It comes from a Sanskrit root that means to yoke or to unite. So from its very name, the whole purpose of yoga is union. Then we have to ask ourselves, union with what? In the Hindu traditions where yoga developed over thousands of years, the answer is union of the self with the divine.
I want us to be careful here, because there's an important distinction between what yoga was originally created to be and how it's practiced in most Western studios and gyms today. Historically, yoga wasn't designed as exercise. It was a spiritual discipline, a path toward enlightenment, and the physical postures were one piece of a much bigger spiritual system. This isn't just Christians saying that. Many Hindu scholars have actually objected to the Western fitness world stripping yoga of its spiritual meaning, because to them, that meaning is the whole point. At the same time, I know that the average yoga class today, whether it's a studio class, a gym class, or prenatal yoga, may look nothing like that. Plenty of instructors, including some believers, teach it purely as movement and never mention anything related to Hinduism. Both of those things are true at once, and that's why we must be careful to discern what we're engaging with. I would like to say this as well: the question isn't whether stretching is wrong, because it's not. God made our bodies to stretch. The real question is whether the system that stretching is packaged in is spiritually neutral.
Now that we understand what yoga was originally created to be, let's go back to those three questions: source, framework, and fruit. First, what is the source? The source is a Hindu spiritual practice. Many of the traditional postures were developed as postures of devotion. The sun salutation, which is the backbone of most yoga classes, has historically been connected to reverence for the sun deity. Now, does your instructor know that? Maybe, maybe not. But does that history disappear just because we don't know it? That's the question Deuteronomy 18 puts in front of us.
Second, what is the framework? This is a subtle one. Even in a class that never mentions Hinduism, listen to the language. Breath is often taught as prana, which isn't just air. In the original framework, it's life force energy that you're channeling. Classes often end with namaste, which carries the meaning of the divine in me honoring the divine in you. And some deeper practices of yoga work toward awakening an energy at the base of the spine that the original framework pictures as a coiled serpent. Sit with that image for a second, because it tells you what we're actually dealing with. Whatever else yoga is, at its foundation it is not spiritually neutral, and it wasn't formed with spiritual neutrality. Underneath most of yoga, even watered-down Western yoga, is the idea that the divine power you need is already inside you, waiting to be awakened so that you can unite with it. That idea doesn't depend on Christ. It literally can't, because if Christ is who He says He is, we don't awaken divinity within ourselves. We receive His Holy Spirit as a gift.
And third, what is the fruit? Here I want to be honest, because the physical benefits of yoga are real: better sleep, less back pain, more flexibility, a greater sense of calm. That's part of why it's so popular. But remember what we talked about in episode one. Our test isn't simply whether something produces a result. The issue in Deuteronomy 18 wasn't whether people believed these practices worked. The issue was whether God's people were seeking wisdom and help in ways that He had forbidden. So the fruit question goes deeper. What is this cultivating in my heart, soul, mind, and spirit? Is it dependence on Jesus, or is it nudging me toward the belief that everything I need is already inside of me? Because that idea is not neutral. It is the exact same temptation we see all the way back in Genesis, the temptation to look inward for what God says only He can provide, what can only be found in Him.
Now, I know you might be thinking, "Okay, Natalie, but my class really is just stretching." I understand that, and I honor that, because I think faithful Christians genuinely land in different places on this topic. Some believers say movement can be fully redeemed. A stretch is a stretch, and doing it unto the Lord makes it clean, kind of like how Paul talks about food sacrificed to idols in 1 Corinthians 8. Other believers say the postures are so historically tied to the worship of other gods that it's wiser to step away from the system entirely. Both groups are reading the same Bible and just landing in different camps as far as interpretation. The goal of this episode is not to hand you a verdict. I want you to really wrestle with these questions. What was this practice actually designed to do? What language is being used in the room, and what does it really mean?
I'll share my own experience here, because I asked those questions of myself long before I ever dreamt of having this podcast. For a few years before I was a mom, I would occasionally go to yoga studios. It was just a way to take care of my body and exercise, and I genuinely enjoyed the movement and the calm atmosphere. But looking back, I can see how the environment was a little uncomfortable to me. Seeing deities and symbols and hearing words spoken over me that I didn't understand the meaning of, something in my spirit did notice, and I just never stopped to dig into that discomfort with the help of the Holy Spirit. I didn't ask what those symbols meant or what those words meant, or why a stretching class needed all of that. I didn't know what I didn't know, and honestly, I didn't ask.
Here's what I want you to hear from that story, though. When I finally came to understand the origins of yoga, God didn't meet me with condemnation. 1 Corinthians 10:13 promises that with every temptation, He will also provide the way out. He always provides a way out of sin, always, and His ways are not just an exit, they're also an upgrade. Isaiah 55 says that His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And Jesus in John 10:10 says that He came so that we may have life and have it to the full. God's ways are always higher, always better, and they always lead to true life. So when He asks us to lay something down, He's not taking life from us. He's giving us the real thing where we were deceived by a counterfeit.
One thing I don't want to do in this series is suggest restricting something without showing you some alternatives in its place. Our God is not a God of scarcity. Your body genuinely needs movement, stretch, strength, breath, all of those things. Those are good things that we need, and there are so many wonderful ways to meet those needs that don't come with attached spiritual baggage. Pilates is a great one. Swimming, dancing, strength classes. During my last pregnancy with Isaac, I loved doing Body Pump at the YMCA. And then walking, which is probably one of the most underrated pregnancy exercises there is. I always encourage incorporating prayer into that time if you're going for a walk. Prayer walks were honestly one of my favorite things to do when I was pregnant, even if that meant pushing the stroller the whole time.
You might already know this, but I'm certified in the Body Ready Method, which is a functional birth preparation program built around biomechanics and how the body works. But in the spirit of this series, I want to encourage you to use discernment even there. No program, teacher, or expert gets a free pass, not even the ones I recommend. Some of the exercises in the program incorporate yoga-based movements, and some of the messaging leans on sentiments like, "You are enough. You're strong enough," which I don't really agree with, because our strength doesn't come from ourselves. It comes from Christ. So take what's helpful, leave what isn't, and don't trust anything blindly, including me. Test everything against Scripture and ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom.
And then remember, slow, intentional breathing is not yoga's property. That's God's engineering. You can practice slow breathing while praying Scripture, and honestly, that's not just a substitute. That's an upgrade, because now your breath is anchored to truth. You don't need to awaken anything within you. If you're in Christ, the Holy Spirit Himself already dwells in you, and there is nothing higher to attain or reach for. It's already done because of what Jesus has done.
Okay, deep breath. Now let's talk about hypnobirthing.
Real quick before we continue: if this episode is stirring something in you and you're realizing you want more support as you prepare, I would love to come alongside you, whether that's through my online childbirth education, one-on-one virtual birth support, or even just a simple tool like my Christian birth affirmation cards to keep you reminded of the Lord's provision in this season. It's all waiting for you at faithoverfearbirth.com, or visit the links in the show notes. All right, let's keep going.
This is probably going to be the most popular topic in this series, because hypnobirthing has swept the Christian birth world. There are even Christian-branded hypnobirthing programs now, and that's exactly why we need to slow down and take a really careful look.
Let me give you the history first, because I think there's actually some real good that came from it. In the early 1900s, there was an English doctor named Grantly Dick-Read who noticed something fascinating: fear creates tension in the laboring body. Tension then creates pain, and pain creates more fear, so it becomes this fear-tension-pain cycle. That observation is physiologically sound, and it's part of the reason I branded my business Faith Over Fear. Fear genuinely affects labor, and I teach that myself. So that insight is not the problem. The problem is what got built on top of it.
In the late 1980s, a hypnotherapist named Marie Mongan took that insight and wrapped it in hypnosis. Her method teaches self-hypnosis, which means intentionally entering a deeply relaxed, highly suggestible state, along with visualizations and affirmations that she taught as tools for reaching the subconscious mind. We also have to look at the ideas this method grew out of, because the mind power stream it draws from is the same stream that gives us manifestation culture and the law of attraction, the idea that your thoughts and declarations create your reality.
But not all hypnobirthing programs today are teaching that same method. There are certainly varieties. Some lean hard on the hypnosis and the manifestation language, and others have dropped most of that and are really just teaching relaxation and breathing with a trendy name. So as we're walking through this, I'm describing what the method was built on and what many programs still teach. You will need to look at the specific program you're using or have used, and by the end of this episode, you'll know what to look for. The simplest way I can put it is this: hypnobirthing is two things fused together. It's true physiology about fear and relaxation fused to a mind power system. One of those is fine, it's a gift. The other is something we really need to pay attention to.
So first, what is the source? The fear-tension-pain piece comes from medical observation, and that piece is fine. But the method itself comes from hypnotherapy and mind power philosophy. And I'll gently point out that Deuteronomy 18, the very passage our first question comes from, includes warnings about practices that involve influencing and binding the mind. I'm not saying your hypnobirthing track is a spell, but I am saying that Scripture treats what we do with our minds as spiritually serious territory.
Second, what is the framework? Here's the core of it. Hypnosis rests on the belief that the subconscious mind is where the real power is, and the way to change it is to quiet the conscious mind. Now hold that up to Scripture. 1 Peter 5:8 says to be alert and sober-minded, because your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion. A sober, alert, guarded mind is a repeated command throughout Scripture, and it's closely tied to spiritual discernment and protection. A trance state is designed to do the opposite. It intentionally quiets the discerning, analytical part of the mind in order to become more suggestible. And labor is already one of the most physically, emotionally, and spiritually vulnerable moments of a woman's life. Personally, I can't find a biblical reason to intentionally set aside sober-mindedness during a season when it's needed the most. This is one reason many Christian researchers and former New Age practitioners have raised concerns about altered states of consciousness. While the techniques may look different on the surface, they often share a similar underlying approach: quiet the conscious mind, become deeply receptive, and then receive suggestion or guidance. That's why I think it's important not to stop at the branding. We need to look underneath all the labels and names and ask what a practice is actually training us to do.
And third, what is the fruit? Just like with yoga, the fruit is mixed here. Many women really do report calmer births with hypnobirthing, because the relaxation piece is real and the physiology works. But ask about the spiritual fruit. What's being taught to your heart? In most programs, it's that your mind is power, that your words create your reality, that you are in control. And there's a really big shadow to that mindset. If your birth doesn't follow how you expected or hoped for it to go, then you believe you failed, and that is not freedom.
Now, here's why this episode matters so much to me. Hypnobirthing is popular for a reason. It's reaching for real things: peace in labor, freedom from fear, a renewed mind. Every single one of those is actually a biblical promise. But the counterfeit is only compelling because the real thing exists. I want to pause on that longing for peace, because the desire itself is completely legitimate. Wanting peace as you head into labor is not weakness or a lack of faith. It's a God-given longing. But we have to seek that peace from the Lord Himself.
So here's my honest heart for you. I want so much for you to experience the love of the Lord more, to trust Him more deeply, and to experience His joy during this whole season. But unfortunately, there is no quick fix for that kind of peace. It only comes from walking with the Lord over time, from reading His Word and truly knowing Him through it, inviting the Holy Spirit into all of these things, and then rejecting lies and counterfeits to embrace the truth. That is a much harder, slower road to walk, but it is the real deal. "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will." That comes from Romans 12:2.
Look at how God says renewal happens: not by bypassing your thinking mind, but by engaging it. Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, think on these things. Set your mind on things above. And Isaiah 26:3, which might be my favorite verse for labor, says, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose mind is steadfast, because they trust in you."
I don't just believe that theologically or theoretically, because I've lived it. When I was in labor with Isaac, in between contractions, Brian read the scripture-based affirmation cards that I created, and there were truths spoken over me like, "God is with me in every moment of this labor." As he read those words over me, I was being transformed by the renewing of my mind in real time, in the midst of a very difficult physical and emotional challenge. My mind wasn't being emptied. It was being filled, and it was being fixed on Jesus. The tangible presence of the Lord showed up in that labor.
I remember feeling the weight of what was happening, because Isaac was coming seven weeks early, which was not at all the story I had imagined for this birth. There were certainly moments of fear, where I had every fleshly reason to be afraid. But every time my mind started drifting toward fear, the Lord brought me back to the truth. Brian would read those affirmations over me, I had worship music playing, and I was reminded over and over again that the Lord was with me. It was an opportunity for me to trust Him more and more as things progressed. Looking back, what stands out to me most isn't how I managed labor. It's how faithfully God showed up and carried me through it. His presence became more real to me than my circumstances, and His peace didn't come because everything was going according to plan. It came because He is the Prince of Peace. I cannot express to you the lasting impact that's had on me. When I think back to that labor, I don't marvel at my mind or the techniques I had. I marvel at how the Lord met me in all of it.
Before we close, I want to come back to the importance of our heart posture, because I don't know where you're at as you're listening to this. If you've engaged deeply with one or both of these practices, I want you to hear me say that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Absolutely none. If you pursued these things, you likely did so because you wanted to steward your body well, and that desire is good, and it came from God. But my prayer is that after hearing this episode, you can pursue God's ways to steward your body well, because His ways are better than our ways. And again, conviction and condemnation are not the same thing. Condemnation drives you away from God into hiding, whereas conviction draws you toward Him into freedom.
So what should you do if the Holy Spirit is stirring something in you after listening to this? 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Confession just means agreeing with God. We're saying, "Lord, now that you've shown me this, I want to see it the way you see it." And repentance is simply turning, changing direction. Maybe that means laying down one or both of these practices. Maybe it means deleting an app or canceling a membership or choosing different ways to prepare your body for birth. Whatever that looks like for you, remember this: repentance isn't punishment. It's an invitation into freedom. Acts 3:19 promises that when we repent and turn to God, our sins are wiped out and times of refreshing come from the Lord. Following Jesus sometimes costs us something. He never hid that from us, but there is nothing we surrender to Him that compares with what we gain in Him. He is always worth it.
I would love to leave you with James 1:5, because it's the promise this whole series stands on: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." You don't have to figure this all out on your own. You have a Father who gives wisdom generously and without finding fault. So ask Him. Be a Berean. Take everything I've mentioned to you today, hold it up to Scripture, and let the Holy Spirit lead you into truth, because He is so faithful to do it.
And now I would just love to pray for you as we close out this episode. Lord Jesus, I thank you for the mama listening to my voice right now. I thank you that you see her and that you care about how she prepares her body, her mind, and her spirit for this birth. I pray that you would help her to be alert and sober-minded as she discerns the practices she's engaging with. And if she's feeling the weight of conviction right now, I thank you that your kindness is what leads us to repentance, and that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. As she confesses and turns, I ask that you would flood her with times of refreshing and keep her mind steadfast and fixed on you. I ask, Lord, that you would keep her in perfect peace and guard her heart and mind with a peace that surpasses understanding. We love you, Lord, and it's in your name we pray. Amen.
Well, thank you for doing the brave, honest, and unpopular work of discernment with me today. If this episode encouraged and helped you, I would love for you to share it with a mama who needs it. And if you would, please leave a rating and review of this podcast so that more mamas can find this series. Then don't forget to also sign up for the Christian Mama Birth Prep Library, because that's where you'll find the Birth Practice Discernment Guide, which goes along with this whole series so you can walk through these questions yourself. You can sign up at faithoverfearbirth.com, and there will also be a link in the show notes for the sign-up, as well as for the birth affirmation cards I mentioned in this episode.
Next episode, we're going to dig into energy healing. And if today felt subtle, next episode is where things get a whole lot clearer, so you will not want to miss it. I'll see you next time.
