Faith-based TikToker calls yoga 'demonic', criticised for 'disrespecting Hindus'
A faith-based content creator's claims that yoga is "demonic" have drawn criticism from locals, who say her comments are disrespectful to the Hindu community.
Rachel Fan, known on social media as @rachellovingly for sharing her Christian faith, quit yoga after practicing it for nine years and urged others to follow suit, citing what she described as yoga's "spiritual roots".
She claimed the physical movements, or "asanas," are a form of worship in Hinduism.
Screenshots of her now-deleted post were shared by TikToker @singtalian on Nov 22. The clips quickly went viral, racking up more than 28,400 views, 1,664 reactions, and 241 comments as of press time.
"You've hurt them the first time by appropriating and commercialising their culture," said TikToker @singtalian, referring to Rachel Fan's claims. "Now you're disrespecting them again by calling parts of their religion and culture demonic."
@singtalian argued that framing yoga as "demonic" misrepresents the practice and disrespects Singapore's Hindu community, noting the "everyday racism and marginalisation" the community faces.
'Rejecting yoga because it's pagan?'
The debate sparked reactions across TikTok. On Nov 19, Taoist creator Qztaoism, 25, posted a clip responding to the controversy, saying it reminded him why he "left church in the first place".
He dismissed the labelling of practices as 'pagan'—a term used for spiritual traditions outside the major religions—urging viewers not to overthink the issue. 'Why do y'all hyper-fixate on certain things?' he asked.
He added, "Don't eat tofu, because tofu was developed by Taoist priests," pointing to how debates over cultural and religious origins are often exaggerated.
Captioned "If this video gets taken down, you know I kena reported by their ppl liao," the post by @quanzhentaoist on Nov 19 has since garnered 12,300 views, 541 reactions, and 44 comments.
Some TikTok users defended yoga as a form of exercise. "Yoga exercise is ok," one wrote, adding that "It's only when do [sic] yogic meditation to invoke the kundalini force" that it would be considered "demonic".
Another shared a personal experience: "I've had friends with parents who stopped them from doing yoga because of this reason lmao."
