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Lost_Wanderer
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Frankly, I would believe the person is in need of serious therapy and medication.
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Lily0fthevalley
Guest
I’ve done yoga as part of my excercise stretches before i go for a run. Never really knew that it was form of another religion. I would think if you’re just doing stretches it is ok and not let your mind wander to something else. I think God would know where your heart is at. Just what i think 
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Baelor
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And I haven’t. What am I supposed to do with an isolated anecdote that is rather bizarre? Maybe the devil was telling him to worship the wolf spirit. Maybe you misheard. Maybe it’s an urban legend. Maybe someone made it up. Maybe the guy’s insane.
How can I possible feel confident in any answer to those questions knowing nothing about the person? Some people misunderstand God, some people reject God.
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severus68
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A “daemon …is a computer program that runs as a background process…”
If you mean demons, yes we all have our “demons” which we have to fight against. Perhaps we should concentrate on developing our own spirituality and strive to be closer to God instead of insulting people of other religions. There are only a very few religions which are about the worship/ calling on of of demons, Hinduism, Buddhism are not those. Also please do not forget that there are some who think Catholics worship statues, saints, Mary.
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severus68
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Thanks Jharek, that is interesting. Got that definition from Wiki, I thought ‘daemon’ is not used today to mean a demon at all.
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JimmytheButcher
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My Hindu neighbor (someone who is a great relief to have around because she is not from Utah) is so mild mannered and even tempered that she amazes me; so polite too. Ask her about ‘yoga as exercise’ and she doesn’t quite lose it, but she more than visibly bothered. She piped up quite vociferously about the absurdity of the phrase, “It’s only exercise.” According to her it’s not the words or breath that makes yoga a form of spiritualism, but the actual positions the body is shaped into. Interestingly, the same argument is made for why Catholics kneel. It’s more than just a cultural thing. The disposition of the body effects the disposition of the spirit.
I know that in my old diocese the ordinary distributed a memo, which landed in my own hands. He specifically forbade a half-dozen or so practices he deemed incompatible. I can’t remember if he singled out yoga, but he did single out a certain ‘wholistic medicine’ practice. My mother stopped practicing that portion of her business.
Anyway… there’s always good old stretching.
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Catholic90
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Without doing these poses every day, I would not be able to walk because my back would kill me otherwise.
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runni.../02/yoga-poses-3656-7142961-thumb-300x400.jpg
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runni.../02/yoga-poses-3656-7142961-thumb-300x400.jpg
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Catholic90
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You can even get your dog doing the exercises:
http://starcasm.net/wp-content/uplo...09/10/FP_3869226_Barm_Yoga_102409-800x558.jpg
http://starcasm.net/wp-content/uplo...09/10/FP_3869226_Barm_Yoga_102409-800x558.jpg
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Catholic90
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That is pretty much what basic yoga exercise classes are.
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LilyM
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So … the actual positions the body is stretched into make it a form of spiritualism?
Please ask her for me, why dancers and athletes, who adopt many of the same poses but DO do them purely as stretches or as dance or athletic movements - and were doing them as such in centuries past, before most Westerners had even heard of the word ‘yoga’ - weren’t and aren’t being spiritually enlightened/attacked/demonically possessed in their thousands by their practice of them?
Or babies and children, who do some of them completely spontaneously and naturally?
And why, if kneeling is so inherently spiritual, do I not feel spiritually transformed whenever I kneel to clean under my bed?
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Catholic90
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Wait…what? We are supposed to clean under our beds?!?So … the actual positions the body is stretched into make it a form of spiritualism?
Please ask her for me, why dancers and athletes, who adopt many of the same poses but DO do them purely as stretches or as dance or athletic movements - and were doing them as such in centuries past, before most Westerners had even heard of the word ‘yoga’ - weren’t and aren’t being spiritually enlightened/attacked/demonically possessed in their thousands by their practice of them?
Or babies and children, who do some of them completely spontaneously and naturally?
And why, if kneeling is so inherently spiritual, do I not feel spiritually transformed whenever I kneel to clean under my bed?
Oh…wonder what’s under there…
…it’s been 20 years…well, if it’s been this long, clearly there is no urgency.
I do kneel to wash my kitchen floor. It is most definitely NOT a spiritual experience!
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LilyM
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Well, I don’t do it often, but that just makes finding all the long-lost objects underneath that much more funWait…what? We are supposed to clean under our beds?!?
Oh…wonder what’s under there…
I do kneel to wash my kitchen floor. It is most definitely NOT a spiritual experience!
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Lost_Wanderer
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Neither is reconnecting the wire joining my computer with the rest of the office network. >X(I do kneel to wash my kitchen floor. It is most definitely NOT a spiritual experience!
That is unless you’re a wacko who sees spirituality in risking electric shock. -.-
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LilyM
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Aah, the joys of cheapskate bosses who buy cruddy computer equipment that never works like it’s supposed to … one guy I worked for practically made an artform out of it. Certainly the computers were more like decoration, being difficult to get running for any actual work
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Lost_Wanderer
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Nah, it’s not that bad. It just gets annoying at the start of the day when I boot up.Aah, the joys of cheapskate bosses who buy cruddy computer equipment that never works like it’s supposed to … one guy I worked for practically made an artform out of it. Certainly the computers were more like decoration, being difficult to get running for any actual work
That and I just have a bad history of attracting electricity from computers. T_T
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crazzeto
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I beleive the difference here, particularly if you read some of the quoted source material is that Hidusim is created with the purpose of worship in mind. It so happens that we have found the stretchs to have practical benifit, but the question is how effectivly can you disassociate your self from the Spirituality. This is a question best answered by Holy Mother Church ultimiatly, which is why my constant advice is to seek answers from an opinion from the Bishops. Beyond that, I personally have my own “comfort level” if you will, participating in such things. Like I said, I’ve done yoga before, found it challenging and enjoyable. But now knowing what it truely is, I don’t know that I would do it again.So … the actual positions the body is stretched into make it a form of spiritualism?
Please ask her for me, why dancers and athletes, who adopt many of the same poses but DO do them purely as stretches or as dance or athletic movements - and were doing them as such in centuries past, before most Westerners had even heard of the word ‘yoga’ - weren’t and aren’t being spiritually enlightened/attacked/demonically possessed in their thousands by their practice of them?
Or babies and children, who do some of them completely spontaneously and naturally?
And why, if kneeling is so inherently spiritual, do I not feel spiritually transformed whenever I kneel to clean under my bed?
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Baelor
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So? The purpose of yoga has been successfully hijacked, unless all of the soccer moms in my neighborhood are undercover worshipers of Hindu deities.
What concrete evidence do you have that the dissociation is inherently incomplete/exceedingly difficult?
Then why would you quit? The Church has not forbidden it. You were not assaulted by demons. Why would you quit something you enjoy now that you know its origins, despite the fact that they are totally irrelevant to its practice today? You yourself are a counterexample to the line of reasoning you are employing.
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LightBound
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Good grief here people! Just do the stretching exercises and QUIT**** worrying! If you aren’t opening your mind up to worship hindu gods, what is the problem? The poses? Those poses are often part of an active person’s daily movements as they go about their day. Nearly every movement we make or do can be construed as a yoga pose…even lying flat!
I’m sorry, but I would imagine that there is a yoga pose that is the same as sitting upright at a desk…so no more computer time for you
No sleeping flat on your back, either…that’s a pose, too 
Do you realize how it sounds when you look it that way? Nearly all forms of exercise take on some kind of yoga pose or movement. Slip in some Catholic music, pray a chaplet, do your stretching and quit worrying. I was channel surfing the other day and found some show called “Praise Moves”…guess what? It was yoga…done with breathing in and out while saying memorized Bible verses! HOW could that even be considered praying to a hindu god?
You could most certainly do those stretching exercises while concentrating on the very verse that was highlighted in the link you have posted.
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LightBound
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Good grief here people! Just do the stretching exercises and QUIT**** worrying! If you aren’t opening your mind up to worship hindu gods, what is the problem? The poses? Those poses are often part of an active person’s daily movements as they go about their day. Nearly every movement we make or do can be construed as a yoga pose…even lying flat!
I’m sorry, but I would imagine that there is a yoga pose that is the same as sitting upright at a desk…so no more computer time for you
Do you realize how it sounds when you look it that way? Nearly all forms of exercise take on some kind of yoga pose or movement. Slip in some Catholic music, pray a chaplet, do your stretching and quit worrying. I was channel surfing the other day and found some show called “Praise Moves”…guess what? It was yoga…done with breathing in and out while saying memorized Bible verses! HOW could that even be considered praying to a hindu god?
You could most certainly do those stretching exercises while concentrating on the very verse that was highlighted in the link you have posted.
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MatteoRicci
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I think the most surprising thing is how often this question comes up - with the repeat of the same type of arguments.
Modern Yoga bears very little resemblance beyond some of the poses to the spiritual practice that some purport it to be.
You don’t even have to take my word for it, I’ve even discussed the matter during inter-religious discussions with Hindu priests.
The Gurus and Vedic clergy take one look at what the West calls “Yoga” and generally sneer in the other direction.
I’ve seen it described by them as being “Anglo/European Opportunism” or an “Orientalist Construct to feed a caricature of Indian spirituality to the West.”
In other words - with the exception of those who are profiting from it - even traditionally minded Hindus have washed their hands of the idea that the poses someone is doing in the exercise room has any spiritual component whatsoever.
That is the “Yoga as Exercise” routine - and that’s the that is practiced by the majority of folks who inhabit with the West. They aren’t looking for enlightenment, aren’t chanting mantras to Shiva or Vishnu, etc.
The “Yoga as Spiritual practice,” does still exist - although again from the perspective of a Hindu finding a legitimate teacher outside of India looks nigh impossible. You are more likely to encounter a person hawking a New Age philosophy he or she has cobbled together and tossing in a watered-down version of the exercise.
IE: Someone’s selling snake oil.
Modern Yoga bears very little resemblance beyond some of the poses to the spiritual practice that some purport it to be.
You don’t even have to take my word for it, I’ve even discussed the matter during inter-religious discussions with Hindu priests.
The Gurus and Vedic clergy take one look at what the West calls “Yoga” and generally sneer in the other direction.
I’ve seen it described by them as being “Anglo/European Opportunism” or an “Orientalist Construct to feed a caricature of Indian spirituality to the West.”
In other words - with the exception of those who are profiting from it - even traditionally minded Hindus have washed their hands of the idea that the poses someone is doing in the exercise room has any spiritual component whatsoever.
That is the “Yoga as Exercise” routine - and that’s the that is practiced by the majority of folks who inhabit with the West. They aren’t looking for enlightenment, aren’t chanting mantras to Shiva or Vishnu, etc.
The “Yoga as Spiritual practice,” does still exist - although again from the perspective of a Hindu finding a legitimate teacher outside of India looks nigh impossible. You are more likely to encounter a person hawking a New Age philosophy he or she has cobbled together and tossing in a watered-down version of the exercise.
IE: Someone’s selling snake oil.
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