Is alright for a Catholic to do yoga?

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I attend a Roman Catholic church. On Saturday they offered a “Christian” yoga session. Never having tried yoga, but having a keen interest in and great respect for Indian food and Indian spirituality I decided to try it out. The results were incredible. I don’t mean to say it wasn’t better than Mass, because Mass is incredible also, but in a different way. I feel like Mass really enlivens my heart and soul, whereas what yoga did was enliven my body and sharpen my mind. I could feel all sorts of divine energies, which I had grown accustomed to experiencing in my soul during prayer, now flowing through my body. I felt strenghened and invigorated and more relaxed and nearer to God. I believe that God placed this yoga class in my church because he knew I needed it in order to heal my body, for I have been in ill health the past few years and not even the grace I’ve received through God’s mighty sacraments has been enough to heal me fully.

However, I remember listening to a talk by Fr. John Riccardo in which he condemned yoga and said it was not ok for Catholics to do yoga. I can’t understand why though, its not as though I am doing yoga as an alternative to Christianity, but rather to bring my body into alignment with where I am already at spiritually thanks to Christianity. So what do you guys think, can a Catholic do yoga? I really feel as though God is calling me to do this because he wants to heal me through it and so I doubt anyone will be able to swade me but I am still interested in your guys opinions.
 
it is a dangerous road for catholics to walk down because although there are certainly a lot of health benefits from yoga; there are many subtle spiritual aspects to it that are very anti-christian

i would pick a different route to flexibility and spine-health
 
brian_custer said:
it is a dangerous road for catholics to walk down because although there are certainly a lot of health benefits from yoga; there are many subtle spiritual aspects to it that are very anti-christian

i would pick a different route to flexibility and spine-health
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Tired as this argument this may be, it bears repeating that physical and spiritual aspects of any practice can be separated with ease.

And seriously, I really hope we can let that be the end of yet another thread about yoga.
 
brian_custer said:
it is a dangerous road for catholics to walk down because although there are certainly a lot of health benefits from yoga; there are many subtle spiritual aspects to it that are very anti-christian

i would pick a different route to flexibility and spine-health
Click to expand...
Oh I don’t give a **** about flexibility or my spine, lol. The benefits I got went much deeper than that, I felt an incredible sense of calmness and physical relaxation, better breathing mental alertness and peace, a sense of unity with the other folks in the class, increased connection and awareness to my body and its movements, greater ease of movement, pain relief and the feeling of spiritual/healing energies from throughout my body and an increased sense of well being, flexibility and strength. And this was all from just one single session!!!

Now if you can suggest to me an different route that would lead to the same benefits, believe me I am all ears, for even having one single method that can bring about those results is a miracle is it not? If you could suggest to me another, then it would be a second miracle.

Please tell me what these anti-Christian aspects are? It is difficult for me to see how simply making some postures with my body for the purposes of healing it could make me anything but a better Christian but I am open to consider the idea if you can be more specific about it.
 
I will recommend you the WORKSHOPS OF PRAYER AND LIFE OF FATHER IGNACIO LARRAÑAGA…You will learn without any danger to your soul.
There is a video of a priest explaining why yoga is not good for us christians:
The Journey Home - Bill Kneemiller -2014-10-27 - Revert
I hope it will help you. God bless.
 
Exercise is very good for the body. I would not associate myself with yoga exercises.

A workout DVD geared to a person of my age works very well for me to feel more energetic. Since I started three weeks ago I am now painting my bedroom walls! 🙂

I benefit in my Catholic prayer life by reading Doctors of the Church on prayer, and hearing conferences about them.

Peace,

Dorothy
 
I myself wouldn’t do it, or any other form of Eastern spirituality

The goals of Eastern religion are almost diametrically opposed to ours.

ICXC NIKA
 
Ceddd99 said:
I attend a Roman Catholic church. On Saturday they offered a “Christian” yoga session. Never having tried yoga, but having a keen interest in and great respect for Indian food and Indian spirituality I decided to try it out. The results were incredible. I don’t mean to say it wasn’t better than Mass, because Mass is incredible also, but in a different way. I feel like Mass really enlivens my heart and soul, whereas what yoga did was enliven my body and sharpen my mind. I could feel all sorts of divine energies, which I had grown accustomed to experiencing in my soul during prayer, now flowing through my body. I felt strenghened and invigorated and more relaxed and nearer to God. I believe that God placed this yoga class in my church because he knew I needed it in order to heal my body, for I have been in ill health the past few years and not even the grace I’ve received through God’s mighty sacraments has been enough to heal me fully.

However, I remember listening to a talk by Fr. John Riccardo in which he condemned yoga and said it was not ok for Catholics to do yoga. I can’t understand why though, its not as though I am doing yoga as an alternative to Christianity, but rather to bring my body into alignment with where I am already at spiritually thanks to Christianity. So what do you guys think, can a Catholic do yoga? I really feel as though God is calling me to do this because he wants to heal me through it and so I doubt anyone will be able to swade me but I am still interested in your guys opinions.
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There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing the physical yoga postures.
 
Consider that Pope Francis earlier this month mentioned yoga and the Catechism together, condemning neither the former nor the latter. Obviously, he would never condemn studying the Catechism, but he reminds us that study alone cannot make us open to God’s love. What might surprise some is that he did not condemn studying yoga either. He mentioned it right along with the Catechism as something we might pursue, but also reminds us that studying alone cannot open our hearts to God. If yoga was as dangerous as some here insist, one would think the Holy Father would have mentioned the evil spirits, but he did not.

What is your intention in practicing yoga? Better health so as to better serve the Lord Jesus and the people in your life? Nothing wrong with that.

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1500093.htm

Courses in yoga, Zen meditation, even extensive studies in church teaching and spirituality can never free people enough to open their hearts to God and his love, Pope Francis said in a morning homily… …"You can take a million catechetical courses, a million courses in spirituality, a million courses in yoga, Zen and all of these things. But all of this will never give you the freedom of being a child of God."
 
Ceddd99 said:
I attend a Roman Catholic church. On Saturday they offered a “Christian” yoga session. Never having tried yoga, but having a keen interest in and great respect for Indian food and Indian spirituality I decided to try it out. The results were incredible. I don’t mean to say it wasn’t better than Mass, because Mass is incredible also, but in a different way. I feel like Mass really enlivens my heart and soul, whereas what yoga did was enliven my body and sharpen my mind. I could feel all sorts of divine energies, which I had grown accustomed to experiencing in my soul during prayer, now flowing through my body. I felt strenghened and invigorated and more relaxed and nearer to God. I believe that God placed this yoga class in my church because he knew I needed it in order to heal my body, for I have been in ill health the past few years and not even the grace I’ve received through God’s mighty sacraments has been enough to heal me fully.

However, I remember listening to a talk by Fr. John Riccardo in which he condemned yoga and said it was not ok for Catholics to do yoga. I can’t understand why though, its not as though I am doing yoga as an alternative to Christianity, but rather to bring my body into alignment with where I am already at spiritually thanks to Christianity. So what do you guys think, can a Catholic do yoga? I really feel as though God is calling me to do this because he wants to heal me through it and so I doubt anyone will be able to swade me but I am still interested in your guys opinions.
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After reading your other posts I see you are pretty busy in spiritual practices: Yoga, Toaism, Elizabeth Prophet, New Age practices… I’m not sure the issue is you practicing all those things, it would be more likely the issue is referring to yourself as Catholic. :rolleyes:

Or maybe you just like fishing and have your trolling rod out…😛
 
Ceddd99 said:
Oh I don’t give a **** about flexibility or my spine, lol. The benefits I got went much deeper than that, I felt an incredible sense of calmness and physical relaxation, better breathing mental alertness and peace, a sense of unity with the other folks in the class, increased connection and awareness to my body and its movements, greater ease of movement, pain relief and the feeling of spiritual/healing energies from throughout my body and an increased sense of well being, flexibility and strength. And this was all from just one single session!!!

Now if you can suggest to me an different route that would lead to the same benefits, believe me I am all ears, for even having one single method that can bring about those results is a miracle is it not? If you could suggest to me another, then it would be a second miracle.

Please tell me what these anti-Christian aspects are? It is difficult for me to see how simply making some postures with my body for the purposes of healing it could make me anything but a better Christian but I am open to consider the idea if you can be more specific about it.
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I can’t speak for the pain relief but as for the spiritual healing, sense of well being and sense of community, daily Mass works pretty well. Then just regular old stretch exercises are good for the body and pain. There are many you can find online that help the spine.

As far as what is anti-Christian there are many and it would be easier if I just provide some links:

womenofgrace.com/blog/?cat=11

swordoflightandtruth.org/
 
christofirst said:
Consider that Pope Francis earlier this month mentioned yoga and the Catechism together, condemning neither the former nor the latter. Obviously, he would never condemn studying the Catechism, but he reminds us that study alone cannot make us open to God’s love. What might surprise some is that he did not condemn studying yoga either. He mentioned it right along with the Catechism as something we might pursue, but also reminds us that studying alone cannot open our hearts to God. If yoga was as dangerous as some here insist, one would think the Holy Father would have mentioned the evil spirits, but he did not.

What is your intention in practicing yoga? Better health so as to better serve the Lord Jesus and the people in your life? Nothing wrong with that.

catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1500093.htm

Courses in yoga, Zen meditation, even extensive studies in church teaching and spirituality can never free people enough to open their hearts to God and his love, Pope Francis said in a morning homily… …"You can take a million catechetical courses, a million courses in spirituality, a million courses in yoga, Zen and all of these things. But all of this will never give you the freedom of being a child of God."
Click to expand...
In this circumstance the Pope said nothing about what yoga is, what it is about and the dangers of it. It was a passing mention that it along with other practices would not bring one close to the Father. Thinking that the Pope is okaying yoga in that instance would be taking the comment out of context and applying a different meaning to it.

He was speaking of the importance of having the Holy Spirit and God’s love working in us and our acting on love and not just being religious. That was why he mentioned different religious practices.

Yoga is a very dangerous practice and it is best to stay away from it.
 
May I ask from a pure exercise basis what people get from yoga. In my opinion the only type of exercise that does any good is aerobic.
 
Dorothy said:
Exercise is very good for the body. I would not associate myself with yoga exercises.

A workout DVD geared to a person of my age works very well for me to feel more energetic. Since I started three weeks ago I am now painting my bedroom walls! 🙂

I benefit in my Catholic prayer life by reading Doctors of the Church on prayer, and hearing conferences about them.

Peace,

Dorothy
Click to expand...
Here’s the thing though…‘yoga’ without the spiritual deception is not yoga. It’s exercise. I guess you can call it ‘yoga’ to be cool but I imagine if you told someone who actually does practice yoga what you are doing you’d be laughed at.
 
Ceddd99 said:
I attend a Roman Catholic church. On Saturday they offered a “Christian” yoga session. Never having tried yoga, but having a keen interest in and great respect for Indian food and Indian spirituality I decided to try it out. The results were incredible. I don’t mean to say it wasn’t better than Mass, because Mass is incredible also, but in a different way. I feel like Mass really enlivens my heart and soul, whereas what yoga did was enliven my body and sharpen my mind. I could feel all sorts of divine energies, which I had grown accustomed to experiencing in my soul during prayer, now flowing through my body. I felt strenghened and invigorated and more relaxed and nearer to God. I believe that God placed this yoga class in my church because he knew I needed it in order to heal my body, for I have been in ill health the past few years and not even the grace I’ve received through God’s mighty sacraments has been enough to heal me fully.

However, I remember listening to a talk by Fr. John Riccardo in which he condemned yoga and said it was not ok for Catholics to do yoga. I can’t understand why though, its not as though I am doing yoga as an alternative to Christianity, but rather to bring my body into alignment with where I am already at spiritually thanks to Christianity. So what do you guys think, can a Catholic do yoga? I really feel as though God is calling me to do this because he wants to heal me through it and so I doubt anyone will be able to swade me but I am still interested in your guys opinions.
Click to expand...
As a Catholic, why must you do yoga to exercise & stay nimble? Forget the Indian spirituality.
WE BELIEVE IN JESUS!

Go jogging or join a gym. Exercise & clear your head…but be spiritual at Mass & in your private prayers. :crossrc:
 
Lost_Wanderer said:
Tired as this argument this may be, it bears repeating that physical and spiritual aspects of any practice can be separated with ease.

And seriously, I really hope we can let that be the end of yet another thread about yoga.
Click to expand...
👍
 
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