Is it possible to "baptize" yoga?

[trudelja]

We are trying to find some concrete information on whether or not we can “Catholicize” yoga, because we are doing a mini-retreat in our parish on the New Age and need answers. There is a religious sister in a nearby city who is offering “Catholic yoga” and, from what I’ve read, I really don’t understand why you’d want to take something from the Hindu religion and make it Catholic. But we are in search of the truth and are open to learning all we can.

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

I have been a strong advocate that it is possible for Catholics to use yoga postures for exercise, but I have also been equally insistent that Catholics should not involve themselves in non-Christian Eastern or quasi-Eastern spirituality. For a recent conversation with EWTN.com readers that I had on the subject over at EWTN.com’s web site, see these posts:

Yoga, question from C.K.
RE: Yoga, question from L.T.
RE: Yoga, question from A.M.
RE: Yoga (One more time!), question from Tabby

If the postures commonly used during yoga are used purely for exercise, I continue to maintain that there is nothing wrong with them. Just as kneeling is a posture that can be used for prayer, but can also be used for gardening, proposing marriage, or looking for lost change, so other postures can be used either for prayer or for exercise (or for a mix of both).

I am very skeptical though of any attempt to “Catholicize” or “baptize” yoga, because that implies attaching to the yoga postures a spirituality, which may or may not be approved by the Church, and calling it “Catholic.” If someone wants to pray a Catholic prayer or prayers (e.g., the rosary, a chaplet) on his or her own while going through a yoga routine, that is probably fine. But I cannot recommend that any Catholic patronize classes purporting to offer a “Catholic yoga,” unless that program has been approved by the local bishop for use as an authentic form of Catholic devotional prayer.