Is Yoga contrary to Catholicism?

[carmellemarie7]

I was recently talking to a very spiritual woman and she told me that all yoga is bad, and promotes New Age mentality. I told her that I hadn’t gotten into the spirituality of it and I just did the poses for the sake of my health. She told me that just by doing the poses we are invoking different Hindu gods, or something to that effect. Is this correct? I have 2 daughters who are into yoga. One teaches it. They are both into New Age thinking and no longer believe in Jesus Christ or the Blble, so this is making me think she may have a point.

Thanks so much.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

The following links might be helpful:

What do I do about Yoga classes in my parish bulletin?
Can Catholics practice yoga?
The trouble with Yoga

Personally I would compare Yoga to eating food sacrificed to false idols:

So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols: we know that “there is no idol in the world,” and that “there is no God but one." Now food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better off if we do.

• 1st Cor 8

In my personal opinion, I believe St. Paul’s point is applicable here. There are no other gods other than the one God of the Trinity. There are no Hindu gods to invoke so in Yoga we are merely doing exercises to keep physically healthy. If someone is engaging in spirituality contrary to the Catholic faith that is a separate issue that, imho, has nothing to do with what position their body is in when they do it.