Is yoga demonic or no?

[CrimsonThorn]

Im personally attracted to yoga because its a completely different kind of stretching. Its very different than stretching at the gym or on your own, and it works out the muscles like I’ve never experienced before. I am just extremely fascinated by the way it works out the muscles and aligns the body. The breathing aspect of yoga is, what I think, makes it such a unique thing. Yoga almost seems to make the body workout itself (or at least in anusara yoga it does).

I still have been searching for an answer so Im still abstaining from participating.

Thanks for your answer. So you basically admit that its NOT the same, which is what the initial statement against it is about. Everyone in response keeps saying “but its the same as stretching!” when it is clearly understood that it is not.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

You’re right it doesn’t, but it does mean the person is engaging in the Catholic Sacraments when done at Mass.

In the same way when yoga poses are done with a religious mindset.
Yet again and again, you blind yourself when people tell you they have accomplished such an easy feat.

If you’re just stretching, then that isn’t Yoga, and then why do people feel compelled to specify that as Yoga?

Because it’s semantic preference? I’ll have you know that I graduated a language major. Anyone in my field who reads statements like this will tell you that you’re now just grasping at straws.

Words and meanings interchange all the time. What is wrong if it IS specified as yoga?

If you’re just eating un-consecrated wafers all day, why would someone feel compelled to state that they’re munching on the Holy Eucharist all day, if that is not the case?

Lemme rephrase this for fun:

If you’re just bending your body into weird poses all day, why would someone feel compelled to state they’re worshipping Hindu gods?

If you’re just making ninja signs with your fingers all day, why would someone feel compelled to state belief in the the kami?

If you’re just drawing pentagrams all day, why would someone feel compelled to say they are practicing Wicca?

Yoga is different. Learning religious symbolic posturing and then engaging in religious symbolic postures (if even done for secular reasons), is practicing Yoga and the spirituality of Yoga (like a atheist receiving the Holy Eucharist during Mass -if even done for secular reasons- doesn’t qualify that person as a Catholic, but it does qualify them as engaging in Catholic activities).

I seriously gotta ask: Have you ever taken up semiotics? Linguistics? Semantics?

Any of these academic disciplines will tell you that symbolism is not set in stone. Just this morning, I used the following hand signs while trying to get my head together.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g-hu-vZHDqE/TVznn_kTcII/AAAAAAAAAzE/yARd_mRisTQ/s1600/Tora.gif

You will find plenty of other Asian religions who employ the same sign. But let me tell you, I’ve had my hands form into that gesture for years. I have never experienced anything even remotely called demonic manifestation (oppression or otherwise).

 

[TheHolyTrinity]

Im personally attracted to yoga because its a completely different kind of stretching. Its very different than stretching at the gym or on your own, and it works out the muscles like I’ve never experienced before. I am just extremely fascinated by the way it works out the muscles and aligns the body. The breathing aspect of yoga is, what I think, makes it such a unique thing. Yoga almost seems to make the body workout itself (or at least in anusara yoga it does).

I still have been searching for an answer so Im still abstaining from participating.

Do not to let Satan get a foothold by tricking you into complacency, the greatest trick in his toolbox, if there really is something spiritually dangerous here and you have had previous experiences then a small crack is all it takes for the problems to return.

Is it possible that the practice of yoga could be a slippery slope for a person who has previously experienced some troubles in the past with evil spirits. When we are relaxed we are vulnerable to suggestion, ie: “let that inner divine come out”. You are correct that has the potential to ‘reboot’ your mind through calm suggestion. It’s almost like subliminal messages.

This aside have you tried taking Chelated Magnesium? You may be slightly deficient. I have recently started to use Chelated Magnesium to help with muscle relaxation. I find taking this at night helps better and I wake with relaxed muscles. Worth a shot if your muscles don’t relax down as they should. Sports massage may also help too.

A document from the Vatican discusses the practice of yoga and its effect on the Catholic faith. Many use the fact that it mentions yoga in a footnote as one of the Eastern religions in question to prove that yoga is intrinsically evil and should not be dabbled in.

“Jesus Christ, the Bearer of the Water of Life” a Christian Reflection on the “New Age” from the Pontifical Council for Culture and Interreligious Dialogue, found here.

vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html

 

[ValPal]

No it can’t because Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is just a name and an alternate version and evolution of Judo, and a certain aspect of Judo at that (newaza/ground grappling). In other words you can say it is influenced by Judo techniques but not it’s philsophy or retaining anything that relates to religion or spirituality. That’s like saying because my wrestling coach is Buddhist that me learning wrestling from him makes me Buddhist. Incorrect.

So, in other words, you can separate the art from the religion…my point exactly.

yoga is different. Learning religious symbolic posturing and then engaging in religious symbolic postures (if even done for secular reasons), is practicing Yoga and the spirituality of Yoga (like a atheist receiving the Holy Eucharist during Mass -if even done for secular reasons- doesn’t qualify that person as a Catholic, but it does qualify them as engaging in Catholic activities).

You just contradicted yourself this paragraph.

 

[CrimsonThorn]

So, in other words, you can separate the art from the religion…my point exactly.

You just contradicted yourself this paragraph.

No contradiction on my part. Yoga is not exercise, it is religion. How can you seperate the relgion from religion?

Judo is not a religion, its a sport.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

No contradiction on my part. Yoga is not exercise, it is religion. How can you seperate the relgion from religion?

Judo is not a religion, its a sport.

Bare assertion is bare.

puts hands together

Oh look, I’m doing a religion.

 

[agnes_therese]

Thanks for your answer. So you basically admit that its NOT the same, which is what the initial statement against it is about. Everyone in response keeps saying “but its the same as stretching!” when it is clearly understood that it is not.

It most certainly IS stretching. It’s stretching particular muscles in particular ways, but it’s still stretching. What on earth is so difficult about that?

 

[CrimsonThorn]

It most certainly IS stretching. It’s stretching particular muscles in particular ways, but it’s still stretching. What on earth is so difficult about that?

Youve already admitted there was a distinctiom between the two (stretching and yoga) and have already proved the point that Yoga is something more than “just stretching” so Ill leave it at that, we’re now going around in circles.

 

[TrueLight]

Youve already admitted there was a distinctiom between the two (stretching and yoga) and have already proved the point that Yoga is something more than “just stretching” so Ill leave it at that, we’re now going around in circles.

So I was reading “Women’s Health” the other day. And they were discussing whether you can do a good workout with Yoga.

And the article said if you hate the gym, you can do some Yoga poses that can even improve cardiovascular strength.

Then the article included s series of Yoga exercises (poses).

I plan on doing some when I have the time.

Are you saying these Yoga (because they are yoga) exercises are demonic?

 

[CrimsonThorn]

So I was reading “Women’s Health” the other day. And they were discussing whether you can do a good workout with Yoga.

And the article said if you hate the gym, you can do some Yoga poses that can even improve cardiovascular strength.

Then the article included s series of Yoga exercises (poses).

I plan on doing some when I have the time.

Are you saying these Yoga (because they are yoga) exercises are demonic?

First of all, I didnt say… But I did agree.

Secondly, experts in both Catholicism AND Yoga/Hinduism have concluded that it is impossible to seperate Hindu mysticism from the poses.

I urge you to read through the thread and read what others have also said.

PS- Swimming, jogging, running, sports etc. also improve cardiovascular health.

 

[maxdouglas402]

So I was reading “Women’s Health” the other day. And they were discussing whether you can do a good workout with Yoga.

And the article said if you hate the gym, you can do some Yoga poses that can even improve cardiovascular strength.

Then the article included s series of Yoga exercises (poses).

I plan on doing some when I have the time.

Are you saying these Yoga (because they are yoga) exercises are demonic?

The poses (asanas) of yoga were originally developed to worship Hindu gods. I don’t think all yoga is demonic, but I think some of it can be. Anusara yoga for example (the yoga i participated in which is supposed to align and strengthen your body to the divine) I think is somewhat demonic. Anusara yoga was supposedly developed from a wiccan man who was involved in witchcraft. Hatha Yoga, which is one of the 8 limbs of yoga, is simply a physical exercise. But, it is a part of Hindu philosophy because it is one part of the yoga belief system.

The goal is to find something permissible that is similar to yoga.

I think something like this might be permissible

beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/total_body_solution.do?code=SEMB_GOOGLE_TBS&gclid=CLic–Gup7MCFSemPAodGGMAxQ

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Youve already admitted there was a distinctiom between the two (stretching and yoga) and have already proved the point that Yoga is something more than “just stretching” so Ill leave it at that, we’re now going around in circles.

In the same way there is a distinction between savate and regular kick-boxing.
Your insistence on clinging on a logical distortion just goes to show how your camp values intellectual honesty.

First of all, I didnt say… But I did agree.

Secondly, experts in both Catholicism AND Yoga/Hinduism have concluded that it is impossible to seperate Hindu mysticism from the poses.

I urge people to also read how logically inconsistent you and others have been (and need, I say hypocritically uncharitable as well).

So if both two logically inconsistent groups agree on something, it must be true?

 

[tg2009]

thank you all for good insights. God bless you all

 

[ValPal]

Secondly, experts in both Catholicism AND Yoga/Hinduism have concluded that it is impossible to seperate Hindu mysticism from the poses.

From the Catholic side, the “experts” are people that are heavily biased against anything that can be perceived as anti-Catholic. I could see them make similar arguments against, say, Judo, where the founder’s father was a Shinto priest.

If one cannot separate the two, then how does it happen that someone like me who incorporates certain “yoga” exercises in my routine, and has done so for over 30 years, not become Hindu? Not only that, I’m certainly more of a practicing Catholic than I was way back when.

Once again, it’s about intent. Intent is important in any religion, especially Catholicism. If there is no intent (and often absolutely no understanding in the case of a workout), there is no practicing of that religion.

 

[maxdouglas402]

what about doing yoga classes at a fitness center, and the only reference the instructor makes to Hindusm are the names of the poses (asannas)?

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

what about doing yoga classes at a fitness center, and the only reference the instructor makes to Hindusm are the names of the poses (asannas)?

That’s no more demonic than having the days of the week named after pagan deities.

 

[PCalungsod]

Here’s the deal. The Church AFAIK does not have an official document (from the CCC, cannon law, statement of the Pope) that condemns yoga DIRECTLY. HOWEVER, priests (exorcists) like Fr. Gabriel Amorth and Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia (ALL exorcists regard yoga as demonic; while other priests are neutral in a sense that they do not encourage or discourage this practice) DOES condemn yoga and says it’s demonic. What’s the deal then? It DOESN’T mean that if there’s no official document condemning a particular practice DIRECTLY, then the Church approves it. Another, as said priests (exorcists specifically who are considered “experts” in this kind of issues) condemns yoga (not only condemn but also considers it demonic). St. Thomas Aquinas once said: " If one regard the Church as its infallible guide, the he accepts WHATEVER the Church teaches." that includes what the priest like Fr. Amorth and the others says. We as Catholics cannot choose what to believe in or to follow with regards to Church teachings (that’s “cafeteria style Catholicism”, type of Catholicism that Pope Benedict XVI condemns and he actually encourages those type of “Catholics” to leave the Church). Therefore, we should not mix “our own faith” with what “The Faith” teaches. Even if we think that yoga is “just an exercise” but if the Church officials suggest otherwise, then do what the Church officials say. Remember, Lucifer fall from being one of the greatest angels because of disobedience. We are doing the same sin to the Church and to God if we follow our own faith/belief rather than that of the Church.

 

[PCalungsod]

Yoga stretching is very good for the body. If you’re only doing the physical exercises, then you’re only doing the physical exercises. Stretching muscles does NOT = paganism.

But there are other forms of exercise aside from yoga right?

 

[PRmerger]

That’s no more demonic than having the days of the week named after pagan deities.

If this were Facebook I’d click “Like!”

I always do this: whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com/post/31225884992/when-i-run-into-my-ex-on-the-street

whenever I hear a Catholic argue that certain poses can be demonic. As if by placing one’s knees at a certain angle can change the forces of nature.

 

[PCalungsod]

After some yoga stretches I feel wonderful, alert, prayful and more aware of God’s presence. * Yoga brought me from a godless hedonist to a follower of Christ. I think it can be sacramental. *God gave us bodies. How about if we use them to the fullest extent in our prayer?

The Church and the Scriptures teaches that there are no other methods to develop intimate relationship with God other than prayer.I agree that we can use our bodies in prayer, but in accordance with the Church teachings, we can do that through our ACTIONS, not through stretching of certain body parts.