What do Catholics think about Yoga practice?

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I think if I practiced yoga I would do serious bodily harm, and have to call you over to help me get untangled and stand up
 
:Yoga is Hinduism; Hinduism is Yoga.:

Not true. Yoga is a practice developed by Hindus.

: Hindus worship daemons;:

That is not what the Catechism says. And besides, I explicitly said that yoga is legitimate for Christians only insofar as it does not involve the worship of other gods.

In Christ,

Edwin
 
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Ahimsa:
I’m not Catholic myself, but I’m curious as to what Catholics think about the practice of yoga.
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Well … during my first yoga class, the guy leading the class put a photo of a yoga leader woman up so everyone could see it. he asked us to feel the energy that this woman gives off … even through her photo … and actually expected me to physically feel a breeze eminanting from her … oh … and also asked us to hold our hand over our heads and feel the energy (physical breeze) coming from our crests.

treating the photo like a source of energy … mmm … no thank you.

the physical aspects of yoga seem fine.
for medidation … i would rather meditate on christian things … not this woman or the energy that she or her photo produced

well that was my first class …

haven’t gone back.

cheers!

michel
 
Code: 
		**Egyptian Cleric Proclaims Yoga Anti-Islamic**  			    			
		**The practice is deemed part of Hinduism and therefore 'forbidden religiously' to Muslims.**        			   	http://images.beliefnet.com/imgs/x.gif  	  				  					 By Chhavi Sachdev   *Reprinted from the November 2004 issue of [Science & Theology News](http://www.stnews.org)*. Used with permission.
A religious edict in Egypt has ruled that the practice of yoga is a sin. The ruling by the Grand mufti Ali Gomoa, the highest authority on Islamic law, stipulates that yoga “is considered one of the ways of practicing Hinduism.” While Egypt is not an Islamic state, Islam is the main religion. Religious edicts, or fatwas, have no bearing on the legal system in Egypt, but they shape the ideologies of conservative Muslims. The edict, published in the pan-Arab daily newspaper Al-Hayat, called the practice of yoga “an aberration” and said it is “forbidden religiously.” It continued: “Even if Muslims do not know the link with Hinduism, it is a sin.”
Code: 
Yoga, an ancient body of poses and techniques from in India, originated as a nexus of spirituality and health. Western scholarship is only now making inroads into researching the specific feelings of serenity and wellbeing practitioners report. Yoga has become popular in the West thanks to the teachers who linked poses with their physiological outcomes and promoted their health benefits.

        “On one side of the spectrum, yoga can be steeped in religion and spirituality, but sometimes it is just physical exercise,” said Jennifer Johnson, director of the yoga program at the Mind/Body Medical Institute in Chestnut Hill, Mass. “It is certainly taught as a way to decrease stress, condition and stretch the body.”

When Johnston teaches yoga, “it’s about connecting within and not connecting to an external dogma,” she said. Johnston, who was raised as a Catholic, has had students from all faiths and traditions in her classes. “I like to hope that the world is moving towards integration and collaboration,” she said. 

 

Mukesh Kumar, a yoga instructor in Egypt for three years and diplomat at the Indian Embassy in Cairo, told the Associated Press, “It is neither a religion nor claims to be a substitute for any religion in the world,” he said. “I am amazed and wonder why this kind of statement is coming.”

Kumar explained that the Indian cultural center in Cairo introduced yoga classes in 1992, and the center is now operating at maximum capacity — 120 registered participants. Eighty percent of them, he said, are Egyptian.

“I don’t think it is haram [forbidden religiously]. It is a way of life. It relieves people from stress,” he said, adding that Egyptian officials and diplomats are among those enrolled in his classes. “It is a boon for humanity. We have to carry it, and spread it.” 

					  					

				 				    				  				  					  						http://www.beliefnet.com/imgs/x.gif
 
Personally (after much reading in my youth about various forms of yoga) here goes:

The physical exercises are wonderful, very beneficially physically - and mentally/emotionally since they bring relaxation and a body that feels better.

However, if you’re just doing the physical exercises, what you are doing is not yoga at all, just a set of physical exercises that might come in a book called “Yoga” but have about as much to do with yoga as visiting a cathedral to do brass rubbings has to do with Christianity.

Anything beyond the exercises should be avoided. Since the goal of yoga is to become yoked, and appreciate the yoke with “ultimate reality” and as that “ultimate reality” is decidely unbiblical it is not a good idea to get into. Patanjali’s sutras or even the Bhagavad Gita give an outline of what yoga is - and Christianity it is not.

Blessings

Asteroid
 
The purpose of yoga is to bring the body under the control of the soul in such a way that it does not pose a hindrance to unity with ultimate reality. Vatican II and the CCC make it very clear that the Hindu search for ultimate reality is a good and honorable one, which Christians respect and share. We believe that this ultimate reality is Jesus Christ. There we differ from them. But that does not mean that we have nothing to learn from them in terms of spiritual disciplines and other matters that do not involve polytheism or the denial of Christian doctrine.

In Christ,

Edwin
 
Yoga as excercise is okay…I think I would prefer Tai Chi (as stated above) for all the same reasons.

I am a black belt with about 14 years in Japanese Karate. I’ve heard people condemn it as pagan, but it never was when I trained. One can be a Catholic martial artist the same way that the Catholic Samurai followed the faith…even to their deaths at Shimabara castle.

Michael M.I.
 
Hmm:hmmm: Where to start? Maybe here since it was the most untrue statement I have ever read and obviously the person who said it has never tried it.

**
posted by exporter
O.K. Felix Blue, Yoga is for individuals who want to exercise but don’t want to really exercise - they don’t want to sweat or get tired. HOWSZATT?
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**
When I went to my first yoga class, I took my tennis shoes so when I was done, I could go work out. After an hour of severe concentration and much sweat and muscle soreness, I went home without needing to go work out! Yoga, especially by beginners who are not in top physical condition, is a extremely demanding physical workout.

Maybe it was the teacher I went to, but it was not until the end, (I guess it was step 8?) that there was anything a Christian should even be concerned about. But part of yoga is to reach inside and find your inner self (at least that was what the teacher I went to said). I thought, okay, as a Christian, I believe Christ resides within me. So instead of reaching out for God, I looked within. In less than 3 minutes I was surrounded by the presence of God. I would compare it to the same feeling you get after 15 -30 minutes of worship singing or meditative prayer. It was awesome.

The teacher left, and I just do not have the discipline to continue on my own. With the wrong teacher, it could get unchristian, but just like many holidays, yoga can be easily “made” Christian. JMHO.

Your Catholic Christian sister in Christ,
Maria
 
I heard a speaker on EWTN’s show with Johnette Benkovic, The Abundant Life, and this speaker had been very involved with yoga. Her involvement brought her under demonic possession and she had to have an exorcism.

The foundation of yoga is indeed in the occult. The positions used are positions that are to open up the body for spirits to enter. Anything where ‘chi’ is mentioned falls into this category – a manipulation of ‘energy’ in the body; often emptying oneself and becoming vulnerable to possession.

While as Catholics we empty ourselves of our sin and pride, we always focus on filling ourselves with Jesus, and Jesus alone. Yoga and similar practices do not.

This speaker warned everyone not to get involved with yoga or tai chi. Even though your intent may be different, you are in engaging in a practice whose intent is evil. She said the best advice is “when in doubt go without.”

Here’s a link to more info:
crossveil.org/page7.html

Why put yourself in a vulnerable position when there are so many other ways to exercise? Take a walk and pray the rosary!
 
Yoga makes me nervous, I don’t practice it, I personally see no value to it. It comes from another religion and it is a method that they use to pray to thier…divine… so with that in mind, I don’t mix my Catholicism with witchcraft because it might be good for my skin…so yoga with not sinful might be something that we want to watch out for…
 
I have only known it for execise, I never realized the spiritual component of it. Anyways we need to be respectful of other cultures, I wouldn’t want a non-Catholic to be saying the rosary for non-religious benefits because it just makes them more relaxed.
 
Church Militant:
Yoga as excercise is okay…I think I would prefer Tai Chi (as stated above) for all the same reasons.

I am a black belt with about 14 years in Japanese Karate. I’ve heard people condemn it as pagan, but it never was when I trained. One can be a Catholic martial artist the same way that the Catholic Samurai followed the faith…even to their deaths at Shimabara castle.

Michael M.I.
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Hi C.M. Its really amazing what christians have allowed to creep in,thinking its okay.Its a new gospel everyday.We are constantly being decieved by the DECIEVER. This is okay and that is okay.STOP!!! You shall not have any false gods before me.Lets not let our minds be open to decieving spirits. :eek: God Bless Brother
 
I’ve never had any interest in yoga from a physical perspective, so I’ve always left it alone. I recently heard about it’s spiritual origins, so I’ve got even less interest in it. There are plenty of Catholic spirituality exercises to keep me occupied.
 
Yoga is a form and practice of Hindu ‘prayer’. I put ‘prayer’ in quotation marks because there is a vast difference between ‘prayer’ done by Jews and Christians and the so-called ‘prayer’ done by Hindus / Buddhists. These classic pagan religions are monistic - that is, they believe everything is all one and the same spiritual reality, really only one thing. They deny there is any reality to the physical universe - believing the imagined projection of:
  • the ultimate spirit, who is involved in “illya”, or ‘playful imagining’ (the Sanskrit root for ‘illusion’).
  • individuals suffering from the mistaken belief they really are individuals, unique and separate from everything else.
Thus, their spiritual practices (including what is erroneously referred to as ‘prayer’) are geared to liberate the individual from individuality as such, and help them achieve release from the incessant repetition of a bad dream (called reincarnation) and ultimately get them to re-achieve ‘oneness’ with the only one spirit they are.
Yoga is a series of physical exercizes developed over a couple of millenia which practioners have traditionally taught accelerated their progress toward abnegation of their individuality, helping them to melt back into the cosmic spiritual soup we all are (according to them). Some of these postures - according to them - open practioners up to the spiritual realm, and even to ‘entities’ (actually, other spirits - and not holy ones!). Hindus, for example, do not have a compassionate explanantion for - say - the physically disabled who connot do these exercizes, rather claiming that their disability is payment for past transgressions in an earlier life, and therefore just tough.
The traditional Hindu masters of Yoga really didn’t think it wise for non-Hindus to practice these posture because of their liklihood of suffering a very bad spiritual experience during them - these Hindu teachers demanded their accolytes have a guide (guru) and be trained in Hindu belief to avoid problems.
’Prayer’ - in the Judeo-Christian Tradition is a REAL individual communing with a real Creator. In it we truly find our real selves, we don’t lose our individuality. Our prayer is always from and in love. In Hindu-Buddhism, there is no one ‘else’ to love, to really talk to, to really be with.
There are other forms of physical exercize which do not pose spiritual danger to practitioners. We really don’t need to sit at the feet of pagan-pretzel-priestesses to get better at anything at all.
All we need is the Creator of the universe, Jesus Christ. And there is no reicarnation after death. Period.
 
thomist said:
Yoga is a form and practice of Hindu ‘prayer’. I put ‘prayer’ in quotation marks because there is a vast difference between ‘prayer’ done by Jews and Christians and the so-called ‘prayer’ done by Hindus / Buddhists. These classic pagan religions are monistic - that is, they believe everything is all one and the same spiritual reality, really only one thing. They deny there is any reality to the physical universe - believing the imagined projection of:
  • the ultimate spirit, who is involved in “illya”, or ‘playful imagining’ (the Sanskrit root for ‘illusion’).
  • individuals suffering from the mistaken belief they really are individuals, unique and separate from everything else.
Thus, their spiritual practices (including what is erroneously referred to as ‘prayer’) are geared to liberate the individual from individuality as such, and help them achieve release from the incessant repetition of a bad dream (called reincarnation) and ultimately get them to re-achieve ‘oneness’ with the only one spirit they are.

Yoga is a series of physical exercizes developed over a couple of millenia which practioners have traditionally taught accelerated their progress toward abnegation of their individuality, helping them to melt back into the cosmic spiritual soup we all are (according to them). Some of these postures - according to them - open practioners up to the spiritual realm, and even to ‘entities’ (actually, other spirits - and not holy ones!). Hindus, for example, do not have a compassionate explanantion for - say - the physically disabled who connot do these exercizes, rather claiming that their disability is payment for past transgressions in an earlier life, and therefore just tough.

The traditional Hindu masters of Yoga really didn’t think it wise for non-Hindus to practice these posture because of their liklihood of suffering a very bad spiritual experience during them - these Hindu teachers demanded their accolytes have a guide (guru) and be trained in Hindu belief to avoid problems.

’Prayer’ - in the Judeo-Christian Tradition is a REAL individual communing with a real Creator. In it we truly find our real selves, we don’t lose our individuality. Our prayer is always from and in love. In Hindu-Buddhism, there is no one ‘else’ to love, to really talk to, to really be with.

There are other forms of physical exercize which do not pose spiritual danger to practitioners. We really don’t need to sit at the feet of pagan-pretzel-priestesses to get better at anything at all.

All we need is the Creator of the universe, Jesus Christ. And there is no reicarnation after death. Period.
Click to expand...

Hi thomist,

I’m curious: where did you learn about Hinduism, Buddhism, and Yoga?
 
//When I went to my first yoga class, I took my tennis shoes so when I was done, I could go work out. After an hour of severe concentration and much sweat and muscle soreness, I went home without needing to go work out! Yoga, especially by beginners who are not in top physical condition, is a extremely demanding physical workout.

Maybe it was the teacher I went to, but it was not until the end, (I guess it was step 8?) that there was anything a Christian should even be concerned about. But part of yoga is to reach inside and find your inner self (at least that was what the teacher I went to said). I thought, okay, as a Christian, I believe Christ resides within me. So instead of reaching out for God, I looked within. In less than 3 minutes I was surrounded by the presence of God. I would compare it to the same feeling you get after 15 -30 minutes of worship singing or meditative prayer. It was awesome.

The teacher left, and I just do not have the discipline to continue on my own. With the wrong teacher, it could get unchristian, but just like many holidays, yoga can be easily “made” Christian. JMHO.

Your Catholic Christian sister in Christ,
Maria//

Ahhhh, you have tasted some of Eastern Orthodox Theosis. I practice what you would call step 8 by first placing my chin to my chest and looking at my heart slowly and pray repetitively the Jesus prayer: (on the inhale, slow and deliberate) “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” (on the exhale, slow and deliberate) “have mercy on me a sinner”. It is a way of receiving Christ into ones heart. IMHO we breath Christ in and exhale our iniquities.

StMarkEofE
 
thomist said:
Yoga is a form and practice of Hindu ‘prayer’. I put ‘prayer’ in quotation marks because there is a vast difference between ‘prayer’ done by Jews and Christians and the so-called ‘prayer’ done by Hindus / Buddhists. These classic pagan religions are monistic - that is, they believe everything is all one and the same spiritual reality, really only one thing. They deny there is any reality to the physical universe - believing the imagined projection of:
  • the ultimate spirit, who is involved in “illya”, or ‘playful imagining’ (the Sanskrit root for ‘illusion’).
  • individuals suffering from the mistaken belief they really are individuals, unique and separate from everything else.

    Thus, their spiritual practices (including what is erroneously referred to as ‘prayer’) are geared to liberate the individual from individuality as such, and help them achieve release from the incessant repetition of a bad dream (called reincarnation) and ultimately get them to re-achieve ‘oneness’ with the only one spirit they are.
Yoga is a series of physical exercizes developed over a couple of millenia which practioners have traditionally taught accelerated their progress toward abnegation of their individuality, helping them to melt back into the cosmic spiritual soup we all are (according to them). Some of these postures - according to them - open practioners up to the spiritual realm, and even to ‘entities’ (actually, other spirits - and not holy ones!). Hindus, for example, do not have a compassionate explanantion for - say - the physically disabled who connot do these exercizes, rather claiming that their disability is payment for past transgressions in an earlier life, and therefore just tough.

The traditional Hindu masters of Yoga really didn’t think it wise for non-Hindus to practice these posture because of their liklihood of suffering a very bad spiritual experience during them - these Hindu teachers demanded their accolytes have a guide (guru) and be trained in Hindu belief to avoid problems.

’Prayer’ - in the Judeo-Christian Tradition is a REAL individual communing with a real Creator. In it we truly find our real selves, we don’t lose our individuality. Our prayer is always from and in love. In Hindu-Buddhism, there is no one ‘else’ to love, to really talk to, to really be with.

There are other forms of physical exercize which do not pose spiritual danger to practitioners. We really don’t need to sit at the feet of pagan-pretzel-priestesses to get better at anything at all.

All we need is the Creator of the universe, Jesus Christ. And there is no reicarnation after death. Period.
Click to expand...

No, no. Hindus do pray to God, it’s a real prayer to the real God. Only Advaitins believe that only God exists, and they don’t call it monism, but more accurately nondualism, ie not-two. Nondualism also implies that reincarnation is not real, there’s no need to liberate from something and nothing to achieve, because man is already free.
Also man may be God, but God is more than man.
Advaitins also don’t believe that the physical universe is not real, but that the world of differences has no absolut reality.

Some great Hindu saints not only discourage non-Hindus from doing Hatha-Yoga (you may call it Pretzel-Yoga) but also Hindus themselves, and I agree with them, because Hatha-Yoga **can **be very dangerous. Lord Krishna said in the Gita that the path of loving devotion called Bhakti-Yoga is the best and only Yoga needed for most people.
 
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SPOKENWORD:
Hi C.M. Its really amazing what christians have allowed to creep in,thinking its okay.Its a new gospel everyday.We are constantly being decieved by the DECIEVER. This is okay and that is okay.STOP!!! You shall not have any false gods before me.Lets not let our minds be open to decieving spirits. :eek: God Bless Brother
Click to expand...
The flip side of the coin is also true. Let us not close our minds to things helpful and natural because we falsely believe them to be evil. I’ve traveled this road my whole life - closed minded and in fear of everything that didn’t have the stamp of “fundamentalist approved material.” This kind of faith is just as detrimental as supposedly opening oneself up to deceiving spirits. Balance my friend, Balance!

Peace…
 
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BlueTuna:
No, no. Hindus do pray to God, it’s a real prayer to the real God. Only Advaitins believe that only God exists, and they don’t call it monism, but more accurately nondualism, ie not-two. Nondualism also implies that reincarnation is not real, there’s no need to liberate from something and nothing to achieve, because man is already free.
Also man may be God, but God is more than man.
Advaitins also don’t believe that the physical universe is not real, but that the world of differences has no absolut reality.

Some great Hindu saints not only discourage non-Hindus from doing Hatha-Yoga (you may call it Pretzel-Yoga) but also Hindus themselves, and I agree with them, because Hatha-Yoga **can **be very dangerous. Lord Krishna said in the Gita that the path of loving devotion called Bhakti-Yoga is the best and only Yoga needed for most people.
Click to expand...
I agree. I would also suggest that most Hindus are in fact practitioners of Bhakti yoga, and as such would believe that God and Man are distinct entities, and would always remain in a feeling of unconditional surrender to God.

Advaita, on the other hand, argues that only God IS, and thus the trick is to realize that fact. Educated Westerners tend to think that they can really practice Advaita, and so they tend to valorize that particular approach, perhaps because it can act as an easy excuse for Western-style narcissim. The traditional Hindu warning, though, is that Advaita requires extensive grounding in Bhakti and Karma yogas before one would even dream about doing Advaita.
 
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