"white-washed" yoga, yay or nay?

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So I’ve heard that people have been possessed practicing yoga and that it originated as a Hindu worship ritual, but does it matter if a Catholic does “western” yoga, essentially the poses minus the spiritual component? I told this older Catholic lady at church once that I was looking for a yoga place and she seemed very alarmed and said she loves Jesus and thinks exercise is good but she wouldn’t do yoga because it’s heretical or something. I’ve noticed a lot of the poses are similar to Pilates or stretching that I otherwise do? People in my family do yoga sometimes and don’t have qualms with it, especially those living in countries where yoga originated. They said it was originally supposed to be exercise but people added the religion factor to motivate others to do it(kinda of like how many cultures forbid shoes in their houses or temples for the sake of the being “sacred” but they really just want to keep their floors clean) And how does yoga open a person up to possession if Hinduism isn’t a legitimate religion? I think it’s cool that people who go yoga are very flexible and that’s something I need to work on. I usually don’t have time for classes anyway so I generally exercise on my own, but I got injured so I’m trying more light exercises (and no I’m not that old that I’d do Tai chi or something).
Edit: I’d kind of like more feedback from people who actually exercise, than those that just sit in the corner with their knitting needles judgin’ the world.😃🤣
 
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joyful said:
So I’ve heard that people have been possessed practicing yoga and that it originated as a Hindu worship ritual, but does it matter if a Catholic does “western” yoga, essentially the poses minus the spiritual component?
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You mean like the “Pieta” version and others? You don’t even need to change the name. Stretching is stretching, no matter what you call it. And you cannot “accidentally” worship demons. If that were possible, then billions of people would have become possessed after lying flat on their backs while resting or sleeping, because that is also a yoga pose.
 
Yoga has undeniable physical benefits. If one practices yoga as exercise and does not enter in to the religious aspects, then yoga can only be considered beneficial for those who do it
 
angel12 said:
You mean like the “Pieta” version and others? You don’t even need to change the name. Stretching is stretching, no matter what you call it. And you cannot “accidentally” worship demons. If that were possible, then billions of people would have become possessed after lying flat on their backs while resting or sleeping, because that is also a yoga pose.
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Yes, this. The poses are just that, you cannot accidentally worship by doing them.
 
It’s replies like this that make me want to leave CAF.

Fr Amroth had issues which destroyed his credibility.

Jim
 
people can call the poses whatever they want, the truth is, the body can only stretch in so many ways, so it’s all the same essentially.

just like if someone gets down on their knees, doen’st automatically mean they’re praying, there has to be intent involved as well
 
Very definitely - not the least of which was that he dined out for years on the spurious position of being the “Vatican’s chief exorcist,” of which there is no such title, and which he was not.
 
Why does this article include Harry Potter? That’s just silly. I grew up loving that series. I’m over it now, but I enjoyed it and no one I knew got into spiritual trouble because of it. It’s a children’s book like any other. Unless someone’s half crazy they don’t take anything they read in it seriously more than basic entertainment
 
I get the sense that a lot of “fear” of yoga comes from lack of understanding other cultures from Western cultures. I don’t know any Catholic living in the East (Asia) who would attest to yoga being demonic
 
In my yoga class, we have kind of a traditionalist teacher. She actually reads for a few minutes at the start of the class - basics of traditional yoga, how the yogi practiced it originally in the mountains, developing peace of mind, contentment, negating the passions, desires, achieving a state of equilibrium that opens one up spiritually to a higher power of some sort, that part is always a little unclear. It sounds a lot like a monastery to me. She says before she begins, yoga has become too westernized, emptied of meaning. I actually have to suppress a laugh sometimes - the people in the class are not open to this - their faces pucker up in disdain and disapproval - especially the parts about overcoming the self and desires. I have to contain (self-discipline 🙂) myself and not nod my head when she is done reading and say to everyone “Christianity could have told you that.” But, no worries, they hate it from the Hindus as much as from the Christians. It would seem I have a lot more in common with a Hindu yogi than I do a Western secularist. (or even the German bishops for that matter)
 
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joyful said:
So I’ve heard that people have been possessed practicing yoga and that it originated as a Hindu worship ritual, but does it matter if a Catholic does “western” yoga, essentially the poses minus the spiritual component? …
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The physical culture is designed to prepare the body and mind for meditation. There are two major areas to consider with regard to meditation, which is not physical culture.
  • theological and spiritual implications,
  • psychological therapeutic.
CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH – LETTER TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON SOME ASPECTS OF CHRISTIAN MEDITATION – October 15, 1989
2. The ever more frequent contact with other religions and with their different styles and methods of prayer has, in recent decades, led many of the faithful to ask themselves what value non-Christian forms of meditation might have for Christians. Above all, the question concerns eastern methods.1 Some people today turn to these methods for therapeutic reasons. The spiritual restlessness arising from a life subjected to the driving pace of a technologically advanced society also brings a certain number of Christians to seek in these methods of prayer a path to interior peace and psychic balance. This psychological aspect is not dealt with in the present letter, which instead emphasises the theological and spiritual implications of the question.
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http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/c...th_doc_19891015_meditazione-cristiana_en.html
 
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Religious belies often turn into superstitious beliefs and paranoia, and negativity towards Catholics who practice yoga is just one example.
 
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So we institute “Catholic Stretching” . . . hold the Angel pose for the length of five Lord’s prayer . . . . good, now a Cherubim for seven Hail Marys . . .

hawk
 
Yoga poses are often mixed into other parts of exercise and stretching. Why don’t we all just sit on the couch all day then?
 
Actually there is a trainer who posted a Rosary workout, or something like that, a while back.
 
JimR-OCDS said:
Fr Amroth had issues which destroyed his credibility.
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I think you mean people had “issues” with what he said. Regardless, He was never publicly reprimanded or censored. Those are his opinions and I don’t see evidence that they undercut his credibility.
 
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“Let’s look at this from a purely logical point of view. First of all, anyone who truly understands yoga (such as a Hindu) will tell you that yoga positions were never designed to be exercises. They were designed to do one of two things – worship one of more than three million Hindu gods and/or facilitate the flow of prana (life force energy) through the body.”

www.womenofgrace.com

Why Can't Yoga Just Be an Exercise?

MB asks: "While it's true that most yoga positions are designed to be positions of worship to Hindu gods, I find it hard to believe that there's any danger in practicing them when it's just being done as an exercise."
www.womenofgrace.com www.womenofgrace.com

Regardless of one’s intentions, putting yourself into pagan praying positions invites evil that most of us are unequipped to handle
 
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