Who needs yoga?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael_Mayo
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Whatever damning Eastern influences lay in wait, yoga helps my poor hips, so I’ll keep going. 😉

I want to make it clear there is ZERO problem in a devout Catholic practicing yoga (even spiritually charged yoga). It is beneficial to mental and physical health and there is nothing about it that poses the teensiest bit of sin. Saying “ohmmm” at the end of the session is hardly idolatry.

However, if you’re uncomfortable with saying “downward dog” then don’t let me stop you from calling it something else. No harm, no foul.
 
Porknpie said:
Yoga is inconsistent with Christianity as the Yogi Masters teach that one is to empty one’s mind of thought. We are not to do this…rather we are to keep our mind focused on Christ. There are Christian alternatives to Yoga that provide the stretching and relaxation without the Eastern mystic influences.

PnP
Click to expand...
Clearing your mind of thought for an hour a few times a week isn’t avoiding Christ. If anything, such meditation can help us slow down our thoughts and truly listen to what He’s trying to tell us.
 
naomily said:
Clearing your mind of thought for an hour a few times a week isn’t avoiding Christ. If anything, such meditation can help us slow down our thoughts and truly listen to what He’s trying to tell us.
Click to expand...
And on a practical level, it’s a good way to relax, clear your head, and keep yourself sane enough to avoid murdering someone because of your high-stress job. :whacky:
 
naomily said:
Clearing your mind of thought for an hour a few times a week isn’t avoiding Christ. If anything, such meditation can help us slow down our thoughts and truly listen to what He’s trying to tell us.
Click to expand...
Naomily,

Clearing your mind is not Christian. It matters not whether one does it once a week or once a year. Yoga is not teaching “clear your mind and listen”. Listening still uses your mind.

Better Catholic thought for listening to the Almighty: Eucharistic Adoration or sitting in an empty Church in silence…

Recommend this book for those interested in learning more about Yoga and other New Age subjects. From my favorite Jesuit.

PnP
 
Porknpie said:
Naomily,

Clearing your mind is not Christian. It matters not whether one does it once a week or once a year. Yoga is not teaching “clear your mind and listen”. Listening still uses your mind.

Better Catholic thought for listening to the Almighty: Eucharistic Adoration or sitting in an empty Church in silence…

Recommend this book for those interested in learning more about Yoga and other New Age subjects. From my favorite Jesuit.

PnP
Click to expand...
Clearing your mind is not Christian ? :hmmm: Interesting,

Sitting in an empty church ?
Code: 
 I feel close to my Creator ,  when walking through a field of green pasture...
It all depends on where you are in your relationship with God,
 
phil_at_dayboro said:
Clearing your mind is not Christian ? :hmmm: Interesting,

Sitting in an empty church ?
Code: 
 I feel close to my Creator ,  when walking through a field of green pasture...
It all depends on where you are in your relationship with God,
Click to expand...
Phil,

One can not listen if one tries to clear one’s mind.

Sitting in an empty Church has the specific purpose of listening to the Lord. The mind is not cleared or trying to be cleared. The mind and intellect are at work. The mind is focused on trying to hear the Lord, omitting distractions, but the mind is not trying to be cleared.

PnP
 
Funny how we shifted from the body to the mind.

I find that in order to really listen I need to stop the inner monologue.

And stretching helps do that also.
 
Porknpie said:
Michael,

Do google for the alternatives. I am not an expert here … no endorsement but here’s one.

Best wishes,

PnP
Click to expand...
That is simply taking the exercises that westerner’s associate with yoga and calling it something else.

The problem I see with something like that is that the people developing such a program cannot see the difference between exercise and religion, are fully aware that Hindus utilize such exercises in spiritual practice, take those exact same exercises out of ritual practice and place the Christian stamp of approval on it. Major Fail.

If anyone is familiar with other cultures, they would realize that while exercise/body position may be used in ritual practice, it does not follow that any particular exercise/body position is inherently linked to that religion. The blatantly obvious one is the hands in “Christian” prayer position; it’s ubiquitous among the major religions. Placing your hands together in prayer position does not mean you are practicing Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. any more than putting your body in a particular position for stretching/strengthening purposes is linked to any particular religion.

The intent to practice a particular religion while doing something is what separates an act from the actual practice of a religion.
 
I have to agree with WarriorMonk but I hoped this would not turn into another debate thread. What I wanted to attend to was the proven nonreligious benefits of a consistent committed stretching program which many people forgo for fear of worshiping false gods of yoga.

Wholyfit looks a lot like yoga but is reinterpreted. In the same way we can do the same stretches and call them anything we want.

Wholyfit looks a little creepy to me:
http://www.wholyfit.com/wp-content/themes/acoustic_v102/custom-scripts/rotate.php

Reminds me of a cult. In fact “WholyFit, HolyFit and WhollyFit are all registered trademarks of the WholyFit Ministry, along with all homonyms and spellings. It is a ministry of Thornapple Covenant, a part of The Evangelical Covenant Church.”

No thanks.

http://media.thornapple.s3.amazonaws.com/styles/header/s3/header-images/wholyfit.jpg?itok=h7vVcNyC
 
Michael_Mayo said:
Funny how we shifted from the body to the mind.

I find that in order to really listen I need to stop the inner monologue.

And stretching helps do that also.
Click to expand...
Well, yoga is a yoking, of mind, body and spirit. So if it isn’t that, it isn’t yoga.

It is a major reason why I stopped practicing yoga. In my conversion to Catholicism, the meditative practices of yoga didn’t seem to me to align with Catholicism.

BUT, yes, the exercises are beneficial, but doing them is not practicing yoga. Also, I don’t know how some of the asanas can actually be done properly, without injury, without including pranayama….and that cannot be done without getting into the Sutras.
 
Michael_Mayo said:
http://injuryfix.com/images/stretch-chart_sample_420x450.jpg
Click to expand...
Like this, without pranayama? Yikes.

(One of my favorite asanas, BTW. Yes, it does squish some organs, which is considered to be beneficial to the liver and kidneys. :D:D )

OK, on further examination of the exercise illustration, it isn’t a yoga asana. It is an imitation of one, which, I would be cautious about. More difficult poses are eased into, with earlier poses and awareness of breath. This looks like it could cause real injury, putting the body into an alignment to cause injury to hips, knees and wrist.
 
As a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (NSCA), I can positively tell y’all that there are plenty of good flexibility training options that do not have any connotations with the false gods of Hinduism. In my opinion, the practice of yoga is a slippery slope, and it is fundamentally incompatible with Christian living. 'Nuff said.
 
RebeccaJ said:
Also, I don’t know how some of the asanas can actually be done properly, without injury, without including pranayama….and that cannot be done without getting into the Sutras.
Click to expand...
And the Sutras, not being from God, are from mammon at best, and the devil at worst. Amen, Sister!
 
Faithdancer said:
And the Sutras, not being from God, are from mammon at best, and the devil at worst. Amen, Sister!
Click to expand...
The Sutras are very centered on the “divine within”, which is a practice for enlightenment ….not compatible with Christianity.

If there is a “how so” question, enlightenment is a belief that one is made self-complete by emptying. This is in direct conflict with Christian teaching, that we are made complete by God and are filled by Truth, who is Jesus Christ.
 
Lost_Wanderer said:
Wow, so I’m guessing the loons who do cocaine are more Christian than I am because their minds are always on the fritz. 👍
Click to expand...
The good news is that your mind is healthy and can think through whether Yoga is an activity that makes us more holy or not. We are called to holiness.

**Here is a Catholic article **on yoga discouraging it’s use and explaining a bit of its history.

And the NY Times article that states that Yoga started as a sex cult. The NY Times article is mentioned in the Catholic article above.

I make this up … not.

A Catholic really must ask:

“What is Yoga?”
“What are the roots of Yoga?”
“Is it Compatible With Christianity?”
“Does Yoga enable me to live a more Christian life … a life in striving for holiness?”
"Would Jesus Christ practice Yoga?

and

“What alternatives are there for relaxation and stretching that don’t involve an Eastern religious practice.”

PnP
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top