“The idea that the body is a vehicle for reaching consciousness with the divine is
I took a Hatha Yoga class at our local Recreation Center in the 1990's when my children were toddlers. I would drop them off at the Rec's daycare room and spend an hour in a Yoga class trying to relax. With 4 children and a husband that traveled a lot, I needed an hour to decompress.
I knew that Yoga was Hindu, but I thought it was stretching and relaxation. As a Catholic, I didn't know that you can't separate the "exercise" from the spiritual worship of Hindu gods. Oops.
I thought something was up when I saw that the Hindu American Foundation started a campaign, Take Yoga Back, because the Hindus recognized that America has created a multi-billion dollar yoga industry that is about exercise, relaxation and strengthening.
In a CNA interview last August, Dominican priest and exorcist Father Juan Jose Gallego of the
Archdiocese of Barcelona warned that, “New Age" practices like Reiki and
some yoga can be points of entry for the demons, and called addictions a “type
of possession.”
The best explanation I have
found, why Yoga can't just be just an exercise, is from Sue Brinkman on the
"Woman of Grace blog". I've
posted it in its entirety and linked their blog for more information.
P.S. Once while in confession I told the priest I had been to see a psychic and he asked how long ago. Then he said after my confession was over he was going to perform an exorcist prayer over me, because demon spirits could have attached to me. He touched my shoulder and said the prayer. I'm wondering if priests would do the same for us who have practiced Yoga. Ask your priest, the next time you see him.
Why
Can’t Yoga Just Be an Exercise?
Posted on October 22, 2012 by SBrinkmann
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.”
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.
As Fr. Pacwa states in
his book, Catholics and the New Age, ” . . . (H)indus did not devise
these exercises for athletic limbering or muscle building. All were meant to
lead the practitioner to enlightenment and awareness of his or her inner
divinity.” (pg. 33).
Legendary guru B.K.S.
Iyengar confirms this in his book, Light on Yoga, where he says
that some yoga positions “are also called after gods of the Hindu pantheon
and some recall the Avataras, or incarnation of Divine Power.”
Having said all that,
we come to a purely logical conclusion - it’s not possible to “just
do them as an exercise” when the so-called “exercises” aren’t just exercises.
That would be like
saying the sign of the cross can be used as a triceps exercise. Sure, you can
use it that way, but it’s not – and never will be – a triceps exercise. Like
yoga positions, it can never be a mere “physical action” or “neutral” because
it has a profound spiritual meaning.
Others attempt to lend
Christian names to these poses, or to pray the Rosary while practicing them;
however, none of these actions negates the intrinsic Hindu meanings in these
poses, at least not according to Bishop Norberto Carerra.
In his pastoral
instruction on the New Age, A Call to
Vigilance: Pastoral Instruction on New Age, Bishop Carerra
writes: “However much proponents insist that these techniques are valuable as
methods, and imply no teaching contrary to Christianity, the techniques in
themselves . . . in their own context, the postures and exercises, are designed
for their specific religious purpose. Even when they are carried out within a
Christian atmosphere, the intrinsic meaning of these gestures remains intact.”
So even if you think
you’re stretching your back, if you’re using the Sun Stretch to do so, whether
you intend to or not, you’re still posing in a position of worship to the Sun
god because that’s what this pose was designed to do. It was never designed as
a back stretch.
It works the same way
with someone who uses the sign of the cross to work out their triceps. They may
indeed be working out these muscles, but regardless of their intentions,
they’re still working out these muscles by making a sign of profession of faith
in the Triune God.
My advice is that if
the idea of posing yourself in a position of worship to a Hindu god is even
remotely bothersome to you, stop doing it. There are plenty of other
exercises/stretches you can do that work just as well as yoga.
- See more at:
http://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=17011#sthash.h9jpXusQ.dpuf
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