Posted on 05/21/2007 8:41:32 AM PDT by NYer
There is no such things as a yoga class with “no spiritual component whatsoever”. Spiritual content is in the DNA of yoga.
This is not merely a Roman Catholic perspective:
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/yoga.htm
Yoga is dangerous to anyone’s spiritual (i.e.: actual) well being.
Before we start worrying about some of this far-end stuff, it's better to worry about (1) catechizing our children; (2) religious education for adults; (3) atheism in the public schools; etc. etc. etc.
I have to get WAY down my list of "things to do" before I encounter either yoga or Harry Potter.
With that said, it does sound like this particular yoga class was way over the top from a religious point of view, that it should not have been taking place in the sanctuary, and moreover that the instructor was at least feeling a bit guilty about it due to her overreaction . . . .
. . . . just sayin'.
Although I think yoga is generally quite silly, it can be approached purely as a set of physical stretching exercises without any spiritual/religious component.
I would compare it to kung fu, which theoretically should have a large Buddhist component, since the creators of the activity were Buddhist monks and the activity was designed purely for religious reasons: monks were not permitted by the rules of their communities to carry weapons.
I am reminded of a "team development" weekend that a firm I used to work for sent me on.
We were all required to take part in a meditation session. The hippy guru guy, by way of introduction, gave us a set of recommendations on physical positions to take during meditation and on themes and ideas to focus on in meditation.
As soon as he shut his yap, I kneeled and said my rosary.
Lesson: as long as you are aware of any New Age/pagan agenda, you can safely ignore it.
That's the essential thing.
You don't exercise in front of the Blessed Sacrament, you worship in the presence.
Perhaps where we could find common ground here is that there are classes that are called "yoga" that aren't -- they are purely physical exercise. I've attended some of them.
Religions, by the way, don't have DNA. . . . they are taught. And whether yoga is harmful or not depends entirely on what is taught.
I plan to adopt your method if I ever encounter this sort of silliness. Unlikely, because my boss is a straight-ahead normal Methodist sorta guy . . . but I'll be ready if it ever happens!
When I read this article last week, I thought there was probably some info missing - it didn’t seem to make any sense. But now that I have read the more detailed account above, it looks like “war of the flakes” to me.
What’s with this laywoman creeping around the church sprinkling holy water and “blessed salt,” whatever that may be? And what’s with the pastor letting anybody conduct any exercise class of any kind in a chapel next to the altar? Maybe he’s going to put in a swimming pool next? Or let them have acqua aerobics in the baptismal pool, if he already has one?
I think both he and the concerned parishioner are wrong. The class shouldn’t be there because any kind of exercise class is inappropriate in that space. And as for yoga, while it can be a form of Hindu meditation, in Florida it is a form of low-impact exercise and stretching for older ladies. Believe me, there’s nothing demonic about it.
I can’t stand it, personally, but it does appear to have good physical results for people who go regularly.
Good point about the holy water and blessed salt (there is such a thing, btw, I’ve read about it before, and I think our priest blesses salt that goes into the holy water.)
For the same reason, it was common for priests to bless salt for the faithful to sprinkle in their homes as a blessing.
And, of course, holy water itself is made with blessed salt.
My kids, baptized in the old rite, received blessed salt.
Thank you for posting that link. Oftentimes what begins as an innocuous exercise can, over the course of time, draw the unsuspecting individual into something much deeper.
I’m beginning to think it isn’t possible to separate yoga from its spirituality.
I watched a good friend of mine as she first experimented with yoga. Then she began to attend retreats. Then she decided she wanted to become an instructor and went on certification retreats.
This is going on 8 years now since she started and in the past 2 years she has slowly lost her grip on reality.
I’m not saying yoga does this to everyone - my point is that from the very beginning it was a slow introduction into a specifice brand of spirituality and thought process.
People are capable of stretching, balancing, strenthening, etc....without having to bring spirituality into it, and many people take yoga without buying into its basic principles.
But that doesn’t mean yoga in itself is not a faith system all its own.
In the end it is classic pantheism.
I know that the salt is (or was, I guess) used in baptism, but I wasn’t aware that laypeople were going around sprinkling it.
I don't think exercises of any type should be occurring inside the church. I guess I could understand it if the actual Church were under construction and this was actually the parish hall.
However, I think we need to be careful about condemning all yoga exercises.
There really seems to be some twisting going on here. Take a good look at these two sentences: "There are those who claim there is nothing wrong with practicing Yoga for exercise purposes only, but even the teachers of Hindu have stated that the philosophy and the practice of Yoga are inseparable. From Johanna Michaelsen’s book “Like Lambs to the Slaughter” (pp 93-95) she states, “You cannot separate the exercises from the philosophy… The movements themselves become a form of meditation.”"
Did you catch it? The author, Johanna Michaelsen is saying you can't separate the exercises from the philosopy. It isn't a yogi saying it, it's a lady who's anti-yoga. Even if a yogi did say it, what are we going to do, make a list of every body motion that exists in yoga and never move our bodies like that again?
Now I'm not going to say yoga is harmless. It isn't. That meditation, focus on the light crap is defintely the occult. But to say stretching puts you in league with the Devil? I'm not buying that one.
Yoga as a spiritual practice is definitely not a positive thing. Your friend was probably a “seeker” to begin with. I had a similar friend who eventually went off to live at a yoga retreat and be exploited by the “guru” who ran it. And then, of course, there’s kundalini yoga...
But yoga in exercise classes here is nothing but flexibility training to soothing music. I am much more worried about things like the goofy yoga and enneagram “retreats” they run at our local diocesan retreat house. I thought all that stuff had phased out, but apparently it’s still with us (being conducted by elderly nuns, as usual). Our bishop is very orthodox, so it surprises me that we still have this, but perhaps whoever runs the retreat center is one of those people who has strong supporters and the bishop feels it’s a battle he’d rather not take on right now. He’s got a lot of other battles going on!
Yoga WAS a denomination of Hinduism centuries ago and it's still one the six "official" orthodoxies of Hinduism.
However, 99% (my number) of the Hindus today are Vedantists, that is, they don't subscribe to the Yoga denomination of Hinduism.
Yoga is more than incompatable to Christianity, it's galaxies apart, with absolutely nothing in common.
The yoga I teach is strength, flexibility, relaxation and breathing. I never heard of ANY religion embracing relaxation. Lol. But the discipline of nonreligious yoga is a good thing.
I always encourage the spiritual seekers to go elsewhere for their "quest." They AIN'T gittin' yoga spirituality from me.
Pilates Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilates
Cheers,
CSG
And she's so unostentatiously humble, too. I just had to sigh ...
As a Catholic contributor, I never write for human respect. If that were my purpose, I would have already curtailed writing. Because my intent is to speak the truth, I never expect a pat on the back. But I maintain it pleases me to learn that my work does not always fall on deaf ears.
You are quite right in that there IS no such thing as a yoga class with no spiritual component whatsoever IF you take it from one of the standard yoga houses, that is, Shivananda, Iyengar, Bikram, Sachidananda (Integral Yoga), etc.
Today, there seem to me more NONspiritual yogas than not. Fitness studios, gyms, fancy-schmany clubs, schools (colleges, universities) and one-man shows usually do offer the generic yoga. They probably wouldn't last in the yoga business if they did anything else.
My 2 cents.
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