Should Catholics do yoga? This is a hotly debated question that provokes a wide variety of answers, ranging from people who are unconvinced that Christians have any worries whatsoever to those who are concerned that specific movements may open a door to the demonic. Millions of Christians practice yoga. Some don’t want to consider the possibility that there might be a conflict between their yoga practice and Christian faith, and some have never even heard that there might be conflicts. 

Over the years, yoga has become synonymous with stretching. Let’s carefully look at two fundamental questions to discern whether Catholics should do yoga:

  1. What is Yoga?
  2. What can a Catholic do to stretch and strengthen their body?

What is Yoga?

It is first important to know what yoga is. “Yoga” is the ancient Sanskrit term for the physical practice of developing Hindu spiritual disciplines. Yoga is thousands of years old, and its teachings are detailed in the Vedas, or sacred Indian texts. These teachings include polytheism (worshiping many gods and goddesses), monism (a belief that all things in the universe are one, without distinction), reincarnation, karma, idol worship, and the goal of realizing one’s own divine identity. 

Unfortunately, today, many people have come to believe that yoga is not a spiritual practice – that it is merely a form of exercise that is good for the body and helps to release stress and anxiety. A quick Google search will tell you otherwise. The word yoga means “yoke” or “union,” which hints at the innate spiritual nature of the practice. Another indication is the way it affects practitioners over time. The International Journal of Yoga published the results of a national survey that showed that although most respondents commonly began yoga for physical health reasons, they usually continued it for spiritual reasons. In addition, the more people practiced yoga, the more likely they were to decrease their adherence to Christianity and the more likely they were to adhere to non-religious spirituality and Buddhism.” 1

Yoga is deeply rooted in spirituality. “Many of the postures have a story behind them and deeper objectives beyond stretching and strengthening the muscles.” B.K.S.2 Iyengar, considered to be one of the foremost yoga gurus in the world, “reveals that many postures have a symbolic meaning derived from Hindu mythology which is connected to their Sanskrit name, and the very shape the body takes in the posture. [These poses] have a depth and symbolic value that elevates them above the mere physical material complex of the body.” 3 Students in a yoga class participate in the spiritual aspect of those poses, even if unintended. Your physical attendance and actions become devotions to yoga gods and goddesses. It is likened to someone who genuflects in front of a tabernacle in a Catholic Church a few days a week, whether or not they have faith. In time, there will probably be some spiritual effect. When someone participates in a spiritual practice, what usually follows is a spiritual effect. 

Not only does a Catholic’s participation in yoga affect the person practicing, but it also affects the community. Through their participation, someone who practices yoga conveys that they belong to that community along with all its embedded layers and beliefs. Their attendance confirms their identity within the yoga world and could potentially be the reason others decide to join.

Can you imagine marching shoulder to shoulder with Nazi soldiers back in World War II and trying to convince others you are only there for the great workout your legs are getting? Or joining a pro-choice rally because of the fantastic workout your upper body gets when holding up signs and raising your arms and fists? Extreme examples, you say? Yes, I agree, but my point was to choose examples that people would passionately be adamant against participating in because your attendance and actions would be a show of support and dedication. You would be evangelizing, in a way, with your presence. As Catholics, we are called to evangelize – to share Jesus with others. We should be cautious with whom and what we evangelize.

The Evolution of Yoga from Traditional to Modern

Yoga postures include nearly every human movement possible. Yawning, blinking, and breathing exercises are all found in yoga. Every human does these movements, no matter their religious beliefs. Though many aspects of yoga are undeniably ancient, studying the history of today’s modern postural practice (yoga for fitness) reveals that it is intertwined with other fitness modalities.The word “yoga” is used synonymously with stretching exercises today, but focusing on the physical practices is a relatively new sensation in the last century. Practices such as breath control (pranayama), bodily seals to channel life force flows (mudra), and meditation techniques (dhyana), among others, were the main focus of traditional yoga. Poses were only a minor part of the practice; most were seated poses used for meditation.

Dr. Mark Singleton, the author of Yoga Body, spent over four years researching libraries in England, the United States, and India to learn how the yoga practice we see today came into being. His research shows that in the 20th century, yoga came into contact with the ‘physical culture’ movement of Europe, and was informed by disciplines such as bodybuilding, gymnastics, wrestling, and calisthenics. In fact, many poses considered foundational to yoga are actually less than 100 years old and were part of an early 20th-century Danish system of dynamic exercise called Primitive Gymnastics before being adopted by yoga. These include poses like Warrior Pose and Downward Dog. Traditional yoga practices were combined with these fitness and exercise regimes, and a new form of fitness-based yoga arose that was more accepted in the West.

Can Catholics do Poses that Look Like Poses Found in Yoga?

Many of the beneficial stretching and strengthening exercises done in yoga are common to ballet, Pilates, gymnastics, acrobats, sports therapy, and normal human movement: a baby doing tummy time (cobra pose), runners stretching their hamstrings (Janu Sirsasana), a cheerleader in a lunge position (Warrior Pose), a dancer in ‘passe position’ (Tree Pose), and a gymnast easing into splits. 

Further, many positions found in yoga are regularly utilized in Christian prayer. In Catholic tradition, a solid precedent exists for bodily prayer. Scripture speaks of it repeatedly (ex. 1 Kings 8:54; Psalms 134:2; 1 Timothy 2:8), Christ Himself used bodily prayer (Luke 24:50), the desert fathers utilized bodily prayer, and St. Dominic was famous for it. We use it throughout every Mass. So, to say that all the postures found in yoga are innately spiritually dangerous is difficult to align with Christian teaching, tradition, and even Scripture. Consequently, does this mean Catholics can do yoga poses? This is where it gets tricky.

Remember when I said that when you are in a yoga class, you participate in the spiritual aspect of the poses, even if unintended? What if you did that same movement outside of a yoga class, and it did not have a yoga name, and the intent of the movement was different? (Whenever a name has been given to a specific asana [yoga pose], it’s been designed to convey the essence of the asana, its spirit, so to speak.”4) Being on one knee in a park proposing to your girlfriend is much different than genuflecting in front of a tabernacle. A cheerleader or fencer is not doing yoga when they get into a lunge, though it is seen in a yoga class called warrior pose. A ballerina is not doing yoga when she is in a passe position, though it looks like Vrksasana (tree pose). 

There is an objective spiritual intent in yoga that we can not change simply by willing it to be different or by saying it was not our intent as we practiced yoga. We can never change the intrinsic meaning of something. For example, if an unbeliever attends Mass and only mimics the postures of genuflecting, making the sign of the cross, kneeling, etc…, does that change what is actually happening on the altar? There is a spiritual reality taking place during Mass, and someone cannot change that even if that is not their intent.5 In fact, in time, that person will probably start seeing a spiritual effect. When someone participates in a spiritual practice, what usually follows is a spiritual effect. As Catholics, we should be careful what spiritual practice we take part in.

What can a Catholic do to stretch and strengthen their body?

Embrace the reality that human movement, health, and the design of the body itself all come from God. As Catholics, we recognize the good and true wherever they are found. In this case, stretching and strengthening exercises are truly good for people! This is a fact that science supports, and of course, the laws of science never exist in opposition to God’s design. We are free to recognize and utilize healthy exercises so that we can go to physical therapy, join dance classes, do gymnastics, or participate in group fitness classes. Doing movements that are found in yoga is not the same as practicing yoga, which does involve the body, mind, and soul. The fact that some poses may also be found in yoga and have a story behind them should not scare us as long as we are not doing it in a yoga class where that story has a meaning or that is our intent to begin with. Stretching should not equate to doing yoga!

Pietra Fitness was created to answer the Holy Spirit’s call to inspire Christians to exercise in a way that integrates the whole person and adheres to the Catholic faith. Catholics can and should stretch their bodies. There’s no need to participate in a yoga class to do it.

Do your research, be well, and “glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:20)

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Image: BromL, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons: BromL, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

 

  1. Penman, Cohen, Stivens, and Jackson, “Yoga in Australia: Results of a National Survey.” Int J Yoga. 2012 Jul-Dec; 5(2): 92—101. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3410203/ The typical Australian yoga practitioner of yoga is comparable to the American parallel: typically a 41 years old, tertiary educated, employed, health-conscious female (85 percent female) ↩︎
  2. Himalyan Yoga Institute, The Spiritual Side of Yoga – What it Means and How to Achieve it”., https://www.himalayanyogainstitute.com/spiritual-side-yoga-means-achieve/
    ↩︎
  3. Ezra Sullivan, Yoga: A Theological Investigation (forthcoming) ↩︎
  4. Ezra Sullivan, Yoga: A Theological Investigation (forthcoming)
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  5. Jenny Uebbing, Yoga: A Cautionary Tale, Catholic News Agency ↩︎

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