In my recent post “What is the Catholic Position on Yoga?” I failed to make a couple of distinctions that have led to some confusion among my readers. I apologize for this confusion and want to offer a couple clarifications here.
First of all, my title was not strictly accurate. While some of my initial comments certainly represent Catholic teaching, later comments reflected my considered opinion as a theologian, but not the official teaching or discipline of the Church. While I believe my phrasing and language made this clear, the title of the piece and my own title as Archdiocesan Theologian may have contributed to lack of clarity on that point.
Near the end of the piece I said that, “I am not inclined to support the practice of Holy Yoga, or other ways of trying to harness yoga as a spiritual discipline for Christians.”
For the record, this is my personal opinion. It is not an official teaching of the Catholic Church, nor is it a policy of the Archdiocese of Regina. According to official Church teaching, this is a matter for the conscience of individual Christians.
Furthermore, it is important to re-emphasize the reasons for my judgment. First of all, there is the possibility of causing scandal among the faithful even for an act that is not wrong in itself (hence my reference to Paul’s letter to the Corinthians). Secondly, there is the potential for confusion because of the social and religious context both of Yoga’s origins and much contemporary practice of Yoga which often includes spiritual elements incompatible with Christianity. I worry that many Christians are not well formed enough in their own faith to be able to make the kinds of distinctions necessary to use Yoga as a beneficial spiritual practice. This is a concern shared by the Vatican in its documents on the question.
It is important to recognize that, while I think that my reservations should be carefully considered by Christians discerning whether they should participate in Holy Yoga, they do not rule out such a practice. It is possible to undertake this practice with appropriate safeguards against both scandal and misunderstanding. The individual Christian is responsible for ensuring how best to do this in her or his own context.
In light of this, I strongly recommend that any Christian considering the practice of Holy Yoga discuss these questions with their instructor or potential instructor. E.g., Is your instructor aware of any people in the community who are scandalized by this practice and how do they respond to those people? Is your instructor aware of the unchristian elements in classical and contemporary Yoga? What have they done to ensure that those elements have been removed from their own practice? In particular, you might ask them what they have read on the topic or where they have studied. There is, for example, a book by a Benedictine monk named J.-M. Dechanet titled simply Christian Yoga which has received the Imprimatur and which carefully delineates how Yoga can be incorporated into Christian prayer. Is your instructor aware of this book?
On the other hand, it is also important to emphasize that this question has been left to individual Christian consciences by Church teaching. This means that no Catholic is disobeying Church teaching by practicing Holy Yoga. As such, both those who practice Holy Yoga and those with serious concerns about it have a responsibility to be sensitive to the concerns and experience of those Catholics who disagree with them in good conscience. We must always conduct ourselves with an eye to unity and charity in such matters.
Finally, there are two Vatican documents that any Catholic considering practicing Holy Yoga or looking to critique it should read. If you are considering practicing, you will want to ensure your instructor has taken them into account.
The first is a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith titled Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of Christian Meditation and promulgated under the leadership of Joseph Ratzinger. It includes the important paragraph (#16):
“The majority of the “great religions” which have sought union with God in prayer have also pointed out ways to achieve it. Just as “the Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions,” neither should these ways be rejected out of hand simply because they are not Christian. On the contrary, one can take from them what is useful so long as the Christian conception of prayer, its logic and requirements are never obscured.”
The second is Jesus Christ, The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the “New Age” by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Interreligious Dialogue. Yoga is not automatically part of the “New Age,” though it can be practiced in this way. You will want to ensure that your instructor rejects any connection with “New Age” spirituality. This document will be helpful in this regard.
I hope that readers who were confused by my initial post find these clarifications helpful.
