Reconciling Yoga with My Catholic Upbringing

I joked with my mom just the other day that I had a new idea for a book I want to write: Yoga for Catholics. My yoga study and Catholic faith is something that I talk to my mom about a lot lately as I explore yoga more completely.

When I started practicing asana as a teenager, I was adamant that it was purely physical exercise. Of course I understood that it had mental and emotional benefits as well, but I had no interest in any other aspects of it. In part, this was likely because of my religious upbringing, along with my ignorance of yoga’s role in my life. Besides, I took it up because of chronic headaches and stuck with it because of chronic pain and depression. I find comfort in prayer for my depression, but I find it less effective on migraines. There seemed little reason to mix the two.

As long as I was practicing the physical exercise portion of yoga, I felt no conflict with my faith. Then one day I realized, the two don’t have to be in conflict. In fact, I understand more and more of the spiritual aspect of yoga because of how I see it relate to my Catholic teachings growing up.

Universal consciousness is just another name for God. Prayer is one of many ways to meditate, just like there are many ways to pray. The energy that flows through us all is the Holy Spirit. We call them by different names, but that doesn’t mean that they are all that different. So sometimes I go into a practice with a certain chant in mind but the Hail Mary comes out instead, so I let it. Sometimes I have a meditation that I want to do but after my asana I feel drawn to my rosary, so I pray it. As a teen, I didn’t want yoga to interfere with my Catholic faith. What I learned as an adult is that it brings the two closer; it brings me closer to God in a meaningful way that has been missing my whole life.