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The 2011 Senior Class Gift Committee put on a free yoga event in the Upper Quad during convocation hour May 3.
St. Thomas almuna and CorePower yoga instructor Kristen Lucius, who is also the gift officer for the development office, led the 14 individuals who attended the session. Participants who donated to the senior class gift received a T-shirt and a luggage tag.
“We’re just doing this for fun for awareness of the senior class gift, and it’s free,” Lucius said. “But if people want to, they can make a donation.”
The class was similar to a C1 entry-level class at CorePower, designed around a Vinyasa style of yoga. Vinyasa yoga is one of the most commonly practiced styles in the West. Sometimes called “flow” yoga, the classes usually focus on breathing and dance-like movements.
Seniors Hannah Gikling and Kaitlin Denis attended the event as members of the Senior Class Gift Committee.
“We’re actually in a two-credit yoga class at St. Thomas right now, too,” Gikling said.
Freshman Emily Clark said she heard about the event through fellow participant senior Laura Zimmerman.
“I invited all of my friends to come and join us,” Zimmerman said.
Participants said they were glad to be outside soaking up the sun while relaxing with yoga.
“I’m excited that it’s warm finally,” Denis said.
“It’s nice and sunny, and we thought it would be a fun way to draw attention [to the senior class gift,]” Lucius said.
Rebecca Omastiak can be reached omas5009@stthomas.edu.
I would caution my fellow Catholics about practicing Yoga, because this article, originally published in the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, (http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8763) cautions that it is often coupled with elements of Hindu spirituality that are not compatible with the Catholic faith. I don’t know if this was the case in this instance or not, but I would be very careful to make sure that there’s no Hindu spirituality coupled with the Yoga.
I wasn’t always aware of this until I did some research on it.
The bottom of the article shows the rest of a series of articles on New Age practices and Catholic teaching on them, and the Vatican document on New Age practices mentioned by the article can be found in its entirety here: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_20030203_new-age_en.html
I would caution my fellow catholics about not eating pork. Which is an element of Jewish dietary law.
The day I see someone convert to Hinduism because they took few yoga classes at CorePower will be the day pigs fly.
Flexibility and core strength are contrary to Catholic faith? Maybe thats been my problem all along………I stretch too much
Mike B must be in the seminary… With that said, I think it was a great idea to do this. I hope the next graduating class has something fun like this.
“Mike B must be in the seminary”
Actually, for the record I am not, but I can understand why you would think that. I just thought I’d bring this to people’s attention because yoga is so popular and the Church’s teaching on it is not that well-known. Oftentimes yoga is more than just physical exercise. If it’s just physical exercise and there’s no religious element to it, than it isn’t problematic, but that’s often not the case as the link to the first article in my previous post points out.
The new Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church (YOUCAT) also has a brief paragraph if you look up the word “esotericism” in its glossary or index. That paragraph illustrates succinctly and well what is problematic about yoga, energy medicine, reiki, and certain types of eastern meditation in practice in many cases.
Seniors (or others) who are interested in donating to the Senior Class Gift can make a donation here: stthomas.edu/seniorgift. Help us reach our 70% class participation goal!
I am a huge yoga fan, though I am aware of the potential spiritual dangers.
Remember that Christ said wolves can come in sheeps clothing.
Yoga has so many benefits to the human person- BUT, with that being said, it is true that yoga in its purest form encourages a person to get in touch with their “inner god/goddess”.
As a young woman who was away from the Catholic Church for quite a while BECAUSE of my delving in New Age and Hindu beliefs, I can say that I am glad Michael innocently posted the information that he did.
Oh please…
Every person in this forum with an overbearing sense of Christianity needs to take a chill pill. Everybody needs to stop thinking this is 5000 BC and the “Golden Calf” of Yoga is trying to get us to stop believing in Christ is insane…
The link below is a perfect example of somebody who shows how Catholicism can be helped by Yoga.. Read it
http://www.uscatholic.org/life/2010/07/om-schooled-how-yoga-can-influence-your-catholic-prayer?page=0,1