Catholic College Wants to Purge Heathenism From Yoga By Renaming It 'Lifestyle Fitness'
LatestA Catholic college in Kansas has decided to do away with its yoga classes, recasting them instead as “lifestyle fitness.” Administrators are concerned that offering yoga will give the mistaken impression that the Catholic Church is down with Hindu mysticism. It’s not! It swears!!
According to the Benedictine College Circuit, the decision to refashion yoga as a non-spiritual stretching hour was made in response to “a growing number of concerns from students, alumni and faculty and by the request of Archbishop Joseph Naumann and Abbot James Albers.” From the paper:
“Yoga as created has some potential for eastern mysticism which has caused concern among members of the Catholic Church,” said Stephen Minnis, president of the college. “[Archbishop Naumann] has expressed his concerns and the issues surrounding that. We asked ourselves if there was a way to bring those yoga benefits to our students and faculty without the possible effects of eastern mysticism and are currently investigating other alternatives.”
In short, Naumann wants to cherry-pick the aspects of a millennia-old tradition that comport with his philosophies, then repackage them under a new, unequivocally secular name. This is not to say that pricey studios and retailers like Lululemon haven’t already done a thorough job of co-opting and monetizing what was once an essentially metaphysical practice. But for the college to willfully purge yoga of its inherent spiritualism misunderstands the core benefits of doing it in the first place.