Yoga and possession

[Anastasia13]

I really want to take this stuff seriously, but I don’t see how as a baptized Christian, putting my hands to the floor like a downward dog position is inviting a demon in. Thoughts?

https://youtube.com/shorts/cIyVGWMbZNc?is=6oR6eno2o4xu9QI9

[Didacus]

If an exorcist speaks, I take it seriously.  If one simply does the exercise for the benefit of the exercise - I don't think that would be opening a door.  But if one endorses the <spirituality> of yoga ... that may very well be a different story all together.  I've seen may such warnings around the internet in the last few months specifically to yoga - not sure why a sudden <surge>... I had not heard that yoga poses a risk before...

[CountrySteve937]

11 hours ago, Anastasia13 said:

I really want to take this stuff seriously, but I don’t see how as a baptized Christian, putting my hands to the floor like a downward dog position is inviting a demon in. Thoughts?

https://youtube.com/shorts/cIyVGWMbZNc?is=6oR6eno2o4xu9QI9

The exorcist answered your question in the video. He said yoga positions are innately, and inseparably, linked to the Hindu tradition they come from. So, let's posit his claim as a syllogism:

Hindu gods are not gods, but demons.

Yoga is a physical act of worship (a "liturgy", if you will).

Therefore, to engage in yoga is to worship these demons.

Edited August 29 by CountrySteve937

[Luigi]

I don't see how it can be an act of worship if it's not intended as an act of worship. I suppose that a lot of people who do yoga for exercise are completely unaware of the Hindu traditions and religious meanings behind the positions. 

I see exercise - assuming that's all it's intended to be - as morally neutral. 

[Anastasia13]

5 hours ago, Luigi said:

I don't see how it can be an act of worship if it's not intended as an act of worship. I suppose that a lot of people who do yoga for exercise are completely unaware of the Hindu traditions and religious meanings behind the positions. 

I see exercise - assuming that's all it's intended to be - as morally neutral. 

Same here. I saw a video where a priest (can’t remember if he was an exercise) said that people who were possessed most likely had the least about of actual basic spiritual devotion in their lives.

 

on the other hand, they guy above talked about a lady that didn’t mean to worship but did the poses and the demon considered that enough.

[CountrySteve937]

11 hours ago, Luigi said:

I don't see how it can be an act of worship if it's not intended as an act of worship. I suppose that a lot of people who do yoga for exercise are completely unaware of the Hindu traditions and religious meanings behind the positions. 

I see exercise - assuming that's all it's intended to be - as morally neutral. 

Because one's interior intention doesn't necessarily change the action performed. E.g., if I accidentally drop a vase and break it, it's still broken regardless of my intention

[Luigi]

14 hours ago, CountrySteve937 said:

Because one's interior intention doesn't necessarily change the action performed. E.g., if I accidentally drop a vase and break it, it's still broken regardless of my intention

But worship is never accidental. It involves the intention to adore, honor, praise, etc., even if one does it clumsily. I can't accidentally worship my cat. I think more people drift into worshipping movie stars or pop singers than accidentally worshipping Hindu gods. 

[tinytherese]

There's been debate about whether yoga is evil or not in The Church for years. I'm waiting until The Church makes a clear and definitive statement on the subject. Thankfully, there's a Catholic alternative that I might try someday. 

https://www.pietrafitness.com/

 

[veritasluxmea]

On 8/29/2026 at 9:27 AM, CountrySteve937 said:

The exorcist answered your question in the video. He said yoga positions are innately, and inseparably, linked to the Hindu tradition they come from. So, let's posit his claim as a syllogism:

Hindu gods are not gods, but demons.

Yoga is a physical act of worship (a "liturgy", if you will).

Therefore, to engage in yoga is to worship these demons.

I've heard this argument, but I'm not sure I understand it. Lying down on your back with your eyes closed is a yoga pose (I've heard it pronounced "shivasna"). So... if you lie down like that to rest, is that doing yoga? Some of the poses done in American Yoga were copied from the early 1900's Olympic gymnastics team (like the leg stretches). I see people copying these poses all the time at the gym, but they're not doing yoga, just stretching. Does that "count" as yoga because it's the same pose? I think doing yoga is one thing but copying stretches is another. 

[CountrySteve937]

18 hours ago, veritasluxmea said:

I've heard this argument, but I'm not sure I understand it. Lying down on your back with your eyes closed is a yoga pose (I've heard it pronounced "shivasna"). So... if you lie down like that to rest, is that doing yoga? Some of the poses done in American Yoga were copied from the early 1900's Olympic gymnastics team (like the leg stretches). I see people copying these poses all the time at the gym, but they're not doing yoga, just stretching. Does that "count" as yoga because it's the same pose? I think doing yoga is one thing but copying stretches is another. 

Oh no, I agree with you. I was playing devil's advocate (or rather exorcist's advocate) above and wanted to see how far I could take it 😅 I don't think engaging in certain stretches or bodily positions can, in and of themselves, invite the demonic into one's life. That's superstitious. Rather, in the video above, the exorcist probably omitted an important detail about that woman's case: she probably attended a public yoga session and those include chanted mantras, which are, for lack of a better word, "prayers." Or perhaps in other new age practices. It's in those things, not exercise or stretches, that opens one up to the demonic. 

[Anastasia13]

Based answer.

[Credo in Deum]

The priest in the video made it clear that Yoga itself claims you cannot separate the poses from the spirituality, REGARDLESS of your personal intention. This is probably why Yoga calls them poses and NOT "stretches", and just because something is similar doesn't mean it's the same thing.  A Yoga pose can have a lot of similarities to a stretch, but it's not a stretch.  If you want a stretching routine that won't potentially channel the demonic, then all you need to do is look toward the army field manual for a safe stretching routine. 

https://www.bespokepost.com/field-guide/army-approved-stretches-for-any-workout

 

 

Edited Thursday at 02:39 AM by Credo in Deum

[Anastasia13]

On 9/9/2026 at 7:37 PM, Credo in Deum said:

The priest in the video made it clear that Yoga itself claims you cannot separate the poses from the spirituality, REGARDLESS of your personal intention. This is probably why Yoga calls them poses and NOT "stretches", and just because something is similar doesn't mean it's the same thing.  A Yoga pose can have a lot of similarities to a stretch, but it's not a stretch.  If you want a stretching routine that won't potentially channel the demonic, then all you need to do is look toward the army field manual for a safe stretching routine. 

https://www.bespokepost.com/field-guide/army-approved-stretches-for-any-workout

 

 

If the workout from my pain doctor has a movement that looks like a cobra pose and a movement that looks like worrier pose, I therefore will be at spiritual risk for following his instructions for hip pain?

[Tony]

There has to be some  kind of intent with this. 

AFAIK there's a coulple hundred yoga "poses" so you could easily do one without realizing it 

[veritasluxmea]

On 9/9/2026 at 7:37 PM, Credo in Deum said:

The priest in the video made it clear that Yoga itself claims you cannot separate the poses from the spirituality, REGARDLESS of your personal intention. This is probably why Yoga calls them poses and NOT "stretches", and just because something is similar doesn't mean it's the same thing.  A Yoga pose can have a lot of similarities to a stretch, but it's not a stretch.  If you want a stretching routine that won't potentially channel the demonic, then all you need to do is look toward the army field manual for a safe stretching routine. 

https://www.bespokepost.com/field-guide/army-approved-stretches-for-any-workout

 

 

Bent leg body twist is done during yoga, it's one of the more common ones. Windmill is as well (with the legs a little wider) but not as common.