Dear Gabriel:

A great name — St. Gabriel the proclaimer. Well you can proclaim to all who will listen, to all those who care about truth, that your parish priest is absolutely wrong and ignorant about the issues.

To "tune into God's frequency"? That is language used by New Age occultism. Not kidding. We already have a way to "tune into God's frequency." It is called prayer as taught by Jesus, the Saints, and the Church. We do not need any "new way." What arrogance. There is absolutely no excuse for this Yoga program to be promoted and less so to have it in the parish. Your pastor is endangering souls. I have had clients who became demonized after participating even in the mildest forms of Yoga, Centering Prayer, and Eastern meditation.

Yoga cannot be Christianized. That is not my opinion, but the expert opinion of a Yoga Master in India. He says that it is impossible to remove the Hinduism from Yoga:

According to Yogi Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, "All Yoga is Kundalini Yoga: While some people use a specific terminology "Kundalini Yoga" for certain practices, all of Yoga actually leads to the activation of Kundalini. Thus, in a sense, all of Yoga is Kundalini Yoga, regardless of whether you use that specific name."

Kundalini (Sanskrit for "coiled") is the ridiculous notion that at the base of the spine is coiled an unconscious, instinctive, libidinal force. This force is called Shakti, thought to be a goddess or a sleeping snake.

Yoga and Tantra are specifically designed to awaken this snake, this energy by preparing the body and spirit with the Yoga exercises, chants, etc.

I find it interesting that this "energy" is envisioned as a snake -- the symbol of Satan.

There is no such thing as practicing Yoga without the connection to these demonological aspect. Thus, Christian should never practice Yoga, Those who do put themselves at risk.

The problem is that according to yoga masters, and former yoga masters who have converted to Christianity, it is impossible to remove the Hinduism from yoga even if one does not practice any overt Hindu spirituality in doing it.

The very movements and postures themselves are designed to create states of consciousness that a Catholic should not be messing with. Since these postures are inherently tied to the Hindu spirituality we take a risk in practicing them -- specifically to awaken the snake, the kundalini.

Especially since using yoga postures are utterly unnecessary and other exercises can do what it needed, why take the risk?

Here is a warning from none other than  Carl Jung, who's psychology was intertwined with the occult:

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"One often hears and reads about the dangers of Yoga, particularly of the ill-reputed Kundalini Yoga. The deliberately induced psychotic state, which in certain unstable individuals might easily lead to a real psychosis, is a danger that needs to be taken very seriously indeed. These things really are dangerous and ought not to be meddled with in our typically Western way. It is a meddling with Fate, which strikes at the very roots of human existence and can let loose a flood of sufferings of which no sane person ever dreamed. These sufferings correspond to the hellish torments of the chönyid state..."
--C. G. Jung, Introduction to The Tibetan book of the Dead

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I think anyone interested in Yoga ought to read an article by Subhas R. Tiwari, a professor at the Hindu University of America. He is a graduate of the famed Bihar Yoga Bharati University with a master's degree in yoga philosophy.

The article is Yoga Renamed Is Still Hindu

Also of interest are the words in an Open Letter to Evangelicals about Hindu evangelization:

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Hindus everywhere are becoming stronger and more assertive: ... 2) The West is clearly open to the Hindu message, ready to hear about yoga, meditation, mysticism, healing and the ancient ways. Such "products" were too sophisticated for public consumption 30 years ago, but today they're the hottest item on the shelf. Not a small part of this phenomenon is related, indirectly, to the coming of age of the New Age movement...      

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Consider these words a warning:

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A small army of yoga missionaries - hatha, raja, siddha and kundalini - beautifully trained in the last 10 years, is about to set upon the western world. They may not call themselves Hindu, but Hindus know where yoga came from and where it goes.     

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This letter was written in 1991. Since then the "missionaries" have already set upon us and in large part have converted many, even those in the Church.

The Hindu writer made a factual error, however, is saying the Vatican permitted the practice of yoga. He misinterpreted the document. A Christian reflection on the “New Age”  mentions yoga negatively as a list of practices inconsistent with Christianity.

Some good insights from a former new ager: The Cross and the Veil

Also is an article be the great Father Hardon, may he rest in peace:
Why Yoga is incompatible with Catholicism

 Reiki and Yoga: Former Hindu guru Rabi Maharaj, “No part of Yoga can be separated from the philosophy behind it.” by Marie Anne Jacques. A summary of non-Christian practices that are dangerous.

The entire presumption behind Yoga, behind the specific movements and gestures and positions is based upon an Eastern Cosmology that is utterly inconsistent with Christianity. Yoga is designed to align the "energies" within the body with the "energies" of the universe. This is false cosmology and false philosophy.

Any prayer forms or "exercises" from the East that can be Christianized has already been Christianized by the Eastern monks 1500 years ago. The arrogant attempt to find new ways, or to re-package non-Christian forms from ancient times, which is what Centering Prayer does, as well as Eastern forms of meditation, is arrogant and dangerous and not to be done by Christians.

The Church has warned us on a lot of this. Here are a couple of Church documents:

On Some Aspects of Christian Meditation, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, October 15, 1989 (mentions yoga as one of those Eastern Practices to avoid)

Jesus Christ The Bearer of the Water of Life: A Christian Reflection on the “New Age”, Pontifical Council for Culture / Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue

Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy, Committee on Doctrine, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Here are some articles pertinent to this subject:

 To Yoga or not to Yoga by Patti Maguire Armstrong. “Yoga is not my sport. But my aversion to it is not a matter of disdain for the lean and limber who stretch into unnatural poses.  Stretching is legitimately good for the body. Yoga, however, is more complicated than physical fitness.”

 Faith Facts: Reiki

The Danger of Centering Prayer by Rev. John D. Dreher. Centering prayer is essentially a form of self-hypnosis. It makes use of a “mantra,” a word repeated over and over to focus the mind while striving by one’s will to go deep within oneself. The effects are a hypnotic-like state: concentration upon one thing, disengagement from other stimuli, a high degree of openness to suggestion, a psychological and physiological condition that externally resembles sleep but in which consciousness is internalized and the mind subject to suggestion.

These and other articles are listed on our Spiritual Warfare Library (or will be listed)

I hope this helps.

We will certainly be in prayer for your parish and especially for this misguided priest who likely does not realize what he is doing (which is doubly sad).

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary