Sir, – In "Practising yoga does not make you less Catholic" (Opinion & Analysis, October 22nd), Cauvery Madhavan professes to come "in peace" in her response to Bishop Phonsie Cullinan's recent mild-mannered suggestion that yoga can't replace Christian spirituality, doesn't bring true freedom and isn't therefore suitable for a parish school setting, "especially not during religious education time" ("Bishop warns against yoga in schools", News, October 18th).
It seems to me that the bishop was not so much condemning yoga as saying that it shouldn’t replace what it can never match, namely Christian spirituality. Hardly a surprising assertion for a bishop to make.
But in her reply, Ms Madhavan doesn’t confine herself to extolling the virtues of yoga for people of all faiths and none. She makes assertions about the bishop’s motivations, suggesting that the “men in costumes” are engaging in “diversionary tactics” to avoid facing up to the Catholic Church’s need to be “exorcised”.
I don’t know much about yoga’s various postures and positions.
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But it strikes me that this particular article was written from one which might be described as “passive-aggressive”. – Yours, etc,
Senator RÓNÁN MULLEN,
Ahascragh,
Co Galway.
Sir, – When you fly on an aircraft, you are advised to put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others. If you become incapacitated through lack of oxygen, you’re no use to anyone.
If you don’t take care of yourself, you can experience burnout, stress and fatigue. This is why most people become interested in meditation and yoga. – Yours, etc,
JOHN BURNS,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.