A yoga teacher is on the Island to teach meditation through the art of practising yoga.

Father Tom Ryan, a Roman Catholic priest, will be presenting talks on ecumenism and interfaith relations this week and will run a workshop this weekend.

Father Ryan, who is from the Paulist North American Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, in New York City, said he was first introduced to yogic meditation during a sabbatical in a Benedictine Monk Ashram, in India.

He said: ?Every time after we had practised yoga they would do meditation.

?I decided to try it and I found that my Christian meditation was even deeper than before.

?Yoga is not a religion, but using it for meditative purposes allows one to grow spiritually. It is for all people.?

Father Ryan said that when he returned to the United States he became a yoga teacher.

?I began teaching yoga one day a week, which then turned into a weekend session,? he said.

?And then into weekend retreats and weekly retreats.?

He said yoga is being marketed in the United States as being only for the body and not so much on spiritual enlightenment.

?Yoga is not only about the physical self, it also opens up the doors to spiritual freedom,? he said.

?The aim is for participants to make connections between the practice of yoga and meditation, which is found in many different religions, and the Christian faith.

?It is also to increase awareness of the rich history of Christian contemplative prayer and its renewal in our time. And to practice stretching and breathing exercises.?

Father Ryan has also written several articles and books including ?Tales of Christian Unity Disciplines for Christian Living, Interfaith Perspectives?, ?Prayer of Heart and Body?, and ?Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom?.

He also studied Hinduism and Buddhism and Islamic studies at the Henry Martin Institute, in India, and has been an advisor on Buddhist and Catholic monastic inter-religious dialogue.

Father Ryan said it did not matter on the person?s ability for the yoga practice as it will be easy poses which will be performed in sequence.

?You don?t have to have practised yoga before in order to enjoy the seminars,? he said.

?The yoga is designed for everyone.?

He said there were so many different forms of yoga. Hatha yoga is one of the most popular, but a little known one is Raja yoga, which deals with the more spiritual aspects of life.

The weekend schedule begins tonight with a prayerful evening, tomorrow morning begins with yoga and meditation as tools to deepen Christian faith and on Sunday patrons will discover the stillness within.

All of the above workshops take place at the Integral Yoga Centre on Victoria Street, Hamilton.

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