Pietra Fitness
Strengthen your Body, Mind, and Soul
By combining stretching and strengthening exercises with Christian prayer and meditation, Pietra Fitness workouts enrich your body, mind, and soul so you can glorify God with your entire being.
The Cathedral of You™
You are a living cathedral. Becoming the cathedral God created you to be begins with building a solid foundation—physically, mentally, and spiritually. Pietra Fitness exists to help you do just that.
Build Your Body
The physical exercises used in Pietra Fitness classes are designed to increase your flexibility, develop your muscle and core strength, and increase your range of motion, posture, and stability.
Pietra Fitness is Not Yoga
Pietra Fitness believes that beneficial stretching and strengthening exercises can be separated from yoga and redeemed in Christ for use in a Christian exercise program.
Simply put, to practice “yoga” is to practice elements of Hinduism and/or New Age beliefs.
The movements themselves do not constitute yoga and should not be called yoga when used in isolation. When used in the context of yoga, however, other practices from Hinduism, Buddhism, or the New Age Movement are integrated into it.
Most people in yoga fitness classes do not understand the roots and purpose of yoga and therefore do not understand all they are participating in.
While we deeply respect other religious practices and beliefs, it is important for Christians to truly understand their faith and to engage in activities that are wholly consistent with Christian teaching.
Pietra Fitness is not “Christian yoga” or “Catholic yoga” and should never be described as such. Yoga describes an integrated whole of philosophies, spirituality, and physical practices based in Hinduism and found in Buddhism and New Age practices.
Pietra Fitness believes that beneficial stretching and strengthening exercises can be separated from yoga (in some cases slightly modified, and in all cases re-named) and redeemed in Christ for use in a Christian exercise program.
Pietra Fitness respectfully asserts that yoga cannot and should not be separated from its spiritual and philosophical roots; therefore, the practice of yoga cannot be part of a specifically Christian exercise program.
Pietra Fitness believes that one cannot regularly practice yoga without some spiritual effect; therefore, we recommend that Christians stop the practice of yoga and seek alternatives that are consistent with Christian philosophy and spirituality.
Pietra Fitness respects people of all faiths. While we recognize and point out specific theological differences, we also firmly believe that all people are greatly loved by God.
So while you may see familiar movements in a Pietra Fitness class, it is important to note that the differences between Pietra Fitness and Yoga go much deeper than stretches.
At Pietra Fitness, we do not seek to attain spiritual enlightenment and immersion with the divine, nor do we utilize elements of yoga that conflict with Christian teaching.
Because yoga is thousands of years old, it can lay claim—and does—to almost every possible movement or position of the human body, including movements as innate as yawning, blinking, and breathing.
The human body is made and designed by God, and our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.
In dutifully and humbly caring for our temple, we glorify God. Since all that is good and true comes from God, we can freely utilize movements that keep us well.
Movements that stretch, strengthen, calm, and relax are good for us! Despite the wide range of exercises cataloged in yoga (there are over 1,500), yoga does not have a patent on any of them.
You should not feel guilty for doing ordinary and natural human movement just because it has an official name in yoga.
Pietra Fitness, then, is not a technique to attain perfection. Rather, Pietra Fitness is a way to stay physically fit while answering the call of St. Paul to pray unceasingly. We simply offer our exercise in prayer to God.
In Pietra Fitness, each exercise class begins and ends with prayer.
While the physical workout stretches and strengthens our bodies, our hearts and minds are free to follow the advice of St. Paul to focus on things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, gracious, and excellent (Phil. 4:8). We do this with Scriptures and meditations read during long stretches.
Because gentle, soothing movements and extended periods of stretching naturally fosters relaxation and serenity, this type of exercise is a great opportunity to turn our hearts and minds toward Christ.
Since the founding of Pietra Fitness, we have discovered many saints in heaven whose prayers, teachings, and examples have guided us along our journey. We are very grateful to these saints and Mary and have entrusted Pietra Fitness to their intercession. Prayer is powerful. We invite you to look to these saints—ask them to pray for you—in your own journey.