Yoga Ed has been training yoga and classroom teachers for years, with research suggesting the program is effective in improving multiple domains of health. Since 2008 Kripalu Center’s Institute for Extraordinary Living in Stockbridge, MA has been testing yoga-based curricula compared to Physical Education in local high schools. A recent study suggests improved psychological health among yoga participants. Many other programs and research are underway, and hundreds of independent yoga and meditation instructors teach in schools without any formal affiliation.

Programs and teachers have sold yoga to schools under the premise that it’s a secular practice, scrubbed free of Sanskrit and religious affiliations with Hinduism. Yet as the culture wars gear up again over “Bible bills” intended to slip religion back into schools, news that yoga is being offered in schools with a Hindu endorsement is sure to strike a nerve.

Zed’s claims are not without precedent. In India, there’s a widespread push to ensure yoga is a compulsory part of education. This has angered Muslims, resulting in Muslim schools being excluded from the edict. In the US, even “secular yoga” is considered demonic by some conservative Christians and sacrilegious by those of other religious groups. The western reframing of yoga as a uniquely secular, sanitized practice divorced of its metaphysical and religious origins has resulted in its widespread acceptability among those of many faiths. This reframing has inflamed Hindu nationalists and traditionalists, who are commonly cited in the news proclaiming yoga’s affiliation with Hinduism and debt to Indian history, philosophy, and religion.

Perhaps not without irony, the widespread embrace of yoga—and inclusion of yoga into secular settings such as schools—is contingent upon repression of the partial truth outspoken Hindus are so eager to remind us of. There is, of course, one certainty: whether modern yoga owes its origins to Hinduism, Patanjali, Indian mystics, spiritual gymnastics, or Indian martial arts (in fact, its modern origins are most likely a combination of these) is beyond the point. While yoga can be practiced as exercise, it will remain irreconcilably affiliated to eastern mysticism and spirituality for many, which is likely to pose a barrier for those hoping to gain widespread acceptance in school settings.

What is your opinion about yoga being offered in school settings?

possum1969: ...

you know this country only is one when it comes to war the laws are all over the place for things like marry jane. so why do you think we all could get it together on a subject like yoga. I been studying swami Vishnu and he said that yoga is a spirit.. that maybe true. so I am for it,but I am not so sure for many others.Bless all you yogies, namaste

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April 12, 2012