Yoga in schools?

[Mr. Anubite]

I honestly don't know what to think about this. For full disclosure, I'm a practicing Hindu, but I can kinda see how the yoga in school could cause church/state issues. Maybe if the school is careful to strip the prayer out of the exercise?

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/co...44509dbe1.html

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jan/02...as-yoga-plans/

[Andara Bledin]

Most westerners refer to yoga meaning just the asanas.

Hell, I suspect a large percentage of westerners don't even know there's anything else.

^-.-^

[Duelist925]

Originally Posted by Andara Bledin

Most westerners refer to yoga meaning just the asanas.

Hell, I suspect a large percentage of westerners don't even know there's anything else.

^-.-^

I'd be one of those, actually. I knew yoga had some spiritual significance, but I've never got around to finding out how, and to what amount.

[KabeRinnaul]

As an astonishingly (but sadly, not abnormally) culturally-unaware American, everything I know about Yoga amounts to "women in tight pants doing stretches" and "I tried that once, then fell over and hurt myself."

Also, yeah, I recall something about it having spiritual something one time, too.

[fireheart17]

Originally Posted by KabeRinnaul

As an astonishingly (but sadly, not abnormally) culturally-unaware American, everything I know about Yoga amounts to "women in tight pants doing stretches" and "I tried that once, then fell over and hurt myself."

I'm not THAT far off, but for the most part, I knew that yoga had some spiritual meaning behind it (why else would you refer to the "Salute To The Sun"?)

The ONLY way I can see this as being "religious" is if they include the "Salute To The Sun" as part of the program.

Otherwise I see no problem with it and would in fact, encourage it as a way to help those students calm down. (God knows I could've used it!)

[Andara Bledin]

Even as a purely physiological exercise, yoga has some notable benefits, and I would have very much enjoyed it as part of the school curriculum. It would have been a very desirable change from all of the running and active sports that I never had the endurance to enjoy.

^-.-^

[AmbrosiaWriter]

"Salute to the Sun" or "Sun Salutations" just refers to a movement/asana pattern in yoga, each movement between stances/positions (like Baby Cobra into Downward Facing Dog, DFD into Plank) carries for one inhale or one exhale and you can repeat the movement pattern.

At least it can, when my class did "Sun Salutations" we were basically focusing on making sure we didn't hold our breath, had one inhale/exhale per movement, and keeping proper form even while moving between one stance to another. Asanas can be completely and totally secular in nature.

Yoga/Asanas can be like martial arts, most martial arts have spirituality woven into them and were created around them - however when you take classes now, a lot of dojos just teach you the secular fighting style without any spiritual attachments to it.

[violiav]

When I was in elementary school (early 90s) the Phys Ed teacher had a yoga section. I think around that time is when yoga became popular in gyms and stuff, so that may have been why. Never saw a problem with it. Still don't. It's an activity they have at the gym every day.

[Mr. Anubite]

"Yoga" in Sanskrit is often translated as "to unite," as in uniting oneself with God. The modern western practice is generally an exercise and meditative system, but it has it's roots in Hindu devotional practices.

I'll just leave these here for anyone interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga

Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita

[Hyena Dandy]

I presume the forms of Yoga were not taught with their spiritual aspects intact. Without the spiritual aspects, yoga is simply exercise.

A cross is not inherently a religious shape. We don't keep crosses from being put at the front of the class because there's something inherently religious about a long thing with a short thing. We keep it out because it symbolizes religious beliefs.

What you're seeing here aren't words. They're weird little shapes. We imbue the shapes with meaning.

Yoga not done as a devotional practice is no more religious than a cross would be to a 14th Century Aztec king. It's meditative and exercise. It's not religion unless you're told the religious practice.