Yoga in schools?

[Gravekeeper]

Cracked feels reasonably trustworthy, even if they're not perfect. (I'm still confused by one of their lists, the topic of which I don't remember, calling "The High snd the Mighty" a war movie.)

They're pretty good. The margin of research pitches that get proposed vs those that actually get approved and appear on the site is easily 100 to 1 at least. The editorial queue is actually pretty impressive >.>

[XCashier]

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.

If they would teach just the exercises and not the religious part, there's really no reason they can't have it in school. It would be beneficial to kids who are not athletically gifted.

Pilates would be similarly beneficial, and it has no religious background at all, IIRC. Perhaps they could teach that instead?

[Andara Bledin]

As I mentioned, I would have loved it and benefited from it a lot more than all of the other exercises we did that I mostly couldn't complete.

There's just something about not being able to breathe through your nose at all that screws with your ability to run and stuff.

[fireheart17]

If they would teach just the exercises and not the religious part, there's really no reason they can't have it in school. It would be beneficial to kids who are not athletically gifted.

Pilates would be similarly beneficial, and it has no religious background at all, IIRC. Perhaps they could teach that instead?

Or BodyBalance.

Actually, my first ever primary school is now running Qigong exercises in the mornings. Kids can participate if they wish, but they are under no obligation to do so.

(on a side note, I REALLY want to go there for my next placement )

[PepperElf]

If they would teach just the exercises and not the religious part, there's really no reason they can't have it in school. It would be beneficial to kids who are not athletically gifted.

Pilates would be similarly beneficial, and it has no religious background at all, IIRC. Perhaps they could teach that instead?

This I understand. The problem seems to be that ... the religious aspect hasn't been completely removed however. At least not in the original story's example.

[evilfarmer]

In case anyone was wondering the judge has ruled on this case yesterday.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/jul/01...c-schools-not/

[Andara Bledin]

The people opposed to it are pretty ignorant. Glad the judge wasn't.

Aren't they aware that pretty much every phys ed program, particularly sports are supposed to "help shape how they" (the kids) do things? If they fear what is essentially a light workout program will "program" their kids, they have bigger problems than a yoga class.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

Wow I had no idea people were up in arms over yoga in California. More conservative, religious parts of the country, yeah, I've seen that a number of times. My niece's school in rural Idaho won't allow yoga to be practiced in any of the P.E. classes because most of the parents and teachers seriously believe yoga is the work of the devil, and doing it will attract demons to possess you.

I don't know how Christians are in other countries, but I wonder if this attitude is a uniquely American phenomenon. American Christians are constantly being told by televangelists and conservative news outlets that they are victims of an anti-Christian culture, and that they have to keep their kids in a little cocoon to protect them from it. Many of these people do not want to accept that American culture is slowly becoming a post-Christian culture. They fight so hard to keep things from changing, and it's like trying to hold back the sea. Cultures change, they evolve constantly, and by forces outside our control.