> > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/us/alabama-yoga-ban-public-schools.html > > Alabama Lifts Its Ban on Yoga in SchoolsFor the first time in three > decades, yoga can be taught, but the law will still bar teachers from using > Sanskrit names for poses. > May 20, 2021 > [image: An adult yoga class in Birmingham, Ala.] > An adult yoga class in Birmingham, Ala.Audra Melton for The New York Times > > For the first time in nearly three decades, Alabama will allow yoga to be > taught in its public schools, but the ancient practice will be missing some > of its hallmarks: Teachers will be barred from saying the traditional > salutation “namaste” and using Sanskrit names for poses. > > Chanting is forbidden. And the sound of “om,” one of the most popular > mantras associated with the practice, which combines breathing exercises > and stretches, is a no-no. > > The changes follow the signing of a bill > <https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2021/05/20/gov-kay-ivey-signs-bill-lifting-alabama-yoga-ban-k-12-schools/5190767001/> > on Thursday by Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, overriding a 1993 ban on yoga > instruction <https://arc-sos.state.al.us/ucp/L0626849.AI1.pdf> in public > schools by the state’s Board of Education. Some conservative groups had > called for the prohibition > <http://www.alabamaadministrativecode.state.al.us/docs/ed/McWord290-040-040.pdf> > to be preserved, contending that the practice of yoga is inseparable from > Hinduism and Buddhism and amounted to a religious activity. > > The measure, which takes effect on Aug. 1, gives local school boards the > final say over whether to offer yoga to students from kindergarten through > 12th grade. Participation in classes will be optional under the > legislation, which was introduced by State Representative Jeremy Gray, a > Democrat from Opelika, Ala., who was previously certified as a yoga > instructor. > > “With the evangelicals and this being a Bible state, they felt it was like > a threat to Christianity,” Mr. Gray said of the ban’s supporters in an > interview on Thursday. “Even 30 years later, you still have those same > sentiments.” > > A spokeswoman for Ms. Ivey confirmed in an email on Thursday that the > governor had signed the bill, but declined to comment further. > > The bill gained final approval by a vote of 75 to 14 in the House on > Monday after previously passing in the State Senate. It included a number > of amendments in the final language that Mr. Gray said reflected efforts by > Republicans to play to their religious conservative base. > > The amendments require parents to sign a permission slip for students to > practice yoga. They also bar school personnel from using “hypnosis, the > induction of a dissociative mental state, guided imagery, meditation or any > aspect of Eastern philosophy.” > > That, however, wasn’t enough to placate some opponents of teaching yoga in > public schools. > > The Rev. Clete Hux, the director of the Apologetics Resource Center in > Birmingham, Ala., and a teacher at the Birmingham Theological Seminary, > panned the bill in an online post > <https://arcapologetics.org/alabama-schools-to-teach-new-age-yoga/> one > day before the final vote by lawmakers. > > “Schools should not be in the position of endorsing possible altered > states of consciousness,” Mr. Hux wrote. “Neither should the State > Legislature risk violating the Establishment Clause of the 1st Amendment by > promoting religion.” > > Part of the language in the 1993 ban of yoga in public schools is > preserved in some of the bill’s amendments. The ban was enacted after > parents in the state raised concerns not only about yoga, but also about > hypnotism and “psychotherapeutic techniques.” > > According to an April 1993 article in The Anniston Star > <https://www.newspapers.com/image/106699500/>, one mother in Birmingham > said her child had brought a relaxation tape home from school that made a > boy “visibly high,” The Montgomery Advertiser > <https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2021/03/11/alabama-house-approves-elective-yoga-public-schools-why-banned/6953690002/> > reported. > > Mr. Gray, 35, a former football player, said that he was forced to make > concessions in the bill’s language for it to pass in the Legislature, where > Republicans hold supermajorities in both the House and the Senate. > > “Anyone who has taken yoga, we know that namaste is not something > religious,” Mr. Gray said. > > Two of the Republican state senators who Mr. Gray said played a role in > altering the bill, Arthur Orr and Dan Roberts, did not immediately respond > to requests for comment on Thursday. > > So what would happen if a teacher let slip “namaste” or “om?” Mr. Gray > said good luck trying to enforce the new rules. > > “There’s no yoga police going around saying, ‘You can and cannot do > this,’” he said. > > In an email blast from the governor’s press office on Thursday announcing > which bills Ms. Ivey had signed, including the one lifting the ban on yoga > in schools, Ms. Ivey’s spokeswoman, Gina Maiola, had a Zen moment. > > “Namaste,” she signed the email. > > >
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