California school district sued over yoga program

SAN DIEGO An attorney representing a family bent out of shape over a public school yoga program in the beach city of Encinitas filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop the district-wide classes.

In the lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court, attorney Dean Broyles argued that the twice weekly, 30-minute classes are inherently religious, in violation of the separation between church and state.

The plaintiffs are Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their children, who are students in the Encinitas Union School District.

"EUSD's Ashtanga yoga program represents a serious breach of the public trust," Broyles said. "Compliance with the clear requirements of law is not optional or discretionary. This is frankly the clearest case of the state trampling on the religious freedom rights of citizens that I have personally witnessed in my 18 years of practice as a constitutional attorney."

Superintendent Timothy B. Baird said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not directly comment on it, but he defended the district's decision to integrate yoga into its curriculum this year.

The district is believed to be the first in the country to have full-time yoga teachers at every one of its schools. The lessons are funded by a $533,000, three-year grant from the Jois Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes Asthanga yoga. Since the district started the classes at its nine schools in January, Baird said teachers and parents have noticed students are calmer, using the breathing practices to release stress before tests.

"We're not teaching religion," he said. "We teach a very mainstream physical fitness program that happens to incorporate yoga into it. It's part of our overall wellness program. The vast majority of students and parents support it."

Baird said the lawsuit would not deter the district from offering the classes.

Broyles said his clients took legal action after the district refused to take their complaints into account. He said the Sedlocks are not seeking monetary damages but are asking the court to intervene and suspend the program.

The lawsuit notes Harvard-educated religious studies professor Candy Gunther Brown found the district's program is pervasively religious, having its roots in Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist and metaphysical beliefs and practices.

While the lawsuit names only one family, dozens of parents feel the same way and oppose the program, Broyles said.

Children who have opted out of the program have been harassed and bullied, the plaintiffs allege. The children who opt out also are missing out on 60 of the 100 weekly minutes of physical activity required by the state, since they usually sit and read during the yoga lessons, the plaintiffs say.

Yoga is now taught at public schools from the rural mountains of West Virginia to the bustling streets of Brooklyn as a way to ease stress in today's pressure-packed world where even kindergartners say they feel tense about keeping up with their busy schedules. But most classes are part of an after-school program, or are offered only at a few schools or by some teachers in a district.

The Jois Foundation says it believes the program will become a national model to help schools teach students life skills.

[Antoniabologna]

I live in San Diego and have had to listen to this since the first objection. I am also a yoga practitioner. I have participated in classes that I would deem "religious" in the sense that they promote a community where people come together to celebrate their spirituality, one of my definitions of religion. But what those kids are participating in is exercise with stress control techniques. This is NOT religion, despite the fact that some forms of yoga did start with the yogis that wanted to be able to sit in meditation (to contemplate their religion, hinduism) for hours and started this exercise program to prepare their bodies for those hours of inactivity. I have had some extremely religious parents get mad that we incorporated yoga into our kids swim program and say that all forms of yoga are religious expression. Which it is not. Exercise is exercise and stress reducing exercises (such as breathing techniques) does not constitute a religion. Mentioning God, going to heaven, the afterlife, your soul, those things constitute religion to most people.

The other ignorant thing that I keep hearing is that since Christians are not allowed to pray in school, then why should yoga be practiced at school? Prayer has never been made illegal in school. MANDATORY (not yelling, caps are just for emphasis) prayer was made illegal. If your children want to pray at school and choose to do so before a test, good for them (esp. if it makes them calm and do better on tests), no one will stop them as long as it does not interfere with the teacher's instruction and other students. Please don't repeat ignorant things, it only makes the people who know the facts turn away from actually listening to you.

[consciousnes]

They have really gone of the "DEEP" end this time. I knew some people were getting lazy and that translates to their children being even more so, but THIS????? This smacks of someone looking for some easy money, especially the lawyer filing the case. What has our country come to when our young excess energy students are not allowed to wear off some of it doing some simple physical moves. Then we wonder why kids who set in basements and do nothing but play violent video games murder a bunch of kids like happened in Newtown. It is because of parents like these that the United States is becoming a 3rd world country.

[sirgregoire-2009]

Yoga is a type of Hindu prayer. Look at it this was, you sit in a particular position, put close your eyes and meditate, that sounds like a prayer. If one cannot practice a Christian prayer in school, why should other be permitted to offer a Hindu prayer and on top of it hire a teacher to lead in this type of prayer.

[MikeP_101]

The whole issue started because of the way it was beginning in some classes with the traditional chant.

"I bow to the lotus feet of the gurus, The awakening happiness of one's own self revealed, Beyond better, acting like the jungle healer, pacifying delusion, the poison of samsara. Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword, One thousand heads white, I salute."

Sounds a lot like a prayer to me. I'm all for low impact aerobics call it whatever you will but the schools don't need to be promoting any religion.

[MikeP_101]

I could care less if you believe or not! It was discussed on NPR (I'm sure you can google that yourself) and then again in more detail on one of the public radio programs afterward, I think Diane Rheem but it could have been another one, by guests who were promoting yoga in the schools (which I am actually all for more exercise in the schools via yoga, quigong, or just plain PE).

It's Ashtanga Yoga and the opening recitation can be found here (there are several different translations): http://www.ashtangaworkshop.com/ashtanga_chants.php

The guests were stating that the recitation isn't a prayer, as supposedly the second prayer sounding paragraph was left out, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. Science should rule in the school and praying to whom/whatever.. the sun or even sphagetti monsters should not be taught.

[tiredofeverything]

This is why America can't have nice things.
Too many stupid people.

[Charley Burford]

I've been around a lot of yoga programs and read a lot of books. Almost none include spirituality. The closest thing to that would be meditation, but while various religions use meditation, it is not religion in itself. Lots of religions use music, but the music doesn't constitute religion either. Same thing. I've never heard or read anyone refer to God, or a soul, or afterlife in relation to yoga. If you want to broaden the definition of religion to include all practices and philosophies, then you'd have to include capitalism and democracy as well. That would be hard to separate from the state.

[KPeters_from_UK]

Overkill but okay. Can they do pilates?

My question is if yoga is such a big deal what about cheerleaders running on the football field during halftime with Christian slogans?

[bobnjersey]

[Children who have opted out of the program have been harassed and bullied, the plaintiffs allege.]
----------------------------------------
have the children opted out ... or have their parents opted them out?

[micmac666]

This has to be the definition of a frivolous lawsuit. 'Just breathing and stretching. 'Hope the judge tosses it post haste. Incidently, all the "only in California" comments are a bit tiresome. Get some new material...and stay away, please.

[kkelley2358]

Indicative of our wah-baby society and stupid parents. Jr. comes home from school complaining he "doesn't like" yoga so mama or daddy pat him on the head & say we'll put a stop to this and after that it snowballs. Everyone else has to suffer because Jr would rather be playing on the computer.....religious my a$$

[jamesellis2]

Another example of a bunch of Neanderthals. If these parents were actually intelligent, they would praise the school for having their lazy kid learn yoga, something that would be good for him,instead of sueing the school for not providing an adequate education and for committing the act dumming down their son and having him sit through a class designed to make him a good factory worker instead of questioning a from of autocratic authority.

james