Alabama lifts yoga ban in public schools but bars pose names over fears of rise in Hinduism
Alabama passes bill that will allow yoga in public schools
(Getty Images)Alabama has lifted its decades-long ban of yoga in public schools, but instructors will still be barred from saying traditional Sanskrit names due to its connection to Hinduism.
Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed the new bill into law on Thursday, overriding a yoga ban adopted by the State Board of Education in 1993 for all public schools in the state.
Despite the bill’s passage, the ancient practice will still have some restrictions when taught in public schools.
In the bill, it outlined that yoga instruction will be limited to poses, exercises, and stretching techniques without using the traditional Sanskrit names to describe the moves. The bill still bans chanting, mantras, mudras, the use of mandalas, and for instructors to use the traditional “namaste” greetings.
Some conservative groups have asked for yoga in public schools to be prohibited due to its connections to HInduism and Buddhisim, with them claiming the practice is a religious activity.
“With the evangelicals and this being a Bible state, they felt it was like a threat to Christianity. Even 30 years later, you still have those same sentiments,” said Representative Jeremy Gray, a Democrat, on Thursday.
The state congressman sponsored the bill three years in a row before it finally passed this year.
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