Recently a family in Encinitas, CA launched a law suit to stop school district wide yoga classes stating that the 30 minute yoga classes are religious in nature.
When this situation first hit the press last fall Lisa Flynn, founder of ChildLight Yoga and Yoga 4 Classrooms, wrote a clear response clarifying the nature of a well defined school yoga program as “a secular practice with the purpose of improving learning while supporting the health and well being of students and educators.”
She’s not the first one to tackle the yoga/school/religion issue. Other leaders in the kids yoga community have addressed the topic.
- Abby Wills (Shanti Generation) - Yoga in Schools: the Religion Question
- Sydney Solis (Storytime Yoga) - Body-Centered Education with Storytime Yoga
- Shakta Khalsa (Radiant Child Yoga) – In Yoga, We Don’t Pray We Balance our Brains
- Jennifer Cohen Harper (Little Flower Yoga) – To Om or Not to Om – Children’s Yoga in Public Schools
- Donna Freeman (Yoga In My School/Kids Yoga Academy) – Yoga is against my religion?
To delve deeper we brought together a panel of leaders in the kids yoga community who work daily with children, parents and schools teaching yoga and mindfulness practices. Listen to the panel discussion on this sensitive and important topic.
Our panel includes these experts:
- Jodi Komitor (Next Generation Yoga) – provides context to school yoga taught in Encinitas, CA
- Lisa Flynn (Yoga 4 Classrooms/ChildLight Yoga) – explains the importance of communication, openness and inviting when offering a school based yoga program and clarifies the word ‘spirituality’ referencing this article regarding teaching spirituality in schools from Greater Good: UofC Berkeley.
- Rachel Glowacki (Kids Holy Yoga) – separates teaching yoga as a tool to enhance religious education and teaching yoga in the public school setting in a secular manner. For more information on Kids Holy Yoga listen to Rachel Glowacki’s interview with Middler’s Podcast.
- Karma Carpenter Shea (K-12Yoga.org) – addresses the importance of local implementation of global principles (glocal) and how evidence based school yoga programs can maintain health in the school/work day
- Amy Haysman (Grounded) – explains how chanting and guided visualizations can be used in schools to benefit children’s personal development
- Cheryl Crawford (Grounded) – describes chants used in the classroom and their benefits
- Lynea Gillen (YogaCalm) – offers a multi-cultural exploration of yoga in schools and the importance of building a program around children’s personal beliefs
I appreciate all of panelists for their time, expertise and openness in discussing the yoga/school/religion issue. Many questions will continue to be raised and addressed as more and more schools incorporate yoga into their daily activities. I know as we continue to communicate clearly with respect and receptivity the benefits of yoga and mindfulness will impact lives and lead to greater understanding for all.
Access on-line kids yoga teacher training from these and other fabulous kids yoga instructors with Kids Yoga Academy On Demand eCourses.
