Last week, there was quite a controversial case revolving around yoga at a San Diego school district. The parents of two California grade-school students sued to block the teaching of yoga in their children school. According to them, the stretching program promotes Eastern religions. The lawsuit claims that Ashtanga yoga is religious-based and that students who pull out of the program often face bullying. Based on these stated reasons, the parents want to stop their children from taking yoga classes.
The truth is that yoga assists one in many areas including stretching, breathing properly and learning to manage stress naturally. This is extremely important especially in the United States, where there are numerous children who are obese and sedentary. At the end of the day, yoga is not focus on any religious ideas or concepts. The purpose of practice, which many people around the world partake in, is to enable one to get in shape and lead a healthier lifestyle. In fact, yoga is used to reach both physical as well as mental well-being. Only when that has been achieved, then practitioners will be able to advance further to contemplate on spiritual matters. If you would like to find out more, do read it here.
At the end of the day, yoga should not be thought of as any form of religious act. In majority of yoga classes around the world, there is absolutely no religious rituals being conducted during the practice itself. Yes, the name of the postures might be in a foreign language to some, but that is normally it. There is not even any slight religious prayer, talk or teaching in that whole time during a session. In fact, there are many yogis from different religions and walks of life who do regular practice. In a class of students, you can be sure to find students from different religious backgrounds. However, the religious aspect of yoga does not bother them because the whole purpose of them attaining such classes is to reap the benefits that yoga has to offer. Hence, religion should never be brought into play.
At OMG Yoga Singapore, we believe that yoga is suitable for each and every individual. There is definitely something yoga can offer to each individual regardless of your fitness level and/or physical condition. We do not pay any attention to the religious means as the aim of our instructors is to provide students with a suitable workout that caters to their needs.