Yoga a religion? I think not.

By Jazmin Jett |Staff Writer|

Surprise, surprise. Another school lawsuit involving bigoted parents.

Couple Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock have sued the Encitas Union School District on grounds that their children’s constitutional rights to religious freedom, as students, has been violated by their being exposed to the practice of yoga.

I’ll start by saying that this is the most dense-minded attempt at justice.

Details of the lawsuit actually go as far to say that the children are being treated as “religious guinea pigs.”

As stated in the Jois Yoga program’s FAQ, it blatantly claims that “there is no discussion of spiritualism, mysticism, religion in any context. The students simply perform the physical components of movement and breathing related to mainstream yoga.”

So what exactly is the issue?

What the Sedlock’s, and other parents in opposition of the school recreation, have failed to grasp is that yoga is undoubtedly beneficial to whoever engages in such; regardless of chosen religion.

What the parents have also failed to consider is the positive long term effects yoga could have on their children, being that the purpose of yoga is to “unite one’s mind, body and spirit,” according to The Kids Health Organization.

I personally have practiced yoga on and off for the last few years and have grown closer to myself than ever before.

If anything, the parents denying their children the opportunity to develop life long skills is the real travesty here.