I love my adopted state, where I have lived for more than 40 years. For all of its warts and problems, theres something about Alabama that gets inside your mind, your heart and your soul, and stays there.

For starters, its a beautiful place, with the Gulf of Mexico on the south end and the foothills of the Appalachians in the north and east. Its people are friendly and their voices are mellow; and if some Alabamians are suspicious of outsiders -- i.e., folks from other geographical regions, especially the North -- they generally will welcome transplants from other Southern states.

If you marry an Alabamian, as I did shortly after relocating from Louisiana, your welcome is even warmer, and before you know it, four decades will have passed and youll barely remember the times when you lived elsewhere.

Except when your politicians -- and after 40 years, they are yours -- do dumb stuff and you know that in a day or two, youll be reading about the dumb stuff in the New York Times and other national publications. Most recently, Alabamas dumb-stuff-story du jour came courtesy of the state Legislature.

Alabama Lifts Its Ban on Yoga in Schools, the New York Times reported the other day, explaining that nearly 30 years ago, in 1993, the state school board had forbidden schools to teach yoga. Why?

Its complicated, but Ill try to simplify: Yogas roots are in India, you see, and yoga emphasizes exercises and mental reflection, and there are a lot of Hindus and Buddhists in India, and Hindus and Buddhists arent Christians, and if our public schools teach yoga, then before you know it, all of our kids will have converted to Hinduism or Buddhism.

Or something like that.

But wait, you say. In its 2021 session that just wrapped up, didnt the Legislature reverse that ban and say that school districts can offer yoga as an elective? And didnt the governor sign the bill? Whats dumb about that?

Again, its complicated. Certainly, the Legislature did the right thing in overturning the ban, and Gov. Kay Ivey did the right thing when she signed the bill. And certainly, the dumbness originated with Alabamas elected state school board back in 1993.

But this years Legislature couldnt just say to its public schools, Its OK if yall want to offer yoga classes. No, lawmakers had to make double-double sure that their constituents wouldnt think they were condoning Hinduism/Buddhism/whatever-ism, so they spelled it out: All poses shall be limited exclusively to sitting, standing, reclining, twisting, and balancing. All poses, exercises, and stretching techniques shall have exclusively English descriptive names. Chanting, mantras, mudras, use of mandalas, induction of hypnotic states, guided imagery, and namaste greetings shall be expressly prohibited.

And you thought yoga classes were for people who want to exercise, stretch and improve their ability to concentrate.

I have never taken a yoga class, but its not because I fear losing my religion. What I fear is that if I tried one of those twisty, stretchy poses and toppled over, paramedics would have to load me into their ambulance in pieces. My fear aside, however, Ive known all sorts of people whove taken yoga classes, and Ive read news articles about its physical and mental health benefits. And like other people, Ive seen stories about sports teams that use yoga exercises to improve players flexibility.

What I havent read is a slew of articles or news reports about yoga fundamentally changing peoples spiritual beliefs.

What Id like to read one day is a series of national news reports about how Alabama is focusing its political energy on improving public education, and how its involving business and civic leaders in its schools, and how its well-paid and well-trained teachers are successfully preparing todays children for tomorrows world.

Im not sure when, how or whether well get to that point in the state that I love so much, but of this I am pretty certain: When and if it ever happens, the existence or absence of yoga classes in our public schools will be irrelevant.

Frances Coleman is a former editorial page editor of the Mobile Press-Register. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/prfrances.

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Yoga is another one of those dumb-in-Alabama stories - al.com