A California family and a legal group are suing a public school district for allowing yoga instructors to teach students, saying the practice causes a constitutional conflict.

For now, the National Center for Law & Policy says the policy at the Encinitas Union School District near San Diego violates three provisions of Californias state constitution, including one provision about prohibiting government religious preference and religious discrimination.

The lawsuit, filed in San Diego Superior Court, touches on broader issues about religious expression at publicly funded schools.

Dean Broyles from the NCLP is representing the family of two young students in the Encinitas Union School District.

This is frankly the clearest case of the state trampling on the religious freedom rights of citizens that I have personally witnessed in my 18 years of practice as a constitutional attorney, Broyles said in a statement. The program is extremely divisive and has unfortunately led to the harassment, discrimination, bullying, and segregation of children who, for good reasons, opt out of the program.

Constitution Daily first reported on this story in October 2012, when Broyles and the school district were discussing his complaints about a program, funded by an Ashtanga yoga institute, which was approved for schools. At the time, the school district said it didnt plan to stop the program.

The program was not after hours; the yoga sessions were part of the schools curriculum.

Broyles now contends that Ashtanga yoga is inherently and pervasively religious. He is seeking to have an injunction issued to stop the program and isnt seeking monetary damages.

Encinitas Superintendent Timothy Baird told ABC News this week that students are only doing some Ashtanga poses and that the sessions are a typical P.E. class.

I believe what he is saying is just the motions of the yoga stretching is somehow invoking Hinduismand in America, where 90 to 95 percent of the practitioners are not even Hindu, Baird said.

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Is doing yoga at a public school really unconstitutional?

Yoga may be thousands of years old, but this ancient Indian discipline has proved to stand the test of time.

It's a multi-billion-dollar industry that has millions of Americans doing sun salutations and downward dog, all while breathing deeply and chanting, ohhmmm.

While yoga's popularity only seems to grow, people seem to be drawn to it not just for physical benefits, but also for how it impacts their mental health.

We live in a very stressful world and although yoga is not a miracle cure, the practice can help minimize stress and the worries that come with modern life, said Joseph Satiak, who has been running Belmont Yoga Studio since 2001. At the end of a yoga practice, we have guided meditation and relaxation that helps you work on the body but also helps the mind disengage.

Satiak came to yoga after an injury left doctors skeptical about any sort of recovery.

After the first class, I was convinced yoga was the thing for me, said Satiak, who eventually left a career in a fast-paced corporate environment to teach yoga.

Yoga is mindfulness-based, said Donna Ognibene, owner of Bodytrio, a Belmont studio offering classes in yoga, Pilates and barre. It's meant to connect the mind to the body.

This time of the year, people are looking to lose weight and feel differently about themselves, Ognibene said. Lots of exercise disconnects people, leaving them tired. But yoga is different because you have something that is sustainable.

Jo Shapiro, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, practices yoga and associates it with being able to perform her job well.

I feel that if you're going to be a wonderful clinician, you have to be your best self, said Shapiro. Meditation and mind-body stuff are really important in terms of handling that stress.

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