A lawsuit has been filed against a San Diego-area school district for its student yoga curriculum, claiming the exercise classes are "inherently and pervasively religious."

The National Center for Law and Policy filed the lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their children, who are students in the Encinitas Union School District.

The district last fall began offering yoga during physical education classes.Children have the choice to opt out of the program.

The Sedlocks allegethe school districtis not complying with the California constitutions right to religious freedom. The lawsuit also calls the children participating in the program "religious guinea pigs."

Encintas schools accepted a $533,000 grant for the yoga classes from the Jois Foundation, whichthe conservative legal firm that filed the lawsuitclaims is a religious organization. The attorney who filed the suit called the relationship between the foundation and the school district "improperly cozy."

Jois Yoga states on its website that it works as an "extension of the Ashtanga philosophy and practice." The organization is based in Encinitas, where Ashtanga yoga was first introduced to the United States, according to the website.

The yoga group's foundation is focused on "educating the whole child" by bringing yoga to schools, particularly in underserved communities.

School district Superintendent Timothy Baird said hes shocked a lawsuit was filed against the district.

"We have not stripped religion out of it. We never put religion in it," Baird said. "What we took out were cultural connections, so we don't use Sanskrit words. But basically what you have kids doing is stretching, moving, breathing. That's not religious."

An FAQ on the program on the district's website states: "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."

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Lawsuit: School Yoga Program Is Religious

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) -- In 11 years of teaching, ditching students' desk chairs in favor of yoga balls is one of the best decisions Robbi Giuliano thinks she ever made.

Replacing stationary seats with inflatable bouncers has raised productivity in her fifth-graders at Westtown-Thornbury Elementary School, making students better able to focus on lessons while improving their balance and core strength, she said.

"I have more attentive children," Giuliano said. "I'm able to get a lot done with them because they're sitting on yoga balls."

The giant rubber spheres, also called stability balls, come in different sizes, colors and degrees of firmness. By making the sitter work to stay balanced, the balls force muscle engagement and increased blood flow, leading to more alertness.

The exercise gear is part a larger effort to modernize schools based on research linking physical activity with better learning, said John Kilbourne, a professor of movement science at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich.

Traditional classroom setups are being challenged as teachers nationwide experiment with yoga balls, footrests and standing desks, which give children outlets to fidget without disrupting class.

"It's the future of education," Kilbourne said.

Stability balls, frequently used in yoga, Pilates and physical therapy, have even begun appearing in offices in the wake of recent studies stressing the dangers of sedentary work environments.

The balls first began to surface in schools as aids for kids with attention problems or autism, said Michelle Rowe, executive director of the Kinney Center for Autism at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The equipment has since gone mainstream.

"It takes away the taboo of wiggling, which most kids do anyway," said Rowe, who also is a professor of health services.

Originally posted here:
Teachers ditch student desk chairs for yoga balls

A civil rights lawsuit was filed Wednesday aimed at stopping the teaching of yoga in Encinitas public schools on the grounds that yoga represents religious indoctrination.

Having the program in the nine schools of the K-6 district "represents a serious breach of the public trust" and a violation of state law that prohibits religious instruction in public schools, said Dean Broyles, attorney for the Escondido-based National Center for Law and Policy.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a couple with two children in the district. It seeks to have the courts block the program, which began last fall. Students receive two 30-minute yoga sessions each week under the program, which is supported by a $533,000 grant from a local studio that teaches Ashtanga yoga.

Tim Baird, superintendent of the Encinitas Union School District, said that he was disappointed that a lawsuit had been filed. Officials believe the program is worthwhile and does not represent religious indoctrination, he added.

"We are not teaching religion, we are not instructing anyone in religious dogma," said Baird. "Yoga is very mainstream."

The program, Baird said, is part of an effort to teach students the benefits of exercise and healthful eating. The district's use of yoga is being studied by the researchers from the University of San Diego and the University of Virginia.

The district, Baird said, is already negotiating to renew the grant from the Jois Foundation, which is supported by hedge-fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II and his wife, Sonia.

The parents of 30 children have opted not to have their children participate, Baird said.

But Broyles said the ability for parents to opt out is not sufficient. The program "is extremely divisive and has unfortunately led to the harassment, discrimination, bullying and segregation of children who, for good reason, opt out," said Broyles.

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Lawsuit filed to end yoga instruction in Encinitas schools