The outspoken yoga advocate and author of
Embracing Yoga’s Roots was responding to news reports that the Alabama legislature had passed a bill that would allow yoga to be taught in schools. This move would reverse a ban on the practice that had been in place for 28 years.
But what seemed like a win for proponents of yoga in schools turned sour when the bill’s full content became known. Students will be able to do asana and pranayama but they won’t be able to call it that. The bill stipulates that any school-based yoga practice would have to be devoid of Sanskrit terms. There’s to be no chanting, mantras, mudras, or mandalas.