MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama’s decades-old ban on yoga in public schools could stay in place a little longer, as push-back from conservative groups has stalled an effort to lift the prohibition.
The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday did not advance the bill after a public hearing in which representatives from two conservative groups objected, saying they were worried it could lead to the promotion of Hinduism or guided meditation practices. The Alabama lawmaker sponsoring the bill, a former college athlete, said the bill is about exercise and not religion.
“This whole notion that if you do yoga, you’ll become Hindu – I’ve been doing yoga for 10 years and I go to church and I’m very much a Christian,” Democratic Rep. Jeremy Gray of Opelika.
The legislation failed on a tie vote but the committee chairman said he would bring the bill back for another try when more members are present.
The Alabama Board of Education voted in 1993 to prohibit yoga, hypnosis and meditation in public school classrooms. Gray’s bill says school systems could authorize yoga if they choose. Yoga done in school would be limited to poses and stretches, and all poses would have to have English names. The use of chanting, mantras and teaching the greeting “namaste” would be forbidden.