Yogic Curriculum Draws Criticism

February 8, 2003

Source: The New York Times

On February 8, 2003 The New York Times reported that "last fall, officials with Aspen Elementary School, a public school with about 500 students in kindergarten through fourth grade, and the Aspen Country Day School, a private school with about 180 students in kindergarten through ninth grade, invited yoga instructors to conduct classes as part of a pilot program... But some parents and religious leaders here are objecting, saying that teaching yoga in school violates the separation of church and state... Opposition was initially directed at the curriculum -- prepared by two yoga practitioners from Los Angeles, where the curriculum is also used in some schools -- which has since been altered to eliminate any language that might be construed as religious. A lawyer for the public school advised that the revised curriculum did not violate the Constitution."