LTRP Note: This is a follow up story to two previous stories we have posted from out of house news sources regarding this situation. Here are the two previous articles about the Yoga vs. parents battle in Encinitas, California’s public schools: 1) School Yoga Tries to Avoid Religious Controversy (December 2012) and 2) “Parents considering legal action over school yoga” (October 2012). We are posting this article below for research and informational purposes and not as any kind of endorsement for the news source or the article’s promotion of Yoga. Yoga for children is growing by leaps and bounds in popularity in the U.S., and there is ample reason for Christians to be concerned.
Kyla Calvert
NPR
During first period at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary School in Encinitas, Calif., Kristen McCloskey leads about two dozen third-graders through some familiar yoga poses.
“All right, so let’s do our opening sequence A,” she says, instructing the kids. “Everyone take a big inhale, lift those arms up. Look up.”
At the end of the half-hour class, 8-year-old Jacob Hagen says he feels energized and ready for the rest of the day. “Because you get to stretch out and it’s good to be the first class because it wakes you up,” he says.
Schools across the country are focusing more on teaching students to make healthy choices; Encinitas Superintendent Tim Baird says yoga is just one element of the district’s physical education curriculum. Click here to continue reading.
Related News:
When is Yoga, Yoga – And How is it Affecting Children in Public Schools? by Roger Oakland
Christian Leaders Giving Mysticism to Our Youth by Ray Yungen
Letter to the Editor: My Trip to a “Christian” Yoga Class by Phyllis Buckman
