Bill would lift yoga ban in Alabama schools
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama lawmakers might lift a decades old ban on yoga in public schools, though the bill would keep the greeting “namaste” on the forbidden list.
A bill by Rep. Jeremy Gray of Opelika would let local school systems decide if they want to teach yoga, poses and stretches. However it would require the moves to have exclusively English names. It would also prohibit the use of chanting, mantras and saying the greeting “namaste.”
The Alabama Board of Education voted in 1993 to prohibit yoga, hypnosis and meditation in schools. The ban was pushed by conservative groups.
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