Hindus urge Alabama to end “prohibition” of yoga in public schools

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Hindus are urging the state of Alabama to end their “prohibition” of yoga in their public schools as Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, has stated in a press release that this “prohibition” was clearly doing a disservice to Alabama’s students and denying them the valuable opportunities to avail the multiple benefits yoga provided.

According to the press release, the Alabama State Department of Education Administrative Code states:

“School personnel shall be prohibited from using any techniques that involve the induction of hypnotic states, guided imagery, meditation or yoga.”

The Department of Education is prohibited to offer yoga lessons during and after school hours in Alabama, and was at the top of the “Inappropriate Activities” list, which has now been removed from the department’s website.

Zed has urged Alabama Governor Kay Ellen Ivey, Alabama Superintendent of Education Dr. Eric G. Mackey and Alabama State Board of Education Vice President

Stephanie Bell to seriously and urgently re-visit the issue and work towards formally introducing yoga as a part of curriculum in all the public schools of the State, thus incorporating highly beneficial yoga in the lives of Alabama’s students.

Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed pointed out.