The NPR article is about a family trying to sue an elementary school for teaching their kids yoga in school. The parents believed that practicing yoga has religious undertones. The judge of the case said that although yoga is a religious practice, it wasn’t being taught that way at school so it should be fine. Yoga language was even changed for the elementary schoolers to avoid making cultural references such as the Sanskrit language. A mother of another student believed that yoga’s poses and meditation can’t be separated from their Hindu roots. This same mother thinks that yoga will change her kid’s views on the world and on themselves.
In “Yoga’s Greatest Truth”, Mark Singleton, a yoga instructor, finds out that yoga does not have Hindu roots when he opens up a Danish Primitive Gymnastics book which contains pictures of people in poses almost identical to the poses seen in Yoga. He goes on to learn more about the history of yoga. One of the first things he learns is that Scandinavian gymnastics influenced the way Europeans exercised, and this influence eventually found its way to India. Yoga has many components to it some including asana (body postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), dharana (concentration and cultivation of inner perceptual awareness), and nada (sound). The first wave of yoga was headed by Swami Vivekananda. He ignored asana and focused more on pranayama, meditation, and positive thinking. This rejection was due in part to Vivekananda belonging to a high-caste in India and him having prejudices against low-case mendicants who performed postures for money. Singleton spent 3 years in India in search for yoga asana instruction only to find instructors with highly Westernized teachings of yoga.
Before the arrival of yoga pioneers, the West had already been developing gymnastic posture practices which were also spiritual traditions. People often tie Hindu and yoga together, because it is the culture that is easiest to come to mind. In reality, a lot of countries had yoga type practices before Indian influence.
Questions:
Do you think that yoga would affect a child’s attendance, behavior, and student achievement? Would it affect them negatively or positively?
In what ways is yoga a religious/spiritual practice and in which ways is yoga a physical practice?
Media:
Another opinion on whether or not the same topic. Here a Christian blogger defends that yoga should be allowed in school and so should Christian prayer groups.
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Hello, very nice post. I think the whole yoga topic is very interesting. I think that if yoga were to affect a child's attendance, behavior, and student achievement, it would affect it for the better. Personally, I see yoga as a calming activity and not something that is necessarily surrounded my religion. It seems to be more of a religious/spiritual practice when one associates it to those Hindu roots, or other Indian/Asian cultures; and using yoga to reach a certain spiritual point in one's religion. However, yoga is also physical practice. It is very core oriented and is good for one's body. I personally see yoga as more of a physical practice (especially now a days) instead of only a religious practice.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question two, yoga can definitely be a religious or spiritual practice as well a physical practice with no ties religious/spiritual beliefs. Through the reading of NPR reading, we can see how the yoga can be separate from religious practices. When it was taught in school it wasn’t intended to be religious, rather the cultural references were removed and was intended for a different purpose, a wellness program. In the article “Yogas Great Truth”, Mark Singleton demonstrates how he tied yoga to his faith. Though through his research he found out that yogas traditional ties to religious practices were weak but can be important and incorporated in modern day religious/spiritual practices if chosen to. This illustrates the idea that since yoga was not initially religious, people today can choose how they want to practice it wether it be physically or spiritually.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what I took from the readings. Yoga can be religious if you incorporate the ancient cultural references. It can be a strictly physical practice if all a person cares about is getting a good work out. In a way, it is similar to secular Jewish people who do not practice the religion but are still Jews (& may sometimes participate in cultural activities.) People have the religious freedom to keep things secular or sacred.
DeleteI believe yoga would not affect a child’s attendance or behavior. Although yoga is an important practice in Hinduism, nowadays many people view yoga as a physical practice, which it is good for health. In addition, yoga classes are designed for relaxation, and it is useful and enjoyable for people to learn after work. I think Sanskrit language is part of spiritual practice for yoga, and learning Dharma is also an important step to take along spiritual path.
ReplyDeleteBecause Yoga can be both a connection to both the extraordinary world and merely a practice of meditation that a person chooses to do to calm themselves down, it can be taken the wrong way to some people if their children are doing it at school. This can relate back to the Fundamentalists and the idea of evolution being taught at schools, however, yoga would affect attendance, behavior and student achievement but only in a positive way.
ReplyDeleteYoga can be considered a spiritual practice because Hinduism has made it to be that way, but it is mostly a physical one because it allows a person to relax. Yoga can be considered a therapeutic experience.
In a way, I do think yoga would affect a child’s attendance and behavior but not so much on student achievement. My nephew is currently in 7th grade and in 6th grade he had to take a yoga class as an elective class. I remember him telling me how much he hated yoga and didn’t see the purpose or meaning behind doing certain poses or postures. He always dreaded going to school and insisted everyday that he wanted to get out of yoga class. I guess to him, he felt that yoga was more of a girly exercise and not something a 6th grader boy would enjoy doing. So in a way, speaking on a personal experience, I do think yoga can affect a child’s attendance and behavior in a negative way because my nephew is perfect example of it.
ReplyDeleteI feel like yoga is a religious or spiritual practice if you make it to be. I feel like yoga is seen as a religious and a spiritual practice is mainly because they associate it with the religion of Hinduism. In the article, “Yoga’s Greater Truth,” a scholar discovers that his knowledge of the history of yoga and its connection to its religion was entirely different when he did further research on the yoga practices. Yoga is a physical practice because nowadays many people practice yoga not for the religious aspects of it, but more so for their health and body. As seen in the article written by Krishnadev Calamur regarding children doing yoga in school is seen as a physical practice and has no intention of relating it to the religion. Although some parents were upset with the idea of their kids practicing yoga in school, the Judge argues that yoga being performed and taught in school is not done so on a religious aspect.
I don’t really think yoga would necessarily impact a child’s attendance or behavior, for them it would be almost like physical education class and whether the child enjoys it or not would be based on their own personality. If it encourages them to exercise and be fit then I don’t see how it would negatively affect them or change their perception of the world. If all of the religious language of yoga related to Hinduism is removed a kid would just consider it a form of stretching almost.
ReplyDeleteI think yoga can be considered a spiritual or religious practice when the language of a religion is being incorporated into it or if a person believes it to be. However it can just be thought of as a physical practice due to the benefits it provides to the human body and relaxation it brings to the mind. Obviously it has undeniable physical benefits or it wouldn’t be incorporated into the school systems as a form of exercise and wellness.