New in Yoga Legal Battle: Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Encinitas School District

In a decision announced Friday, the California Court of Appeal ruled a California school district's yoga program doesn’t violate religious freedoms and should continue.

The appeals court ruling affirmed a previous judgment by the state Superior Court.

The Encinitas Union School District was sued by a group that claimed the instruction of yoga on school grounds and as part of the school curriculum was too religious.

A group of parents wanted the district to end its Ashtanga yoga program but the district argued the program was meant to promote health and wellness, with no religious agenda.

In its decision, the court said a reasonable observer would know that "as implemented, the District's yoga program is clearly not Ashtanga eight-limbed yoga" and that there was "no evidence of any religious indoctrination in any of the written curriculum."

The court also states, "...while yoga may be practiced for religious reasons, it cannot be said to be inherently religious or overtly sectarian." 

Read the decision

here.

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