Stretching The Definition

This comes as a great relief: "Yoga doesn't bend rules on religious freedom." Having a California Court of Appeals decide this for me leaves me feeling vindicated, and a little more limber. A few years back, my wife bought me a book: Yoga For Regular Guys. At the time, I confess it felt like a bit of an indoctrination. I had my exercise regimen, and it included stretching as a course of precursory activity before the main event which was going for a run. The idea that I needed additional flexibility or strength came to me as a bit of an insult. And it frightened me just a little. Like so many things that I had never tried, this felt like my wife was trying to get me to do something in her oh-so-subtle way. She did yoga, and she was happy not just in body but in mind as well. This book, written by a professional wrestler, was the gateway. The door to becoming something better. One of us.
Who? The professional wrestlers? Or maybe it was just the cool thing to do. There were yoga outlets springing up all over the place. Some called themselves ashrams. Others called themselves temples. A long time ago, I gave up churches and temples and ashrams. The worship I do has been centered around a more secular spin. And twist. And stretch. My body is my temple, and my congregation is essentially pretty small. I started doing some of the poses and forms in the book, mostly so I could show my wife what a good sport I was, and eventually it became part of my program.
At home. The idea of doing yoga in front of a crowd or with an instructor outside of Diamond Dallas Page or the ghost lady from Wii Fit was creepy and foreign to me. I didn't need to indoctrinate anyone else. But it sure did seem to work. Maybe that's why, when it came time to find group exercises for the third, fourth and fifth graders I teach PE to once a week, I picked yoga. Nothing that spectacular or strenuous, just a few poses to get their pre-teen bodies prepared for something other than couch surfing. Guess what? Most of them seem to like it.
Which is why I got nervous when some parents, in other places and other schools, began to suggest that teaching yoga was like teaching religion. I didn't think that then, and I don't think so now, but I"m glad that I've got the court on my side, even if I don't have the Lord.