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It's not jumping jacks or running the mile, but yoga is slowly starting
to pop up in P.E. classes across the country, a reflection of the
discipline's growing popularity among today's baby boomers.
For kids who view gym as their own personal
hell, yoga provides a healthy alternative, educators say. And it
fits into a nationwide push to expand physical education beyond
traditional competitive sports such as softball or football.
Yoga also offers a form of exercise that students
can pursue into old age -- another goal of P.E. classes these days,
said Judith Young, executive director of the National Association
for Sport and Physical Education. "It's growing in the schools,
just as it's growing in the community in general," Young said.
"But it's probably more prevalent in California and metropolitan
areas."
Despite its popularity in some places, not everyone's
happy to see yoga offered in public schools -- mostly because of
its links to Hinduism. "It's an affront to my Christian faith,"
said Doug Posey, a Thousand Oaks father of three and a pastor at
Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village. "As a parent
who still does have some belief in the public school system, I don't
think it's necessary to use physical exercise that's an introduction
to an Eastern religious way of thinking."
But yoga can be taught primarily as a physical,
rather than religious discipline, educators say. In public schools
particularly, instructors can concentrate on flexibility, stretching
and posture without venturing into spirituality.
And because it's focused on the individual,
yoga can be a godsend for the child who is not a gifted athlete
or into team sports, instructors say. "Had I had yoga, I would
have been a much happier P.E. person," said Judi Flannery,
who has taught yoga at several public schools in Oxnard. "I
was not a runner, not into competitive sports. If I'd had yoga,
I would have blossomed."
In addition, yoga can offer a welcome refuge
from high-pressure classes, too many after-school activities and
anxiety over college, said Katie Frykman, 17, a junior at Thacher,
a boarding school in Ojai. "It's really relaxing," Frykman
said. "It provides a nice balance for the competitive, stressful
days of school. "It helps put things in perspective."
Thacher has been offering yoga classes for about
four years -- mostly for kids who can't take traditional P.E. because
they're recovering from illness or an injury. Now, though, students
can take yoga in addition to their required sports.
Other Ventura County schools that either offer
or have offered yoga include Lang Ranch in Thousand Oaks, Yerba
Buena in Agoura Hills, Summit in Ojai, and Driffill and Hollywood
Beach in Oxnard -- all elementary schools. In many cases, the classes
are offered after school, but some also take place at recess. Most
are taught by a parent who is also a yoga instructor.
"The kids really seem to enjoy it,"
Hollywood Beach Principal Robin Freeman said. "When we have
a rainy-day schedule and the kids are stuck inside, our instructor
can do some poses with them, so they still get some exercise."
Because yoga can be a lifelong pursuit, several
local schools also offer programs for teachers and other workers.
In Simi Valley, classes are offered twice a week for district employees.
At La Reina High, a Catholic girls school in Thousand Oaks, four
teachers have been gathering every Monday afternoon for the past
five years for their yoga class. The teachers range both in age
-- they're 52 to 65 -- and also in their athletic ability. But that
doesn't matter, said Karen Moore, the school's director of admissions.
"That's the good thing about yoga," Moore said. "You
can take it as deep as you want to go."
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