Alabama overturns decades-old ban on yoga in schools

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Yoga can legally be taught in Alabama public schools, after the southern state overturned a nearly 30-year ban.

The state’s department of education had barred yoga in 1993, citing its connection to Hinduism.

The bill, brought for the third time by a Democrat, was approved by the state’s Republican legislature and governor.

It limits yoga to stretches and poses, and prohibits non-English descriptions as well as “any aspect of Eastern philosophy and religious training”.

Chanting is also not allowed. The use of the sound “om,” and the Sanskrit-based word “namaste” are also still banned.

The law, signed by Governor Kay