204 • Part III: YOGa FOr EDUCatING FOr SELF-rEGULatION aND ENGaGEMENt CHaPtEr 9: YOGa aS EMBODIED SELF-rEGULatION aND ENGaGEMENt • 205
Encinitas Union School District (Baird, 2014). The district had received a grant from the
Jois Foundation to offer Ashtanga yoga (i.e., a style of contemporary yoga) practice to the
students. In an effort to accommodate concerned parents, the yoga was presented free of
Sanskrit terms and Hindu references. For example, postures were given different names
(e.g., sukhasana was called crisscross applesauce; Cook-Cottone, 2015; Cook-Cottone et al.,
2016b). Still concerned, a group of parents moved forward with the lawsuit demanding that
the school district suspend its unconstitutional religion-based physical education program
(Cook-Cottone, 2015; Cook-Cottone et al., 2016b). The school district argued that they were
offering a contemporary physical education program that included stretching, breathing
techniques, and relaxation strategies for children and they were not offering a religious pro-
gram (Baird, 2014). On July 1, 2013 the court system agreed with the school district ruling
that the practice of yoga in schools neither endorses nor inhibits any religion (Baird, 2014;
Cook-Cottone, 2015; Cook-Cottone et al., 2016b). In 2015, the California Court of Appeals
upheld the lower court’s ruling that the Encinitas program was constitutional, stating that
while the practice of yoga may be religious in some contexts, the classes in question were
“devoid of any religious, mystical, or spiritual trappings” (Sedlock v. Baird, 2015). Note that,
in order to be considered constitutional, a government practice must pass the Lemon test: (a)
the governmental program must have a secular purpose, (b) the program’s primary effect
must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and (c) the program must not foster
an excessive government entanglement with religion (Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971).traINING FOr tEaCHErS: HaVING tHE tOOLS FOr SUCCESS
“Any education program is only as effective as its teachers” (Childress & Harper, 2015, p. 33).
That said, the success and effectiveness of the yoga program in your school or classroom is
highly dependent of the quality, enthusiasm, and training of the teachers who deliver it. The
following issues are important to consider: specific training for teaching yoga in schools,
supervision, classroom management, training specific to students with disabilities, and
training specific to trauma (Childress & Harper, 2015).
Teachers should be specially trained and mentored to deliver yoga in schools (Childress
& Harper, 2015). Teaching yoga to children in school is wholly different from teaching yoga
to children in a studio or community center and, more obviously, from teaching adolescents
and adults in a studio setting. With experience only from studios or centers in which families
sign-up for yoga classes with intention and interest, yoga teachers are frequently ill prepared
to teach school-based yoga where students sometimes lack interest and motivation to engage.
School-based yoga teachers, at best, should have school-specific yoga teacher training creden-
tials (see Kripalu Yoga in the Schools Teacher Training at kripalu.org/kyis-teacher- training
or Little Flower: The School Project at littlefloweryoga.com/ programs/the-school-yoga-
project). It is also acceptable, although school-specific content will be missed, to secure train-
ing programs specific to children (see The Baptiste Institute: Kids Yoga Teacher Training at
http://www. baptisteyoga.com/pages/kids-yoga-teacher-training; for an overview of programs see
Chapter 13 of this text). The Yoga Alliance has a set of Children’s Yoga Standards. A school
that meets these standards is called a Registered Children’s Yoga School (RCYS; see www. yogaalliance.org/Credentialing/Standards/ChildrensStandards). Once a teacher is creden-
tialed, they are considered a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT; see http://www. yogaalliance
.org/Credentialing). Note that, with children’s and not school-specific training, there will be a