Yoga class canceled at Canada university over ‘culture' - NY Daily News

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Yoga students in Canada had to roll up their mats for good this fall after worries over the practice’s “cultural issues” led the University of Ottawa to cancel class.

Instructor Jen Scharf learned in September that the school had cancelled her free, beginning yoga class, which is designed to include people with disabilities.

In an email, a member of the school’s Student Federation wrote to Scharf that students didn’t feel comfortable appropriating the ancient practice, which began in India thousands of years ago.

“Yoga has been under a lot of controversy lately due to how it is being practiced and what practices from what cultures (which are often sacred spiritual practices) they are being taken from,” read the email to Scharf, which was obtained by the Washington Post.

Scharf did not disclose the name of the student leader who emailed her.

“Many of these cultures are cultures that have experienced oppression, cultural genocide and diasporas due to colonialism and western supremacy, and we need to be mindful of this and how we express ourselves and while practicing yoga,” read the email.

The email went on to explain that students and volunteers “feel uncomfortable with how we are doing yoga while we claim to be inclusive at the same time.”

Some Hindus have said they are unhappy with the way yoga, a practice that is rooted in their faith, has become popular in the West. The Hindu American Foundation, for example, has started a campaign called “Take back yoga” that aims to fight the commercialization of the practice.

Scharf says she just wants to offer her students the practice’s health benefits. 

Scharf told CBC News that she suggested changing the name of the course and making it clear that she would just be offering “mindful stretching.” 

"I told them, 'Why don't we just change the name of the course?' It's simple enough, just call it mindful stretching.… We're not going through the finer points of scripture. We're talking about basic physical awareness and how to stretch so that you feel good,” Scharf told CBC News.

In a French-language interview with Radio Canada Saturday, Roméo Ahimakin, the president of the Student Federation, said that no formal complaints were ever filed about the class.

http://m.nydailynews.com/news/world/yoga-class-canceled-canada-university-culture-article-1.2444074