Alabama lifts ban on teaching yoga in public schools but still bars ‘namaste’

Alabama has lifted a three-decade-long ban on allowing yoga to be taught in its public schools – though the word “namaste” and chanting “om” will still be barred in classrooms.

Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed a bill which overrides the state’s 1993 ban on yoga instruction and allows local school boards to decide whether students can be taught the ancient practice.

Some conservative Christian groups fought to retain the ban, arguing that allowing yoga in the classroom could result in children converting to Hinduism.

“Yoga is a very big part of the Hindu religion, and if this bill passes then instructors will be able to come into classrooms as young as kindergarten and bring these children through guided imagery, which is a spiritual exercise,” Becky Gerritson, director of the conservative Alabama Eagle, told state senators recently.

Related: Yoga can leave you injured, psychotic and a Hindu, Christian groups claim

These complaints are part of a broader pushback against yoga in schools as it becomes a more popular tool for educators. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the use of yoga and meditation in schools to reduce “those stressful feelings and increase your ability to remember things more clearly”.

Jeremy Gray, a Democratic representative and certified yoga instructor, introduced the legislation to allow yoga back in schools three times before it was approved in the 75 to 14 vote on Monday.

Gray, a Christian who attends a Baptist church, told the Guardian last month: “The promoting of Hinduism argument is the only talking point these conservative groups have, and it makes them look very misinformed and miseducated on the issue.”

The final legislation was amended to include a regulation that parents must sign a permission slip for students to practice yoga.

Another amendment said: “School personnel may not use any techniques that involve hypnosis, the induction of a dissociative mental state, guided imagery, meditation, or any aspect of eastern philosophy and religious training.”

Gray said the amendments were unnecessary because the legislation already prohibited the religious acts of yoga and focused on poses and exercises.

“A lot of the stuff you don’t do anyway. You don’t hypnotize people,” Gray told Alabama News.

“Really, it just seemed very offensive,” he said. “Had some phobia in it. A lot of it just didn’t really make sense.”