(The Guardian) Jeremy Gray, a state lawmaker in Alabama, has been practicing yoga for years, initially as a workout after college football matches and later as a means of instilling in himself the virtues of focus and patience.
Now the Democrat from Opelika needs all the patience he can get as he seeks to overturn a 28-year yoga ban in Alabama public schools. The ban, believed to be the only statewide prohibition of its sort in America, is proving to be tougher to scrub from the statute books than might be expected.
Gray is preparing to present a bill to the Alabama senate that would allow public schools and students to engage in yoga during gym classes for the first time in almost three decades. The lifting of the ban was approved by the state house of representatives in March, and last week Gray’s bill passed out of the senate judiciary committee and now awaits a full debate and vote on the senate floor.