Alabama lawmakers deadlock on effort to lift ban on yoga in public schools

A bill in Alabama that would lift a ban on yoga in public schools has stalled in the state's Senate. During a hearing by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee, two conservative groups objected the bill, citing concerns about yoga's ties to Hinduism, according to the Associated Press.

Yoga has been banned in Alabama public schools since 1993, when the Alabama Board of Education voted to prohibit hypnosis, meditation and yoga in public schools after conservative groups pushed the ban, according to the Associated Press. Democratic state Representative Jeremy Gray introduced HB246 in February to in hopes of lifting the yoga ban. Gray, a former cornerback at North Carolina State University, was introduced to yoga through football and said the exercises can provide mental and physical benefits to students, according to the AP.