President Tommy Remengesau, Jr. enjoyed the Yoga Session together with other participants on June 21, 2018 at the Palau National Gym. The Yoga session was conducted as part of the National Yoga Day celebration last year. (File Photo)

More than 700 signatures from parents and other Palauan citizens were gathered in a signature drive against yoga-related activities in Palau schools due to religious reasons.

The petition, which was dated November 11, 2018 and was accompanied by the actual signatures of concerned individuals, was adopted by the House of Delegates (HOD) during a session on February 18.

In a letter addressed to Education Minister Sinton Soalablai, the parents urged the minister to immediately stop “current efforts to incorporate yoga exercise and related activities as part of Palau’s public education curriculum”, citing further that yoga has “spiritual roots” in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and that through yoga, these religions aim to “eliminate consciousness (blanking the mind) which is believed to be the cause of desire and suffering thus attaining nirvana, a state of bliss or union with a Supreme Being.”

The letter further expressed that the claimed physical and mental health benefits of yoga are not proven. It even disagreed in the premise that yoga’s spiritual roots can be separated from its exercise form.

“We are unwilling to subject our children to practices that have potential negative spiritual ramifications,” the letter read.

It also claimed that some yoga practitioners have suffered from physical injuries requiring medical attention.

The petition signed by the concerned individuals calls for President Tommy Remengesau, Jr., the national congress, and the MOE to “cease exposing the children” of Palau to Yoga exercise, and even asked the government to research about the history of yoga and its effects “on the mind, the spirit and the overall emotional and physical health of children to understand its full impact.

Palau is predominantly a Christian country with a few population following a locally founded religion, the Modekngei, which fuses Christianity with the local customs.

The current government of Palau supports Yoga. Just last year, President Remengesau issued a presidential proclamation declaring June 21 as the National Day of Yoga in Palau.

In his proclamation, Remengesau cited that on December 11, 2014, 193 members of the United Nations General Assembly had approved by consensus a resolution that established June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

“Yoga is beneficial for physical fitness, musculoskeletal functioning and cardio-vascular health; Yoga is beneficial in the management of diabetes, respiratory disorders, hypertension, and many lifestyle-related disorders; Yoga helps to reduce depression, fatigue, anxiety disorders and stress,” the proclamation read. (Rhealyn C. Pojas)