If you practice yoga, you're a racist, apparently

By , Ashe Schow

Published December 20, 2015

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"Free Ottawa yoga class scrapped over 'cultural issues,'" reads a headline from the Ottawa Sun. It sounds like it's straight from the Onion, but it's not.

Apparently, if you practice yoga — an exercise involving stretching and breathing that is practiced by more than 20 million Americans and millions more around the world — you're a racist, because yoga is "cultural appropriation."

A yoga instructor — who was teaching free classes — told the Ottawa Sun that her classes had been cancelled after students complained that the practice involved cultural appropriation. An email from the Centre for Students with Disabilities informed the instructor that "while yoga is a really great idea and accessible and great for students ... there are cultural issues of implication involved in the practice."