University of Ottawa Cancels Yoga Classes Due to Negative Cultural Impact

Free yoga classes at University of Ottawa have been canceled due to complaints that the lessons are imposed by Indian culture.Yoga teacher Jennifer Scarfe, organizing free classes, was shocked to hear that her classes were canceled. However, she agreed with this decision, despite the fact that 60 students were left without classes.

Scarfe has been organizing free classes at the Center for Students with Disabilities since 2008. While preparing lessons for the next academic year, she received an email stating the decision to suspend classes due to a formal complaint. Her studies were accused of hidden cultural appropriation. The Ottawa Students Federation, an independent student organization, made a decision. The president of the organization, Romeo Akhimakin, said that the complaints were not so much about Scarfe's classes as about their content.

Scarfe said that her yoga practice focuses more on the physical and mental state than on the spiritual component of the teachings. A letter sent to her emphasized that yoga practice should be done with caution, as the spread of the teaching finds its origins in "oppression, cultural genocide and diaspora," according to the CBC.

According to Ottawa Sun, Scarfe argues that the complaint is part of a pervasive trend of political correctness, which often seeks problem in non-conflict issues or situations.A yoga instructor in a telephone conversation with the Washington Post said her classes were never spiritually directed. The only feedback that novice visitors to her classes could leave was "an absolute sense of joy from the realization of being a human being, regardless of religion."

A representative of the Center for Students with Disabilities stated that the complaints were made by students and volunteers who noticed that the class was not comprehensive, thus worrying them about the way the class was delivered. Disagreeing with this decision, Scarfe tried to convince the student organization that her studies did not attempt to embrace Indian teachings. According to the Independent, in response to the news, Scarfe offered to donext: “Why don't we just change the name of the course? It would be enough to call it a meditative stretch. We do not study the scriptures.We are talking about basic knowledge about the need to move and how to properly stretch the body in order to feel good. "

Confident of the positive impact of her studies on students' lives, Scarfe told CBC that while the topic of cultural appropriation is serious, her lessons have nothing to do with the term: “They needbe angry not with me, but with the deceitful people who file unfounded complaints. "According to Romeo Akhimakin, the free classes could be resumed next year if they can be given a more acceptable format.

In the political sense, “cultural appropriation” means the practice of using borrowed symbols and actions from one culture and their transformation into the dominant culture in such a way that culture and people are oppressed and exploited by borrowing culture.Student organization employee Julie Sedzhin supports Scarfe and her right to continue teaching. She believes that their benefits outweigh the complaints.