People take part in a yoga session on Parliament Hill in Ottawa earlier this year. A free yoga class at the University of Ottawa was cancelled partly because of cultural concerns, but some members of Ottawa’s Hindu community say they don’t feel offended by it.

OTTAWA, CAN. — A yoga instructor who says her free class at the University of Ottawa was cancelled because of concerns over cultural appropriation believes the student union’s issues are misplaced.

Jen Scharf said she’s been teaching a free yoga class for the university’s Centre for Students with Disabilities, which is run by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, for the last seven years.

When she checked back in with the centre in September, she said she was told by them the class wouldn’t be happening because some students and volunteers were uncomfortable with the “cultural issues” involved.

“I guess it was this cultural appropriation issue because yoga originally comes from India,” she said on Sunday. “I told them, ‘Why don’t we just change the name of the course?’ It’s simple enough, just call it mindful stretching … We’re not going through the finer points of scripture. We’re talking about basic physical awareness and how to stretch so that you feel good.

“That went back and forth … The higher-ups at the student federation got involved, finally we got an email routed through the student federation basically saying they couldn’t get a French name and nobody wants to do it, so we’re going to cancel it for now.”

Cultural appropriation is when a culture that’s seen as an oppressor borrows or steals elements of a culture they’re oppressing. Scharf said there is also concern over yoga instructors who claim to be experts in the more spiritual aspects of yoga, but aren’t.

“I’m not claiming it’s anything more than a physical practice within that class,” she said. “There’s been so much positivity and so many people positively helped by this, and that’s part of the reason why I’m fighting so hard to keep it.

“Those issues are important issues and they should be raised but it’s not me they should be mad at; it’s the fake people that are making claims they can’t possibly substantiate.”

Scharf said she’d love to start her class again but hasn’t found a place or organization at the university willing to host it.

Source: CBC News