`UnChristian yoga not for UK toddlers

Tension has surfaced in a community in Somerset, England, after two church priests banned a yoga instructor -- Louise Woodcock -- from using their church halls for instructing toddlers about yoga. Reverend Tim Jones, the vicar of the St. James Church, and Reverend Simon Farrar of the Silver Street Baptist Church, have both described Woodcocks Yum Yum Yoga classes as a sham and unChristian.

London, Aug.31 : Tension has surfaced in a community in Somerset, England, after two church priests banned a yoga instructor -- Louise Woodcock -- from using their church halls for instructing toddlers about yoga. Reverend Tim Jones, the vicar of the St. James Church, and Reverend Simon Farrar of the Silver Street Baptist Church, have both described Woodcock's "Yum Yum Yoga" classes as a "sham and unChristian".

According to The Daily Mail, 41-year-old Woodcock has described their position as "ridiculous".

She said: "It's crazy because we're talking about kids pretending to be animals and doing exercise routines to rhymes. It's actually really sweet. There is nothing that could damage their minds in any shape or form. The churches have completely misunderstood it and I think they are being narrow-minded."

Woodcock, who has a two-year-old daughter Summer with her partner Richard Thomas, has taught yoga for 20 years.

She was originally given permission to use the hall at Silver Street Baptist Church in Taunton, Somerset, for a children's class, but the Reverend Simon Farrar withdrew his consent after discovering the class was yoga. Days later she was turned away from the town's Church of England church of St James.

Woodcock, who lives in Taunton, added: "I explained to the church that my yoga is a non-religious activity.

Woodcock has managed to secure a venue at a local village hall, where she will run her first Yum Yum Yoga children's class tomorrow. She has 24 children signed up.

ANI