No, yoga is not by definition a religious activity. At least thats the verdict from a California court which cleared the way for a San Diego-area school to continue offering the popular health-focused pastime.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Superior Court judge John Meyer ruled that yoga can be a religious activity, but that one particular yoga class offered by the Encinitas United School District was not a religious activity because it did not incorporate any inherently religious activities.

The class in question is an introductory Ashtanga yoga class which has been offered at schools in the Encinitas United School District in the San Diego area. The classes are not being funded by public money, with a $533,000 grant from a foundation named in honor of the original importer of Ashtanga yoga to the United States footing the bill.

That source of funding didnt sway Meyers opinion, nor did testimony from a self-proclaimed religious expert or from parents who had filed suit to have the class removed from the school districts curriculum.

Instead, Meyer chided the parents, who he learned had students who had never set foot in the class itself, citing their general lack of experiential knowledge of yoga as a contributing factor to his decision. In the process he offered up a quote that is sure to stick in the memory of all who have followed the case.

"It's almost like a trial by Wikipedia," Meyer said in his decision.

While anecdotal evidence of parental ignorance may have played a role in Meyers decision, the judge also had prior legal precedent to stand on. Citing a landmark 1971 case, Meyer found that Ashtanga yoga did not violate the three-part Lemon test which determines whether a violation of church and state has occurred (the Union-Tribune article goes into more depth about the different branches of the Lemon test and its origins right here).

Regardless of the full reasoning behind the decision -- and the likelihood of an appeal from the defeated Encinitas parents -- yoga appears to be safe in schools at the moment, a fact which is sure to help some teens maintain their spiritual center, perhaps while getting a bit more fit in the process.

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California judge rules yoga isn’t inherently religious, paves way for schools to continue classes

It's no secret that Windows 8 hasn't exactly struck a chord with every desktop user. It makes sense, though, that the dual-natured operating system would be much more at home on dual-natured devices. You know, the kind that sit at the intersection of the desktop and mobile, like the Lenovo Ideapad Yoga. Join Gizmag as we put the new 11-inch model, the Yoga 11S, through its paces.

The Ideapad Yoga 11S follows Lenovo's 13-inch version, which debuted late last year, and the Yoga 11, which runs the limited Windows RT. This new version combines the smaller form factor of the RT version with the full Windows 8 experience of the original.

The appeal of the Yoga series is evident in its branding. Like a yogi practicing the camel or the downward dog poses, the Yoga can stretch from Notebook Mode to Tablet Mode. And just as no respectable yoga practitioner would limit themselves to just two poses, the Yoga can transform into a couple other positions along the way.

The biggest advantage of this kind of device is that there are basically no compromises when used as a laptop. Unlike the flexible keyboard cover on the Surface Pro, the Yoga gives you that solid base on your lap that you'd expect from an Ultrabook. In fact, the Yoga essentially is a touchscreen Ultrabook, albeit one with a 360-degree hinge.

In Tablet Mode, the Yoga 11S gives you a spacious, but not too unwieldy, 11.6-inch screen. It's nice to be able to convert it into a tablet so easily, but the tablet experience is somewhat compromised. It's a strange sensation to feel the device's physical keyboard on the back when using it as a tablet. The keys are unresponsive when it's folded back beyond 190 degrees, but your fingers are well aware of those moving keys. It makes it damn near impossible to forget that this isn't a dedicated tablet.

The other positions are Stand Mode (below), which is like laptop position in reverse, and Tent Mode, which flips the device upside down to stand itself up like, well, a tent. These positions are probably most useful for watching videos, reading recipes while cooking, giving presentations, or setting up some sort of touchscreen demo for others.

That 11.6-inch multitouch screen is a great size, and we appreciated the extra space it provides over smaller devices like the Surface Pro (the Yoga gives you 20 percent more real estate than the Surface). At 1366 x 768, the Yoga's resolution could be sharper, though, and at 135 PPI, it doesn't look nearly as sharp as some competing devices.

The Yoga 11S is sturdy and rugged. It's outer shell is made of a magnesium aluminum alloy. The device's almost rubbery-feeling chassis is a pleasure to hold. It weighs 3.08 lb (1.4 kg), which puts some significant heft in your hands (it's 114 percent heavier than the iPad). But we didn't think it felt too ridiculously heavy in Tablet Mode. At 11.73 x 8.03 x 0.67 in (29.8 x 20.4 x 1.7 cm), it's a pretty large device, so that weight is spread out much wider than on most other tablets or hybrids.

The Yoga sports two USB ports (one 3.0, the other 2.0), and that second one is a welcome addition. It has an HDMI port for video out, and an SD card slot (full-sized, not microSD).

The Yoga has a terrific keyboard, and an equally great trackpad. Keys are as responsive as you'd need them to be, and are curved to maximize comfort. Even the "leather-touch" (it's plastic, but feels kinda like leather) palm rest is uncommonly comfortable.

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Review: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S

Natalie Tomlin, special to wtop.com

WASHINGTON - Yoga is doing more than improving the bodies and minds of those who belong to a local studio. Yoga outreach programs are extending their reach throughout the area, making the popular practice accessible to anyone who is interested.

Jasmine Chehrazi, founder of Yoga District and Yoga Activist, is one of many yoga instructors and enthusiasts in the area helping to combat yoga's cookie-cutter image.

"The point of the practice for many is self-realization and understanding who you really are," she says. "Everyone has that question -- everyone. It doesn't matter where you come from, how you look, whether you can touch your toes or not, what your cultural or economic or racial background is. We have to adapt the practice to make it relevant."

She believes yoga is a practice that serves each individual in a unique way, and she is helping to spread the practice of yoga to a variety of communities throughout the area.

In 2006, Chehrazi founded Yoga District, which offers affordable yoga classes at six not-for-profit, community-run yoga studios in D.C. A seventh studio is currently being constructed in Anacostia and will open later this year.

At Yoga District, instructors teach classes of all skill levels for $11 or less.

Despite the affordability of Yoga District classes (compared to other class rates in the D.C. area, which hover around $18 a session), Chehrazi quickly noticed the practice was still restricted to the studio setting and was not reaching a wider demographic. So in 2008, she created Yoga Activist.

Supported largely by Yoga District, Yoga Activist focuses on partnering yoga instructors with social service organizations that offer yoga programs for their communities. From classroom management to trauma sensitivity, the nonprofit outreach program helps prepare teachers for instructing yoga to under-served communities.

Teachers at Yoga Activist can also set up their own outreach programs, bringing yoga instruction to churches, schools, halfway houses, mental health centers, prisons and other locations where the community members may not otherwise have exposure to yoga.

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Yoga outreach brings healing to all D.C. communities