A lawsuit has been filed against a San Diego-area school district for its student yoga curriculum, claiming the exercise classes are "inherently and pervasively religious."

The National Center for Law and Policy filed the lawsuit on Wednesday on behalf of Stephen and Jennifer Sedlock and their children, who are students in the Encinitas Union School District.

The district last fall began offering yoga during physical education classes.Children have the choice to opt out of the program.

The Sedlocks allegethe school districtis not complying with the California constitutions right to religious freedom. The lawsuit also calls the children participating in the program "religious guinea pigs."

Encintas schools accepted a $533,000 grant for the yoga classes from the Jois Foundation, whichthe conservative legal firm that filed the lawsuitclaims is a religious organization. The attorney who filed the suit called the relationship between the foundation and the school district "improperly cozy."

Jois Yoga states on its website that it works as an "extension of the Ashtanga philosophy and practice." The organization is based in Encinitas, where Ashtanga yoga was first introduced to the United States, according to the website.

The yoga group's foundation is focused on "educating the whole child" by bringing yoga to schools, particularly in underserved communities.

School district Superintendent Timothy Baird said hes shocked a lawsuit was filed against the district.

"We have not stripped religion out of it. We never put religion in it," Baird said. "What we took out were cultural connections, so we don't use Sanskrit words. But basically what you have kids doing is stretching, moving, breathing. That's not religious."

An FAQ on the program on the district's website states: "There is no discussion of spiritualism, mysticism,religion in any context. The students simply perform the physical components of movement and breathing related to mainstream yoga."

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Lawsuit: School Yoga Program Is Religious