Students hold their position during a yoga class at Capri Elementary School in Encinitas in December 2012.

Lengthy closing arguments in the trial challenging an Encinitas school yoga program pushed back a ruling in the case to Thursday at the earliest, a judge said on Tuesday.

The case is believed to be the first of its kind to test whether yoga is a secular exercise or a form of Hindu-based religion thats inappropriate for public schools.

Dean Broyles, who represents parents in the Encinitas Union School District opposed to the classes, spent nearly five hours on Tuesday wrapping up his clients case.

Broyles said the introduction of the classes sets a horrible precedent for other religious organizations to buy influence at the expense of religious freedom.

The elementary school district began offering yoga as part of physical education at all of its schools in January. The program is funded with a three-year, $533,000 grant from the K.P. Jois Foundation. On its website, the Encinitas-based group says it promotes a childrens health and wellness program that includes yoga, meditation and proper nutrition.

Broyles, however, said the group has transparently religious goals to indoctrinate school children with Hindu-based yoga.

Theres something much more than P.E. going on. Theres a worldview being taught, added Broyles, who is attorney and president of the National Center for Law & Policy, an Escondido-based nonprofit legal defense organization which focuses on the protection of religious freedom.

During Broyles closing remarks, San Diego Superior Court Judge John Meyer peppered the attorney with questions about whether his statements were backed up by testimony or evidence in the case.Theres not one witness (from the school district) who has said that, the judge said, referring to Broyles comments about a worldview being taught.

This is all Dr. Browns opinion, the judge added, referring to the plaintiffs expert witness, Candy Gunther Brown, a professor in the religious studies department at Indiana University.

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Yoga trial extended another day