Encinitas has been called the yoga mecca of America. But when yoga started in five of the citys schools this fall, some parents believed the classes were promoting Hinduism. But heated school board meetings crowded with yogas supporters and detractors havent derailed plans to expand the classes to all nine Encinitas schools.

During the first period of each day at Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary school, Kristen McCloskey leads about two-dozen third graders through familiar yoga poses.

On one recent morning, some kids looked around the room as they moved through the sequences and others teetered as they tried to balance - but they were mostly focused and on-task. When McCloskey turned the lights off for the last relaxation pose, most of the kids lay still. She told anyone feeling fidgety to cross their arms over their chests and many did.

At the end of the half hour class, 8-year-old Jacob Hagen said he felt ready for the rest of his day.

Because you get to stretch out," he said. "And its good to be the first class because it wakes you up.

Schools across the country are focusing more on teaching students to make healthy choices. Encinitas Superintendent Tim Baird said yoga is just one part of the districts physical education curriculum.

We also have a nutrition program, we also have a life skills program where kids learn about perseverance and responsibility, he said.

The whole wellness program is supported by a $500,000 grant from the P.K. Jois Foundation. The Encinitas-based group promotes a kind of yoga called Ashtanga.

But, when Mary Eady visited a yoga class at her sons Encinitas school last year, she saw much more than a fitness program.

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Controversy Won’t Stall Encinitas Yoga Plans

Photo by Caroline Boyer. Enlarge photo.

Tierney Thompson, left, and Cece Williams stretch during the Dec. 12 Zen Friends yoga class at the Bonner Springs Family YMCA. Cece is a student in Thompsons special education class at Bonner Springs Elementary School. Thompson taught her students yoga last year and said it helped them learn self-confidence and focus.

At their second-to-last class before Christmas, young yoga students tried out a few poses renamed for Christmas-related symbols at the Bonner Springs Family YMCA.

When it came to the Star otherwise known as the Half Moon Pose a few of the young students took some time to figure out the correct placement of their hands and feet.

Youve gotta listen to your body, instructor Tierney Thompson told the young students who struggled. Youve gotta say If it hurts, then Im not going to do it.

But Cece Williams got the pose down quickly, and in a game at the end of the class, she chose it as her favorite pose. It was probably a little bit easier for Cece because she spent much of the 2011-2012 school year learning yoga with Thompson, who also is her teacher at Bonner Springs Elementary School.

Tierney Thompson, special education teacher at Bonner Springs Elementary School, discovered last year that yoga was a skill that really helped the students in her class. Now, she has created a class to make yoga available to all children. These photos were taken at the Dec. 12 class.

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Beginning next week, Thompson again will offer the Zen Friends: Yoga for All Kids classes Wednesday evenings at the YMCA.

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Yoga classes serve children of all abilities