Noting the US Department of Health and Human Services had designated September National Yoga Month, the Air Force published an article in which paid fitness instructors sang the praises if yoga for members of the US military:

Harold Cherry, [Joint Base San Antonio] yoga instructor [said] “They’ll [trainees] do a lot better job after that morning class,” Cherry, who retired after working 22 years in the Air Force and 18 years in civil service, said. “Everything about you will feel good. You’ll feel good about being around people, so the mission is going to come easier.”

Yoga remains the odd standout in the debates over church-state separation, as “liberals” tend to support its public association with public schools and the US government, while “conservatives” oppose it. Those who lean left often try to downplay the religious aspects of yoga, but its practitioners ultimately have to admit its origins in Eastern religion:

Just as Wendy Wilmunen begins every class in the same way, she ends it the same way too: “Namaste.”

“From everything that’s good inside of me or my inner light, to all that’s good inside of you or your inner light,” Wilmunen said. “It’s one last connection.”

“Namaste” is Hindu and it

represents the belief that there is a Divine spark within each of us that is located in the heart chakra.

Yoga is unquestionably religious. Of course, if members of the US military want to participate in that religious activity, the US government shouldn’t prevent them from doing so — even if third parties from outside the US military complain.

And, naturally, the US military has been officially advocating yoga for years, and only a few have cared — though one chaplain did offer a “Christian alternative.”

It would be nice if all religious exercise within the US military received such deference, though sometimes it seems Christianity is the punching bag of modern society — even if it is the Christianity of US troops serving their country.

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