"There's God and there's the devil, and the devil's not a gentleman. If you give him any kind of an opening, he will take that," said cattle rancher Audrey Cummings.

"Supposedly, we do not allow religion in schools -- and Yoga is a religion."

According to Wikipedia, Yoga is one of the six branches of Hindu philosophy that is also incorporated into other religions such as Buddhism and Tantra.

Parent Chelsea Brears believes there is a double standard as education is otherwise secular: "It's not fair to take prayer out, and yet they're allowing yoga, which is religion, in our schools."

Yoga is not part of the school curriculum, but are part of a supplemental program sponsored by the provincial government and 2010 Legacies Now, a funding body of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

"Yoga is not a religion," said school superintendent Sue Ellen Miller.

"Children don't have to participate in the program and it's important that parents don't believe we're teaching this as a religion."

Cathy Braun, an elementary-school teacher in Quesnel, said she teaches yoga to her pupils once or twice a week for 15 minutes. She has yet to field any complaints personally.

"It gets them moving and gets them focused as well," she said.

"The kids enjoy it. I don't teach them any chants, but they're the ones who go: Om. They learned that from The Lion King."