CROWN HEIGHTS — For the scores of Brooklyn yogis who practice on President Street, pigeon pose is perfectly kosher.
Namaste, not so much.
"The majority of my clientele are Jewish religious women who don’t feel so comfortable going to a regular yoga studio, where it’s a mixed class or a religious element like an idol or chanting," said Sarede Switzer, the founder of Crown Heights Fitness and a guru in the growing movement among Orthodox Jews looking to balance the city's hottest health trends with holy tradition.
"I do sun salutations," which originate from the worship of a Hindu deity, "but I won’t call them that," she added. "I’ll say we’re doing warm-up number one, or flow number one."
While yoga itself is a religion for Lululemon-clad ladies in Manhattan, it's long been off limits for Lubavitchers like Switzer, as well as other religious Jews and Muslims who won't don revealing clothing or do a downward facing dog among members of the opposite sex, much less sit in a studio adorned with foreign deities.
That's not an issue at Crown Heights Fitness, where there are no men, no mantras and no oms allowed.
"When I first started, I thought people would think of it as this irreligious thing — like maybe we’re not even allowed to do yoga, like maybe it’s considered idol worship," Switzer explained. "I started out teaching in very small classes, and then the interest grew."
Read more at: DNAinfo
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