A yoga instructor who says her free class at the University of Ottawa was cancelled because of concerns over cultural appropriation believes the student union's issues are misplaced. 
 
 Jen Scharf said she's been teaching a free yoga class for the university's Centre for Students with Disabilities, which is run by the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa, for the last seven years. 
 
 Jen Scharf says she focuses on the physical benefits of yoga and doesn't play up the spiritual side of it, which she says some instructors can be guilty of. (CBC) 
 
 When she checked back in with the centre in September, she said she was told by them the class wouldn't be happening because some students and volunteers were uncomfortable with the "cultural issues" involved. 
 
 "I guess it was this cultural appropriation issue because yoga originally comes from India," she said on Sunday. "I told them, 'Why don't we just change the name of the course?' It's simple enough, just call it mindful stretching.… We're not going through the finer points of scripture. We're talking about basic physical awareness and how to stretch so that you feel good. 
 
 "That went back and forth… The higher-ups at the student federation got involved, finally we got an email routed through the student federation basically saying they couldn't get a French name and nobody wants to do it, so we're going to cancel it for now." 
 
 Cultural appropriation is when a culture that's seen as an oppressor borrows or steals elements of a culture they're oppressing. Scharf said there is also concern over yoga instructors who claim to be experts in the more spiritual aspects of yoga, but aren't. 
 
 "I'm not claiming it's anything more than a physical practice within that class," she said. "There's been so much positivity and so many people positively helped by this, and that's part of the reason why I'm fighting so hard to keep it. 
 
 "Those issues are important issues and they should be raised but it's not me they should be mad at; it's the fake people that are making claims they can't possibly substantiate." 
 
 'More accessible' class could return 
 
 Scharf said she'd love to start her class again but hasn't found a place or organization at the university willing to host it. 
 
 In a French-language interview with Radio-Canada, student federation president Roméo Ahimakin said there were no direct complaints about the class, more general questions about the issues and ideas around it. 
 
 Ahimakin said they suspended the class as part of a review of all their programs to make them more interesting, accessible, inclusive and responsive to the needs of students. 
 
 He said they're doing consultations on the idea of bringing a free yoga class back and could get a more accessible version of it as soon as the next semester starts in January. 
 
 On Monday the University of Ottawa tweeted out a notice that it's organizing free yoga sessions Dec. 1, 8 and 15 at its University Centre. One yoga teacher at the school emailed CBC News to say the university does that during exams and through the summer so there are other yoga options on campus. 
 
 Free yoga classes are still offered on campus by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/uOttawa?src=hash">#uOttawa</a> <a href="https://t.co/eQi8sjBDqT">https://t.co/eQi8sjBDqT</a> —@uOttawa 
 
 Yoga seen as spiritual, not religious 
 
 There have been concerns among some Hindus over how yoga has crossed over to the Western world. For instance, the Hindu American Foundation's "Take Back Yoga" campaign is against yoga's commercialization. 
 
 Girija Waghray says yoga is spiritual, not religious. (CBC) 
 
 But at the Hindu Temple of Ottawa-Carleton, one husband and wife said they didn't have an issue with what they've seen around the community and didn't agree with the idea that non-Hindus teaching yoga is culturally insensitive. 
 
 "In Hindi 'yog' means to unite. To unite with who? With your true self. That's what yoga is. Here we tend to relate it with the postures but it's not just postures... and it has nothing to do with religion," said Girija Waghray, who's been teaching yoga around Ottawa for more than 10 years. 
 
 "It's basically focusing on our health. By calming our mind, our mind becomes positive." 
 
 Dilip Waghray said he's been practising yoga for 50 years and while he's uncomfortable with how it's been commercialized in the West, he chooses to focus on the benefits it's having. 
 
 "When I saw what was happening [with big crowds for free yoga] on Parliament Hill I was thrilled and probably a little bit ashamed that my body wasn't as flexible as theirs. I said, 'Wow,' and the first thing I did was share with my classmates back home," he said. 
 
 "If you look at what the Western world has adapted it is just phenomenal. Imagine how much good they're doing for themselves. They'll live a long and very happy life." 

 Take a moment to refocus and raise your energy level during exams. No registration necessary. Just show up! 
 
 
 
 Make sure to wear comfortable clothing and bring a towel, water bottle and your mat. 
 
 
 
 When: April 11, 18 & 25 
 
 Where: University Centre 
 
 Hour: 12 p.m. 
 
 Cost: Free 
 
 
 
 Hashtag: #uOCampus
– For the past seven years, Jennifer Scharf has been teaching a yoga class for disabled students at the University of Ottawa, and she was all set to start it up again in September, the CBC reports. But an email from the school's Center for Students With Disabilities, part of the larger Student Federation, put the kibosh on her plans, informing her that the classes had been canceled. Scharf figured it was a money issue and volunteered to teach for free, but she soon found out the real reason, the Washington Post reports. "I have heard from a couple students and volunteers [who] feel uncomfortable with how we are doing yoga," a center rep emailed her. "Yoga has been under a lot of controversy lately due to how it is being practiced and what practices from what cultures ... they are being taken from. Many of these cultures are cultures that have experienced oppression, cultural genocide, and diasporas due to colonialism and western supremacy." And there is indeed a movement against yoga's commercialization, including from the Hindu American Foundation, whose "Take Back Yoga" campaign has been fighting what it believes to be a form of cultural appropriation. But Scharf tells the CBC her classes focused solely on the physical benefits of yoga, not religious or spiritual aspects, and she notes to the Post that she even offered to simply "rebrand" her program to be a "mindful stretching" class for people with disabilities, with zero mention of "yoga"—an idea the Student Federation rep initially seemed OK with, until "higher-ups" said they couldn't get a French name for the class in bilingual Canada. Yahoo News Canada notes there've been some online jabs at the incident, including a Daily News reporter who tweeted, "Also cancelled: rock 'n roll." Oddly, the university tweeted out Monday that "Free yoga classes are still offered on campus by #uOttawa," with a link to upcoming dates and times. (The founder of Bikram yoga lost his copyright case for his famous yoga poses.)