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Central Russian Officials ban yoga for being too cult-like: Weird Business News

This week in weird business news…

Government officials in central Russia are shutting down yoga classes. The owners of two studios that rent space from the city of Nizhnevartovsk have received letters stating that they must stop teaching yoga "in order to prevent the spread of new religious cults and movements." The letters go on to say that the form of exercise is “inextricably linked to religious practices.”

The owners of the yoga studios told British newspaper The Times that they’re both scared and amused and that they’re working on gathering evidence that yoga does not lead to cult activity.

Last January, Russian president Vladimir Putin made fun of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi for starting a ministry of Yoga, asking “why would anyone do that?” And in April 2014, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated that Americans who were unhappy with the hostile situation in Crimea could “Spend more time in the open, practice yoga, stick to food-combining diets, maybe watch some comedy sketch shows on TV.”

Russia has a strange history with yoga-- it was banned in the USSR because it was believed to be tied to mysticism. Some sects of the Russian Orthodox Church are also against the practice.

Check back next week for more weird news

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