According to the Moscow Times, yoga studios in Putinland have been told to stop hosting classes, lest they spread the occult.
One of the letters, seen by Kommersant and addressed from Nizhnevartovsk First Deputy Head Sergei Levkin to the head of social and youth policy Marianna Parfenova asks that she take all necessary measures to stop Hatha yoga lessons from taking place at the stadium.
The move is crucial “in order to prevent the spread of new religious cults and movements,” reads the letter.
A second letter, sent to the heads of the departments for physical culture and education, refers to Hatha yoga as “inextricably linked to religious practices” and as having “an occult character,” Kommersant reported Friday.