Jennifer Scharf, who taught a free yoga class for students with and without disabilities at the University of Ottawa for seven years, said she was told the class would be cancelled due to "cultural issues" when she met with the university's Center for Students with Disabilities in September. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

OTTAWA, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A free yoga class at the University of Ottawa was cancelled after a group of student leaders deemed it to be an example of cultural appropriation.

Jennifer Scharf, who taught the free class for students with and without disabilities for seven years, said she was told the class would be cancelled when she met with the university's Center for Students with Disabilities in September.


The center outlined their reasoning for canceling the class in an email.

"While yoga is a really great idea, and accessible and great for students ... there are cultural issues of implication involved in the practice," they wrote.

One of the issues Scharf believes they are referring to is instructors who falsely claim expertise in the spiritual aspect of yoga, though she said her focus is strictly on the physical benefits.

"I'm not claiming it's anything more than a physical practice within that class," she told CBC News. "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."

Scharf looked to find a compromise by renaming the course from "yoga" to "mindful stretching" but issues regarding how the phrase would translate to French ultimately led to the program being suspended.

She has also said she is open to teaching the class in a "more accessible" form, but has yet found a place or organization on campus to host it.