ADVOCACY WIN | IL SB 2872: Governor Signs Bill to Share Yoga in Schools | Yoga Alliance

ADVOCACY WIN | IL SB 2872: Governor Signs Bill to Share Yoga in Schools

October 14, 2024


Thanks to your support and the collective strength of the yoga community, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker has signed SB 2872 into law. This could not have happened without your advocacy and action.

Public Act 103-0764 permits school districts to provide at least 20 minutes of “relaxation activities” – specifically including yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, walking, and others – to enhance the mental and physical health of students as part of the school day.

Yoga Alliance worked with the Senate’s bill sponsor, Senator Rachel Ventura, as well as its House sponsor, Rep. Laura Faver Dias, to ensure that schools may work with both public and private entities, and individuals, including yoga businesses and professionals to implement the “relaxation activities.”

To all the advocates in the yoga community who shared their voices in support of this legislation—thank you. We are especially grateful to those that provided written and in-person testimonies at the Senate Education Committee hearing in 2023. We extend a special thanks to the following:


Challenge to Change, Inc.
Marshawn Feltus, A.C.T. Yoga
Nina Helgeson, Youth Alliance Yoga
Jill Griffiths, former educator and administrator
Jenna Bell Rinaldi, Holistic movement coach
Erin Stevenson – Do Good Movement
Angie Swearingian – Yoga Learning Adventures



Public Act 103-0764

Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section 27-23.17 as follows:

(105 ILCS 5/27-23.17 new)
Sec. 27-23.17. Relaxation activities. Each school district may provide to students, in addition to and not substituting recess, at least 20 minutes a week of relaxation activities to enhance the mental and physical health of students as part of the school day. Relaxation activities may include, but are not limited to, mindful-based movements, yoga, stretching, meditation, breathing exercises, guided relaxation techniques, quiet time, walking, in-person conversation, and other stress-relieving activities. A school district may partner with public and private community organizations to provide relaxation activities. These activities may take place in a physical education class, social-emotional learning class, or student-support or advisory class or as a part of another similar class, including a new class.


This public act could potentially create numerous opportunities for yoga professionals in the Illinois educational system as school districts implement this legislation beginning January 2025.

We are currently working alongside educators, yoga professionals, and key stakeholders across the state to assess these opportunities.

If you are a professional, educator, or yoga provider currently working in the Illinois school system, we’d love to hear from you. Please complete the following survey so we can learn more about you and your work in Illinois.

Take the Survey

We believe that if more people practice yoga, the better the world will be. It is our goal to advocate for yoga, in its wholeness, and for human beings in theirs. To do this we are proud to partner with policy makers and institutions, to educate the public about yoga, broaden the understanding of a complete yoga practice as a tool for improving human wellness and advancement, and advocate at the systemic level on behalf of yoga professionals to develop opportunities to share the practice.

If you have any questions, further input, or information regarding yoga in schools or other issues, please share it with us at yaadvocacy@yogaalliance.org.


Thank you,

Toni Carey
Head of Strategic Communications
Yoga Alliance