Yoga classes resume at San Diego beach as court says they are ‘protected speech’; The Guardian, June 6, 2025

 Dani Anguiano and agencies, The Guardian ; Yoga classes resume at San Diego beach as court says they are ‘protected speech’

"oga classes are back on at San Diego beaches this week after a federal appeals court ruled that a city ordinance restricting such activities was unconstitutional and that teaching yoga was “protected speech”.

The three-judge panel of the US ninth circuit court of appeals on Wednesday overruled a San Diego judge and decided in favor of two instructors who had sued over a law that San Diego passed in 2024 banning yoga classes of four or more people at shoreline parks and beaches.

“Because the ordinance targets teaching yoga, it plainly implicates [the instructors’] first amendment right to speak,” the ruling stated, finding that the ordinance violated the instructors’ rights...

Outdoor yoga is a service to those who are disabled or cannot afford yoga classes elsewhere, said Pease.

“It is a popular thing here. We’re a beach community, and it’s a way for people to access yoga that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to,” Pease said."