International Yoga Day is observed every year on June 21 to raise awareness about this ancient practice and to celebrate the physical and spiritual prowess that yoga has brought to the world. Yoga can help you get fit for life. It helps you deal with stress, pick up your child, control your dog, carry groceries, or work in your garden. It also can help to prevent or ease back pain and muscle or joint injury, and give you self-reliance and self-esteem.
Yoga helps students inculcate strength, endurance, confidence and a great mind-body-soul connection. The confidence thus attained through yoga is then carried into the real world and makes the student strong, compassionate and acceptable. Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that allows the mind and body to be connected with each other. It incorporates meditation, breathing exercises, and stretches to reduce stress, and allow relaxation, and rejuvenation. Yoga is integral to physical and mental health. With Yoga, students can be healthy in body, spirit, and mind, thus encouraging them to excel in academics. Yoga improves balance, endurance, and strength in children. It also offers psychological benefits to children. Research has shown that Yoga can improve focus, memory, classroom behavior, self-esteem, and academic performance, and also reduce anxiety and stress in children.
Students spend many hours in sedentary poses and tend to consume unhealthy food which is a result of the new age lifestyle. Yoga helps students stay fit and healthy through the regular practice of asanas. Yoga helps to curb the problem of childhood obesity at a young age. Good immunity is essential for a student to perform well in school. Children with good immunity have better attendance and academic performance. Besides its many health benefits, Yoga boosts immunity and prevents attacks from different viruses and bacteria by increasing the levels of antibodies in children.
Benefits of yoga
Some of the benefits of yoga particularly for school going children are-
- Decreases stress and anxiety
Yoga has the distinctive ability to soothe and calm mind and as a result reduce stress and anxiety particularly in students as they seem more stressed due to the constant pressure of proving themselves at every chance given to them. Thus regular practice of yoga is the answer to their chaotic mind. With a peaceful mind, it is very likely that their performance in academics will also improve.
- Increases memory and attention span
Yoga is very effective in improving students’ attention span and focus in general and in particularly of those students who suffer from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). It has been found that in a few cases, with yoga along with regular medication, ADHD symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity can be controlled.
- Effective in controlling teenage obesity
Children are very fond of junk food and playing on line games as a result they lead a very sedentary life in addition to consuming unhealthy food. Consequently their health is adversely affected. They start to face hostile effects of teenage obesity but the various asanas of Yoga can help them counter teenage obesity and inactive life. These asanas ultimately help them to lead a healthy and an energetic life.
- Improves Flexibility, Balance And Posture
The school going kids’ sedentary life style can have major anatomical complications as they are sitting mostly sitting for hours for study or in front of TV or lap top. These two activities adversely affect the posture in children. Yoga can most effectively help in correcting the posture, enhancing flexibility and improving balance and thus brings balance to their whole body.
- Helps to attain peace of mind
The students need to balance academics, co-curricular activities, their school and social life. Given the task of balancing so many fronts at the same time, they become tense. The solution lies in the practice of a few yogic exercises that can help the students learn how to handle anxiety and manage the different aspects of life effectively.
- Augments self-control
Yoga also teaches students self-control by skillfully controlling both their breathing and movements. Once the students learn the tricks of controlling their breath and movements, they do not act hastily and consequently keep their anger in check and make rational decisions when required.
- Lessens absenteeism and vehemence in school
With regular practice of Yoga, students attain inner tranquility, acquire good health and balanced temperament. As a result they get motivated to attend school regularly. Their developed inner self -restraint, refrain them from picking up fights over petty issues and become engaged in school and its activities.
- Increases self-confidence and self-esteem
Yoga helps students inculcate strength, endurance, confidence and a great mind-body-soul connection. The confidence thus attained through yoga is then carried into the real world and makes the student strong, compassionate and acceptable.
