Yoga is known to bring about a perfect harmony between the mind and the body. Here are some of the many benefits that yoga can bring to children and why yoga in schools is imperative:
1. Reduces Stress & Anxiety
Students are very stressed and keen to outperform themselves and prove their worth at every chance. Yoga helps them deal with their stress and brings back peace of mind—those who regularly practice yoga report lower stress and anxiety levels and subsequently improve academic performance.
2. Improves attention span & memory
Yoga helps to improve the memory function in both adults and children, a direct benefit of which would be better academic performance in children. It also helps to improve children’s attention span and concentration. Yoga aids children who have ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) as well by reducing its core symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Many children who have ADHD can reduce their medication with regular yoga practice. This is one of the fantastic benefits of yoga in schools.
3. Physical Well-Being
Yoga is known to enhance flexibility, strength, and coordination. Besides enhancing muscle flexibility, yoga can help lose weight and improve body posture. Regular Yoga practice has also been associated with optimizing body functions like respiration and heart rate, lowering blood pressure, keeping cardiovascular health problems at bay, and more. Today, childhood obesity has become a potent problem on account of the increase in consumption of junk food and a sedentary lifestyle. Yoga helps children counter these adverse effects and lead a healthy and energetic life.
4. Improves the quality of sleep
Children should sleep for up to 7-8 hours each night. A good night’s sleep allows the body to be healthy and energetic for the next day. As yoga allows the body and mind to relax, practitioners notice better sleep quality. Research shows that yoga practitioners report improved sleep. With better sleep, Children can focus on class actively and perform well in assessments.
5. Boosts Self-Esteem and Self Confidence
Children build strength, endurance, confidence, and the mind-body connection through asanas. Research shows that apart from contributing to physical and mental well-being, yoga also improves self-regulation skills and adds to self-confidence.
With yoga, children learn to adapt their emotions and behaviour in response to internal cues and the external environment. Research also suggests that yoga helps control problem behaviours such as bullying in children. With self-regulation and improved self-esteem acquired through the practice of yoga, instances of bullying and other problem behaviours can be controlled.
Conclusion
Regular yoga practice translates into better academic outcomes but also improves holistic growth & development. We at Athena have included yoga as an essential element of their learning process, which reports a greater sense of student harmony and community connectedness. As the uptake for yoga in schools continues to expand, it is safe to say that it will help students cultivate social, emotional, and physical health, academic success, and an overall positive school climate. Our school yoga curriculum was well formulated to reach progressive growth.
Author; Mrs.Subha, Secondary Coordinator, Athena Global School, Chidambaram
