Whether going to schools, colleges, or other educational institutions students are occupied with so much work to do. In completing all their responsibilities, duties, and some time for leisure activities, students forget about taking care of their bodies. Managing work, assignments, learning, submissions, participation, etc students feel pressured and burdened. And also living a lifestyle without any physical activity and movement can affect the health conditions of students more. But to overcome all these problems and to encourage students, yoga is the best solution. Yoga is a Sanskrit-originated word that means to join and unite. Yoga is that discipline that when performed helps people to bring together their mind, body, and soul to stay peaceful, calm, and active. In addition to doing yoga, one can also incorporate practicing mindfulness in a day-to-day basis for better health. Click here to know more about this. Let us now discuss the benefits of yoga to students and the ways by which teachers can encourage learners to do it.
Table of Contents
Benefits of yoga to students
1 . Enhance flexibility and right postures.
Sitting on a classroom desk for six to eight hours straight, or sitting in front of computer screens for learning and working lead to incorrect body postures. Students sit leaning forward, backbone bent forward and not straight.
This can affect their health if not now but in the future for sure. But the students who do yoga regularly, their body becomes flexible by doing several asanas. With better flexibility and body balance, students can maintain the right body postures. This enhances their nonverbal communication skills too.
2. Better mental health
By doing several yoga asanas, students practice deep breathing. Yogic exercises such as Savasana, pranayama, and anulom vilom, students feel mentally relaxed and calm. A relaxed mind becomes less stressful.
3. Improved concentration and focus
When students feel mentally calm, composed, and relaxed their concentration and focus power are also improved. Meditation and yoga help students to increase their attention span and get less distracted while learning in the classes.
4. Better academic performance
We all know a psychically and mentally active body becomes effective at working too. With yoga, students stay physically and mentally active. This helps them to stay more focused in class, understand better, participate more, and actively perform all the duties as a student. This increases their academic performance too.
Some best yoga asanas for body and mind fitness
- Pranayama
- Bhujangasana
- Chakra asana
- Shavasana
- Balasana
- Padmasana
- Anulom vilom
- Viparita Karani
All these yoga asanas help to keep the body and mind active and stable. Good body posture, flexibility, mental peace, and physical fitness all are enhanced. Students can search about these asanas on youtube or can join a yoga class in school and other places too for its practice. There are also affordable yoga retreats that students can go to. If they have time on weekends or holidays, they can relax and do some yoga. The calmness of nature and its fresh air will help them with their mental health.
How to encourage students for yoga: tips for teachers
- Do it with your students
To encourage students in yoga, the best way is to do it along with them. Sometimes only asking students to do it at home won’t work that well. Some students might do and many would avoid it too. To make all students improve and become better, do it with them during school and classes time.
For example, by using LMS portals, teachers should manage to have at least a small and quick yoga session every day. Either in the beginning or after completing a few lectures, have a yoga time. This will allow students to have a break from back-to-back classes. Do some effective asanas and meditation with them. By doing it with teachers, students will enjoy and have a great time too.
- Teach them the importance of yoga
To make students encouraged for yoga, teaching them its importance will surely help. Many students find yoga boring and not a very engaging activity to do. But by making them aware and realizing its importance, teachers can make students more active in doing yoga. This way when yoga classes won’t take place in school, students will do it at their home and in their free time.
- Include it in your online classes too
It is not necessary that yoga can be performed in conventional classes and face to face only. Today, several yoga classes and programs are being run online too and some of these fitness centres use online fitness training software to easily manage their clients. Similarly, teachers can also have yoga classes online. Via online live classes, teachers, and students can do yoga together by keeping their cameras on and being at an appropriate place. In the case of asynchronous learning, teachers can upload some recorded yoga videos which students must watch and do.
- Make it an extracurricular activity
Every day it might not be possible for teachers to have yoga classes. But in the teaching timetable, along with academic classes, a class for extracurricular activity is also organized for ensuring proper growth and development of students. Along with sports, dance, music, art, and craft have classes for yoga too. This will make students more indulged in doing yoga and become physically, mentally, and academically effective.
Conclusion
Yoga is very important for all of us to perform for mental peace, physical well being and to become effective overall. We discussed the benefits of yoga for learners and also some asanas that all must do. All the above-mentioned tips can be used by the teachers to encourage students to make yoga a part of their lifestyle and routine.
