International Yoga Day: NGO Organises Yoga Classes For Slum Children
New Delhi:
On International Yoga Day the world is abuzz with the benefits of yoga. While for the educated and the privileged it is easy to access yoga camps and yoga studios, the real challenge is to spread awareness about yoga among the marginalized. An NGO based in Noida, decided to do exactly that. In their mission to educate underprivileged children, they have also included Yoga as an important part of their education plan.
Sarvahitey is an NGO based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh which has been teaching children living in slums for the last 18 months at several locations in Delhi NCR. Recently, Sarvahitey conducted its monthly volunteers meeting where it was decided that Yoga classes should be included in the curriculum for the children.
So far the NGO volunteers have conducted two yoga classes for the 70 children who fall in the age group of 3-14 and are enrolled at their Noida centre. The Yoga classes are being conducted by the volunteers Tapasvini Sahoo and Shashank Singh and founder Prem Prakash twice a week.
Seeing the initial response of the kids, the NGO is confident that not only will the children benefit from the yoga classes but will also retain the values of discipline and a healthy living. Prem Prakash, one of the founders of the NGO told NDTV, “Kids we teach at our education projects mainly come from marginalized sections of society. Many of them witness some sort of abuse at home which makes our task even more challenging. It’s not only important for us to teach these kids but also to take care of their physical and mental well-being. Our team believes that conducting regular Yoga classes will help in overall personality development of both volunteers as well as kids”.
At a time when including yoga in Indian Government schools is still only being considered, this step by Sarvahitey to teach slum children about the value of yoga and focus on their well-being is commendable.
Yoga, as a form of exercise, is considered extremely beneficial and has been proved to boost overall academic performance in students. In 2009, International journal of Yoga, conducted a study on 300 students about the effects of yoga on stress levels in adolescent students and found that after seven weeks of practicing yoga asanas, breathing exercises and meditation, stress levels lowered in students. The academic performance also improved for the students who participated in the study.
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Sarvahitey is an NGO based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh which has been teaching children living in slums for the last 18 months at several locations in Delhi NCR. Recently, Sarvahitey conducted its monthly volunteers meeting where it was decided that Yoga classes should be included in the curriculum for the children.
So far the NGO volunteers have conducted two yoga classes for the 70 children who fall in the age group of 3-14 and are enrolled at their Noida centre. The Yoga classes are being conducted by the volunteers Tapasvini Sahoo and Shashank Singh and founder Prem Prakash twice a week.
Seeing the initial response of the kids, the NGO is confident that not only will the children benefit from the yoga classes but will also retain the values of discipline and a healthy living. Prem Prakash, one of the founders of the NGO told NDTV, “Kids we teach at our education projects mainly come from marginalized sections of society. Many of them witness some sort of abuse at home which makes our task even more challenging. It’s not only important for us to teach these kids but also to take care of their physical and mental well-being. Our team believes that conducting regular Yoga classes will help in overall personality development of both volunteers as well as kids”.
At a time when including yoga in Indian Government schools is still only being considered, this step by Sarvahitey to teach slum children about the value of yoga and focus on their well-being is commendable.
Yoga, as a form of exercise, is considered extremely beneficial and has been proved to boost overall academic performance in students. In 2009, International journal of Yoga, conducted a study on 300 students about the effects of yoga on stress levels in adolescent students and found that after seven weeks of practicing yoga asanas, breathing exercises and meditation, stress levels lowered in students. The academic performance also improved for the students who participated in the study.
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