Yoga in schools to ease stress

BY AMITA VERMA

Lucknow

July 3: A group of private schools in Lucknow is planning to introduce yoga and laughter sessions to help students overcome stress and mental tension. The idea emerged after a private school asked students of class 3 and 4 to answer a questionnaire when the school reopened two days ago.

The children were required mainly to answer questions related to their recent summer vacations and their hobbies. One question asked students that if they had the choice of selecting one parent for an outing to a multiplex, who would they select. Another question asked the children which parent they would select to stay at home with in an emergency. The third question asked students whether they found it easier to confide their secrets in their father or their mother.

"An amazing majority of the students opted for the mother over the father. The following day, we called in some children for an interactive session and we asked teachers to probe their minds through questions that had been prepared by a team of psychologists. The results showed that children in this age group had been closely watching the developments in the Aarushi murder case and, as a result, were becoming sort of apprehensive of being left alone with their fathers," disclosed a senior teacher of the school.

The schools have now decided to introduce yoga and laughter sessions for children after the morning assembly. "We could have informed parents about our findings but that would have created an unnecessary hue and cry. Our aim is to soothe the child’s nerves and help in stress management. We are staring yoga and laughter sessions form next week and we will monitor the progress after four weeks," said the principal of one school. According to psychologists, yoga, coupled with laughter sessions, helps in overcoming aggression caused by stress and also helps in checking depression in kids.

"As it is, children are not getting sufficient physical activity and interaction with their age groups after school hours. The kids confine themselves to computers and create an imaginary world of their own which leads to strange behavioural patterns. Besides, the stress of peer pressure and increased competition adds to their problems," says senior psychiatrist Dr Vivek Agarwal. Meanwhile, Sukriti Pathak, promoter of a laughter-yoga group in the state capital, said, that such sessions generate positive energy and helps in overall development of the personality.