Teaching Yoga in Schools

Mrs. Sudarshan Saigal

Teaching children is a challenge by itself and teaching them Yoga … even a bigger challenge. This challenge is very well experienced by all of us and so, on the 13^th of November 2011, one of our senior teachers Mrs. Sudarshan Saigal shared her experience and advice on teaching yoga to children in school.

She very rightly started by saying that the key is to ‘Accept’ the challenge. Not only teaching the children, but managing relations with other staff members in school will also be challenging. 

Not everyone has the knowledge of yoga. You, as a yoga practitioner, a teacher, have to educate and inform them. And to do so the first and foremost thing is to follow the yogic path yourself. Yoga is to be learnt, not taught. We can learn even from an innocent, naughty and yet smart child! Be friendly with the children, teach them concepts, attitudes, leadership qualities, awareness, alertness, concentration. etc. Doing Asanas only should not be given too much importance.

Break the ice by making them feel important: ask them to teach you for eg. Being from a Hindi medium school Mrs. Saigal asked the students of a high profile English medium school to correct her English language if she makes mistakes in the class. That broke the ice and the children felt so happy. They knew that here was a friend and not just a teacher.

To improve their concentration powers make one of them start reading a chapter and quickly ask another student to continue reading from there. So they don’t have time to think also and they are very alert, thinking that they might be the next one to read.

If there is loud music going on outside the examination hall, they can just close their eyes and quietly count 1-10, start breathing in and out and visualize their lesson.

They should always sit with their spine erect and carry their bag on both the shoulders to maintain their posture.

They can be taught all the concepts with games, like counting spaces, juggling; stories, like ‘The Five Gurus’ and a lot more of activities, like singing, dancing, drawing, etc. Be creative and they will love it. Yoga will be fun learning and not boring for them.

A Report by Geeta Udasi.