The Lesson in Yoga
Yogi Bhajan, known for bringing Kundalini Yoga to the west in the late 1960s, said, “if you want to understand something, write about it, if you want to master something, teach it.” So what happens then, when we make yoga part of education?
Perhaps to best understand some of the many benefits of practicing yoga within our schools to help our students learn, we’ll start with a “lesson!”
Yoga, comes from the Sanskrit word and means “to yoke together” or union of body, mind, and spirit. While its exact origins are not fully clear, historians agree that its roots go back at least 5,000 years to Northern India. Although yoga is not a religious practice, its origins can be traced back to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. References to yoga can be found in the oldest text called the Rig-Veda, a composition of hymns. Yoga was first used as a means of understanding the world and became a way to understand the world through the understanding of self.
The history of yoga is classified into four periods of time: the Pre-Classical period (dating back 5,000 to possibly 10,000 years ago); the Classical Period, which marks the first systematic presentation of the teachings in Patanjali’s Sutras; the Post-Classical Period, which was the first time the physical practice of yoga (the postures) were the predominant aspect of the practice. This brings us up to date with the Modern Period, which began in the late 1800s, early 1900s and includes more than a dozen ‘types’ of yoga including: Amrit; Anusara; Ashtanga; Bikram; Hatha; Hot; Iyengar; Jivvamikti; Kids; Kripalu; Kundalini, Laughing; Prenatal; Vinyasa; Yin; and Yoga Nidra.
Within the types, there are eight limbs (or branches) that contain the importance, the elements of the teachings of yoga. The first is Yama (the moral code), which includes truthfulness and non-harm. The second is Niyama, personal behavior. The third is Asana, the postures. The fourth is Pranayama, breath. The fifth is Pratyahara, withdrawal of the senses for focus. The sixth is Dharama, concentration. The seventh is Dhyana, meditation. The eighth is Samadhi, the transcendence of self, the interconnectedness of all living things, and the merging with the divine.
So, how does all this relate to education? The first two, a moral compass and a sense of self-responsibility, are essential to creating an environment that is safe and open to learning. Research shows the connection between physical activity and learning. So when we add in the third element (or branch) as part of the way to start the day in the classroom, we are opening space for our children to learn.
A few postures, even while sitting at the desks or standing beside them, is enough to set the tone for the entire day. Later in the day, as attention spans begin to wane, the power of four (breath, five, focus, and six, concentration) are essential to success in learning. Seven and eight are great tools for stress relief.
Speaking of stress relief, the practice of Yoga Nidra is a powerful sleep-based stress-relief technique that can be practiced in a chair, at a desk, or lying down in Savasana pose. The beauty of this type of yoga is anyone can do it. It’s accessible and inclusive for all! While it’s completely non-physical, the physical benefits to and for the body are incredible. Fifteen to twenty minutes a day is the equivalent to three hours of sleep! Just imagine the benefit this could have not only for students but for teachers who are overworked, tired, and would benefit from some deep rest.
Yoga Nidra takes you gently from beta, down into alpha, theta and even delta brainwaves, and then back to beta. Kamini Desai, Education Director for the Amrit Yoga Institute, reminds us that children under the age of seven spend a lot of time in theta; they are very open. Because of this, they will benefit from even a practice of a few minutes a day. Just enough to form a habit—to create a space beyond the mind, beyond the emotions. From age eight to preteen, 7 to 11 minutes supports their ability to focus while relieving stress and tension. Karena Virginia, Author, lifestyle expert and Kundalini Yoga teacher concurs, “Children are like sponges. They need to learn healthy outlets for the energy they are picking up.” Imagine, if that ‘healthy outlet’ could be part of their curriculum.
Kamini agrees: “Even young kids experience stress, too. Yoga Nidra is a great touchstone for them to be able to manage their emotions and to help them have an active role in creating their sense of self. As they grow into their teenage years, it’s a great tool for peer-pressure and creates a great foundation for a healthy life. And besides that, they love it and, therefore, respond to it really well.” As our children approach the teenage years, with the foundation of their early development, yoga is a great ‘go-to’ for managing the developmental changes associated with transitioning into young adulthood.
Karena knows it’s an essential tool, saying, “The frontal lobe on teens is not developed yet, so teens often make impulsive decisions. With yoga, we can show them how to pause before they act. It’s very powerful.” Roger Cole, Ph.D., Iyengar Instructor and a graduate of Stanford University and the University of California, writes, “Yoga is varied and powerful. Many yoga communities are passing along great aspects of the yoga tradition or developing wonderful new practices that people outside the community are not aware of. In my travels teaching throughout the US and over the world, I find little gems of wisdom and skill everywhere.”
In sharing yoga with our students, not only are we, together, mastering the practice of yoga, we are giving our students tools they can use to master life—and well-being. The alpha and theta brainwave states are associated with increased retention of learned material and long-term memory as published in the March, 2014 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience: Slow-Wave Sleep-Imposed Replay Modulates Both Strength and Precision of Memory.
Researchers at The University of California, Los Angeles, published a study in the April 2016 Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, that found that yoga and meditation had equaled and then topped the benefits of twelve weeks of brain training in a study that divided the volunteers into two groups: one group that experienced Kundalini Yoga (Kirtan Kriya) and the other group that participated in a brain-training class. Brain scans before and during the twelve-week timeframe, showed yoga and meditation as more beneficial than the brain training over the three-month period. A 2008 study at Bridgeport Hospital found that yoga and meditation created significant reductions in blood pressure, heart rate, and Body Mass Index (BMI), while the exercise participants showed no change in those that just came for laboratory work.
While all the studies and research are impressive, in my experience of teaching yoga in the classroom daily for six months as part of my volunteer hours for my own certification, first-hand, the results were amazing.
The director of the school noticed a marked improvement in both behavior and test scores. Parents noticed changes in their children’s’ attitudes and motivation. What stood out most for me, though, was what the kids themselves had to say about their own well-being, their confidence, their self-esteem. At the end of each class when they bowed to themselves and each other speaking, namasté—the light in me sees the light in you. That’s a lesson that speaks for itself and lasts a lifetime.
Tomorrow’s Child / September 2016 / p 11
