Yoga should be on the curriculum according to school chemistry teacher

According to Anjna Pindoria, a sixth form chemistry teacher at the Haberdashers Aske's Boys School in Elstree, Hertfordshire, yoga should be placed on the curriculum.  The ancient Indian practice may seem quite far removed from what schools are teaching these days, but Pindoria claims that practicing yoga helps her students to better cope with academic commitments and pressures.

Education minister, Edward Timpson, argued a similar thing in the commons two weeks ago.  He believes that teaching children the ancient practice of yoga will help students of all ages to unplug from their devices and the technological world that we live in.  Timpson suggests incorporating yoga into PHSE lessons with the aim of improving wellbeing in students.

Part of the School Timetable

Pindoria has been offering yoga classes to students since 2009, and she currently offers them to students in year 10, year 12, and also teachers.  The students don’t need to bring any equipment to the classes, although many do opt to buy yoga mats to continue the practice when at home.  The classes Pindoria holds have been included in the timetable at the school as part of the Enhancement and Enrichment program.  Other classes on offer to the students during this time are Mandarin lessons and cookery classes. 

The yoga classes on offer at the Haberdashers Aske’s Boys School last for 8 weeks.  At the end of the classes, the majority of students have seen clear physical and psychological improvements.  Whilst at the beginning of the course, the students may see it as a bit of a game, constantly looking around to see what other students are doing, towards the end of the course, they are fully involved and more accepting of the practice.

Many Benefits for Students

It’s not uncommon for Pindoria to find her students have fallen asleep at the end of a yoga session.  But this isn’t something she minds.  In fact, she is happy that her students have time in the day to fully relax without constantly being alerted to things happening on social media.

One member of Pindoria’s class, Luca Ignatius, took the course in the hopes that it would help him with his rugby.  He said that after just one session, he experienced psychological benefits.  He also thinks that yoga will help him during exam time when everyone is stressed and there is no real time to set aside for relaxation.

Yogi Charlotta Martinus supports Pindoria in her work. She established the practice of Teen Yoga in 2004 with the aim of teaching yoga professionals to work with teenagers.  Martinus is passionate about the fact that yoga can combat many of the issues that teens face, such as sleep problems, growth issues, technology, and the overload of technology.  By teaching students the relaxation response, she believes that students will be able to better cope with everything thrown at them in daily life.

Few children fully understand what relaxation is, so it will be interesting to see whether yoga is introduced to the curriculum in the future.