Atul Sinha

Context: Despite evidence of therapeutic benefits of yoga on school children, many schools do not include yoga in their daily schedule. Reasons cited are lack of time and resources. An efficacious short duration integrated classroom yoga module (ICYM) can overcome such problems. Aim: This study aimed to test the effect of such a yoga module on physical fitness, cognitive performance, emotional wellbeing, and personality characteristic of school children. Methods: The design was a randomized controlled trial with participants sourced from grades 7–10. The intervention period was 2 months. The primary outcome measures were 4 tests from the EUROFIT physical fitness testing battery, Stroop color-word naming task, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, WHO-5 wellbeing index, and Sushruta Child Personality Inventory. Statistical analysis used a repeated measure analysis of variance. Secondary outcome measure was a qualitative assessment. Results: The yoga group showed significant differences compared to the control group in 2 of 4 physical fitness variables, Stroop color-word naming task, and in the WHO-5 wellbeing index. Conclusion: ICYM is a validated, feasible, and efficacious school-based short-duration integrated yoga module. It can be considered for incorporation into the daily school schedule.

The aim of this paper is to make a case for integrating yoga with education in the modern schooling system and to propose a theoretical model based on a synthesis of ancient knowledge and modern research. The paper is based on literature review of child and adolescent mental health, case for character education, case for school-based yoga intervention, ancient texts of yoga, and modern research on benefit outcomes of yoga. A comprehensive understanding of yogic principles from ancient texts and outcome benefits from modern research has gone into the development of a theoretical model of yoga in education. There is a large body of research evidence, suggesting that yoga in education can aid the development of physiological well-being, cognitive efficacy, emotional control, and desirable personality traits. Ancient literature on yoga provides its underlying principles, sequence of practices, and their interconnectedness. The theoretical model is based on the eight limbs of yoga derive...

BACKGROUND: The practice of yoga is proven to have physical, cognitive and emotional benefits for school children. Despite this many schools do not include yoga in their daily schedule. The reasons cited are lack of time and resources. To overcome these problems the present study aimed to develop and validate a short duration Integrated classroom yoga module. The design guidelines were that it should be possible to practice in the classroom environment and that it could be led by the class teacher. In this way the module would overcome the problem of both time and resource. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study had two main phases. In the first phase, selected ICYM practices based on the literature review were validated by 21 subject matter experts using Lawhse's content validity ratio (CVR) formula. In the second phase, a pilot study using a paired sample prepost measurement design was carried out on 49 high school children. The study was conducted in June 2019. The intervention per...