YOGA FOR NEW GENERATION
1 May 2021 HYN Himalayan Yoga Academy
Meaning and Definition:
The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘yuj’ meaning “to unite” and yoga means “Union or Harmony”. Ultimately Yoga is an aim or mission. We reach or achieve via yogic acts (kriyas).
History of Yoga
Yoga originated 1 5,000 years ago in the Himalayan Belt (Himavat kshetra) and then initially developed in the whole South Asian region (Bharata Khanda). Over time, yoga developed as philosophy, spirituality, psychology, science, and health as well. Yoga has been promoted and developed in different periods of ancient times. It is very essential for the coming generation. It plays a vital role in keeping the new generation healthy, happy, moral, disciplined, creative, visionary, etc.
Aim of Yoga
To get satchittaanaanda – Truth, consciousness, bliss, and liberation
The objectives of yoga
- Activate the muscles and nerves.
- A strong and flexible body free of pain and physical tension.
- Warm up and open the joins.
- A balanced autonomic nervous system with all physical and physiological processes, e.g. Digestion, Respiration, Circulation, Endocrinal secretion
- A calm, clear, and tranquil mind from yoga
- Increase concentration and memory
How it works
Yoga is the easiest way to save the young generation from moving towards violence, suicide, and depression, restlessness, etc. When today’s new generation moves towards violence, moves towards suicide, and lives in depression, in such situation yoga will be the easiest way to save them and also build a better and more beautiful future ahead. It saves genetic degeneration.
Yoga and the Young Generation
We tend to think of yoga as something for adults – a way of increasing overall physical and mental well-being for those of us who have begun to feel the aches, pains, tension, and stresses that inevitably come with being a grown-up. But yoga can also benefit younger people and any age of people. Ages 7 to 100 years more also can practice yoga because yoga is for all.
Studies have shown that yoga increases working efficiency, creativity, flexibility and overall ability to concentrate and focus. Yoga cherishes inner rest, peace, relaxation, and breathing in a very active way, enabling children to channel their energy into goal-driven tasks.
Yoga can also have an impact on stress management, obesity (also as a part of physical exercise), and better concentration & memory.
Research work:
Research has shown that educational curricula incorporating stress-management programs improve academic performance, self-esteem, good knowledge, well discipline, morality, social & family relation, classroom behavior, concentration, and emotional balance.
Various individual controlled studies have shown that yoga appears to be a promising complementary therapy and stress-management tool for children, adolescents, and adults with very low reports of adverse effects. Yoga as a therapeutic intervention has positive effects on psychological functioning, especially in children coping with emotional, mental, and behavioral health problems. Yoga deals with good food habits, good sleep, recreation, rest, psycho-counseling, etc.
Additional potential benefits for school-aged children include improved determination, concentration, imagination and self-esteem.
Merits of Yoga for a new generation
Scientific and experiential evidence proves many of yoga’s well-established advantages. From physical to mental to spiritual, devoted yogis everywhere race to their mats to reap the rewards.
1. Physical merits
It has been shown that yoga increases flexibility, builds muscles, increases coordination and balance, and improves aerobic endurance in young people. Yoga also improves posture or alignment and can help prevent muscular-skeletal problems from developing over time – something that younger people, who spend much of the day hunched over a desk require as much as older people.
2. Educational merits
Yoga can help teens mentally refocus on the task at hand. By practicing living in the moment on the mat, teenagers can more fully concentrate on the present moment off the mat.
The growth of digital and social media has meant that the average human attention span is on the decline. By providing a tech-free space of physical and mental concentration, however, yoga can help younger people perceptually focus on the task at hand. Young people who practice yoga have even been shown to perform better in tests than those who do not.
3. Mental merits
Yoga’s mental benefits are fairly well documented, and as evidenced by the study mentioned above, teenagers who practice yoga show more positive moods, less anxiety, and depression, and greatly enjoy asana practice.
With the stress and anxiety of exams, placement tests, speeches, and all of the other pressures that plague high school kids today, yoga can be a step in the right direction.
4. Emotional merits
By taking the time to concentrate on the present moment, yoga can also help young people develop deeper emotional intelligence – the ability to identify how they, and others, are feeling. This can help them recognize and deal independently with negative feelings, increasing mental resilience. It can also help them to develop kindness, compassion, and empathy for others.
In addition to connecting you with your emotions, yoga encourages self-love and self-acceptance. This benefit is especially powerful for teens struggling with body image. It’s a beautiful way to learn to love you and appreciate the body for what it is and what it can do, rather than what it looks like. It builds compassion for the self which then radiates to compassion for others.
5. Social merits
Yoga is non-judgmental, and the more we practice, the more acceptance and less judgment we’ll have in our daily lives. Yoga will help teenagers become more compassionate for one another.
Though digital and social media have grown exponentially in recent times, the idea that sitting alone at your desk or behind a screen builds interconnectedness between people is – perhaps – a little optimistic. By doing yoga with others in Physical Exercise, in an afterschool class, or with the rest of the family, yoga can build stronger social bonds between younger and older people and foster togetherness and mutuality.
6. Spiritual merits
Yoga promotes a sense of calmness, inner peace, exploration of energy, cultivation of awareness, a deeper bodily and energetic awareness, good knowledge, and good feelings, removes blocks keeping one from fully experiencing life, opens one to creativity, and healing, improves imagination power, and integration.