THOUSANDS of school children throughout Glasgow look set to benefit from a new yoga pilot project being spearheaded by the Patanjali Yog Peeth UK Trust and Glasgow City Council.
The programme, which gets underway this month, aims to equip teachers and staff with a level 1 yoga training certificate which will qualify them to host yoga classes for children in schools.
Over 70 teachers and staff have registered their interest in attending the training, which is thought to be the first pilot programme of its kind to train staff to teach yoga in Scotland’s schools.
The programme is being delivered by the Patanjali Yog Peeth UK Trust (PYPT), a charitable organisation based in Glasgow, which is seeking to implement a national teaching programme which will see yoga being widely taught in schools throughout Scotland in a bid to help improve the health of the nation.
The charity is already making headway in achieving its aspirations.
During the last few months, PYPT master yoga teacher, Mr Sam Poddar, who teaches Patanjali Yoga around the world, has been conducting free yoga classes in schools in and around Glasgow as a pre-curser to the pilot programme. Thirteen schools have participated to date, involving over 200 children.
Mr Poddar says the classes proved very popular with many schools requesting further visits.
“The response from teachers and the children has been really exceptional. One of the many advantages of Patanjali Yoga is it’s a very light form of exercise. You don’t have to be particularly fit or supple, so everyone can join in. With children, we work on lots of fun poses and we finish with some laughing exercises which always goes down well.
“But a more serious level, yoga provides enormous health benefits which will help children mentally as well as physically. Yoga breathing techniques for example are very effective for improving energy and concentration levels which is very important in the classroom. As well as being able to focus better, children will also find they are able to grasp information more quickly and in some cases retain it for longer.”
The first series of workshops will take place during January and February with further sessions being organised later in the year if the pilot proves successful.
Mrs Michelle Sweeney Baker, who is a partnership officer in education services at Glasgow City Council, said: “If the course proves popular, we will look at introducing yoga to after school clubs and possibly even consider offering yoga training as an option for fifth and sixth-year pupils interested in sports.
“Introducing yoga into schools offers a lot of potential to reinforce the importance of healthy eating and exercise for everyone regardless of age or ability. For these reasons we are very supportive of the project and we look forward to seeing the results of the pilot.”
Ends
Issued by the Patanjali Yog Peeth UK Trust. For press enquiries please contact Jen Nash e. press@weecumbrae.org t. 07971 466 220. For Glasgow City Council please contact Fiona Ross, Public Relations Officer – Education, Phone 0141 287 0918, Mobile 07766 443788, Email fiona.ross@glasgow.gov.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
Free photography is available by contacting Jen Nash.
The Patanjali Yog Peeth Trust
The Pantanjali Yog Peeth Trust was co-founded in India in 1995 by Swami Ramdev Ji and Acharya Balkrishna Ji, to promote Yog and the ancient science of holistic healing, native to India called Ayurved medicine.
The charity now has 100,000 trained Patanjali yoga teachers worldwide who volunteer their time and host in the region of 35,000 classes per week. In the UK, there are 1,600 trained Patanjali yoga teachers hosting approximately 200 classes per week. All classes are free for anyone to attend.
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Contact: Jen Nash
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