Introduction

What is yoga in physical education is the thing that we are about to discus here. At the outset, it bears stressing that yoga is also a physical fitness activity that is performed to tone up the body, among others. This is one of its beneficial results.

A standard yoga session incorporates different bodily postures, breathing exercises, and meditation or relaxation. However, there are many different styles of yoga which depend on the name of its founder. And the type of yoga practiced also depends on the goals of your training.

Comprehensive physical exercise

It is a comprehensive physical exercise that has been rated as one of the best fitness routines to keep your body fit. It is defined as a disciplined program of arts and science followed for keeping oneself healthy along with cure of diseases. Yoga has been used to treat many physical disorders since ancient times.

Flexibility and peace of mind

Yoga is a great way to increase the flexibility of your body and attain a calmer mindset. The same is a physical exercise that focuses on breathing, body alignment, and a strong, powerful mental state. It involves poses, breathing exercises, meditation and relaxation training.

Gainful postures and poses

The physical component of yoga is called as ‘asana’. Yoga postures help in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth. Yoga improves flexibility, balance and helps calm nerves and organs. It strengthens organs that support the spine, such as the intestines, kidneys, and liver.

One of the reasons that this makes this posture is regarded as powerful as it is thanks to the fact that it warms up the body inside out. There are some asanas which mainly stretch and supple the muscles as well as provide a balancing experience, whereas others work on freeing up your nerves and blood vessels.

What is yoga in physical education?

Physical education teachers at traditional schools sometimes wonder if they should teach yoga. They worry that yoga is religious and that parents might object.

But physical education is not supposed to be religious. Yoga is religious. Yoga is Hindu. Nonetheless, we shall focus on the physical aspect and manifestation of yoga as a form of fitness activity.

Thus, what is yoga in physical education? Basically, one facet of yoga is its exercise value. We all know that our body can greatly benefit from the practice of yoga. It can enhance our flexibility, endurance, conditioning, relative strength.

These benefits may be especially important for adolescents. In 2005 – 06, the Centers for Disease Control released the results of a national survey of parents of high school students.

It found that 4.63 percent of both boys and girls reported an injury from playing competitive sports in the previous year.^[1]Specific Injuries Rates, 2005-06, CDC

Physical education should, therefore, use yoga to help adolescents build strength, flexibility, and balance, as well as body awareness.

However, because safety concerns, some schools have forbidden yoga, and physical education teachers have sometimes been reluctant to teach it.

Nevertheless, yoga exercises can be safely taught, as proven by the prevalence of several schools teaching yoga. Moreover, if injuries occur, they are rarely serious.

Consequently, in terms of physical education, yoga can be a complementary activity. Of course, proper guidance, mechanics, and safety measures should be incorporated. Nonetheless, it beneficial results, through fitness regimen, should not also be overlooked.

What is the importance of yoga in physical education?

Assuming yoga will be taught in a physical education setting or in any other educational set up, be it on a gym or exercise course, physical specialization, and the like, it may be significant to know yoga’s basic fitness principles and objectives.

Yoga is a system of exercises consisting of postures, or asanas. The system of Asanas has been well researched and documented.

Asanas not only help to strengthen and trim the body, they also improve mental concentration and memory, as well as increasing flexibility and reducing tension and stress.

The practice of yoga also facilitates a better communication between mind and body. Yoga is also very beneficial for athletes who engage in contact sports such as wrestling, boxing and martial arts.

Says a yogi, “Yoga exercise helps develop the neuromuscular system of the body, which becomes equal to that of professional athletes.”

Asanas also improve blood circulation, and by stretching the ligaments and muscles, they enhance flexibility. Yoga postures help to remove toxins from the body and improve the immune system.

The postures also massage the internal organs, making them function more efficiently. Furthermore, asanas reduce tension, thus preventing stress and related diseases.

There are also many health benefits of yoga asanas for children. Yoga may help children attain mental and physiological balance.

Children who practice yoga attain better concentration, memory, coordination and physical endurance. Yoga also improves children’s immune system, making them less susceptible to disease. to reduce stress.

In physical education, what may be the aim of yoga?

The aim of yoga in physical education is to increase body awareness, improve endurance, and build strength and flexibility. Yoga teaches controlled breathing and stretches to energize the body and relieve tension. It also helps to develop mental focus.

Yoga is an exercise based on meditation. Proper breathing, often called pranayama, is the foundation of yoga. This exercise helps develop good muscle tone, which improves endurance, helps prevent injuries, and builds strength and flexibility. This exercise also can improve posture and balance.

Yoga encourages slow, calm movements. Yoga postures, or asanas, are designed to stretch and strengthen the muscles. Yoga poses are also designed to build strength and flexibility. Yoga poses can also improve posture and balance and relieve stress.

Types of yoga that may be considered in physical education

There are several types of yoga. Hatha yoga is a variety of yoga that emphasizes body postures or asanas, breathing techniques, and some meditation.

There is Iyengar yoga, which focuses on precise body positioning and alignment. And, there is Kundalini yoga, which emphasizes meditation and breathing techniques.

Yoga can be practiced alone, or as part of a group. Group yoga can be practiced in a gym, classroom, or studio. Group yoga can be as structured or unstructured as the participants practice it.

However, there are branches of yoga that resembles other related yoga disciplines and those that are specifics of the he former.

The branches of yoga are Hatha, Raja, Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, and Tantra. These have their own miniscule or specific type of yoga. Example is Ashtanga which takes its from from Hatha. Kriya may resemble a Raja and Kundalini from Tantra practice.

No matter how many these are and their respective variations, still, when incorporating in a physical education set up, the main reason should be how a yoga practice can physically benefit the body to achieve its optimum level.

Breathing and mind practice can also be implemented to supplement the physical discipline imbued in yoga. The external manifestation of yoga need to performed and realized.

Role of yoga in physical education

More recently, yoga has been increasingly accepted in physical education, especially by students with special needs. Yoga’s popularity has also increased among athletes, and yoga has even been recommended in some US Olympic training sites.

Apart from physical fitness, however, yoga is viewed as a way to improve mental fitness. Thus, yoga may be helpful in balancing and enhancing the mental and physical ability of an individual.

Most physical fitness systems assume you want the body to be strong. Yoga assumes you want the body to be flexible. So yoga emphasizes stretching and positions intended to release tension. In this sense, the practice of yoga can exemplify its role in educating the people on the relevance of fitness synergism.

It is not all about strength. Rather, it is the combination of flexibility, strength, conditioning, mind control or proper mindset, and balance. This is the composite nature of yoga that may be integrated in physical education environment.

Conclusion

While there may be a plausible reason to incorporate yoga in physical education, still, it is important to learn that yoga is a spiritual and mind practice in its origin, which has evolved into various physical and mind disciplines.

And in recent times, it gained popularity by becoming a predominantly fitness, workout, and exercise routine. Because of its undeniable benefits, both in the body and mind, let alone health gains, yoga became a word of mouth with immense popularity among health, fitness guru, and fitness enthusiasts.

Yoga is a physical practice. Yet, it is also a philosophy of life. It can help you deal with physical stress. Yoga can even help you deal with stress in general.

Yoga is a synthesis of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines. It is designed to help you know yourself better, to introduce you to your own inner resources.

Yoga is an activity, but it also a way of existence. It may be something that may come along your way. Whether you will embark on it, study the same, or let it be, will be up to you.

Yoga is universal. It is a human practice, and it has many variations. In the ancient world, it included physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation. Now it also includes martial arts, breathing exercises, meditation, and stretching exercises.

In these perspective, yoga is one of the best disciplines out there in the world that should be deserving of, or be given, the chance to spread its knowledge and educate mankind of its teachings.