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Covid-19: UAE schools reiterate relevance of yoga during pandemic

On the longest day of the year, schools across the country organised a raft of yoga-related activities - online and onsite - to mark the seventh International Day of Yoga (IDY).

The UAE school students observed the International Yoga day with a great deal of enthusiasm on Monday.

Experts say practicing yoga can be the ‘secret key’ for achieving holistic well-being, and schools have taken this maxim to heart this year, given the current global scenario of uncertainty.

On the longest day of the year, schools across the country organised a raft of yoga-related activities - online and onsite - to mark the seventh International Day of Yoga (IDY).

Shani Janisa, activity coordinator, Gulf Indian High school Dubai, said, “We celebrated the International Yoga day virtually with great enthusiasm and fervour to disseminate the message on the benefits of this great Indian tradition to achieve wellbeing in life. Our physical education department took interest in training the children in yoga and conducted different programmes to enhance their yoga awareness.”

Students actively participated in virtual activities through which the benefits of yoga were communicated to them. “The boundless peace obtained by practicing the Asanas (poses) was amply visible from the faces of the students. This year the theme is ‘Yoga For Wellness’, and the focus is on practicing yoga for one’s physical and mental well-being. We focused on the importance of making yoga a daily practice to stay healthy and fit, especially in the wake of the global pandemic.”

Punit MK Vasu, CEO - The Indian High Group of Schools, said, “The Indian High Group of Schools has taken the initiative of observing the International Yoga Day since its inception in 2015 with the sole motto: ‘WE CARE’. More than 20,000 students, teachers, staff and their family members participated in these events. Our group, along with the partnership of Heartfulness Foundation, offered the entire community in Dubai the opportunity to participate in free sessions of yoga and meditation for 100 days for all students, staff, and parents. Yoga is portrayed as a fitness trend, but the essence of yoga is the union or integration of all the layers of life – physical, emotional, and spiritual.”

Deepika Thapar Singh, CEO-Principal of Credence High School, said, “At Credence we practice and promote healthy living and we organised many activities to encourage every member of the Credence family to take a step towards healthy living.

“We organised an online quiz competition in yoga for students of Grade 2-9 to measure growth in knowledge, abilities or skills. The one-minute Surya-Namaskar (Sun Salute) challenge for the students, parents and teachers was launched where the maximum number of valid Surya-Namaskars performed in a minute were counted as a score for merit. The yoga photo challenge was introduced for the leaders, teachers and administration staff where they clicked and shared pictures of themselves or their family performing various Asanas.”

nandini@khaleejtimes.com