Commending two Ohio public schools, Scott High (Toledo) and Lancaster High; for reportedly offering yoga as detention alternative; Hindus are urging all Ohio schools to introduce yoga as alternative to detention.
Calling it a step in the positive direction, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, appealed to all Ohio schools—public, private, charter, independent—to come forward and do not shy away from providing an opportunity to students to avail the multiple benefits yoga offered.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism; urged Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Ohio State Board of Education President Laura Kohler and Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction Paolo DeMaria to work towards formally introducing yoga as a detention alternative in all the public schools of the state which could later mature into becoming a class in the regular curriculum; thus incorporating highly beneficial yoga in the lives of Ohio’s students.
Instead of wasting time in traditional detention/suspension/discipline; offering yoga would provide some helpful life skills, help the students feel better, empower them and had the potential to make a positive impact and foster an upbeat school climate; Rajan Zed indicated.
Yoga, referred as “a living fossil”, was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Zed pointed out.
Rajan Zed further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.
According to a report of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Yoga is the most popular complementary health approach in the United States – used by 14.3% of the adult population, or 35.2 million people”. According to US National Institutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Zed added.
Dr. Carnell Smith is the Principal of Jesup W. Scott High School, which is part of Toledo Public Schools. Scott Burre is Principal of Lancaster High School, which forms part of Lancaster City Schools.
Source: World Hindu Network
