Hindus have commended The School District of Lee County (SDLC) in Florida for reportedly introducing yoga in its Caloosa Middle School (Cape Coral), calling it a step in the positive direction. Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, applauded SDLC for coming forward and providing an opportunity to students to avail the multiple benefits yoga provided.
Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Florida Governor Richard L Scott, Education Commissioner Pam Stewart and State Board of Education Chair Marva Johnson; to work towards formally introducing yoga as a part of curriculum in all the public schools of the state, thus incorporating highly beneficial yoga in the lives of Florida’s students.
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, Rajan Zed pointed out.
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 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. According to a recently released “2016 Yoga in America Study”, about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image. Yoga was the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Rajan Zed added.
SDLC, headquartered in Fort Myers, educates about 91, 222 K-12 students (including about 5,000 gifted ones) representing 159 countries in 121 schools on a budget of over $1.3 billion, with a daily cost of about $3.4 million. Dr Gregory K Adkins is the Superintendent, while Steven K Teuber is Board Chairman Dr Ann Cole is the Principal of Caloosa Middle School, whose Vision is “To become a world class middle school”. Florida Department of Education serves nearly 2.7 million students in 4,200 public schools and 28 colleges.