Lauding San Benito School Dist. for launching yoga, Hindus seek yoga in all California schools

Commending San Benito High School District (SBHSD) in Hollister (California) for offering yoga course starting next Fall, Hindus are urging for launching yoga courses in all the public schools of California.

Calling it a step in the positive direction, distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, praised SBHSD for coming forward and providing an opportunity to students to avail the multiple benefits yoga offered.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism; urged California Governor Gavin Newsom, California State Board of Education Vice President Dr. Ilene Straus and California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond 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 California’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 a recent 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, Rajan Zed added.

The emphasis of this yoga course will be on asanas and vinyasa “for increased flexibility, improved health, muscular strength and endurance, relaxation, and reduced stress in daily living”. This course will also provide “social-emotional benefits for students to start their day with a heightened level of mental focus and overall well-being”, reports suggest.

Shawn Tennenbaum is the Superintendent of SBHSD, while Steve Delay is its Board President.