Surviving in a growing climate of violence, aggression and competition is becoming a big challenge in the contemporary world, especially for children. So how does one retain one’s sanity?
It is always heartening when one hears about innovative methods to overcome the odds. And here comes the news about how Yoga is gaining in popularity among school kids ranging from four-year-olds to 12-year-olds in Britain.
No routine/classical Yoga for children. They are being taught yoga postures, breathing and relaxation techniques through adventure stories that capture a child’s imagination. And the results are encouraging.
“Everybody get into the lotus position…. A business that brings yoga to primary schools around the country is yielding startling results – quieter lessons, better test scores and more confident children,” reports Julie Ferry in The Independent.
“YogaBugs is a company that has trained more than 1,100 teachers in their dynamic yoga programme…Through government initiatives like the School Sports Partnership, these teachers are now seeing around 40,000 children a week take part in lunchtime and after-school yoga clubs, which aim to improve fitness, flexibility and concentration.”
For details please click here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.