Lauding BC school offering yoga, Hindus urge yoga in all Canada schools

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Hindus have commended Central Okanagan School District (COSD) in British Columbia (BC) for reportedly offering yoga class to grade 12 in Kelowna, calling it a step in the positive direction.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, applauded COSD 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 education ministries/departments of Canada’s 10 provinces and three territories to work towards formally introducing yoga as a part of curriculum in all their public schools, thus incorporating highly beneficial yoga in the lives of Canada’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 study, yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image.  Yoga is the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Rajan Zed adds.

Reports suggest that COSD Board of Education approved on February 24 the 120-hours class “Yoga & Wellness 12”, which will be available to École Kelowna Secondary (EKS) students. According to the Course Proposal, it includes practice and principals of Yoga, pranayama, meditation, Yoga Sutras, Sanskrit terminology, spiritual benefits of meditation, mantra meditation, recite one of the Yoga Sutras, Ayurveda, etc. Purpose of this course includes “self-discovery”, and it will provide “tools for personal reflection”.

Moyra Baxter, Kevin Kaardal and Scott McLean are COSD Board Chairperson, COSD Superintendent and EKS Principal respectively. COSD’s tagline is “Together We Learn”.