Bonding over asanas that shaped their lives

Visakhapatnam: After an hour-long bending, twisting and deep breathing, B. Bharathi, a Class IX student, feels rejuvenated. Wiping her sweat away, she says that practising yoga not only toned her body but also made her feel much healthier.

Her friends and schoolmates join her a while later. Settling for a break, they explain how the tri-weekly yoga classes in the school helped them beat stress and improved their well-being.

Ahead of the International Yoga Day, students of Government Residential School for Visually-Challenged Girls at Sagar Nagar share how yoga made a difference in their lives and enhanced their focus.

It is the session that students from Classes V to X on the campus look forward to every week. "Yoga connects us well as I feel the workout is more holistic. It aided in reducing my menstrual cramps over the months. I don't skip my classes during periods any more as I used to do earlier," shares Vanaja, a Class IX student.

Recalling her experience, Bharathi says that she no longer suffers from lower back pain during the monthly cycle. "I make sure to do at least eight rounds of 'Surya Namaskaras' every day. I find it extremely effective as it helped me come out of depressive symptoms and back pain significantly I experienced during menstruation before," she narrates.

Yoga has been introduced to some of the students a little early. Those who were restless earlier say that regular practice of deep breathing exercises made them become calmer. "Of all, I enjoy practising 'brahmari pranayama', a breathing technique of a humming bee. It makes me feel clutter-free," explains Neeraja, another visually-impaired student.

Yasoada, one of the students, says that yoga gives her relief and aided in enhancing her concentration level. She says that she can now absorb more content at a time and recall the chapters learnt with ease.

Currently, 30 students in the school practice yoga for six hours a week. "A lot of change has been witnessed among the visually-impaired girls ever since they have been practising yoga. They are more confident, active, focussed and healthy compared to what they were a couple of years ago," observes M. Maheswara Reddy, Principal of the institution.

Apart from the yoga mats, clothes and other material, Divi's Laboratories Limited has been extending financial support to the school, including providing salary to yoga trainer Ch. Satya Vanajakshi, as a part of its corporate social responsibility initiative ever since the school introduced yoga classes in 2016-2017 academic year.