At the COLT AGM last month our speaker, Swami Vidyananda, spoke on the topic ‘Yoga in Education’ from the aspect of ‘Yoga is Education’. He highlighted that to educate is to facilitate the process of bringing out the innate intelligence, harmony and happiness in that person. Education is derived from the Latin word, “educe” which means, “to bring out or develop” not fill with information, which is the current way in most schools. The so called ‘norm’ doesn’t work in Yoga; education is a communal process and everyone is involved, not just the pupil.
Yoga is not separate from education. Yoga guides our every step and if we manage to bring a child’s potential to the foreground, we are doing well. Even if a child is at COLT for a short time, they might benefit now, maybe not now, maybe not even in this life time, but the next. There will be growth, like in the roots of the tree.
Young people entering the working environment get influenced easily, they might struggle with relationships in work and personal life. Ethics and morals were not part of their education. This is how corruption in the workplace can start. If they were exposed to Yoga in their education, they would be emotionally stronger and handle their working environment and other aspects of their lives with more respect, integrity and harmony.