Healing through yoga

mindful development

Yoga brings its practitioners many benefits, particularly physical and emotional. A continued practice of the same can get one a stronger and healthier body. Furthermore, yoga combines physical activity with self-awareness and creates a mind-to-body connection. Bringing these benefits and many more to a wide cross-section of society is the Bengaluru-based organisation Prafull Oorja.

They believe that yoga is a universal right that should be accessible to everyone. This is what they are doing through the two programmes that they run: uBloom Yoga for Special Needs and uRise Yoga for Empowerment. The first programme works with various schools and organisations to teach yoga while the latter brings yoga workshops and teacher trainings to rural villages and under-resourced communities. “Working with a wide cross-section of people has empowered me and has shown how much people have to offer,” says Sowmya Ayyar, founder of Prafull Oorja Charitable Foundation.

It all began when Sowmya started to give yoga classes to a boy in her neighbourhood. As he was extremely hyperactive, he could not sit for long and his parents had been looking for a yoga teacher to help him. Within a few months of practising yoga with her, she saw that the boy learned to sit in vajrasana for a few minutes completely still! Inspired by this experience, Sowmya (who has a yoga teaching certification herself) decided to take this a step further and put a post on Facebook to see if she could generate interest amongst her friends. This brought her in contact with Madeleine, who later co-founded the organisation with her. While it began as an initiative in 2011, it was established as a trust in 2014.

Yoga for children

While it is a known fact that yoga has many benefits for all ages, not many seem to know how beneficial yoga can be for children with special needs. In fact, yoga can be used as alternative therapy for them. Enabling them to do yoga can help them increase their concentration, flexibly and strength. Additionally, it can also help them develop coordination and reduce stress and anxiety.

These benefits are brought to the children through the engaging programme that the organisation runs: uBloom Yoga for Special Needs. Through this programme, they engage the children through their bodies in order to focus and relax their state of being. They work with children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism and other issues.

A yoga session usually begins with a relaxing posture to help the children ease into doing the asanas required. “However, it is important for the teachers to be very gentle and friendly with the students. If not, they will not trust you and won’t let you do yoga with them,” states Bhoomika Vikky Jain, one of the yoga therapists with Prafull Oorja. Once they have gained the trust, the teachers will plan the postures accordingly to help them calm their mind and increase their muscle toning. Once the session is complete, it often ends with shavasana.

“Teaching students with special needs requires one to be creative and be present at all times,” adds Raksha Kothari, another yoga therapist. Hence, in order to help yoga teachers communicate with the children more effectively, Prafull Oorja runs a special certification course. It is a month-long programme where they learn how to deliver yoga sessions with kids with special needs.

However, only individuals who have a background in yoga are given the training. “Once you complete the course, you have to do some hours of observation so that you know how to approach the children,” Vaishnavi Krishnamani, a yoga therapist with the organisation, elaborates. There is also a training programme given to parents so that the students can continue practising yoga at home.

By continuously practicing yoga, children with special needs can become more aware of their own body and behaviour. As a result, any anxiety issues they may have — hyperactivity and even behavioural problems — can be lowered. While the process can be slow, it nevertheless has an impact on the children.

“As a mother of a child with special needs, I had tried all sorts of therapy for my son, who is extremely hyperactive. He began doing yoga two years ago and now I see a lot of change. It helped him become calmer and has made him more independent,” says Vidya Lakshmi, a parent.

For local communities

Apart from working with children, the organisation actively works with communities in the rural villages and under-resourced communities. Additionally, they  plan to work with those who have suffered domestic violence, prison inmates, bus drivers, sex-trafficked individuals and other vulnerable people as well. The programmes teach them about the importance of yoga and how its practice can bring a difference in their everyday life.

Through the uRise Yoga for Empowerment programme, however, the foundation aims to bring yoga to a wider audience. The programme has currently impacted three rural communities in South India and has helped over 200 women and children in each location. To enable accessibility and sustainability, the foundation creates training material and trains locals so that they can continue teaching and practising independently. The organisation is self-sustainable and generates revenue through the fees they charge for the classes they conduct in schools.

For more details, log on to www.
prafulloorja.org or e-mail [e-mail].