Chicago's Namaste Charter School starts the day with yoga

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Correspondent

12 July, 2010

Namaste Charter School, a public charter school in Chicago (USA), reportedly starts each morning with yoga.

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, while applauding this School for its efforts in incorporating yoga in the lives of children at an early stage, has urged other public schools in USA also to include yoga in their daily routine. Yoga is a mental and physical discipline whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE.

Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, quoted Patanjali, author of the basic text Yoga Sutra, who said that yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.

In Namaste Charter School, “students develop yoga skills such as balance, strength, flexibility, concentration, and mindfulness”. It serves over 360 students in Kindergarten through sixth grades with a daily focus on health, nutrition and physical fitness.

Here children learn strategies for calming themselves down, controlling their impulses, managing anger, dealing with conflict and aggression; and socio-emotional development is incorporated into the school day. With a holistic approach to education and focus on integrating health and wellness with rigorous academics, it includes breakfast and lunch to ensure the students are well-nourished, besides a Family Breakfast each week. School admission is by blind lottery. Allison Slade is the Principal and Co-Founder.