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Yoga in Physical Education
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For undergoing yogic practices an adequate substratum is formed by resorting to a mode of self-imposed code of conduct technically known as Yamās and Niyamās. They form the very basis of Yoga and is considered to be essential part of yogic routine, howsoever on a mild scale.
The nature of all yogic practices is psycho-physiological. Some practices emphasizing control of mental processes directly are more psychological. Other practices are more physical or physiological. It is the latter part of the yogic practices that has become more popular and is being extensively used for the maintenance of health.
The Concept of Physical Education Confusions, contradictions and misunderstandings have always existed concerning physical education and these persist even to-day. But more effective interpretation of the purposes and substance of physical education is being carried on to-day than in the past. Nixon and Jewett (1969) state that the aim of organized physical education is to make the maximal contribution to the optimal development of the individual's potentialities in all phases of life, by placing him in an environment which will promote the movement and related responses or activities that will best contribute to this purpose". In the light of this statement physical education may be defined as an integral part of the total education process which endeavours at the development of physically, mentally, emotionally and socially fit citizens through the medium of physical activities. Thus physical activities are the means, while optimal development of the individual's potentialities in all phases of life is the aim of physical education.
Keeping this aim in view several objectives have been formulated and revised literally thousands of times over the years. From a long list of general objectives from a variety of sources we could isolate two most important objectives-(1) Health and Physical fitness and (2) Emotional stability.
Common Objectives of Yoga and Physical Education Health and Physical Fitness and Emotional Stability are the two objectives which bring Yoga and Physical Education on a common platform for the benefit of human individuals. Health is a more general and comprehensive term conveying the feeling of well-being', while physical fitness is a more specific term. Physical fitness is an organic fitness. It may be defined as 'the capacity of an individual to perform a given task at a particular time. There are several factors of physical fitness. The important ones may be enumerated as--(a) Speed, (b) Strength, (c) Stamina (endurance), (d) Suppleness, (e) Stability, (f) Skill (neuro-muscular coordination)
Health and physical fitness are not static. They are always changing. They follow *the law of use and disuse'. Health and physical fitness can be maintained only by carefully selected physical activities which are called 'exercise. The utility of a particular exercise programme can be evaluated only in terms of the effects that are obtained in promoting a particular factor or factors of physical fitness.
Evaluating Various Programmes of Physical Activities and Yogic Practices
There have been literally thousands of scientific investigations carried out uptill now for finding out the utility of various individual activities, systems of exercises, and several exercise programmes in developing different factors of physical fitness. Scientific books and periodicals are full of reports on the effects of these physical activities on the various systems of the human organism leading to health and physical fitness. However, we do not find many studies conducted on the yogic practices with a view to find their utility in promoting health and physical fitness. This seems to have reflected in an apathy toward Yoga and yogic practices by the workers in the field of physical education.
Yogic Practices in Physical Education Programme Until five decades ago Yoga was shrouded in a mystery and some yogic practices were undergone by individuals here and there for spiritual purposes only. Swami Kuvalayānanda
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