Yoga through music, dance and stories

15 Aug 2010 04:23, (15 Aug 09:58 a.m.) Special children have an intense ability that most people don't. They can stay totally focused in the present moment - the now. This being in the now is where the practice of yoga takes you. The mind is usually constantly torn asunder by various things in this world - thoughts, people, and much, much more.Being in the present moment is to like the situation where you are right now and being where you like ultimately. Bhakti Yoga of devotion to a higher cosmic principle, a noble idea or a goal, gnana yoga or the yoga of wisdom that everything is in its essence the one cosmic consciousness and karma yoga, the path of giving your 100 per cent to the work at hand, take you to that state of complete being in the present moment.Since June this year, yoga sessions have been organised for the children of the 20-year-old Vasantham Special School for the Mentally Challenged by a public charitable trust. Considering their special needs and abilities, to sustain their interest and enthusiasm, the yoga course was designed in such a way that it includes all that they love to do - singing, chanting, repeating words and phrases and dance-like body movements. Right from the word go, the children from the age groups of five to adolescents, youths and some adults too, took to yoga like fish to water! Listening to the different instructions on mudras with rapt attention, they would not only do it but also repeat it along with me. ''Keep your left hand over your lap, right hand over it. Sit erect,'' I would say quoting a famous Tamil poet who said, ''Nimirnda Nannadaiyum Nerkonda Parvaiyum,'' (an upright walk and straightforward vision,) and one among them would echo the name of the poet - Subramania Bharathi!) When it is time to begin the Thoppukaranam or the Super-Brain Yoga as it is getting popular around the world, they know it is time to stand up, hold the right ear with the left hand and the left with the right, say ''Tamizh''. So their tongue gets fixed in the right place on the palate, take a deep breath and go down and up seven times!Singing some devotional songs with different actions and expressions of the face and body that include some yoga mudras, has achieved the first goal - relaxed their mind. When the mind is relaxed, people are at the peak of potential. Teaching songs such as Vande Mataram (preparing them for the Independence Day ahead) and also infuse a devotion to the country, the students also get to stretch their body while practising the mudras - Anjali Mudra, a namaste with hands high up over the head, Kailash Mudra, a namaste with hands resting over the head and the Pranam Mudra with hands over the chest. Alli Murugesan, principal of the school says the integrated style of teaching yoga through music, mudras, stories and dance has helped the children acquire good co-ordination of body movements. There is a sustained interest among the children to participate in the sessions and they look forward to it. Physically there

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