Mumbai: On Wednesday, February 22, Mumbai’s St. Xavier’s College held a unique yoga session for its students with disabilities — low vision, blindness, hearing-impaired, orthopedic disabilities, intellectual and learning disabilities, cancer survivors, thalassemia patients, and mental illness.
The session was conducted by three certified Yoga teachers and six assistant teachers from the Yoga Institute in Santa Cruz. A team of 14 certified Yoga teachers conducted the session which started with an icebreaker game, followed by sukshma vyayam (warm-ups), simple asanas with the correct breathing patterns, and pranayama.
Students learning pranayama | File
“This is the first time such a planned yoga activity with certified trainers is being organized for students with disabilities. A survey was conducted among Students with Disabilities to get an idea of the kind of yogic exercises they would like to learn and of any special assistance needed for the same.
Most respondents replied that they would like basic exercises that they can perform at home and breathing techniques to calm their minds and increase focus and concentration. Based on the post-workshop feedback, the Yoga Committee would be planning further sessions for them,” said a member of Xavier's yoga committee.
