By Bindu George for BIS Mumbai 

Students at Don Bosco High School and Junior College in Lonavla spent Monday morning learning breathing techniques, meditation and yoga postures as the school marked International Yoga Day with a series of instructor-led sessions focused on wellbeing, fitness and mindfulness.

The school held the programme on June 22 because the official observance fell on a Sunday, when students were on holiday. The School Management and Staff described the event as a celebration of yoga’s enduring message: the union of body and consciousness and harmony between humanity and nature.

Yoga practitioners Vipra Chauhan and Aasiya Shaikh from the Suksham Yoga Foundation Institution in Lonavla led the sessions. They worked with students from Classes V to IX, introducing practices designed for both young and older people and highlighting the benefits of yoga for physical strength, mental clarity and metabolic health.

The programme began at 8.15 a.m. with a welcome, introduction and felicitation of the resource persons. It continued until 11.30 a.m. and ran in three batches.

Students started with breathing exercises, Om chanting and basic yoga mantras before moving through a series of asanas that included Vrikshasana, Tadasana and Ardha Chakrasana. Instructors also demonstrated other postures aimed at improving stamina, body balance and posture correction.

Each batch began and ended with pranayama, the yogic breathing practice often used to cleanse and strengthen the respiratory system. Throughout the sessions, instructors gave step-by-step guidance on alignment, posture and variations of each exercise, ensuring students understood the techniques before practising them.

Students responded enthusiastically to what many described as a new experience.

One Class IX student said: “In my previous school, we didn’t have activities like this. Here, they give us an opportunity to learn yoga. All my stress and body pain was gone after the yoga.”

Another student said: “Calmness is the key of yoga. We did many asanas which we never heard before. It was a new experience.”

Teachers also welcomed the initiative. One described the session as “good and refreshing”, praising the experts for helping students understand every posture. Another said students participated enthusiastically and found the programme both enjoyable and beneficial.

A third teacher said: “Watching the students actively participate in the asanas and breathing exercises was inspiring. It is a fantastic initiative that helps our children build mental clarity, focus and a healthy lifestyle.”

The programme concluded with a vote of thanks to the instructors. Organisers said the lessons would help students improve flexibility, core strength and stamina while learning practical ways to manage stress and maintain healthy living.