Abstract
Background
Current understanding in psychology depicts the child to be multidimensional, and thus the requirement of education is to meet this need for total personality development. However, current approaches in education give heavy emphasis on acquiring knowledge and intellectual skills while neglecting the other dimensions needed for growth. The ancient Indian science of Yoga offers an alternative, and is reputed to be an effective and diverse application that appears to simultaneously address the multiple dimensions of children. Pranayama, part of the science of Yoga, is believed to increase the faculties of attention, which are essential to learning, through developing control over the autonomic nervous system.
Methods
The present study assessed the influence of two yogic practices: slow breathing pranayama and fast yogic breathing exercises, as well as normal breathing (control) on sustained attention in 93 fifth grade school children. The three groups were selected randomly and were trained in their particular breathing style for 30 minutes a day for one month. Sustained attention (NIMHANS Colour Cancellation Test), intelligence (Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices), respiratory rate, and academic performance were assessed initially and after 30 days.
Results
Both of the Yogic breathing groups contributed to significant improvements in sustained attention, but the control group showed no change. Further, students with below the analyzed median intellectual ability, within each of the yogic breathing groups, improved significantly in their sustained attention. The control group did not improve. In regards to intellectual ability, the slow breathing pranayama group improved significantly more than fast yogic breathing exercises group, but not more than the normal breathing control group.
Conclusion
It appears that both slow pranayama and fast yogic breathing contributes to improvements in sustained attention, with greater enhancement for lower IQ students. Further that slow and normal breathing contribute to the development of IQ, whereas fast breathing does not. This study suggests that Yogic breathing contributes to learning cognitions in children, however further studies need to examine the longitudinal effects of the practice, especially on students with learning difficulties, to determine its application in the classroom.
Key Words
Sustained Attention,
Intelligence,
Pranayama,
Yoga for Students
|
