Keeping in mind the health benefits of Yoga, it has been made part of the school curriculum under physical education. Physical education degree is given to physical education teacher to impart the exercises of yoga in schools to children. Such schools receive grants from government to encourage children and physical education teachers.
Yoga exercises help in reducing childhood obesity, ADD/ADHD, autism and dyslexia. There is need for physical education in continuing education to the higher grades for these children. There are fewer disciplinary problems in school as children learn with the help of yoga to regulate their senses and control their emotions. They learn the importance of reverence and grow understanding for each other. There are many children who normally do not participate in any type of sports activity. Yoga brings these children out of their shells and gives them the platform to build balanced lives for themselves. Children, who regularly practice yoga, perform better at academics, get better grades and are well behaved.
Many parents and Catholics believe that yoga leads people to search for mysticism and the nuances of Hindu religion. Children are easily influenced and this goes against the dictum of Christianity. This is the reason why yoga was not incorporated into the physical education of many schools. But this trend is changing now as yoga teachings can easily be redesigned according to a particular culture. Yoga can be customized to remove the religious overtones and its practice can be converted into a pure form of physical exercise. The basic exercises remain the same only chanting, meditation and prayers can be practiced differently. This should remove the fear of parents and this is the reason that many more schools are adopting yoga teachings in schools. There is no doubt about the benefits of yoga exercises and it should be accepted as a form of sports in schools.