Building Students’ Concentration

I’ve been working with students and teachers at Jiva Public School to help students increase their concentration and memory. At this time of the year, when exams have become the singular priority, I wanted to reach into the traditional Vedic wisdom to find solutions to address the problems that surround the practice of having to study for long hours and remember copious amounts of information.

I spent a week every morning with 10 students in classes VIII and IX, providing them with tips on how to concentrate, using principles from Yoga and Pranayam (breathing techniques). For dietary issues, I drew heavily from Ayurveda. Ayurveda also provided valuable insights with respect to lifestyle practice and massage as well.

Jaishree and Rajni (Class XIII, Jiva Public School) show off their project summarizing what they learned during their concentration classes.

My aim with the program is to enable students to learn self-discipline, improve time management, increase learning efficiency, increase their learning capacity, and most of all, help them reduce stress. There is just far too much stress put on kids in general in India, and many kids don’t know how to handle it. Therefore, I’m designing this program is to equip young learners with with a new set of mental skills that they can use to become more capable, balanced, lifelong learners.

Here are some more photos of the students with graphic organizers they created, which visually (and colorfully) represent what they learned in the class. This morning, they addressed the students in the assembly to share some of what they learned.

From the new session in April, we will be implementing these techniques through a school-wide program. If you’re an educator, or have a child and want to know how he or she can benefit from this program, feel free to get in touch.

The Ayurvedic Diet for You!

According to Ayurveda, there are three body types: Vata, Pitta, Kapha. (These relate to the Western concept of endomorphic, mesamorphic, and metamorphic.) Ayurveda prescribes different diets for different body types.

For instance, Vata represents air, and refers to people with thin structures. If such people eat “Vata” type of food (i.g., food that is light, airy, dry, crunchy, etc.) their body will become imbalanced. Pitta represents fire, and people with athletic, muscular builds should avoid foods that are spicy, hot, sour, citric, and so on. And Kapha represents water. Such people, those who have large body builds and put on weight easily, should avoid foods that are sweet, heavy, cold.

Learning problems are created for Vata people, because they become dehydrated and they become light-headed and fidgety. When Pitta people eat too much Pitta food, they become angry, aggressive, and agitated, and find it hard to concentrate. And Kapha people become lethargic after consuming too much Kapha type of food.

You can get your learning skills in tip top shape by eating the right Ayurvedic diet. How to find out your nature and related food chart? Do a free Vata, Pitta, Kapha test on the Jiva Ayurveda site. After you take the test, you will get a diet that is just right for your body type. When you do so, it’ll keep your body balanced, and will enable you to concentrate for much longer.