Shinirin Yoku- Shaurya Chaturvedi

Shinirin Yoku

Whether you call it a fitness trend or a mindfulness practice (or a bit of both), what exactly is Forest bathing? The term emerged in Japan in the 1980s as a physiological and psychological exercise called Shinrin-yoku ("forest bathing" or "taking in the forest atmosphere"). The purpose was twofold: to offer an eco-antidote to tech-boom burnout and to inspire residents to reconnect with and protect the country's forests.

The Japanese quickly embraced this form of ecotherapy. In the 1990s, researchers began studying the physiological benefits of forest bathing, providing the science to support what we innately know. While Japan is credited with the term Shinrin-yoku, the concept at the heart of the practice is not new. Many cultures have long recognized the importance of the natural world to human health.

Forest bathing is not just for the wilderness-lover; the practice can be as simple as walking in any natural environment and consciously connecting with what's around you. For a more structured experience, you can join trained guides for a meditative two- to three-hour ecotherapy excursion. 

Shaurya Chaturvedi  

Grade - IX

Sunbeam Hostel Lahartara

Meditation and Mindset - Vaibhav Jaiswal

MEDITATION
Meditation is the way to make your life peaceful and strong. Leading with solid thinking helps you to strengthen your self-awareness. Meditation helps to reduce stress, increase your imagination and creativity, build your skills, and develop your abilities. The word meditation comes from the Latin meditatum, meaning to "concentrate" or "ponder." Monk Guigo II introduced this terminology for the first time in the 12th century AD.

MINDSET

When one changes one mindset, then only he or she can change his life. The beautiful meaning of this thought is that unhappy, frustrated people are unimportant and of little value. They feel frustrated and unworthy. They thought I was not good enough, so they lashed out at the world and engaged in behaviours that hurt themselves and others. They don't realize that they could be a prince or princes.

       

VAIBHAV JAISWAL 9D

SUNBEAM HOSTEL LAHARTARA 

Essence of Life - Reveda Bhatt

Picture Courtesy: https://www.yogapedia.com/how-to-balance-your-chakras-instantly/2/10271

Meditation and its Importance. 

What is it, firstly? 

Meditation is when giving up everything you have in the outside world for a while; you close your outer eye and open your inner eye - one which is unseen.

Most of you would be thinking - what is an inner eye? Or you would not believe me saying. But it is there! Just because it is unseen, it does not mean it is non-existent since all the best of the world lies unseen. 

What role does it play in one’s life?

Primarily, it gives you time and strength to calm down. When seen closely, it makes you realise that all the energy lies within you. As a matter of fact, I’m sure we all know what a chakra is. A layer of energy! But did you know? There are 114 chakras in your body if seen inwards (Outwards-7).

To know yourself, when you meditate, your inner eye looks for the keys to these chakras, opening them; one by one. At the point at which all is down to zero, you lie low while your soul’s ability lies high. Now that is spiritual awakening. 

When you achieve control over your breath, you become Invictus. All the energy lies within you. All you need to do is channelise it in the right direction with meditation; for you to be infinite. 

That’s when I say, “To thine, own self be true.”

Reveda Bhatt

The Aryan School

Sharpening The Saw - Nishan Karki

Sunday reading with Jugjiv Sir

"We must never be too busy to take time to sharpen the saw." - Stephen Richards Covey.

Sharpening the saw means making the best use of your greatest asset, i.e. you. It means sharpening your mind physically, socially, mentally and spiritually. Sharpening the saw and sharpening yourself are the same thing. It helps to keep yourself in the best place and fresh to do your work most effectively. If you sharpen yourself, you can bring change in yourself and your habits.

You can sharpen the saw through the following :

* Positiveness on yourself

* Meditation

* Be resilient

* Read, write and learn new things

* Take care of your mind, body and spirit

* Listen to your heart and mind

* Create balance

Nishan Karki
Pestalozzi Children's Village India 

How To Develop Self-Control - Tenzin Jambey

In life, we will encounter many situations that can make us lose self-control; we also become rough, nasty, and rude with others. When we lose self-control, we lose our identity and become an evil version of ourselves with bad attitudes and deviant minds. 

What leads us to lose our "self-control"? Firstly, self-control means the ability or the power to control yourself and your mind from performing any actions or work, we often come across some circumstances it situations that make us feel angry, hateful, and annoyed, and we also think like inflicting others, this all feelings and emotions are the effects of losing self-control. People say "calm down" and "cool down" when we get angry, but their words don't reflect upon us. It is always us who can cool the anger of our self but, but for this, we need to develop extreme self-control.

There are various ways through which we can develop and make our "self-control" strong. For me, the best practices are as follows:

1) MEDITATION

I was also once an insulting boy who often ignored others and hardly obeyed my teacher's instructions. It was all because of anger and the developed urges within me. One day one of my friends suggested I practice meditation, but I was surprised to find out how it worked. He told me I just have to relax and forget about all images and memories for a while. I found a change in myself after a few days, and now I am better at controlling my anger; whenever I feel angry, I simply try to forget the cause. Therefore, one should mediate to develop self-control.

2) DEEP BREATH FORMULA

This one is very effective when you are struggling to develop self-control. We feel diffident, nervous and frightened regarding social activities like public speaking and debates. We get these emotions as we are not used to them, as in the case of writing. When we are about to perform or participate in any social activities, we need to relax for a few minutes by closing our eyes, taking deep breaths, and always making ourselves comfortable before doing any new things,  curriculum,  activities, work, etc.

These two methods are instrumental, like the word "very" itself, if they are practised well, and these methods can make a person's life look even more beautiful.

- Tenzin Jambey

Pestalozzi Children's Village India

Reflections from the book we are reading

Positive Attitude In Life - Sulochana Rana

Positive people can maintain a broader perspective and see the big picture, which helps them find solutions.  

We will get the following things if we have a positive attitude in our life:-

• Happiness
• Self-confidence
• Strong Immune System
• More focus

We can get a positive attitude by loving ourselves, giving time to ourselves, practising meditation, Listening to music and looking at the bright side after getting laid off.

Sulochana Rana

sr@learningforward.org.in

Spreading the joy of learning at My Good School.

Image source: https://possibilitiesunlimited.com/how-to-feel-more-positive-and-energized/

Mind Over Matter - Rishona Chopra

Controlling over feelings is quite essential. We often get irritated over the most minor things. Like on the dog barking a lot or on the printer that wasn't working. We all get annoyed at the smallest of things and shout, scream and even start to do physical fighting! But, when you look back and think about that problem, you realise it wasn't worth it.  

Scientifically we say - the mind controls us, but spiritually, we say - We control the mind. Controlling the mind is listening to what is correct. Our mind knows what is wrong and right but even knowing that we listen to what our mind says, even if it is wrong. 

Mind over matter is simply about controlling your feelings and not letting them get the better of you.

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School

Happy International Yoga Day! - Rishona Chopra

Today on International Yoga Day,

Why don't we pray,

For healthy lives for everyone,

And that bad times don't touch anyone!

Let's wake up with a happy morning,

And exercise a bit which will surely be rewarding!

Butterfly pose or the wheel pose,

You can even stand on your toes.

At least you can do some meditation,

It will free your mind from unnecessary information.

So let's wish everyone a very happy International Yoga Day,

And let's celebrate the moment by being happy and gay!

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI
Gyanshree School

Ignorance - Rishona Chopra

Ignorance is when we ignore the law of nature.

When we think life will never end and we are immortal and will live forever is ignorance. When we forget that things change, we and ignorant.

 If you think you have come out of the world of ignorance and have achieved something great, and now you are more extraordinary, this thought simply displays that you are in the world of ignorance.

Ignorance is thinking that you are greater or your success will never end. Once you achieve something big and instead of being greedy for more, you cherish it: being free from ignorance. When the thought does not come to your mind that your success will never end, you are free.

The most prominent example is Lord Buddha. Did he ever show off his success and strength? No, because he was free from ignorance. And as he rightly said, desire is the cause of pain. This doesn't mean we shouldn't have ambitions and dreams. There is a simple difference between the desire of want and need. If you desire to be selfless and humble, then be it but then don't be too proud over that because once you link want and greed with need, all the pain begins.

Ignorance leads to ego, and ego leads to anger and greed. To stop this connection, we need to be humble.

Rishona Chopra 
Grade VI 
Gyanshree School

International Yoga Day - Ritu Parihar

International Yoga Day

Today our school celebrated 7th International Yoga Day. Everyone participated with great zeal and enthusiasm. The session was conducted by Rahul Sir and Abhay Sir. It was started with our Principal Ma'am's message to practice yoga in our daily lives. Then, we performed several asanas virtually, and the benefits were explained. 

Yoga is the only process in which you can exercise without any equipment. The light that yoga sheds on life are something special. Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines originating in ancient India. It is an art and science of healthy living.

There are lots of benefits to practising yoga. It increases your flexibility and helps you to build strength. It improves your posture and helps to keep your joints healthy. 

Yoga is a powerful mindfulness practice. It reduces stress and lowers blood pressure. In addition, yoga's incorporation of meditation and breathing can improve a person's mental well-being. Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness, increases body awareness, relieves stress, relaxes the mind, centres attention, and sharpens concentration. Therefore, yoga should be part of our daily routine to live a happy and healthy life.

Ritu Parihar

Class  IX A

The Fabindia School