The relationship between exercise and mental health - Shambhavi Nautiyal

If you feel overwhelmed or want to stay in shape, it is a great idea to exercise. Exercise helps you feel happy and productive. 

According to the Bhagavad Gita, it is a rajasic activity, i.e., an activity that makes you feel vigorous and fervent, and a way to worship God since you are sacrificing your comfort to do something productive. It is consequential to maintain both your physical and mental health. If you are someone who experiences low self-worth or insecurity about. If you are not productive enough when giving yourself a self-care day, then this is a sign for you to exercise. 

Exercising helps regulate your breathing and hence grounds you at the moment (i.e.increasing your mindfulness) whilst releasing the "feel-good" hormones of serotonin and endorphins. It regulates your thyroid, makes your heart stronger, improves your memory, and concentration, and keeps diabetes at bay for you. Knowing all these benefits will certainly leave you feeling less stressed out as you meditate on how you are blessed with such good health.

Investing in 30 minutes of exercise every day. Exercise is implicitly fruitful for people with mental conditions like anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia, as it helps ease the symptoms and also leaves the average person feeling easier than usual. If you are healing from depression, then it can give you something, like a purpose to focus on, and help distract you from negative thinking. patterns. It can also provide you with a community if you go out and join yoga classes or a gym. This can aid in removing feelings of isolation and loneliness. You move through the day feeling like you are at the helm of your decisions and have gifted your body something in return for all that it does for you. Your body feels agile, robust, and healthy. So appreciate your body be body-positive, and keep exercising!

Shambhavi Nautiyal 9F

Ahlcon Public School

Image courtesy- Canva

Reflections - 19th November 2023

Sunday School 

- From Live Life In Crescendo

1. Gratitude makes our attitude
2. Power of a book in a child's hand

- From Tata Stories

1. Find out more about Aspy Engineer and his work
2. Recreate the Gypsy Moth aircraft - you can draw it or even write about it
3. Know more about the flying race, its competitors, and what it was about. Does the race teach us lessons of friendship and teach us some values?
4. Competition between friends sometimes ruins bonds, it gives rise to jealousy and selfishness; we get lost in competition that we don't see who is on the other side.

- Know more about JRD Tata here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_R.D. Tata

These are some suggestions you can choose from. Looking forward to seeing your wonderful and thoughtful reflections!

You can email your reflections to Manisha Ma'am at - SS@learningforward.org.in

Rishona Chopra

School Captain My Good School

Diwali in Nepal - Nishan Karki

We all celebrate various festivals, one of which is Diwali, or the festival of light. It is one of the biggest and most popular festivals in India. It is celebrated with immense joy, enthusiasm, and happiness.

Have you ever wondered how Diwali is celebrated in Nepal?

You may have, or maybe not.

Diwali is called Tihar in Nepal. It is also one of the most popular and biggest festivals in Nepal. It is celebrated differently in Nepal in contrast to India.

Tihar is marked by lighting diyas inside and outside the home. Still, unlike Diwali in other parts of India, the five days of Tihar include the celebration and worship of the four creatures associated with the Hindu god of death, Yama, and the goddess of wealth and prosperity, Laxmi. Nepal's various communities celebrate Tihar in different ways. People decorate their houses, make rangoli, light diyas and eat delicious food. Special foods such as sel roti, finni roti, and patre are eaten during Tihar.

The celebration of Tihar goes on for five days. The first day is called Kaag Tihar. On this day, we worship crows (kaag in Nepali ). We prepare delicious food and offer it to the crows.

The second day is called Kukur Tihar. On this day, we worship dogs (kukur in Nepali). We make marigold garland and put it around the dog's neck. Fresh and delicious food is also offered to the dogs. The third day is called the Gai Tihar. We worship cows (Gai in Nepali) on this day. We offer delicious food and put garland around the cow's neck. Goddess Laxmi is also celebrated on this day. She is offered prayers and puja. She is believed to bring wealth, prosperity, and happiness to people.

We perform Bhailo on this day. (At night, Bhailo is performed by girls and women.) The girls performing Bhailo are called Bhailini. The fourth day is called Goru Tihar. On this day, we worship oxen (goru in Nepali). Oxen are worshipped in the same manner as cows are.

We perform Deusi on this day. Both boys and men perform deusi. The boys performing Deusi are called Deuse. The fifth day is called Bhai Tika (bhai dooj in India). Bhai means brother in Nepali. On this day, sisters pray to Yamraj for a long life and prosperity for their brothers. The ritual involves sisters marking the foreheads of their brothers with a seven-coloured long tika. The brothers bring gifts to their sisters and the festival ends with feasting.

Now, let's talk more about Deusi and Bhailo. Deusi and Bhailo are Nepalese traditional folk songs sung during the Tihar festival. Children and adults perform Deusi/Bhailo by singing songs and dancing as they go to various homes in their community, collecting money, sweets, and food, and giving blessings for prosperity. At the end of these songs, the house owner serves food and gives money to the Deusi/ Bhailo singers and dancers.

Name: Nishan Karki
Class. 10 
School -Pestalozzi