Theory and practical both are the two sides of coin in education system. We need to understand the theory principles as well along with very basic practice to understand the true nature of yoga.

1. RELEVANCE OF YOGA
EDUCATION IN PRESENT
SCENARIO
LEARNING IS –
PRACTICAL ALONG WITH THEORY
&
THEORY ALONG WITH PRACTICAL
Dr. Charu Sharma, Assistant Professor, HOD, Yoga
Department, The Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Punjab
Sports University, Patiala, Punjab, India.

2. YOGA- IS THE SCIENCE OF AWAKENING THE
POSSIBILITIES OF DIVINITY.
• Derived from the Sanskrit word “yuj”.
• Yoga aims for the integrity of body, mind and spirit through a system of asana, pranayama and
meditation.
• With the integration of body mind and spirit, physical and mental balance can be attained in the life as
well as inner peace to the body can be experienced.
• Jacques Delors (2001) refers to UNESCO, in the form of a report that- The four pillars of Education for
the 21st century : Learning to Know, Learning to do, Learning to Live and Learning to Be.
But are we practicing this Yoga?
Are we working on complete Yoga Education?

3. YOGA EDUCATION- THEORY + PRACTICAL
• Practical knowledge is knowledge that is acquired by day-to-day hands-on experiences.
• In other words, practical knowledge is gained through doing things; it is very much
based on real-life endeavors and tasks.
• On the other hand, theoretical knowledge teaches the reasoning, techniques and theory
of knowledge.
• While practical knowledge is gained by doing things, theoretical knowledge is gained, for
example, by reading a manual.

4. RELATION BETWEEN PRACTICAL & THEORY
THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE:
(KNOW THAT)
• I know THAT I can bake a cake
• I know THAT to ride a bike I must pedal
and have good balance
• I know THAT to ride a horse
PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE:
(KNOW HOW)
• I know HOW to ride a bike
• I know HOW to play soccer
• I know HOW to ride horses

5. CONT.
• Practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge are two completely distinct approaches
to knowledge.
• While theoretical knowledge may guarantee that you understand the fundamental
concepts and have know-how about how something works and its mechanism, it will
only get you so far, as, without practice, one is not able to perform the activity
• Practical knowledge guarantees that you are able to actually do something instead of
simply knowing how to do it.
• We Know to…………. WE Can

6. REAL LIFE SITUATION — THEORETICAL
KNOWLEDGE
• My 7 year old niece asked me to ride bicycle.
• I told her (Every step) without the training wheels. I told her that it is very easy- just spin the
wheel with your left leg, then right one, and repeat this over and over again. and taught her
to use the brakes in case she needed to stop the bicycle and also taught to balance herself.
• Confident about her cycling skills, she decided to ride finally, as there was nothing to fear —
Maybe she thought that-my aunt had just explained everything I needed to know to be able
to succeed in riding my bike.
• As soon as she started riding her bike, she completely lost her balance, didn’t stop the bike
in time and crashed into a wall. How come?
• Very simply, she had all the theoretical knowledge and “know-how” of riding a bike; however,
she had no practical knowledge whatsoever.

7. REAL LIFE SITUATION — PRACTICAL
KNOWLEDGE
• After my intermediate examination, I participated in a summer program about mathematics
and the sciences. However, I was very good in Math, but I had no theoretical knowledge on
chemistry as I had never taken the class at school.
• I was assigned a task on titration (neutralization of an acid) through my teacher. I had done
that practical in lab and knew all about the titration of acids and bases, what occurred, when
and why.
• If you asked me anything about how to perform the lab itself, i’d be able to answer all your
practical questions.
• Confident in my chemistry skills, I began my chemistry class with my head high, thinking I
was ahead of others.
• However, it was quick to realize that, though I had so much practical knowledge, I was
unable to describe why the things that happened were happening. I did not understand the
fundamental concepts, reasons or theory behind the experiment that I knew how to direct.
• I had a lot of practical knowledge, but, on the other hand, very little theoretical knowledge.

8. COMING BACK TO THE YOGA
We all are aware that there are various paths of yoga
Bhakti yoga
Jnana yoga
Karma yoga
Raja yoga
Hatha yoga
Every path have purification process in its own way, but we are in hurry.
Hatha yoga starts with Shatkarma, Rajayoga starts with Yama-Niyama. But we
start practice from Asana, some of breathing practice and guided meditation.
And surprisingly maximum of us say ourself yoga Expert with bit knowledge of
practical part.

9. ARE WE TAKING IT VERY LIGHTLY?
• Doctors of any stream can’t be produce without practical knowledge and regular
classes but yoga degrees should be available in distance and online mode. And
even then we all are yoga therapist.
• We never saw the patient, we never check the symptoms, we never went under
the guidance of teacher. But whatever we know- that is correct.
• Is this perfect?
• Is there any relevance of yoga education/ Yoga text books readings?
• Can divinity awakening possible without Swadhyay?

10. LETS UNDERSTAND THIS WITH AN EXAMPLE
 I want to make and yoga module for badminton player
 Should I recommend them some stretching exercise, Pranayama and some auto suggestion. May be
someone want to add something more
But is this sufficient and most important is this correct?
Not at all
 There are some set of principles for any sports which we need to understand. Like first we need to
understand the principle of Skill
 Every Sport is related with particular skill like- . In Badminton, player should be agile, balanced and his
reaction time should be perfect. But other then these skills other skills can be less utilised.

11. YOGA MODULE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES
• Quantity/ quality
• Activity module- assess your activity level
• Type of personality (Vata/Pitta/Kapha)
• SMART principle- (specific, measurable, action, realistic, timed)
• Time for module- short time module, long time module)
• Dietary prescription
• Daily routine

12. EXAMPLE: ACTIVITY(QUANTITY AND QUALITY)
S. No. Score Activity Level Start Point
1. Under 20 Sedentary Level 1/ Absolute
Beginners
2. Inactive Inactive Level 2 / Beginners
3. Acceptable Acceptable Level 3 / Intermediate
4. Active Active Level 4/Intermediate
5. Very Active Very Active Level 5/ Advance
Light Activities( Level 1-2) 1 to 3 Times a week
Moderate Activities (Level 2-4) 3 to 4 Times a week
Vigorous Activities (Level 4-5) 3 to 6 Times a week

13. JUST THINK……….
• How many times pranayama can be performed in a day?
• What are the signs of purity?
• Which pranayama can performed in particular problems?
• How many types of Shatkarma, and what is the process?
• Where these can be used and in which diseases?
• What are the benefits and precautions?
• Counterpose for a particular asana…. As so many

14. AT LAST SOME QUESTIONS FOR ALL OF US
• Do you think that reading of yogic texts theory is
important in educational research and practice, and if so,
why?
• Is it not necessary for all of us to work for our yoga
education in old gurukul system?
• Distance education in Yoga is good for our true
knowledge?