Psychophysiological yogic effects of punishments

Namrta Dave; Dr. Deependra Singh Chauhan; Meena Jain

doi:10.22271/yogic.2022.v7.i1b.1283

Psychophysiological yogic effects of punishments

AUTHOR(S): Namrta Dave, Dr. Deependra Singh Chauhan and Meena Jain

ABSTRACT:
Ancient India is known to the world for its brilliant education system 'gurukul system'. In which, the students gain knowledge from the teachers or ' gurus' and also live with them as a family, to acquaint and to learn all the rituals and habits still they complete their education. As a reward of complete package for their futuristic life. The main motto of the gurukul system was to foster highly critical thinking, a versatile mindly activities with In-depth practical knowledge, as was experienced by the gurus. the total education system was oral and gurus transfer their knowledge and skill power to the capable students. Students have to follow certain rules and regulation of the gurukula’s to become highly focused towards their teaching/learning. All extra co-curricular activities had to be done by them so that teaching become very practical. This discipline of gurukul can be understood as the steps of astangyog of maharshi Patanjali i.e yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharna, dhyan, samadhi. Focused mind and mindfull activities all come from these physical asanas which we call yoga and the concentration came from mindfull meditation.so in short we can say that yoga and meditation are the main stream of the gurukul. In gurukul students were trained through yoga and meditation and various other means. The students were also punished for not performing well in their studies. But the rationale behind the punishment is very interesting. This research aims to study the positive impact of punishments on the students, both mentally and physically, from the yogic perspective. Elizabeth Fry once said, "Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal".

Positive effects of punishments: According to kathopnishad- when maharshi vajashravasa, gave his son nachiketa to yamraj in a fit of anger, it ultimately changed the whole life of nachiketa. He learned self- knowledge, the knowledge of aatma and brahma, from lord yama /dharma raj. So we can say that Punishment and reward go hand in hand and exist parallel in life. When someone is punished by their beloved, It’s for their own good and betterment. Such punishments serves as life changing points and does the grooming for the future. These punishment reward the pupil multiple times in the future. There are various theories to support the fact that punishments played a vital role in the overall development of the students, it increases the academic achievements of the student and is of significant importance in both the teaching and learning process. One of them is discussed below: Thorndike’s theory according to his theory, rewards are more liked or wanted by people than punishment, but in reality punishments serves to be more fruitful to a person as it reinforces balance of body and mind. A person when is punished for committing a mistake, makes sures that he does not repeat the same mistake and the punishment all over again. Whenever he steps into doing the same mistake his mind send alerts by reminding him about the punishment that lies ahead.

Now according to this theory, different punishment impacts differently on our neural pathways. When a subject learns by the punishments, the dendrites of neurons sends electric signals and makes a memory circuit. While repeating, the skill circuitry gets very strong, and learning becomes faster. So we can say punishments works on mental as well as physical level too. Rewards serves as a short term memory while punishments are long term memory.

. The particular posture given as a punishment increases the blood flow in the memory cells of the brain. it also synchronizes the left and right sides of the brain. It improves the overall functioning, promotes calmness, stimulates neural pathways via acupressure points in the earlobes, sharpens intelligence, and also helps those with autism, Asperger's syndrome, learning difficulties, and behavioral problems.

. It was used to create discipline in students. Maharshi Patanjali mentioned in his book ' Patanjali yoga sutra ' - 'atha yoga anushasanam ' 1\1

That is yog is anushasanam i.e, discipline so the research aims to study the benefits of different types of punishments like

. Rooster punishments.

. Stand with hands up.

. Placing a pencil between the index and middle finger and pressing both fingers.

. Balancing book on the head for a long period.

. Standing under the direct sun.

. Squats, etc.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/yogic.2022.v7.i1b.1283

Pages: 100-103 | 842 Views 296 Downloads

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