Yoga is offered at Ranum Efterskole College (REC) both as a profile subject and an activity subject and has been an extracurricular opportunity for our students since 2016. It should not only be seen as a physical activity but also a mental and spiritual practice, thus offering a holistic approach to a more balanced lifestyle. This is the key objective of yoga at REC since our students find themselves in a transitional period of their life, growing from adolescence to becoming young adults. At this stage in their life, several of them may experience a lack of confidence, anxiety, exhaustion, stress, or academic pressure as they develop their identity and place in the world.
Yoga not only gives our students a physical outlet where they learn how to move in different asanas (postures), making them stronger and more flexible, at the same time the classes also give them a free and safe space where they can slow down their thoughts and regain a surplus of mental energy. Yoga is used as a dynamic form of meditation, and our students have expressed how the yoga classes give them an opportunity to slow down the pace of a fast-moving lifestyle, having a positive impact on both their physical as well as their mental health.
Making yoga accessible at REC has helped students to become more aware of the signals of their body. Yoga can help access repressed feelings and thought patterns, which is why it is important for us to create a space where they feel safe and nurtured. Yoga, guided meditations, and restorative yoga provides versatility, while the students also are taught about the impact of the nervous system on our general well-being and how to detect the body’s alarm signals if one performs a posture that strain the body in a wrong and/or hurtful way. This continuous exploration of yoga as an integrated part of a healthy lifestyle was further developed during the travels to Sicily, Italy and Málaga, Spain with the profile subject Yoga. Moreover, they participated in karma projects, such as cleaning the beaches in the South of Sicily.
We aspire to provide our students with a deeper understanding of living a balanced life through practical tools that they can continue to use in the future when they no longer attend REC.
