NCERT Book Class 9 Health and Physical Education Personality Development Through Yoga

Development of personality is an important issue. Personality starts developing since birth, but it assumes great importance during adolescence, when reorganisation of personality takes place.

Personality is a very common term which is used in our day-to-day life. It tells us what type of person one is. We know that each person generally behaves consistently in most of the situations. The examples of this consistency can be seen in a person who remains friendly or a person who is generally kind or helpful in most situations. Such a consistent pattern of behaviour is termed as personality. It can be called as the sum total of behaviour that includes attitudes, emotions, thoughts, habits and traits. This pattern of behaviour is characteristic to an individual.

There are various dimensions of personality. These dimensions are related to physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual aspects of our behaviour. For a holistic personality development, yoga plays an important role.

 

Yogic practices are found effective for development of all dimensions of personality.

Let us talk about the yogic practices that influences development of different dimensions of personality.

 

Yoga and Physical Dimension of Personality: Physical dimension is related to our body. It means that all organs and systems of our body should be properly developed and function. It implies a healthy body without any disease. Yogic practices like asana, pranayama, and bandha play a beneficial role in physical development of children. There is a series of asanas and pranayamas which help to improve the functioning of the body.

 

Yoga and Emotional Dimension of Personality:Yogic practices are effective for development of emotional dimension related to our feelings, attitudes and emotions. There are two kinds of emotions : positive and negative. For example love, kindness are positive emotions, while anger and fear (exam phobia) are negative emotions. Similarly, our feelings and attitudes may be positive and negative. For emotional development, positive feelings, attitudes and emotions should be developed and negative ones should be controlled, as the negative attitudes and emotions work as a mental block for the development of personality. Yoga plays a critical role in development of positive emotions. It brings emotional stability. It helps to control negative emotions. Yogic practices such as yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara and meditation help in emotional management. For example, the principle of non-violence will protect us from negative emotions and develop positive feelings of love and kindness. Similarly, other principles of yama and niyama will help to develop positive emotions and attitudes in our personal and social life and