Another activity of the Well-being Club is the regular counselling sessions for our students. Students are constantly motivated by the principal and teachers at the college but apart from this counselling, we also have our in-house counsellor Ms. Yvette Lee who conducts where sessions with the students as a group and also on an individual basis. She conducts sessions on topics like handling stress in professional and personal life, stress due to the course at hand. She is available to the students to discuss matters on a personal level, either face to face or through telephonic conversations and emails.

Self- development modules are conducted for students to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Teachers engage the students in hands-on activity to create awareness about their own self so that they can handle themselves better. These modules teach our students to develop self-esteem, self-confidence, resilience self-compassion, etc. through various activities which helps students develop a positive self-image. Having a positive self-image works wonders for them as they are equipped to deal with any stressful situation in the right manner. The activities conducted in the modules help the students have practical experience of taking care of their well-being in different situations.

Adhering to what the WHO says, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”, our college tries to provide many opportunities to our students and staff to understand the need for healthy mind and body and conduct activities which will help them achieve their well-being.

Dalai Lama said, “A calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health”.

As a teacher-training institute one of the objectives at Mahatma Education Society’s Pillai College of Education and Research, New Panvel is to create future teachers who have the inner strength as well as self-confidence to deal with the society and its needs. Both physical and mental health go hand in hand for a well-balanced, well-developed body and mind. As is our practice every year, this year too we have many activities organized for both students and staff to focus on our health and well-being. Due to the ongoing pandemic situation, all our activities were conducted through the offline mode.

In order to remove any stress in our lives, Yoga is a very good medium and we give our students an opportunity to participate in Yoga and meditation in our college. We invite experts from the field and as well as in-house teachers conduct Yoga and meditation for our students. 2021 was the 7th year of our celebration of International Day of Yoga on 21st June, 2021. As is our practice, in-charge teacher started online sessions for students for half an hour every day. She started off with the breathing exercises, pranayama and simple yogasanas as prescribed by the Government of India. A special slot was provided in the timetable for the activity. Students were eager to be part of this morning ritual.

Our expert this year for Yoga Day was Ms. Bharti Iyer, a certified Yoga expert who has been practicing yoga for many years and she also teaches Yoga in both online and offline mode. She explained the various benefits of the pranayams, asanas and breathing exercises to the students and staff as it was being shown to students. She also informed about how various diseases can be kept at bay by following the various aspects of Yoga. It was a wonderful session, well -received by all. A lot of participants showed interest in continuing with this activity on a regular basis.

The benefits of Yoga for the mind and the body are not limited to few weeks or any special day but has long term effects. We have tried to continue with the pranayams, breathing exercises and stretching exercises for the students.