NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 4 Yoga–A Way of Life — Let us do these activities before we read
Book page 122 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
What do you know about yoga? Discuss in pairs and share with the whole class.
Answer
Organise whatever you already know under four headings — that turns scattered facts into a proper answer.
Heading
What you might say
What it is
An ancient Indian practice of body, mind and spirit — postures, breathing and meditation together.
Where it comes from
Ancient India. Sage Patanjali set it out systematically in the Yoga Sutras.
Its parts
Asanas (postures) such as tadasana, vrikshasana, bhujangasana; pranayama (breathing); dhyana (meditation); Surya Namaskar.
What it does
Makes the body flexible and strong, calms the mind, improves sleep and concentration, reduces stress.
Sample answer: I know that yoga began in India thousands of years ago. My grandmother does Surya Namaskar on the terrace every morning and says it keeps her back from hurting. In school we learn tadasana and vrikshasana in the PT period, and on 21 June the whole school sits on mats in the ground for International Day of Yoga. I also know that yoga is not only exercise — the breathing part is meant to make the mind quiet.
Q2.
What is 21st June known for? What do we do on this day?
Answer
The 21st of June is known as International Day of Yoga (International Yoga Day).
It was India that proposed the day, and on 11 December 2014 the United Nations General Assembly, with all its 193 members, accepted the proposal (page 127 of your book). The first celebration was held on 21 June 2015. The date was chosen because 21 June is the longest day of the year in the northern half of the world — the summer solstice — a day that has always been considered special in India.
What we do on this day:
Mass yoga sessions are held in schools, parks, stadiums and offices, with everyone following a common set of asanas.
Schools hold demonstrations, asana competitions, poster-making and talks on healthy living.
Every year the day is given a theme, and yoga teachers and doctors speak about its benefits.
Many people simply begin their own daily practice on this day.
Sample answer: In my school we all assemble in the ground at six in the morning on 21 June with our mats. Our PT sir leads us through the common yoga protocol, and afterwards there is a poster competition on ‘Health is Wealth’. Last year my poster of a boy in vrikshasana got the second prize.
Q3.
List as many words you know related to yoga. Share them with your classmates.
Answer
Group the words while you list them — it doubles the number you remember.
Tip: Keep this list in your notebook. Several of these words — harmony, endurance, distractions, boost, anxiety — appear in the passage you are about to read and again in the ‘Let us discuss’ exercise on page 124.
Q4.
Let us play the game of Antakshari. The first word is ‘yoga’. The next word must then begin with the letter ‘a’. This activity will go on and the whole class will participate and write the words on the blackboard. How many new words have you learnt?
Answer
The rule: each new word must begin with the last letter of the word before it. Start with yoga, which ends in ‘a’ — so the next word begins with ‘a’.
Sample answer — one round of the chain:
yoga → asana → awareness → strength → health → harmony → yogi → immunity → yuj → joy → yoga mat → tadasana → ancient → tempo → ...
How many new words did you learn? Count only the words that were new to you when the round ended — write the number down, and then write the three you liked best with their meanings.
Sample answer: Our class chain ran to thirty-one words before it broke on the letter ‘v’. Nine of them were new to me. My three favourites are yuj (to join), endurance (the capacity to keep going without giving up) and shavasana (the resting pose at the end of a yoga session).