According to Saxena et al (2020), the concept of a ‘‘complete education’’ is gaining popularity within education worldwide. The complete education concept is focused on social, emotional, and physical wellbeing together with academic achievement, in which all students can acquire lifelong tools and skills that improve their attentional capacity and manage stress (Saxena et al, 2020). Different Mind-body interventions, like those that utilize physical postures, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, and meditation practices, have been seen to improve social, emotional, and physical wellbeing together along with academic achievement. Attention is an essential element of cognition and has been characterized in two ways, that is, either as a resource or capacity or as a skill of resource deployment (Driver & Vuilleumier, 2001). One type of attention, that of sustained attention, is seen as being the cognitive capacity to attend to a task in hand for a required period (Rangan, Nagendra, and Bhatt, 2009). According to Posner (1978) sustained attention is closely associated with task difficulty or complexity which is closely associated with the mental effort required by the task at hand. It has been suggested that various brain areas mediate attention with the right frontal and parietal cortices meditating sustained attention. With imaging studies have shown that vigilance tasks requiring sustained attention activate a network of neurons in the right frontal and parietal cortices (Pardo, Fox, and Raichle, 1991). Research has mentioned that by reducing anxiety there can be an improvement in sustained attention which can improve performance on sustained tasks (Saltz, 1970). A popular way in which to reduce an individual’s anxiety is through participating in yoga (Cramer, Lauche, and Langhorst. 2016). It has been suggested by Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, and Walach (2014) that through the accessibility of yoga (i.e., can be offered without equipment) and its cost-effective nature (i.e., group format) participating in yoga should be added into the educational curriculum. Streeter, Whitfield, and Owen et al (2007) considered the effects of two different kinds of physical activity, yoga and walking, and the differences in overall mood, anxiety, and brain GABA levels. These researchers suggested a significant increase in GABA levels among those who participated in yoga compared to walking and suggested that Thalamic GABA levels increased with positive mood and reduced anxiety within the yoga group. Positive findings by West et al (2004) who looked at 18 college students who practiced Hatha yoga compared with students who had participated in the physical exercise suggested that yoga may reduce stress much faster than physical activity. Saxena et al (2002) examined the impact of Hatha yoga on attention and stress with 174; 14 and 15-year-old students and suggested that Hatha yoga may improve attention and hyperactivity in high school students. However, Saxena et al (2002) method that the current body of literature around school-based yoga is less than 20 years old, and is oftentimes inconclusive due to varying methodologies of studies. This means that at present there is no consensus on the dose of yoga intervention across different age groups that best improves sustained attention. Research by Sheela, Nagendra, and Ganpat (2013) looked into sustained attention in students undergoing training in integrated Yoga modules. A total of 66 university students aged between 18‑37 years participated in this study. This research suggested that there was a significant increase in sustained attention scores in university students following the integrated Yoga modules. Sheela, Nagendra, and Ganpat (2013) explained the results as the improvement of sustained attention is associated with increased sympathetic activity and increased sympathetic tone is associated with better vigilance. It is then suggested that a systematic practice of Yoga may enhance sustained attention and academic performance. In addition, research by Rangan, Nagendra, and Bhatt (2009) looked to compare the effectiveness of the Modern Education System and the Gurukula Education System in developing sustained attention. These researchers used Forty-nine boys (11-13 years) and selected them from two residential schools, one Modern Education System and the other Gurukula Education System. The Gurukula Education System school used an educational program with integrated yoga practices which included yoga postures (asanas), voluntary regulated breathing (pranayama), meditation (dhyana), recitation of mantras (japa), yogic prayers, worship (puja), and yogic games (a set of games which not only gives stimulation but also relaxation and calms the mind). The Modern Education System provided a conventional modern education program that included physical exercises, mathematical puzzles, music, prayer, and normal sports. What was discovered was that with the significant increase in total score by the Gurukula Education System students it is suggested that the Gurukula Education System curriculum improves the functioning of the right frontal-parietal cortex mediating sustained attention as well as guiding motor skills. Rangan, Nagendra, and Bhatt (2009) continue and mention that through the decrease in wrong cancellations seen in the Gurukula Education System students it can be suggested that there is an improvement in the functions in the orbitofrontal area of the prefrontal cortex, which according to Rao, Subbakrishna, and Gopukumar (2004) is hypothesized to mediate distraction avoidance and improve sustained attention. According to Rangan, Nagendra, and Bhatt (2009), the improvement of sustained attention seen in the Gurukula Education System curriculum could have contributed to the rhythmic resonance seen in the mantras, chanting, and physical movement as according to Nagendra, Bangalore, and Vivekanand (2005) any form of rhythmic resonance has the power to make the mind more relaxed and peaceful, reduce anxiety and improve attention span. Numerous research papers have mentioned that through the regular practice of meditation, anxiety can be reduced and sustained attention improved (Sarang, Nagendra, and Bangalore, 2006).
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