Jamshedpur, May 3: In a small room, a middle-aged man lifts his hands up and signals to more than a dozen students.

Similar gestures and signalling that follows ultimately translates into series of asanas and postures in yoga. These gruelling sessions in yoga and meditation are for special students who can neither hear nor speak.

The classes were started by Ashu Rajendra, an ayurvedic expert and yoga therapist.

Started in March this year, classes are held once every week at the Singhbhum District Association for Deaf and Dumb in Kadma.

?The association does not charge any course fees and there is no fixed duration, students can discontinue whenever they want to. And it is open to all,? she said.

The course is co-ordinated by Sunil Anand under the aegis of Anand Universal Relief Team. Anand, however, admits that teaching challenged people is not easy.

?In case of normal students it is easier to instruct them but when in comes to these students the main problem is communicating and every action that we make must make sense to them,? says Anand.

?Apart from yoga, this course also teaches other forms of meditation to students. The course has given the students an incentive to look at life in a different way,? he added.

The reactions from the students are encouraging.

?It helps me to unwind after a tiring day of practice,? said Aalam Ali and Anand as interprets it.

Pappu Kumar, a security person in Kadma, looks very happy when asked about his experiences of the sessions.

Through his actions, he makes it clear that spending these few hours in the centre gives him a chance to be with people like him and this helps him in bringing down his stress level after a tiring day at work.

The course is only for male candidates now, but authorities are hopeful that very soon even female students would be enrolled in.

The main deterrent that the centre faces right now is lack of space.

A decision has been taken to shift the classes to Anand Matg Ashram at Rahargora in Telco where students will get ample space to spend time in an activity they like.

It is perhaps the most unique yoga classes for the hearing and speech impaired.

?Right now we have started with just teaching the basic asanas but later we would like to introduce many more difficult ones,? said Ashu Rajendra, an ayurvedic expert and yoga therapist who takes up classes at the centre.

The class has come as a welcome change for the special people, who are more than enthusiastic to try out the asanas.