Tag Archives: Autism

Yoga For Children With Additional Needs

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We are often asked about the benefits that yoga can bring to children with additional needs, so we asked one of our Area Managers, Denyse Whillier, to tell us more. Denyse is running monthly Sunday morning YogaBugs classes for children with additional needs in North East London. (The clip above from Fox News shows the benefits of yoga for children with autism).

“I started to offer these classes following requests from the parents of a local disability forum, the majority of who have children on the autistic spectrum. There’s a shortage of suitable activities for children with additional needs in my area, and little for parents to do with their child. I wasn’t sure how our YogaBugs story-style adventures would work so I piloted a couple of classes over the Easter holidays to find out. If you watched Louis Theroux recent programme ‘Extreme Love’ for the BBC, you’ll have gained an insight into the rewards, stresses and challenges this condition brings.

Story selection was important. Because the classes attracted children of different ages, I chose stories that had broad appeal. We started with ‘Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone.’ For our second adventure, we took a trip around London and the kids chipped in during the class to tell us what sights they’d seen themselves and the best way of getting to each. Teacher, Sarah, was reminded that Charing Cross tube station is not on the Piccadilly line!

For some of the children, simply staying in the room with us and experiencing the class was an achievement. Others were delighted to show us postures they’d learnt beforehand at home. A number of children needed help to balance in Tree pose but gave it a go nevertheless. With consistent encouragement from parents and carers, by the end of the class all of the children were able to lie down in Savasana and enjoy a few minutes of relaxation.”

So here are some reasons why yoga is particularly beneficial for children with special needs:

Relaxation: Yoga soothes the sensory system, and the relaxation response (parasympathetic system) is engaged through forward bending. Encouraging deep, even breathing leads to greater relaxation.

Body/ spatial awareness: Better body awareness is one of the greatest benefits of the yoga practice. Standing and balancing poses help develop stability, strength, and coordination. Poses such as tree, eagle, and dancer provide joint compression. Moving from backbends to forward bends to twists gives the vestibular system (which controls balance) rich input, which helps a child feel calm and grounded.

Self-awareness: All yoga practices are aimed at developing better awareness – of the body, the mind and the breath. Yoga also inherently helps develop a greater sense of self, a feeling of more ease in the world, and a sense that “everything is okay just as it is.”

For further information, see:

“Sensory Integration and How Yoga Helps” from Yoga Chicago’s March/April 2010 magazine by Mira Binzen, E-RYT, RCYT, http://www.yogachicago.com/mar10/mira.shtml

“Yoga and Autism: A rewarding (and challenging) assignment” by Hannah Gould, Published in Yoga Therapy Today December 2010, http://www.nesca-newton.com/Yoga_and_Autism_Hannah_Gould.pdf

“Yoga for Children on the Autism Spectrum” by Jennie Ehleringer, Published in the 2010 edition of International Journal of Yoga Therapy, http://www.yogaforallpdx.com/uploads/IJYT-2010__Ehleringer-Final_.pdf

William’s Story – How Yoga Benefits Children With Autism

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William has been practising yoga at his primary school for 3 years and is now 9 years old.  William is on the autistic spectrum and receives full time support at his primary school. where he is in mainstream education.He initially started with YogaBugs classes on a weekly basis during term time, but once he was 8 he moved up to Yoga’d Up classes. His mum Emma says that yoga has, without doubt, helped improve his confidence, his co-ordination, balance and strength. Commenting on the changes in William, Emma said:

“Autistic children are generally very flexible but lack strength around their joints. Their flexibility gives them confidence in an environment where they feel safe and not intimidated by their lack of agility and ball skills which is often the case during PE lessons.  William’s Occupational Therapist and his TA have both commented on the changes they have observed over the last few years. William is proud of his knowledge of the yoga postures and I feel that it has given him an opportunity to have his ‘own’ activity where so many of his friends have their football etc.”

Here are 7 reasons why yoga is such a great activity for children with autism.

1. Yoga develops motor skills
Kids with autism frequently experience delayed motor development. This can be improved as yoga tones muscles, enhances balance and stability and develops body awareness and coordination. As motor skills develop, children gain a greater sense of their physical self in space and in relation to others, and can improve their gait and stability.
 
2. Yoga improves confidence and social skills
Poor co-ordination can lead to low self-esteem as kids may be singled out or teased for not moving or behaving like other children, or not excelling in sports and outdoor activities. By learning self-control and self-calming techniques through yoga, they are likely to grow confidence in interacting with other children and refine their social skills. Learning to work together in a yoga class and playing with partner poses can also increase confidence within group settings.
 
3. Yoga provides sensory integration
Children with autism often suffer from a highly sensitive nervous system and are easily over stimulated by bright lights, new textures, loud noises, strong tastes and smells. Yoga’s natural setting of dim lights, soft music, smooth mats, and “inside” voices creates a comforting environment largely protected from unknown or aggressive stimuli in which calming down becomes enjoyable. Yoga’s physical poses allow nervous energy to be released from the body in a controlled manner.
 
4. Yoga provides coping techniques to both kids and parents
Whether teaching the child breathing techniques for self-calming, talking the class through a guided visualisation the child can use when getting anxious, or sharing flashcards of the day’s poses with parents to use at home, yoga provides an amazing toolbox to parents and siblings. It is a transportable practice that both parents and kids can draw from for a lifetime and share a meaningful home activity.
 
5. Yoga facilitates self-awareness
Yoga is particularly instrumental in helping kids with autism learn self-regulation. By becoming aware of their bodies and aware of their breathing, yoga provides them with the ability to cope when they start to feel anxious or upset. Since these children are visually oriented, savvy instructors add a visual element so that the child has a colored picture of each pose near his or her mat. YogaBugs classes incorporate other experiences known to benefit a child on the autism spectrum, such as massage, music, dance, rhymes and stories.
 
6. Yoga engages the emotional brain
We all know that yoga is far from purely physical, and this combination of movement, music, breath work and story telling activates the brain’s emotional region. This encourages children to develop awareness of their emotions and those of others, as well as keeps their attention in the class.
 
7. Yoga is orderly and consistent
Ideally, the class will be scheduled at the same time and same day of the week, with the students’ mats in the same layout, in the same room, with the same instructor(s).This element of order is very important for a child and communicates stability – a state much preferred to being unexpected and thus out of control. Students may also enjoy learning yoga sequences, such as modified sun salutations, that are performed in the same order at every class. The class should have an opening and closing routine or practice – singing, tuning in, etc. – that further supports the students’ need for order.

(The story above is produced with the agreement of Emma and William).