Meeting
learners with autism with pity and personal frustration only lowers the bar for
their greatest potential. I brought
yoga into my classroom to teach my students, especially those with special
needs, how to identify and manage their behavior. As a regular practitioner, I knew yoga supported individuals
in coping with stress, managing reactions and emotions. I believed if yoga worked for me, the
practice could help children, with autism or otherwise, learn to self regulate
their behavior and mood, just like it helps the rest of us. But it’s not a one-size-fits-all
practice.
Change
the Approach
The first time I brought yoga mats into the classroom, some of my children with special needs didn’t understand that their mat was their space, their sacred space. Some people learn by hearing spoken cues. Some require visual cues to understand. It took some brightly colored paint, with footprints and handprints illustrating where to position their bodies, to have the message clearly received. Once my learners saw the whole picture, they began to understand the pieces of the practice. First the breathwork, then the physical postures, then relaxation, and ultimately more self-control and self-regulation. Over time, yoga began to offer balance to the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of my students and it eventually became part of the daily schedule.
Traditional education is filled with wonderful lessons on
mathematics, grammar, science and even anti-bullying - but not nearly enough
lessons on what to do when one is struggling with math or when the bully shows
up even after a lesson on "how to be a friend." The lessons
yoga provides, on how to become
aware of our thought patterns and stress triggers, allows children to begin to
identify, manage and prevent stress on their own.
We
can empower students, with or without special needs, with yoga. As parents, teachers and yoga teachers,
we need to learn how to meet kids where they are and trust that ALL children
are capable of learning to find a place of calm within themselves – with individualized
help. Isn’t that one of the
primary lessons in the practice of yoga? Meet yourself and others where they
are.
Yoga is a practice
that opens doors for children with special needs. It parallels and supports other
therapeutic modalities in addressing challenges with attention,
self-regulation, speech and language, learning, and high and low muscle tone.
Through yoga, children:
*Strengthen their
core musculature: improving balance and endurance and allowing for deeper
respiration.
*Balance their
nervous system: bringing them out of fight or flight and into a place of
relaxation.
*Support sensory
processing: poses offer proprioceptive, vestibular and tactile input and aide
in the development of gross motor skills.
*Enhance
self-regulation: offers them the ability to control energy and activity level.
*Support sequencing
and motor planning skills: they master directions for moving in and out of
poses and memorize pose sequences. What they begin on the mat then moves into
the rest of their life.
*Enhance speech and
language abilities: yoga can release anxiety and tension helping to coordinate
breathing and speech
*Promote over all
physical fitness: yoga promotes strength, flexibility and balance.
~Namaste
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
