The Benefits of Yoga for Those With Special Needs

What comes to mind when you think of someone on the autism spectrum? As a culture, we often see the behaviors associated with a disorder like autism, and don’t bother looking past it.  We don’t see the child; we see our perceptions of his limitations. But in reality, these lowered expectations amount to a band-aid for unexpected behaviors, rather than a solution.

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