Child's Play
Occupational Therapy Services
For Children
Monthly Topic-Winter 2000
"Yoga for Children"
Introduction:
As a occupational therapist who treats children with a variety of sensory motor needs I always keep my eyes open for new approaches to treating them. In my travels as an OT I had the pleasure of speaking with a women named Fran LaValley. Fran is a trained Yoga instructor, who currently teaches classes for special needs children and their parent, locally here in Fairfield County. After speaking with her for a brief time, I soon found out what a powerful tool Yoga can be for children with special needs.
The Art of Yoga & How It Benefits Children:
Yoga is an art that can be used throughout the ages. Moms have begun using this approach with their very young infants in loosely structured yoga experiences. This has been found in some cases to be very soothing for the irritable or "colicky" baby. Expanding on this notion, this type of exercise can also be very useful in the child with sensory integration difficulties and related disorders.
Yoga is a playful arena where the body experiences movement. With the guidance of a Yoga instructor each participant is directed through a variety of postures and positions, some in animal forms. Body awareness is enhanced as each posture is achieved and experienced. This provides the opportunity for the child to receive essential feedback from their limbs and skin, helping them to use their body in space more efficiently. Through this process strength and balance are also addressed, which aide in the development of the various motor skills.
One of the most important benefits of Yoga is the restoration of proper breathing patterns. In my experience in treating children with sensory integration difficulties and more specifically sensory modulation and sensory defensiveness, breathing is an extremely powerful tool in treatment and healing. Breathing helps the body dissipate stress and over-stimulation. Breathing assists in bringing changes about in the structures and chemicals within the brain. This helps these children achieve an optimal arousal level. With this modified arousal level comes the ability to be more available for learning, language and motor skill development.
Conclusion:
Therapists have a hypothetical, "Bag of Tricks" they carry on their shoulders. In this bag should be a variety of techniques, exercises and creative ideas for effective treatment. The greatest quality of this bag is that it has no limits and no boundaries, always having enough space to welcome new ideas and things. Yoga is yet one more tool to add to our "Bag of Tricks" to be used to help typical and special needs children grow and develop. As informed therapists and parents, we owe our children every opportunity possible to expose them to powerful new sensory experiences. Yoga is one of those experiences.
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