How does yoga help children with Down Syndrome?
In children with Down Syndrome, asanas (yoga poses) help stretch, develop and strengthen the entire body. Asanas have a beneficial effect on the organs and help balance out and revitalise glands. This helps children stay slim and flexible. Breathing exercises in combination asanas improve body awareness, concentration, balance and memory.
How Does Yoga Help Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders?
With these children, the emphasis is on building a strong bond. Stepping into their world and trying to gain their trust is an important aspect. Based on mutual trust, breathing exercises, the yoga postures and deep relaxation come next. The combination of asanas, pranayama and deep relaxation strengthen the nervous system, improve general health, body awareness and concentration. Yoga helps children with autism develop new movement, communication and social skills.
How Does Yoga Help Children with (High)Giftedness Characteristics?
For children with gifted and highly gifted characteristics, the emphasis is on connecting in an open, genuine and equal way. Many children are sensitive and find it difficult to deal with stimuli and new situations.
Yoga helps to learn to deal with this sensitivity. It gives insight into the relationship between thinking, feeling and breathing. So they learn to influence their thoughts and emotions through breathing exercises. This makes it easier to deal with stimuli and new situations. The final relaxation helps with learning to unwind and has the added effect of helping them sleep (in and through) more easily.
As one of the children beautifully puts it “Yoga helps me to really be myself.”
How does yoga help Children with ADHD?
Yoga helps calm and strengthen the central nervous system. Emphasis is on getting in touch with their bodies in a non-competitive way. These children often have difficulty learning due to their hyperactivity and being easily distracted. Beginning by offering breathing exercises and asanas helps them calm down first. So that instructions come in better and can be followed properly.
Proper breathing is an important part of the yoga session with these children. Once the child is able to follow instructions, more asanas and deep relaxation are introduced. This is followed by the entire yoga routine.
How does yoga help children with ADD?
With these children, it starts with bonding to gain their trust and attention. This is followed by breathing exercises. This is an important part because breathing is strongly linked to emotion. In addition to its positive effect on emotions, pranayama stimulates important areas of the brain and central nervous system. The combination of asanas and relaxation increases the effect of pranayama. Through regular yoga practice, children develop greater body awareness, emotional stability and concentration. As their overall performance improves, their self-confidence grows.
How does yoga help Children with Cerebral Palsy?
Practicing asanas followed by deep relaxation can help reduce high muscle tension. At the same time, the asanas ensure that parts with low muscle tension are also strengthened. The benefit of the asanas is that the spine is stretched and aligned. Also, through the various postures, the spine is bent forward, bent backward and rotated. This creates more space between the vertebrae and reduces pressure on intervertebral discs and nerves.By developing both greater range of motion and coordination, the child is able to become more independent.
In this video you see Daniel explain what yoga therapy brings him: