As we have been building up our weekly sessions over the last 12 months, Family Yoga with Sparkle Yoga Therapy is a firm favourite. Accessible to all, what ever your ability, children and family have enjoyed the benefits of our weekly sessions.
“A perfect end to our day, it seems to really help our child deflate which makes bedtime on a Tuesday so much easier” – A quote from one of our family members who attend.
Our yoga sessions are specifically designed to support children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The Yoga Therapist, Jane, is trained in Special Yoga for Special Needs and has also completed modules on her Yoga Therapy training with Yotism and other trainers for supporting children with SEND.
Benefits of Yoga include –
Autonomic Nervous System
Children with SEND most often have a neurological difference which is what leads to their challenges. The way their nervous systems take in and process sensory information is different to how neurotypical children process the same information. Their nervous systems are often overwhelmed and this means they often live in a state of ‘fight or flight’, which is experienced as stress in the body.
The whole aim of family yoga for children with SEND is to regulate children’s (and parents’) nervous systems so that they feel safer in the world. We use techniques to stimulate the vagus nerve and improve vagal tone, helping children to feel calmer, and over time, enabling them to reach calm states more regularly.
Sensory systems
Children with SEND can also often have imbalances in their proprioceptive and vestibular systems which leads them to be sensory seeking and very active (usually a problem in schools). At family yoga we include a lot of activities for stimulating these systems. These are sometimes activities that children would access during a ‘sensory break’ at school, that would be provided by an Occupational Therapist. Sometimes these are different, new activities, for the children and they and their families can discover new ways to support themselves at school.
Neurodevelopment
It’s not only about the way children process sensory information. There are many different parts of the brain which can be affected when a child has SEND. Sometimes an area of the brain may not be connected and working with another part of the brain, that needs to happen, for e.g. reading or writing, or many other ways that help us to function in society. Jane is also trained in Rhythmic Movement Therapy and incorporates these movements into the family yoga sessions. The rhythmic movements stimulate the nervous system and create new pathways in the brain for opening up new possibilities for children. The Yoga Therapist assesses the children during the session to see whether they are showing any signs of primitive reflexes that are active and then provides exercises to help integrate these reflexes and support improved connections in the brain. Parents can take these away with them and practise them at home with their children.
Emotions, tension and trauma
One of the other ways that this yoga is specifically designed to support children with SEND is a focus on emotions and releasing tension in the body. Because of the reasons mentioned above, children with SEND can often be disconnected from their bodies, due to being overwhelmed in their nervous systems. This is disconnection means that some of them may also find it challenging to recognise and regulate their emotions. Emotions are felt in the body and of the world is overwhelming and a way of coping is to disconnect from the body then it is easy to see why regulating emotions may become a challenge. We work on this throughout the sessions, inviting the children to be aware of how their bodies are feeling, noticing any sensations and offering up useful metaphors for understanding and communicating how they are feeling. Sometimes children with SEND have had experiences that are processed by the nervous system as traumatic. Sometimes it can be being different or feeling like you are failing at school because of reasons beyond your control. Yoga Therapy can help to process and release this trauma from the system by helping to create safety in the nervous system, creating a space where it is OK to feel emotions and the tools to regulate them.
But most importantly, it’s lots of fun for both the kids and the parents!
