Yoga Therapy is great for kids and adults alike! Pulling strategies from Yoga for the Special Child, 200 Hour Vinyasa Teacher Training, Brain Gym and clinical Occupational Therapy knowledge, I've created a yoga therapy program to support development in all areas. It combines all of the inherent benefits of yoga with the sciences of practical medicine to create individualized yoga for all ages!

With a focus on breath work, we can reverse paradoxical breathing. Paradoxical breathing is when a person's chest moves in during inhalation and out during exhalation, opposite of typical breathing patterns. This does not allow enough space for oxygen to fill the capacity of the lungs and reduces the amount of oxygen getting into the bloodstream and to the brain. Paradoxical breathing is common in children with sensory processing differences and developmental delays. In adulthood is common with societal pressures to look thin and with anxiety.

The inherent physical benefits of yoga include full body strengthening, improved flexibility, improved ability to coordination the two sides of the body, improved ability to coordinate the upper body with the lower body and improved balance. The practice is also very heavily based on listening and adjusting the body according, improving listening skills and body awareness. Yoga is considered a mindfulness activity, proven to improve attention span, decrease impulsivity and improve sleep patterns.

Why is Yoga Therapy different than yoga? Yoga Therapy includes storytelling and components of play to improve attention, listening skills, social skills and memory. It focuses on postures to strengthen the core and integrate primitive reflexes. Everyone is born with reflexes to support development (e.g. stimulating an infant’s cheek allows them to suck, an infant turning their head causes their arms respond and allows them to roll over), however these reflexes are expected to be integrated by 1 year of age. When reflexes are not fully integrated they are often correlated with sensory processing difficulties, learning difficulties and developmental delays. Yoga Therapy incorporates typical yoga poses as well as therapeutic exercises to integrate primitive reflexes. The good news is, reflexes can be integrated at any age!

Yoga Therapy, too, is a practice and a process! I promise there is a lot of fun to be had along the way!