Benefits of yoga for children with special needs

  • 2017
Table of contents hide 1 Benefits of yoga for children with special needs 2 Increased flexibility and muscular strength 2.1 Children can develop coordination 3 Yoga can also reduce the stress and anxiety of a child 3.1 Increasing body awareness brings together all the benefits 4 Yoga in special people 5 The goals of yoga

Yoga is increasingly popular, not only for adults but also for children. Perhaps it is more important for children with special needs, since this type of therapy can be used as an alternative therapy .

Yoga can help increase concentration, flexibility and strength . It can also develop coordination and reduce stress and anxiety, so we cannot forget the value that yoga can have to help a child become more aware of their body.

Benefits of yoga for children with special needs

There are many benefits of yoga for children with special needs and it is important to consider them all before deciding if yoga is right for the child. We recognize that your child may not be able to participate in yoga based on their current condition, but for those who are able to try, it can be very useful . It is important to note that before beginning any exercise with your child, you should consult with a medical professional regarding your child's health and ability.

An increase in flexibility and muscle strength

The first and most obvious benefit of yoga is the increase in flexibility and muscular strength, since children with special needs often have stiff muscle tone and tension and yoga can address this.

Stretching the body can help the child get rid of tension, while performing poses will increase strength for those able to practice regularly. However, these improvements will not occur after the first practice and it will take many practices and time to see improvements. As a result, it is important that you and your child not be discouraged immediately.

The less obvious benefit is the increase in concentration, but while it will take time to develop, it can be very noticeable over time. The combination of breathing techniques and poses helps children clear their minds and concentrate on the activity. Over time, children without certain limits may be able to transfer that concentration of learning to other things like school.

Children can develop coordination

Yoga is made up of movements that interact and these are often found inside and outside the same attitudes . This interaction and repetition can help children develop their coordination, since children can gain a better understanding of how to master their own movements, important because it can give children more confidence.

Developing coordination will take time as well as the other benefits, so it is important to remain faithful to the practices.

Yoga can also reduce a child's stress and anxiety

Children with special needs may experience more anxiety than other children and this is a way to help reduce it.

There are a lot of breathing exercises that come with yoga and can be done independently or in poses, when a child learns how to use these techniques, they can apply it when He feels anxious and therefore makes it a coping mechanism.

This is very useful, not only in childhood, but also in adulthood. A child will have to practice yoga regularly to develop breathing techniques, but once mastered, it can help reduce stress and anxiety .

The increased awareness of the body has all the benefits

This benefit works by combining the benefits discussed above, since a child who practices yoga regularly can better understand his body .

Children will not only have the opportunity to learn about different parts of the body, but they will also be able to develop an understanding of how their own body works . They can begin to realize what stretching feels like to them and how to completely relax their bodies. Except for certain limitations, they may use breathing techniques to completely fill their chest and lungs and understand what it really means to breathe deeply.

The great benefit of increasing body awareness can help a child really understand his body and know how they can adapt to it .

Yoga can increase concentration while decreasing stress and anxiety. Yoga also allows children to develop body awareness and really understand how it works. Once the child knows his body, he can begin to focus on areas of improvement or know what is best for his body. Letting a child get closer to the wonderful benefits of yoga could become a general part of therapy.

Yoga in special people

The benefits of yoga is a discipline that relates the body, soul and mind to achieve mental, spiritual and physical well-being and is recommended for people with functional diversity and special needs because it improves breathing and allows us to become more aware of the body itself .

Yoga is an ancient practice that originated in India and there are many benefits that this activity offers to people who practice it, including gaining flexibility, toning the body, lowering stress levels, improving posture, among others. These contributions are especially beneficial for people who have some functional diversity and who have special needs since the practice of an adapted yoga allows you to become aware of the body through meditation, breathe properly, relax and tone your muscles .

In yoga sessions there are usually two areas of intervention, there is yoga for people with special needs and yoga for people who have functional diversity, such as Down syndrome, brain damage, microcephaly or autism spectrum disorder . Through different phases of yoga, the development of the five main movements of the spine will work according to the possibilities that each person has.

In the initiation phase you can work with some specific groups such as Down syndrome, some cases of brain damage and children with attention deficit and in the cases of children with autism, some chromosomal pathologies or brain damage can work in a way Inductive and interactive, this means that the therapist induces posture by body movement .

Through this it is intended to open the fascias, because these movements create space for breathing, tone the muscles and disrupt the atrophied muscles.

The goals of yoga

The main objective of yoga is to reconnect the person with their body and this can have very good contributions in autism, since the people who own it are disconnected from the environment and when they connect with the body they are able to manage the emotions, They are calmer and more comfortable.

Likewise, thanks to yoga exercises, people who have brain damage have another sensomotor experience when paying attention to different parts of the body. In the cases of children with Down syndrome, the practice of yoga helps when breathing, so they will improve respiratory and digestive problems since they are sometimes caused by a lack of oxygenation.

Yoga can improve the protrusion of the tongue by breathing through the nose. Asana techniques are used that provide flexibility, balance and firmness, also the pranayama that is the control of the repair, the yoga nidra that is the art of relaxation, the dhyana that is the concentration and the mantras that work with sounds.

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