YOGA IN THERAPY

I am a 200-hour certified yoga teacher 

and a 

95-hour certified child yoga teacher.  

How to use yoga to help children who STUTTER.
A stutter is when there is a disruption in the flow of speech. An example is when someone speaks with a repetition, "I I I I went to the park yesterday.
Children who stutter tend to tighten muscles which may cause a physical stutter.  Upon observation of a child, you may notice the child tensing the throat, vocal cords, shoulders, jaw, and/or eyes. 
YOGA can help the child who stutters!  When the student comes to therapy, start with deep breathing. As we know, deep breathing calms the body and mind which is exactly what a child with a stutter needs. I teach all my students the deep breathing paired with the "I am so calm." phrase.  Here is a visual and an explanation of the deep breathing activity.

After deep breathing, you can do a body scan activity.  This activity will help them become aware of where and if there is tension in the body.  Here is a visual and a video for body scanning.  Click on the picture to go directly to the video by GoZen.
  
                                     


How to use yoga to improve VOCABULARY.
Children learn best by moving their bodies!  What better way to teach a child about a tree than to instruct them into tree pose.  You can talk about how their feet are the roots, their legs are the trunk, and arms are branches.  Not only are you teaching them about the tree but you are also working on their ability to focus as they balance themselves in the pose.  
For my intensive needs students, I focus on seasonal vocabulary.  I have found that most students have a difficult time remembering the current season.  I came up with 6 poses that relate to fall (goal - word relationships, categories). For example; Fall words - wind (The children sat cross legged and swayed back and forth as they breathed like the wind.), pumpkin (The children are on their backs with their knees drawn into their chest as they lie in a pumpkin patch.), squirrel (The children sat up on their knees.), moon (the children were in standing pose with their arms stretched up and stretched to the side as in crescent moon pose.), apple picking (The children stretched their arms up high as if they were picking apples.), and, FINALLY, savasana (The children lie on a big pile of leaves as they take their final rest.).  Here are the visuals I use for fall.  The images are from Kids Yoga Stories.  

How to use yoga to help children TRANSITION to a different activity.
Children transition so many times throughout the school day.  In the morning, they leave home, get on the bus, come into school, unpack their backpacks, go into the classroom, and start an activity. That is 6 transitions right there.  An example of a brief part of their school day is; phonics lesson, reading, art, speech therapy, recess, lunch... just to name a few.  How about if you have the students take 3 deep breaths before each transition.  For example, in my speech room, we take 3 deep breaths upon entering the room, we talk about the day, take 3 deep breaths, start their activity, take 3 deep breaths, and last we say good-bye. When you have them take 3 deep breaths, not only are you giving their bodies a chance to rest but you are also helping their minds end an activity and get ready to start a new one.  So the next time you start something new, take 3 deep breaths with your class.  

How to use yoga to help children with RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE difficulties.  
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is when a child has difficulty paying attention for various reasons.  This, in turn, can lead to receptive language difficulties which is difficulty comprehending or following directions. 
YOGA can help the child follow directions and understand language in the classroom!  Yoga helps to calm the child's mind and body.  If the child's mind is calm, they will be able to take in auditory information. Deep breathing, alone, helps to calm the mind and body.  During the school day, you can have the child take a walking break.  Start by having the child walk at their regular pace.  then begin to encourage the child to walk slowly.  Let the child walk this way for a few minutes.  After they have this pace down, start to introduce taking deep breaths.  Breath in (take one step), breath out (take another step), breath in (take one step), breath out (take another step).  Continue this pace for about 5 minutes.  Having the child focus on their breath instead of their thoughts will help to calm their thoughts and bodies.