Articles:
"Yoga can enhance your Occupational Therapy practice"
"Yoga....Not Just for Adults Anymore."
"What Kids are Saying about Yoga"
"Sensory Processing......or as Goldilocks would say, somethings are "just right" while,others are not."
By Jeanette Runnings
Yoga has been around for thousands of years and has been shown to be beneficial for reducing stress and anxiety levels, and improving strength, coordination and balance skills.
No matter what area of occupational therapy you practice, the benefits pertain to all of our caseloads. Yoga means union of body, mind and spirit. It is a holistic practice. It is not a religion or cult. You can be of any faith to practice yoga. The practice of yoga has been westernized over the last 40 years in the United States.
Yoga Benefits
I like to have an eclectic therapy practice drawing from many theories and approaches, which led me to add yoga to my repertoire over two years ago. An easy way to start incorporating yoga into your practice is to learn to use breathing exercises, and teach breath awareness when exercising.
Yoga breathing is usually a slow inhale through the nose and an equally slow exhale through the nose. There are other techniques and special breaths taught as part of a yoga practice, but this is an easy place to start. For example, when a patient is performing shoulder flexion exercises, he/she can inhale with the arm lift and exhale with the lowering of the arm. This makes for smoother movements and focus. If your patient has a hard time with this, you can start by having him/her count out loud.
The rhythm of the breath has a positive impact on both heart rate and respiration. Inhaling and vocalizing "Om" on the exhale at least three times helps center even the most hyperactive child. I explain "Om" as being a universal sound. The kids usually giggle when I ask if the "mmm" part of the "Om" tickles their lips.
A laughter yoga exercise of saying "ho, ho, ha, ha, ha" repeatedly for up to one minute helps strengthen the diaphragm and abdominal muscles, improves circulation and makes positive chemical changes in the brain. Dopamine and serotonin levels are affected by laughter. Endorphins released through laughter are known to be beneficial in reducing depression, stress and anxiety.
The poses or asanas as they are called, can target certain areas of the body. Weight bearing through arms and hands helps strengthen the UE in such poses as downward dog or rainbow. Balance poses such as tree or half moon require not only strength and balance, but focus and attention skills.
Yoga Yingo
In my own practice, I have worked with five boys, ages four to nine, with a variety of developmental delays in an outpatient group setting. I introduced them to yoga with the use of Yoga-Yingo games. I developed the game series with the idea that kids, especially autistic children, learn best with visual aids.
The games require visual scanning, matching skills and motor planning. Like puzzles, the games have a definite end: when all poses have been matched and performed. Yoga-Yingo is played similarly to bingo, but the competition is taken out as all players "win" at the end of the game.
The kids pick pose cards and match the cards with poses pictured on their individual game boards. Breathing is the focus at the beginning and the end of each game. This helps get the kids centered and ready to play, but also helps with the transition from game end to clean up/transition.
Some of the changes in my kids included improved balance skills and UE strength. For example, one boy went from needing to hold onto a wall for support when trying to balance in tree pose, to assuming the pose without outside support by the end of the school year. The use of breath in self calming was noted in another boy who had anger management issues.
Finding the Right Option
Our goal in therapy is to have our patients be a part of their community and to know what resources may be beneficial to them. Yoga is non-competitive and accepts people where they are.
There are many forms of yoga (e.g., Iyengar, Ashtanga, Anusara, Svaroopa) and finding the right style for your patient may take some investigating and trial and error. A Bikram Yoga class, often called "hot yoga," would be contraindicated for your patient with cardiac conditions or hypertension, as asanas are performed in a hot environment. However, your athletic patient who has recovered from an orthopedic injury may enjoy and derive benefit from this same type of yoga.
You may want to call and talk to different yoga instructors and possibly sample classes before referring your patients. There are yoga therapists that practice and specialize in working with clients with orthopedic concerns such as back, neck, shoulder and knee injuries. These classes tend to be gentler as opposed to a PiYo (Pilates and yoga combination) or Power Yoga class. You will want to see and know what is offered in your community before referring patients.
To learn more about Laughter Yoga, please go to www.laughteryoga.org.
Jeanette Runnings, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist with over 20 years experience. She currently is in private practice. She teaches kids and family yoga classes with both typically and atypically developing kids. She can be contacted at jeanette@yoga-yingo.com. To learn more about the Yoga-Yingo games, please refer to her Web site: www.yoga-yingo.com.
published 10/15/07 OT ADVANCE Vol. 23 •Issue 21 • Page 22
Yoga Resources
The ancient practice that was developed, in India, thousands of years ago, and made popular in the 70's, has more recently taken another leap in the Western Hemisphere. Children's Yoga has been gaining momentum and for good reasons. The health benefits we adults get can also be obtained by our children. Things like increased strength, flexibility, coordination, and focus, and how about illness prevention? Aren't those some of the reasons parents get their children involved in gymnastics and karate?
So why not Yoga?
You get the added benefits of learning to self-calm, becoming attuned to one's breathing, and relaxation (Savasana). There has been increased talk about how stressed our kids are, and then there is the increased number of children being diagnosed with ADD/ ADHD and Autism. It would make sense that parents would seek out ways for children to learn to calm themselves and de-stress. With Yoga, being the holistic practice that it is, why wait till adulthood to introduce it to our children? Let's embrace this movement.
Of course, a children's Yoga practice would have to be different than an adult's. It would have to incorporate use of imagination, games and cooperation. It would have to take into consideration their growing bodies. Younger children generally have the flexibility, but not the strength or balance, while older children tend to have increased strength and balance but lose flexibility with age. Most Yoga poses, or asanas, were developed by studying nature and animals and then imitating them. This is something children can easily understand and have fun with. They can use their imaginations as they assume the poses, or asanas, like "cat", "downward dog", "cobra" or "tree" poses. Their forms may not be exact, but they are learning a skill they can use for life. Anyone who practices Yoga, knows you have to start somewhere on the journey.
How soon can kids get introduced to Yoga? New moms can practice with their infants, by their feet, as young as 8 weeks old. Passively moving your infant through some poses can help with digestion, colic, and sleep. Children become more active participants when they are crawlers and walkers. My favorite age range to teach children's Yoga, would be the preschool and early elementary ages. Our classes include use of music, songs, puppets, art activities and stories. My classes all start off with a breathing activity or focus. We then move into a movement activity, which would include asanas, and/or games, usually with a theme, i.e. going to a farm, zoo or the beach. We end with a relaxation time where we may do some visualization.
Teenagers can also benefit from a Yoga practice. Classes for teenagers resemble adult classes, with an increased focus on form and more challenging poses. They are experiencing many body changes and self-image issues. Yoga helps them become more attuned to their bodies and to understand strengths and limitations. This is also a time when physical benefits from Yoga will enhance their performance in school athletics. Emotionally, and spiritually, it will benefit them as they go through puberty and the changes of becoming an adult, with more responsibilities and life decisions. No one will argue the fact that being a teenager is stressful. Many a teenager has commented that Savasana is their favorite part of class.
As you can see, Yoga is a lifetime practice and can benefit and be enjoyed by people of all ages.
By Jeanette Runnings
Jeanette is a pediatric Occupational therapist and teaches children and family Yoga classes in the Boise area. She has created the family Yoga game series called YOGA-YINGO. The games can be used in homes, schools, daycares and, of course, in Yoga classes. For more information, she can be reached at 208-362-5368 or visit www.yoga-yingo.com
Published in Aura Wellness Center - teacher training newsletter 2006, Hedra News 2/07
By Jeanette Runnings, OTR/L, KKY, RCYP1-2
“My favorite pose is Tiger” says Connor during his preschool yoga class at Wright Foot Forward. “When is relaxation time?” asks Jonah. Can we pick a pose from those pictured on my mat?” asks Rita. “When you say OM do your lips tickle?” asks the instructor. The whole class tries and there are lots of giggles.
At Garabatos Spanish Preschool, children learned yoga and Spanish at the same time this past year. When I pull out a frog toy, it was greeted with big smiles and shouts of “rana”. A picture of a snake(serpiente) got them all quickly on their bellies and hissing. They may have the wigglies and what preschooler doesn’t, but when relaxation came around they laid down and were quite still. They knew it as part of our routine for concluding the class.
Yoga means union, uniting body, mind and spiritual concepts. Children’s yoga classes consist of poses and movement. They are progressed rapidly from one pose to another to keep their interest and attention. Games and stories are used to piece it all together. I am often asked if I am teaching Hinduism or Buddism. I am not.
I have been teaching elementary kids at Arrowrock International School as part of their after school program. During our last session, I asked the kids what their feelings were about yoga and this is what some of them had to say:
Logan: “Good thing to relax your mind and spirit and body parts”
Jack: A good thing to stretch out and exercise”
Sydney: “Good for your body and your heart and your brain”
Terra: “Yoga is good for relaxing and being calm and stretching your body”.
Hannah: “Yoga is fun”. I couldn’t agree more. NOT ONE reported it to be a religion.
As part of my farewell to the kids I gave them a note that read: “OM” in the front, for the universal sound we often ended or started our classes with. The inside read:
“Breathe
Get Focused
Be strong in all you do”
The use of affirmations in a kid’s yoga class is empowering. I know each one of them in reading those words had the vision of Warrior I; standing in tall lunges with arms held high. I ended it with “Namaste”, a word that means the light in me recognizes the light in you. I’m quite happy that the kids learned quite a bit about yoga and themselves.
Published in the Hedra News 7/07
Most people would agree that the smell of a bakery is delicious, a rainbow is a delightful sight, and the thought of a massage is relaxing. That’s to “most people”, but there are some that would disagree. The reason would be a hyperactive or hypoactive sensory system. That smell in the bakery may be too strong to the point of being noxious or not strong enough to be noticed. That rainbow may over excite or distract a person from driving attentively, or be out of direct view and not noticed. That massage may be too firm and hurt, or not firm enough. Each person is very individual, but there is an area of average most people will agree on. This is true with all sensory systems whether it be visual, auditory, gustatory (smell), tactile (touch), proprioceptive (joint receptors), kinesthetic or vestibular (movement).
Sensory processing is ongoing and is a normal process of everyone’s day. When your system seems hypoactive, you may chew gum, have a drink, listen to music, walk, jog, jump to raise arousal. When hyperactive, you may take deep breaths, close your eyes, meditate, take a bath, or drink tea. These are a few examples of ways we regulate our sensory systems as go about our daily activities. For “most people” this works just fine.
What happens when sensory processing is dysfunctional or you are not “most people”?
A child who has sensory processing disorder (SPD) may be easily distracted by the sound or flickering of lights, heater or refrigerator noises and may totally get distraught by loud noises like sirens or vacuums. Pulling on clothing tags, picky dresser, picky eater; afraid of being bumped while in line at school; can’t stay on task as there are too many choices, are also symptoms. A child may have the need to touch everything and everyone to the point of being annoying, or may withdraw from being touched or touching; may avoid movement activities or seem to be in perpetual motion. Sensory processing problems are common in children with ADD/ADHD, Autism and other developmental diagnoses, but sometimes occur alone. SPD can cause stress, low self esteem, behavioral problems, and poor performance in school, sports and community.
How to cope with Sensory Processing Disorder?
The help of an Occupational therapist is invaluable in helping to sort out sensory issues which may be impacting one’s life and to learn strategies to cope and treat them. Respect needs and feelings of your child. Some kids have a mixed sensory system; hyperesponsive to some things and hyporesponsive to others, sometimes even within the same sensory system. Some solutions are easy like, cut clothing labels, and use clothing with few seams and comfortable fabrics. A wool blanket may keep a child awake but flannel may help put him to sleep. Too distracted and can’t focus? Calm the environment by decluttering or giving fewer choices, using blue and green schemes, give the child something to fidget with, have run or jump before a long sitting activity. Have a hyporesponsive kid? Use red and orange schemes and keep things novel and new to “capture attention”, give movement activities or use an exercise ball as a chair.
Find out more about Sensory Processing Disorder at: http://kidfoundation.org/
Learn more about Occupational therapy at www.aota.org
Our local organizational site is www.id-ota.com
Jeanette Runnings is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist and kids/family yoga instructor. This article was published in the Hedra News 4/07.