I’m often asked how to start an at home yoga practice or how to incorporate yoga into busy schedules. Since I generally enjoy my personal practice in the early hours of the day and am always looking for great instructors to learn from I’ve become very familiar with what is offered online. Here are some of the online yoga sites I use. Remember that nothing can substitute for practicing under the watchful eye and guidance of a qualified yoga instructor. Please practice wisely and take care of yourself: heart, body and mind.

Free Online Yoga Resources

• Do Yoga With Me – various teachers, lengths & levels – my current fave!
• Yoga Journal Videos - individual poses plus classes of various lengths & levels
• Yoga Today - one full length free class each week
• Yoga Vibes - hundreds of options
• My Free Yoga - hundreds of options
• Yoga Yak - hundreds of options
• Ekhart Yoga - various teachers, lengths & levels
• Yoga Download - some 20 min classes free
• Kripalu - see LH sidebar for Kripalu At Home classes
• YouTube - search by pose name or instructor

Yoga Membership Sites

• Yoga Glo - free 15 day trail, then $18/mth – extensive library
• My Yoga Online - free 2 week trail, then $9.95/mth – extensive library
• Yogis Anonymous - $15/mth, live streaming plus library
• Yoga Download - $10-18/mth depending on desired service
• Yoga Today - $9.99/mth or download individual classes
• Gaiam TV - free 10 day trail, then $9.95/mth, all the Gaiam videos online
• Yoga Vibes - free 15 day trial, then $20/mth
• Ekhart Yoga - €12.50/mth = approx. $16/mth

Download a one page PDF of them all – Online Yoga Resources 

Which online yoga sites do you use?

NEW RELEASE of Yoga for Special Needs Resource

Discover how to effectively use yoga as a complementary therapy for children with special needs with YIMS Yoga for Children with Special Needs manual. This manual is the resource used during YIMS experiential training workshop teaching how to capably and productively use yoga for children with special needs. The goal of the manual and workshop is to provide a foundation of expertise to promote the healthy development of the hearts, minds and bodies of individuals diagnosed with:

• Attention Deficit Hyperactivty Disorder (ADHD)
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Down syndrome
• Mild Cerebral palsy
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

This manual outlines key yoga, breathing and relaxation techniques to build connections, confidence and coherence. Beginning with 7 Tips to Teaching Yoga for Children with Special Needs, then outlining the Most Powerful Message, emphasizing the Most Powerful Tool and more, before delving into definitions and descriptions of each diagnosis and ways yoga can meet the symptoms, conditions and challenges of each disorder, along with Classroom Management Tips and pertinent Research, this manual is packed with information.

Special introductory offer of only $9.97 for a full color 24 page PDF of the manual.

Yoga for Children with Special Needs Manual

Discover how to effectively use yoga based techniques as a complementary therapy for children with special needs. Understand the needs and challenges and explore creative, fun ways of engaging and supporting children with special needs in the practice of yoga. Covers specifics for Autism, ADHD, Down syndrome, Cerebral palsy and FASD. 24 full color pg PDF.

NOTE: for full pose, technique, game, activity, etc explanations and interactive hands-on training you’ll need to attend the workshop. If you’d like to host a workshop in your city please contact donna@yogainmyschool.com.

Online Kids Yoga Training

Online Training webinars with yoga for children with special needs experts are also available via our sister site Kids Yoga Academy.

• Yoga for Children with ADHD – Allison Morgan – Zensational Kids
• Yoga for Children with Autism – Barbara Gini – Bodylogique
• EMBRACE: Inclusive Yoga and Creative Expression – Robin Schwoyer – Happy HeARTs Yoga
• Coming April 25th 2013 – 7 Tips to Teaching Yoga to Children with Special Needs – Donna Freeman – YIMS

Yoga for Special Needs Articles

Enjoy browsing through the many articles we’ve published on teaching yoga to children with special needs.

Autism

• Yoga for Children with Autism
• Yoga a Gift for Children with Autism

ADHD

• How Yoga Helps Kids with ADHD

Down syndrome

• Yoga for Down syndrome

Cerebral Palsy

• Stetching the Mind and Body
• Yoga for Children and Teens with Cerebral Palsy

FASD

• Yoga for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Next week my 13 year old daughter Maddy will undergo heart surgery.

We had no idea she a heart condition and you’d never have guessed it over the past 5 years she has played competitive basketball. However on March 8th she called home from school saying she had trouble breathing and could I come pick her up. Of course, I’ll be right there. So, I went to get her and she complained that it felt as if someone was sitting on her throat.

Thinking it was a breathing/lung issue  and seeing as I know something about breathing techniques and pranayama, I helped her focus on the exhale and filling her lungs from the bottom, making the breath long, slow and deep. Her teacher had noticed an elevated heart beat and I thought this was due to a panic attack from not being able to breathe.

We went home and had her relax. After a while her heart rate still hadn’t come down so we went to the Stollery Children’s Hospital ER where the triage nurse went about recording her weight, vitals, temperature and other information. When I mentioned the elevated heart rate which the teacher said may be about 150 beats per minute (bpm), she looked at me as if to say “really?” Maddy said she thought that was what he said and I mentioned we noticed her heart beat by her collar bones thumping away like hummingbird wings. Maddy (being a typical teen) wears her long hair forward, so we brushed the hair back and could then see the heart beat. The nurse connected the thumb pulse monitor which read 210 pbm. She tapped the monitor, to see if it was working right I guess, then took her pulse with her fingers while calling over another nurse.

At that point things moved quickly. When you show up at ER with a heart rate of 210 bpm you get immediate attention. They grabbed a wheel chair and took Maddy back to one of the large examination rooms with all kinds of equipment. I registered providing address, name, insurance, etc. By the time I got back there (not 5 minutes later) she had 5 doctors/nurses working on her and had her hooked up to an EKG machine. She was having a supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) episode and they needed to administer some medicine to temporarily stop her heart then start it again. Scary stuff.

They explained it would feel like your heart is going down to your feet for about 5 seconds. Maddy says it feels much worse. However, the medicine did it’s job and her heart returned to a slower, more natural pace. Within 10 minutes it was down to a steady 120 bpm. However, the doctors then noticed an irregularity in Maddy’s natural heart rhythm. After consulting with a cardiologist they confirmed she had Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW) and has always had it.

They explained that Maddy may never experience SVT again or she may have it regularly. They taught her a couple of techniques to manually interrupt SVT so as to avoid ER visits and medical intervention. SVT is more of a nuisance and not life threatening for most individuals with WPW. If it became an issue of 3-4 times a week, they would put her on heart medication and possibly, if needed, go in surgically (ablation – a catheter via the groin) to fix the problem.

We went home and researched WPW.

Ten days later Maddy had another minor SVT episode but got it under control quickly. A week after that while skiing over spring break she called to say her SVT was acting up. I drove out to the hill and we headed for ER. Just before arriving the SVT stopped. I took her to the ER anyway as this episode had lasted about 1 hour and I was hoping the doctors could give us some more information.

When you show up at the ER after SVT you do not get seen to immediately. We waited and waited but eventually the cardiologist came down and consulted with us. He was fabulous. He told us all about WPW, SVT, what we could expect and suggested that if we wanted to get into his office quickly for a consult that we divide the appointment into two parts:  a 2 hour testing visit with a 1 hour consult on a different day. I said sure and expected to hear from the office sometime in the next 3-6 months.

Four days later (Tuesday) the cardiologist office called and said Maddy’s appointment was that Thursday, April 4th at 2:00. On Wednesday they phoned and asked us to come at 12:30 for an Echo, Stress Test and EKG. On both Tuesday and Wednesday Maddy had brief periods of SVT. Thursday we arrived at the University of Alberta Hospital pediatric cardiology unit. They started with the Stress Test. Just like James Bond, Maddy was connected to a bunch of cords to monitor her heart while she walked, then ran on a treadmill. She did great, lasting more than 12 minutes and was resting during recovery when her heart went into another SVT episode.

Calmly the tech administering the test called for assistance and Maddy’s cardiologist (Dr. Joseph Atallah) walked in. Under his guidance Maddy was able to interrupt the SVT and return to a natural heart rate – YEAH! I said to the cardiologist that I hadn’t expected too see him that day. He responded, “Oh yes, you’ll be consulting with me today” then left with a ream of data from the machine which had been hooked up to Maddy the entire time.

We completed the Echo and EKG, then went to a examination room to wait for Dr. Atallah. Soon he joined us and showed us the results from the Stress Test saying Maddy had High Risk WPW (there is only low or high risk) and that she would need surgery immediately or was at a 0.5% risk of sudden death. He had cleared his schedule making space for us as a top priority on April 16th. He talked us through the pros and cons as well as the risks. We left his office overwhelmed but confident we were in the best hands possible.

Now we are waiting until next Tuesday. Maddy is thrilled that she gets out of PE class. We’ve re-arranged our lives and called in favors from friends and family. The outpouring of support we’ve received has been amazing. Thank you to everyone for your kind words, prayers, phone calls, conversations, promised meals and good will.

The surgery will take 2-4 hours. We will be at the Mazankowski Heart Institute. They will keep her overnight but we expect to be home on Wednesday. There is a 90-99% chance of success so the odds are definitely in our favor. After the surgery Maddy will no longer have WPW and will be able to return to normal activity.

I am thankful to live in a day where heart surgery is an option and can be accomplished quickly, where there are experts who lend their talents to saving lives daily, to a health care system which takes care of critical need and where we don’t have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. Most especially I am thankful for our health, for friends and family and your loving care and concern.

UPDATE: April 16th – The surgery was successful. Counting our blessings

UPDATE 2: May 2nd – Maddy has experienced 2 episodes of heart palpitations since the surgery. We are back to the cardiologist for more testing. Hopefully they are phantom symptoms as her heart heals.

Recently a family in Encinitas, CA launched a law suit to stop school district wide yoga classes stating that the 30 minute yoga classes are religious in nature.

When this situation first hit the press last fall Lisa Flynn, founder of ChildLight Yoga and Yoga 4 Classrooms, wrote a clear response clarifying the nature of a well defined school yoga program as “a secular practice with the purpose of improving learning while supporting the health and well being of students and educators.”

She’s not the first one to tackle the yoga/school/religion issue. Other leaders in the kids yoga community have addressed the topic.

• Abby Wills (Shanti Generation) - Yoga in Schools: the Religion Question
• Sydney Solis (Storytime Yoga) - Body-Centered Education with Storytime Yoga  
• Shakta Khalsa (Radiant Child Yoga) – In Yoga, We Don’t Pray We Balance our Brains 
• Jennifer Cohen Harper (Little Flower Yoga) – To Om or Not to Om – Children’s Yoga in Public Schools
• Donna Freeman (Yoga In My School/Kids Yoga Academy) – Yoga is against my religion?

Yoga Games Galore Includes

• 20 Breathing Games such as Air Soccer, Blow Painting and Piston Breathing
• 28 Yoga Activity Games with favorites Yogi Says, Musical Mats and Yoga Jenga, as well as Leep Yoga Frog, One Om, Who’s the Leader, Animal Imitators, Postcards, Transportation Clues and many more
• an entire section of relaxation, mindfulness and meditation games — for example: Be a Wax Work, Puppet on a String and Turtle Walking
• loads of yoga games to play with balls, bean bags, feathers, hula hoops, parachutes and pompoms

Enjoy accessing the many benefits of yoga poses, breathing techniques and mindfulness while having a blast. Yoga Games Galore will take your kids/family/teen yoga classes to the next level by providing a plethora of options for every age and ability. Never be at a loss of what to do for an entire class, as an opening activity or to finish off the last 5 minutes.

Enjoy this under the cover sneak peek.

“Play is our brain’s favorite way of learning”

~Diane Ackerman

Yoga Games Galore is an environmentally friendly digital download arriving directly to your in-box. Save it to your hard-drive and use it again and again. Print it off for easy reference. Enjoy 40 pages of fabulous, fun yoga games.

Introductory price of only $18.97 – no shipping or handling fees (YEAH!)

Yoga Games Galore:112 Yoga Games for Physical, Mental, Social and Emotional Development

Packed with fabulous games, this Kids Yoga Teacher Resource is essential for teaching fun & playful kids, teens and family yoga classes. Includes breathing games, active yoga games, mindfulness games, relaxation games, and games with yoga props. Never be at a loss for what to do in class with Yoga Games Galore.

Join Donna Freeman for Yoga Games Galore Workshop

Saturday, January 12, 2013 Donna is teaching an all day Yoga Games Galore workshop at the ChildLight Yoga Studio in Dover, NH. Details and Registration HERE.

Workshop Description: Come play yoga!  Increase your yoga games repertoire with this hands-on, fun-filled workshop.  Yoga games develop creativity, increase emotional understanding, improve problem solving abilities, relieve stress, teach social skills and are a blast.  This workshop is perfect for yoga instructors, educators, parents, daycare providers, PTs, OTs and anyone who enjoys physical games and fun.  Includes classics like Musical Mats, yoga Jenga and Swami Says, as well as Lost My Shape, Acting Out, Human Knot, Games with Props, and many, many more.

Adaptive yoga for children with special needs is a fabulous resource for parents, aides, teachers, physical therapists, OTs and more. Yoga is available to everyone and is easy to adapt to meet individual needs and requirements. It is a powerful form of physical and mental self exploration with tremendous benefits.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you develop and engage in yoga classes for those with special needs such as autism, ADHD, cerebral palsy, FASD, Down syndrome and more.

1. Focus on Fun: Approach yoga with a sense or curiosity and play. It’s fun to move your body, see what you can do, explore the world. The benefits of yoga are profound but children will lose interest if its not fun and joyful.
2. Engage with child friendly themes: Build yoga sessions around topics that interest children. Maybe its superheros or princesses, the jungle or a trip to The Pet Store. Yoga can also be used to reinforce classroom themes and provide a kineasthetic learning modality. This allows children to improve their health while increasing their understanding of the themselves and their world. See Dinosaur Yoga, Shape Yoga and Bug Yoga.
3. Provide challenges & repetition: Challenges are important to help children grow & push themselves. For many children with special needs standing on one foot (Tree Pose, Dancer Pose) is challenging. However as they practice this skill (repeating often) they become better at it until soon they have no problem. This works for all skills including relaxation and breathing exercises. The first time you may only be able to engage the students for a few moments. However, as you persist, repeating often, the children will gain valuable physical, emotional and mental skills.
4. Encourage with positive feedback: Focus on what the children are doing right and reinforce it . i.e.: “I love your downdog.” “You’re really good at sitting quietly and listening.” “Wow, you’re great at balancing on one foot.” “What wonderful yogis you all are.” “Thank you for your happy participation in class today.” With children its so important to focus on the good and not worry too much about what is incorrect form, as long as it is not hurting themselves or others.
5. Teach breathing & relaxation: In our hectic world it is vital to know how to calm, center and soothe. Yoga is a valuable mind-body tool which will help alleviate anxiety and stress.
6. Keep yoga sessions short & ability appropriate: For many children their attention span maxes out at 5 minutes, often less for younger ones and those with special needs. This means lots of different activities to engage interest. Yoga is ideal because there are so many poses, each one an activity in and of itself. Keeping little ones engaged for 20-30 minutes is possible but you do have to be creative, energetic and focus on fun.
7. Use props and visuals: Visuals, such as flash cards, stuffed animals, books, plastic figurines, etc., help students stay on task, provide visual support, and kids love the opportunity to pick from the bag/card deck to see what pose is coming next. They also provide opportunity for turn taking and reinforcement of appropriate social behavior.

Enjoy this video from Spiral Movement Centre to see many of these tips in action with a group of six special needs youth.