Stephanie Gottlob and Yuji Oka are on a mission. These two are the creators of Movement, a physical re-education program for children and teens with special needs. Their unique training program includes an holistic somatic approach including adaptive yoga. Their goal is to teach a core physical vocabulary of 12 movements through creative play. They join us to talk about their innovative approach and its incredible success in helping youth with ADHD, Autism, Down Syndrome, hyperactivity and emotional disturbances. Youth in their program learn not only physical skills but self-confidence, social skills and control. Based out of the Spiral Movement Centre in Toronto, Canada, Stephanie and Yuji transform lives one spin, hop and breath at at time.

Original Air Date: October 3, 2011

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Connect with Stephanie and Yuji at Movement for Kids with Special Needs or the Spiral Movement Center on Facebook

Access our extensive library of interviews with leaders in the yoga and mindfulness community on iTunes. Guests include John Friend, Elena Brower, Cora Wen, Waylon Lewis, Sydney Solis, Sadie Nardini and many more.

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Child Led, Child Friendly DVD a Winner

Enter to win a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle DVD by leaving a comment below mentioning one quality of an eagle which you admire.

Yoga Calm’s new DVD entitled Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle is sure to captivate. Inspired by Ryley’s song about eagles (which is used during the guided relaxation at the end of the yoga class) Flying Eagle encourages children to identify with an eagle’s positive traits of vision, strength, freedom and gentleness.

I absolutely love that the entire class is inspired and led by children. Young Haley leads the class with poise, confidence and clarity. She hands off the teacher’s mat to student leaders who take over during various activities and who receive compliments for their efforts and willingness to lead. Haley is matter of fact with her presentation using vocabulary, poses and visualizations appropriate for an elementary aged audience. The children modeling the class represent average children everywhere and help to encourage all to participate and adopt a “can-do attitude.”

The class itself is well thought out and includes breathing exercises with props (hoberman sphere & rock), floor work, standing poses, sun salutations with variations for ability & strength, partner and group poses, reclined twists and a final relaxation. There are 15 different activities in 20 minutes which may feel a little fast but which provides great opportunities to pause and explore at your leisure before pressing play to continue. Other kids will find the pace perfect to keep them engaged and active.

In addition to the yoga class there are also short bonus segments including:

1. a talk about eagles by naturalist Steve Engel of the Audubon Society
2. an interview with Lynea & Jim Gillen, founders of Yoga Calm
3. a Focusing Fun Silent Ball activity with ADHD expert Dr Jeff Sosne to build focus and encourage eye contact.

Enter to win a copy of the DVD by leaving a comment below regarding the admirable qualities of eagles.

For additional entries:

• Visit YogaCalm on Facebook and post on their wall about the giveaway
• Share this review on Facebook with an @yogainmyschool.com mention (multiple entries allowed)
• Tweet about the contest on Twitter with an @DonnaKFreeman mention (multiple entries allowed) “Check it out! Flying Eagle Kids Yoga DVD #giveaway @DonnaKFreeman @yogacalmkids http://bit.ly/iurfve”

This contest ends May 31, 2011 at 9:00 pm MDT. Enter often and share generously! Good-luck.

Visit the Yoga Calm Store if you’d like to purchase a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle – US$16 +S&H.

I received a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle and other promotional material from Yoga Calm for this review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

UPDATE: Congratulations to Lisa Kelly, the winner of a copy of Kids Teach Yoga: Flying Eagle DVD from Yoga Calm. Upon learning of her good fortune she said, “Looking forward to drawing inspiration from Flying Eagle! Thank you Donna for your continued hard work in helping other teachers spread the yoga-for-kids love. We are very lucky have you as such an amazing resource.”

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Recently I was asked for any insight with this dilemma.

I am a children’s Yoga Teacher and have been approached by a mom on how to work with her 5 year old son on a certain behaviour. He will be in a quiet zone and suddenly has an outburst of energy which he manifests physically and verbally inappropriately by exaggerating movements and using a very loud voice. This happens in the class at times and at home.

Disruptive behaviors are a fact of life for most children, and are especially prevalent with children with ADHD and Autism. Learning to control those behaviors is an on-going and often frustrating process for them, their parents, teachers and care-givers. Here are some pointers to assist in correcting disruptive behaviors in yoga class and at home.

1. Communicate Expectations: Children need to know what is expected of them. Talk to them. Tell them what appropriate behavior looks like, sounds like, feels like. Repeat often. This will make them more mindful of their actions. I did this every time we went to the grocery store or ate at a restaurant with my little ones. The same is true for yoga class. Be sure your students know what is expected of them and when. Remember to make time for fun, noise & play.
2. Teach Respect: The yoga concepts of ahimsa (non-violence), brahmacarya (conservation) and tapas (self-discipline) all relate to respecting self and others. Teach respect through conversations and stories. Congratulate children when they show respect. Remind them when they forget. Show respect in your own life, especially when dealing with a disruptive individual. As tempting as it is, this is not the time to lose your cool. Practise Take 5 together as needed.
3. Reward Appropriate Behavior: Build in rewards. Often disruptive children only receive attention for their inappropriate behaviors. Instead catch them being good. Praise often specifically mentioning what they are doing well. Choose a child who is behaving appropriately to be the teacher’s assistant for a pose/activity. Trade off yoga ’work’ with a yoga ‘reward’; if they can focus on the class poses/meditation then they get to play a yoga game/sing a song. I often reward my children for good behavior with a trip to the Pet Store after running errands.
4. Follow Through: Children thrive when they know what to expect. Establish consequences and always follow through, even when it is inconvenient or embarrassing. This may mean taking a child to the side and reminding them of expectations. Sometimes a calming hand, a whispered comment or providing responsibilities will engage the child and turn a negative into a positive. Some classes provide a quiet corner when children can go if they need some alone time or a breathing break. If negative behavior persists ask the child to remove themselves temporarily. Briefly talk things over away from prying eyes and ears and then return to normal activities, leaving the incident behind.
5. Practice Patience: Remember that each child is growing and learning. They will outgrow and learn to manage disruptive behaviors with time and consistency. Work on one behavior modification at a time. Stick with it and keep expectations realistic (5 minutes of good behavior for many is a triumph). Set children up for success, then celebrate those successes lavishly.

If you enjoyed this post share it with a friend and be sure to subscribe (RSS or e-mail) to receive future posts on this and other topics to make your kids yoga classes a roaring success.

You may also want to visit Young Yoga Masters post on Classroom Management ,ChildLight Yoga’s blog post How do I Manage Challenging Behavior in a Kid’s Yoga Class or Indra Singh’s post Is Your Yoga Class Out of Control.

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A rope can be a useful yoga prop. This video demonstrates one way to use a rope in a kids yoga class. Rope Walking is a mindfulness activity which teaches focus and concentration. It also improves balance and coordination while providing a calming activity that is both challenging and soothing in nature. This mindfulness activity is ideal for individuals with ADHD as it allows for movement while developing mind/body awareness.

Rope Walking

Today we have three young yogis who are going to show you how to do rope walking.

For younger children (or those with special needs), they can walk on the path made in between the rope. Walking all the way to the center.

For older children, they can walk on the rope. This increases the diffficutly of the exercise and helps them to learn balance, body coordination. It helps them to teach where they are looking they want to place their feet. And is a lovely exercerise to teach them how to do a walking meditation. Of course, once they get really good at it they can do various activities such as jumping or walking a little faster.  But for the most part, simply walking along a rope is challenge enough.

And that’s how you do rope walking.

More yoga and mindfulness activities can be found on YogaInMySchoolTV on YouTube.

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When diagnosing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) three symptoms are considered: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Children with ADHD have one primary challenge – focus – whether lack of, fluctuations in, inability to refocus, or obsessive focus. Yoga asanas (poses) and breathing techniques can dramatically improve the ability to focus and can be used anytime, anywhere. 

Students with ADHD who regularly engage in yoga are able to develop coping skills. Their self esteem improves as disruptive behaviours are reduced. They are also better able to understand themselves and appreciate who they really are, and the contributions they can make.

Yogic practices of visualization, affirmations, and relaxation can prove especially powerful as behaviour therapy techniques. These can help increase attention span, improve the ability to relax, help regulate emotions, and teach stress management skills. In addition, they will reduce stimulus overload by providing a sense of calm and inducing the relaxation response.

Partner and group poses further yoga’s effectiveness in helping students with ADHD as they provide a forum for social skills training. The controlled environment with a short specific task, followed by positive reinforcement is ideal for teaching the application of social skills.

Children with attention-deficit challenges benefit greatly from regular practice. Two to three times a week is optimal. Use pose cards such as The Kids Yoga Deck: 50 Poses and Games by Annie Buckley or make your own using drawings or pictures of the poses (a dog, a snake, a mountain). Children can then pick different groups of cards or poses for each session.

More information on how to assist students with ADHA can be found at the Canadian Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Resource Alliance (CADDRA) and the Centre for ADD/ADHD Advocacy, Canada.

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