Sometimes as teachers, (and as human beings), we have a hard time letting go of our ideas of what & how we think things should be. We get stuck on the limitations and unwittingly pass our attitudes and fears on to the kids we work with. Sometimes this shows up as doubt or skepticism. The child can always detect it and it always limits them when we come to a session with our own limiting ideas in mind.
In spite of the increasing amount of positive feedback, many educators still can't see how yoga or meditation techniques can possibly help in a traditional classroom setting and there are still many who believe that we cannot do much at all to help profoundly disabled children, let alone teach them yoga. There are OT's and yoga teachers that don't see how yoga can be taught to these children at all and that it is better geared activity for the "higher functioning" children. I think that these misconceptions are purely a matter of our own self-doubt, coupled with a lack of resources & not knowing where to even look for help.
2 common questions posed (pun intended) to me in my workshops are: Can I teach yoga to my lower functioning students & how? and Does this even help them at all?
I believe that every child-no matter how affected-can do something and that is where you meet them; where they are. So my answer is yes you can and yes it does. However, you do need to first let go of your ideas of how it "should" be.
Yoga is for every size, shape, age and ability.
The media, yoga magazines and most yoga websites you come across will not show you the image of yoga that is the reality-they are giving you instead what will sell magazines and get you to sign up. They give you what they want you to believe. Rarely do you see in mainstream media, images of a middle aged yoga teacher with "curves" or a disabled student practicing yoga, or children or people with much variety of ethnicity practicing or teaching yoga. This sadly adds to the misconceptions that yoga can only be accessed or understood by Hollywood actresses, professional athletes, rock stars or a certain "type" of physically fit (or enlightened) person. It makes it less accessable to those who need it the most.
The truth is, yoga is not always practiced on a tropical island with palm trees swaying and crystal clear water or a sunset in the background. Nor is it always practiced in a stae of the art air conditioned yoga studio with full spectrum lighting, eco-friendly and sustainable bamboo floors, sandskrit meditation music, and tapestries of Ganesha hanging on the walls. (I suppose that 5, 000 years ago when it began, it was practiced in the sand or on some rocks-barefoot- with the blazing heat of the sun overhead.)
When I started to practice it was first in my garage, then in my living room. I've taught many summer yoga camps in basements of churches and community centers-with no air conditioning, (or windows) old fluorescent lighting, extremely loud fans blowing (I mean loud like an airplane engine) and where the tile floors had not been cleaned (I'm guessing) for about 3 months. The smell of bug spray lingering like the worst incense ever, and the carcasses of the exterminator's "victims" still in the corners of the room just adding to the *ambiance.
(No matter where you practice, it's still yoga. )
Yoga by definition is: "a commonly known generic term for a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline..." and "aims to use meditation to attain spiritual insight and tranquility." The word literally means: "yoke", from a root yuj meaning 'to join', 'to unite', or 'to attach'. In my estimation, for these children, any adaptation of traditional yoga that will "unite" them-engage them and give them a sense of inner and outer tranquility is their yoga.
Yoga is commonly perceived or recognized as a series of (sometimes gravity defying) postures and therefore we do not see how a child with cognitive or physical limitations can possibly practice with any effectiveness. What we forget is that:
1) yoga postures are only one small aspect of a much bigger & complete system, and
2) that those postures were originally intended to prepare the body for long periods (days) of sitting in meditation.
If we can keep these two facts in mind, we will have an easier time letting go of pre-conceived ideas and in a better frame of mind for actively adapting yoga techniques or designing adaptive programs for all children, even the ones we initially perceive as "unteachable".
The "unteachable" students are the ones who have the most potential to learn.
In my next post, I will share with you some techniques, ideas and a process I've used to determine where to start when working with profoundly disabled children.
(Read Part 2 of this Article here.)
*(Sadly, I am not joking nor exaggerating with this description. This is exactly the setting, in 2 different sites for a yoga camp for children with autism I co-taught with my former business partner about 3 years ago. The kids seemd unaware of the conditions and just focussed on the games, activities and relaxation. It was a great learning experience for me and definitely one I will never forget! I'm grateful to my former business partner Robin for being there too to help the kids stay in the moment. )
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Related Articles:
7 Keys to Adapting Movement & Sports for Special Needs Children
3 Easy Ways to Use Yoga in the Classroom to Enhance Learning
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