yoga for special needs

Inclusive Yoga – 3 Ways to Create an Inclusive Lesson Plan

Preparing for the Inclusive Yoga Kids Yoga module of our kids yoga teacher training means gathering my ribbons, stickers and foam noodles. Seeing these props gathered in front of me, I’m reminded of the many ways to engage children and how important wise planning is for a kids yoga class.

a class picture of graduates from the kids yoga teacher training in Toronto Canada — Class Picture of Kids Yoga Teacher Training

In this training, you’ll create Lesson Plan Case Studies and strategize ways to include children with all abilities in your classes. Here are three tips from our training that could make your classes a little more inclusive so everyone gets to play at yoga!

If you’d like to get formal training – please follow the link here and check out our early bird savings for the upcoming training.

1. All Abilities Yoga

Here’s what we did in our practicum Training when a girl with Cerebral Palsy attended. She used a walker/seat to support her and standing up and sitting down took her longer, was tiring, and made it hard for her to participate in the class.

Design games and activities so all kids can participate as one class.

As often happens we didn’t know she was going to be there until we got to the class. But we had 5 more classes in the series so we did a case study of her needs and our lesson plans for future classes so she could participate fully. Here’s one example.

We typically play a mindfulness listening game using a variety of bells with the kids sitting on the floor, closing their eyes, and listening to identify which bell is being rung. For this activity, our first thought was to put out a chair so our friend could sit in a chair while we played.

But as we thought it through we could see how she would still feel separated from the group this way – she would be the only one sitting in the chair. There was no reason this activity had to take place on the yoga mats.

So we changed our plan to move the whole activity to a table and had everyone sitting in chairs.

The activity was set up before everyone arrived and ran smoothly, not one child ever thought that a special allowance had been made because of the chairs. What they did notice was how much fun they had.

This is just one way that you can plan your lesson for a particular child with a walker or chair, and keep it fun by moving everyone into chairs.

You can see how activities are equally fun no matter how you play them in this video:

2. Routines within the Yoga Class

Routines: Helpful for All, Essential for Some

When I talk about setting up routines in a yoga class, I liken it to TV show credits. As a kid, I remember watching the Brady Bunch till the very last note of the closing song was sung. Those opening and closing songs helped me emotionally process that my favourite show was starting, then finishing. The routine helped!

Routines within a class are helpful for all and essential for some. They reduce stress because they provide predictability and reassurance throughout your yoga time.

“Unpredictability = Risk”

The simple premise (unpredictability = risk) is that young people perceive the unpredictable as risky and threatening. For example, novel situations – such as new environments, a disruption in routine, or times when their teacher is away – are themselves the reasons that students escalate in their environment. In times of uncertainty, students can often display emotional dysregulation and increased fight-flight-freeze behaviours.”
p. 55, Creating Trauma-Informed Strengths-Based Classrooms, Tom Brunzell Ph.D., and Jacolyn Norrish Ph.D.

Creating routines can help your classes run smoother.

Adding routines can help your classes run smoother. Here are a few places routines can be used:

an opening song (see the Hello Song I use in my preschool classes below)
routinely doing 3 yoga breaths during or after a pose
a routine to celebrate completing a pose or activity
a closing transition or song

Don’t forget that for routines to work they should be the same in every class!

What routines do you follow without fail in every class? If you don’t have any, it may help to get some.

3. Representation Matters In Your Props

a yoga superhero doing yoga cobra pose to help boys like yoga using images they enjoy — Yoga Man – the Yoga Super Hero

I created Yoga Man vs. The Stressor in 2009 because it was hard to find yoga materials that appealed to the older boys I taught. There were plenty of images of animals, fairies, and happy endings. But where were the action heroes that many of my students wanted to see?

When I developed the Frog Yoga Alphabet, I chose frogs to do the poses rather than children so that everyone could relate to the images.

And the strategic use of props can get more children engaged like the way bubbles help everyone figure out yoga breathing.

Teachers must ensure everyone is well represented.

Fortunately, there are more inclusive resources available now. I would like to update the Yoga for Boys video I made to include more boys, not just my nephews. I’d like to include images of children wearing head coverings or using walkers doing yoga!

Out of convenience, people can get overlooked and feel like they don’t belong when they never see themselves represented. Teachers need to think about whether everyone is represented in the images they use in yoga class too.

Here’s our yoga for boys video that needs an update, the boys in this video are young men now so we are ready for new kids to fill our video:

Yoga Man does the sun salutation on colouring pages that kids can colour in the way they like.

If you find that your boys are not engaged in your yoga classes, I recommend learning more about Boy Culture from this article.

What are Your Favourite Strategies to Create an Inclusive Yoga Lesson Plan?

These are just a few of the many ways you can create an Inclusive Yoga Lesson plan. To go over them all we would need a whole weekend and that takes place in the Inclusive Yoga Kids Yoga Teacher Certification.

The code can be used sitewide for Self-paced, Live Zoom, and In-person teacher training.

Kids Yoga For Special Needs and the Story of the Special Olympics

My large experience in traveling the world and working is that we’re a lot much more alike than different at the heart. And sport is a great common denominator. – Dr. Frank Hayden

A Revolution in Play Skills for Kids with Special Needs

We become a wiser and kinder society when we try to understand each child in their uniqueness, with unique needs and unique capabilities.

Dr. Frank Hayden, Founder of Special Olympics — Dr. Frank Hayden

Yet there was a time when children with special needs were thought to be unintelligent and physically incapable of participating in the most basic play and sporting activities. All teachers, families, and coaches saw was what those children couldn’t do. Few were asking or wondering about what kids with special needs could do.

Sometimes it takes someone thinking differently than everyone else to transform long-held social beliefs like these. Once such person was Dr. Frank Hayden. He revolutionized the way educators approached teaching physical activity to kids with special needs.

“Nobody taught them to ride a bike because they figured they would never learn. Nobody on the street played with them because they didn’t have the play skills to do it. And people were in some ways, even frightened of them.” – Dr. Frank Hayden

Dr. Hayden currently lives in Burlington, Ontario, where we hold our kids yoga summer certification, but he started his revolutionary fitness research with a group of inner-city Toronto children in the 1960’s.

It’s Not the Disability that Prevents Participation, It’s a Lack of Opportunity

Using the tools of the scientific method he showed it wasn’t disability that prevented children with special needs from participating in play and recreation, it was a lack of opportunity. Those children had never been taught play skills which meant they had never gotten the opportunity to learn play skills.

The Dawn of the Special Olympics

When Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of John F. Kennedy, heard of Dr. Hayden’s revolutionary research she asked him to help start an Olympic style event for children of differing sporting abilities. The first such event was held in Chicago in 1968 it became a regular occurrence going on to be named the Special Olympics. Dr. Hayden played a key role in the growth and development of the Special Olympics which now involves over 5 million athletes in 170 countries.

For his pioneering work in sport and play Dr. Hayden was recently inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

This video of Dr. Hayden’s work is highly recommended because it shows what a difference one person with the right attitude can make.

Dr. Hayden changed hearts and minds and proved that highly skilled physical activity and athleticism was possible for all children, especially those of varying physical and learning abilities.

To develop these skills, kids must be given the opportunity to learn.

Society has become a kinder and wiser thanks to this ground breaking research and world changing actions.

As kids yoga teachers we can honour Dr. Hayden’s work when we learn ways to offer yoga with activities and environments where children with special needs can fulfill their physical and emotional potentials. All kids can do yoga if we give them the opportunity to learn.

Inclusive Yoga

If you would like to learn more about teaching yoga to children of varying abilities, the next kids yoga teacher training module is Inclusive Yoga and it focuses on yoga for kids with special needs. In addition to poses and music, we present techniques and tools like visual schedules, games like the yoga obstacle course, and activities that teach kids how to self-regulate stress using our super hero Yoga Man.

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training Courses and Dates in Toronto at this link — Our next Kids Yoga Teacher Training starts soon!

Transforming the Life of “That One Child”

There is always “that one child.”

All the children run exuberantly across the field, all but one. Alone in the field, perhaps just standing there, looking at the sky, the clouds, or perhaps even running the opposite way from the others.

Working intently on their projects, focused and eager, the children do not notice as one child circles the room wandering from desk to desk, perhaps silently, perhaps quickly and staccato like in movement. For a moment attention is disrupted.

Or when everyone is excited and eager, twinkly eyes, fast beating hearts, presents are opened, hugs exchanged. Then one notices a simmering fire, then a yell or scream or dissolving in tears to the floor, melting, melting, melting alone in sorrow.

All of us teachers of children, many of us parents, have most likely had that child in our classes, in our family. Perhaps there was forewarning in the staff room in a file. Perhaps no warning when the child appeared in the classroom and one sensed in seconds something a bit different, indefinable and obvious in its magnitude.

As an educator for many years, a special educator and now a yoga and mindfulness instructor, I was often given/gifted these particular kids. Years ago sitting with my colleagues divvying up our caseloads, there was a pause as my coworkers looked at one huge file filled with reports, anecdotal information, too full for child of 8 years old. Before they said the child’s name I knew and said “yes I will work with Bobby.”

Getting Through the Walls

As I entered his classroom days later I sensed a small body peering at me with an expression, perhaps of curiosity, perhaps of resentment and fear, a look unreadable in many ways. He had skepticism that’s unusual for a child so young. I smiled and quietly sat down next to him, observing as he worked and interacted with others, just quietly providing space with warmth.

Soon it was time for us to start our sessions, working on his IEP goals. As we worked together I could sense that underneath his prickliness, stubbornness, frustration, there was a small child saddened, hurt, by his peers and others in his world.

Year after year, we worked together and slowly, very slowly, he softened and opened up. He shared his fears, his feeling of being alone, not noticed and yet singled out, bullied and simultaneously disregarded.

When the time came for him to graduate from high school he was unsure. Maybe he would work or maybe join the military. His plans uncertain and unclear.

In fall I transferred to another district to be closer to my family. Years went by and life became full with a family of my own. I had a new job with new joys and challenges.

Then a year ago I happened to look in the “other” inbox on Facebook, a place I assumed was full of Spam and found hidden away a message from “Bobby.”

The message read: “Finally, I have found you! I have been trying to find you for 20 years. You were the one person who believed in me, who knew me, understood me and was there for me. I want to thank you.”

And that was it, just these words, simple and profound. I responded back, thanking him, curious about his life now and just like his fleeting message, he disappeared again.

As teachers we may be gifted students who challenge us, who push our buttons, whose lives are tumultuous. We may never know the pain these students carry inside or perhaps years later they will reach out to you with gratitude.

May each of you teachers of the heart, soul and mind, know that for one small child, a life is being changed as you share yourself, your heart and your gifts. With but a smile and a glance that sees beneath the thorns of “that one child” you could be “that one teacher.”

About the Author: Macy Ratliff

Macy Ratliff teaches a group yoga pose to children with the sitting forward bend making a big flower — Macy Ratcliff

Macy lives and works in the greater Seattle area and brings her years of teaching children, her love of reading, her passion for yoga and her strong exuberance for life to these mini yoga journeys. When not teaching yoga and mindfulness at local private and public schools, you might spot Macy around town enjoying one of her many other passions like running, swimming, kayaking, hiking, and of course, YOGA!

Connect with Macy:
Facebook: facebook.com/Macyratliffyoga/
Website: MacyRatliffYoga.com

Your Act of Kindness Can Make a Difference — Pin It Now

6 Tips from 6 Kids Yoga Teacher Training Weekends

The Summer Certification is a popular way to get your 95 hour Certificate. It’s fast. It’s fun. It’s packed with information.

To give you an idea of what you’ll get, check out these 6 Tips on teaching yoga to kids. One tip from each of the 6 weekends of Kids Yoga Teacher Training.

If you are thinking of getting your Kids Yoga Teacher Certificate Here’s the link with all the details. We’d love to meet you there.

6 Tips from 6 Kids Yoga Teacher Training Weekends

Tip #1 from the Yoga Literacy Weekend

Yoga Alphabet and Storytelling: In the Yoga Literacy training the Yoga Alphabet turns any kid into a storyteller. Why? Because letters make up words and words make up stories. With our Yoga Alphabet we play all kinds of word games, but the favorite by far is Yoga Hangman (also known as Yoga Wheel of Fortune for some youth). The clues can be any words and phrases related to school curriculum, yoga themes, or pop culture. Choose what will interest your group. Now here’s the yoga part: before you reveal whether the letter is in the clue, everyone does the yoga pose. One game of Yoga Hangman can equal 10 or more yoga poses. Now that’s a good stretch for body and mind.

Tip #2 from the Inclusive Yoga Weekend

Yoga to Include Children with Special Needs: One mother described how difficult it is at school for her daughter because she didn’t have any friends. At eleven years old it can be a lonely world for a child with special needs. In the Inclusive Yoga weekend Kids Yoga Training you get lots of ideas to help kids feel they belong in a yoga class.One effective way is by creating a Yoga Obstacle Course. It’s basically a huge visual schedule that eases anxiety for a lot of children on the autism spectrum. The great thing is, all kids love obstacle courses. You set up stations around the room with different yoga poses and fun ways to get from one spot to another. Try hopping like a frog, walking in downward dog, or taking a human train. Leave a spot at the end for kids to rest when they complete the cycle. Start by going through the whole Obstacle Course as a group. That eleven year old girl will feel better when she is sitting in the resting spot just like all the other kids.

Tip #3 from the Ages and Stages Weekend

a paper drawing of human anatomy for kids witha brain made of macaroni - part of the kids yoga teacher training — Kids don’t mind learning Anatomy when it’s fun and neither do adults.

Anatomy and Physiology: Talking about bones is one thing, but bringing a skeleton into yoga class will take bones to the next level to capture kids attention. You can look for an anatomically correct skeleton, the kind a doctor or chiropractor uses. Or you can look for a big skeleton at Halloween time and you won’t have to be so careful transporting it to and from your classes.

Tip #4 from the What I See, I Can Be Weekend

Yoga In the Classroom: This weekend includes so many tips on how to include Yoga in the classroom. One of my favorites is what course author, Janet Williams, of Childrens Yoga Books.com calls a Two-For-One. This is what you get when you teach two topics at the same time. Not only does it help a teacher get through their curriculum and fulfill their daily physical activity requirement, it helps children get much appreciated kinesthetic learning opportunities.

Tip #5 from the Themes and Dreams Weekend

kids yoga class with a teacher talking to a child doing yoga — Seeing Eye to Eye with Kids in Your Class

Classroom Management is a big concern for many kids yoga teachers. Each teacher must discover how to get to the heart of classroom management and better connect with kids. For instance, if you present your lesson plan and a child protests, there are a number of ways to deal with it. First and foremost, the teacher strives to not take the protest personally. Just like when we meditate we try not to add energy to thoughts or distractions, we let them float by. It is equally important for a teacher to focus on the yoga class and refrain from arguments or power struggles. When a teacher does not react it is easier to figure out what to do. One of my favorite responses when a child says they don’t want to do something is to sincerely and energetically ask them, “What do you want to do?” Their answer gives me a big clue about how to manage the situation. Sometimes you find out they are sick, tired, or they have something else in mind. You can use the information to adjust your plan accordingly. Sometimes you can turn the protest into a positive, by involving the child in your lesson plan. Just like in life, we want to develop a yogic mind, a neutral mind, and become a role model for children.

Tip #6 from the Branching Out Weekend

Branching Out to Family Yoga: finally here’s a very sweet meditation that I call the Stroke of Genius Meditation. I wrote about it here and it is a wonderful way to help parents and kids connect in a family yoga class. You’ll find this tip may help your mornings go a little smoother too.

These 6 tips from our 6 kids yoga teacher training weekends are just a small part of a comprehensive course registered with Yoga Alliance.

If you’ve thought of becoming a kids yoga teacher, full time, part time, in your classroom or living room, take a look at what you get with the Young Yoga Masters training.

Kids Yoga Teacher Training Yoga Alliance Registered Childrens Yoga School — Click this image for prices and more details of the Summer Certification

Register early to take save your place and take advantage of the early registration rates. Here is the link to the information.