BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, July 0-9, 2006: Giggling and croaking like frogs may not be what ancient Hindu practitioners had in mind, but as yoga continues to boom in popularity in the West, a new sort of follower is scurrying onto mats and into downward-facing dog position: children with disabilities, begins this informative article. Around Maryland and beyond, a growing number of kids with attention, anxiety and learning disorders, as well as disabilities such as autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis, are embracing yoga. Their parents are reporting physical, mental and emotional benefits. “People are calling about kids with almost every kind of diagnosis,” said Annie Mahon, who offers what she calls “therapeutic yoga” for children at her Chevy Chase studio, Circle Yoga. Yoga teachers are beginning to add a “special needs welcome” tag on their advertisements, and a variety of pediatric therapists are integrating yoga into their treatments. The Maryland chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society just held a workshop in Owings Mills on teaching yoga to people–children and adults–with the disease. The family center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute is about to start yoga groups for children with attention disorder, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“There are so many parents with kids with special needs. I don’t want to say they’re desperate, but they really want to find ways to help their kids,” Mahon said. “They may want to find complements to medication, to find natural ways to help them, and ways the kids can be empowered, too.” Some of the yoga done with children can look a little more like playing: running, wriggling, pretending to be animals. but many of the postures adults do are embedded in there. And just like adults, children learn to meditate and to pay attention to their breathing. Teachers sneak in some strands of yoga philosophy, reminding children to breathe through the scary parts or to be present. Other teachers and parents say yoga can help kids with concentration, balance, sleep, muscle development and brain function. Research on the impact of yoga on children is scarce because the practice is fairly new, but the health benefits for adults is well documented, said William Stixrud, a clinical neuropsychologist in Silver Spring. He often recommends yoga to anxious children he sees in his private practice.