Yoga for Athletes, Autism and ADHD

Full disclosure, I am not a special education teacher or expert, but I have taught yoga to autistic children ages 9-14 and have received positive feedback from the students and their parents.  More disclosure, I am not an athletic trainer, but I have taught yoga to teen female soccer teams, teen male baseball teams and youth hockey teams.  And, I am not an ADHD expert, but I have a son who was diagnosed with ADHD and I learned about this disorder through professional health experts, books, teachers and many years of experience raising my now grown son.

Why is yoga therapy beneficial for kids with autism?

• It offers mental calmness
• It meets children where they are
• It reduces anxiety
• It can help reduce obsessive behaviors
• It offers an opportunity to be social
• It can reduce pain and aggression
• It is fun and challenging
• It offers more control in the regulation of emotions
• It aids in breathing and digestion (taking them out of flight and fight mode)
• It enables them to feel more comfortable and calm in their bodies

Related Link: YogAutism

Why is yoga helpful for ADHD?

• It offers mental calmness and centering
• It isn't competitive
• It teaches children how to focus and concentrate
• It can help reduce obsessive behaviors
• It gives them tools for blowing off steam in the classroom and at home
• It can reduce pain and aggression
• It is fun and challenging
• It offers more control and awareness of emotions
• It aids in breathing and digestion (taking them out of flight and fight mode)
• It enables them to have greater body awareness
• It shows them how to channel high energy

Related Link: Yoga and ADHD

Why is yoga beneficial for young athletes?

• It relaxes anxious and over stressed minds
• It teaches athletes breathing techniques improving focus and concentration
• It can help reduce joint and muscle pain
• It helps correct muscle imbalance
• It increases flexibility and opens up tight areas that hinder performance
• It is challenging and core strengthening
• It can aid in injury prevention
• It allows athletes to recover faster after intense workouts
• It improves range of motion
• It helps correct poor body mechanics and posture
• It teaches athletes about the mind body connection

Related Link: Why Every Athlete Should Practice Yoga

If you are between the ages of 8-80 and would like to learn more about where I teach in the Reno area, please contact me at KerryTeegen@gmail.com.  You will benefit from my classes if you have ADHD, autism, are an athlete, or just want to give yoga a try.  

Special Needs Yoga

I teach yoga in a special education classroom at a local elementary school once a week. I found this article helpful and insightful.


Classroom Yoga Helps Improve Behavior Of Kids With Autism

by ELIZA BARCLAY

Some highlights from the article:

• "Researchers have found that kids with autism spectrum disorder who did yoga at their elementary school behaved better than kids with autism who weren't doing yoga.

• Yoga was effective because it seems to play to the strengths of kids with autism, while also reducing stress. 

• We know that anxiety fuels a lot of the negative behavior, so the yoga program gives them a strategy to cope with it.  And if it's done every morning, it becomes an integral part of the day that sets the status of the classroom and allows the kids to become calm, focused and ready to learn.

• According to the researchers, yoga is increasingly being used in classrooms across the U.S. to get kids to behave and perform better in school.  Early research suggests that yoga exercises help kids concentrate and focus, and improves their strength, motor coordination and social skills.

• Teachers said that the special education kids doing yoga exhibited significantly fewer problematic behaviors overall."

To read the full article, go here.