Yoga and Special Needs

Yoga After Breast Cancer Program™ | Yoga for the Special Child™

Yoga, the Greatest Gift

By Julie Peoples-Clark

Three years ago, I gave birth to my daughter Ella. My husband and I were so excited to be having a baby. I had a wonderful full-term pregnancy. I ate right, exercised everyday, didn’t drink alcohol, and stayed away from anyone who was smoking. It was a wonderful time. My due date came and went and I was two weeks overdue when I finally went into labor. It was a very hard, long labor; I pushed for four and a half hours. Ella went into distress and was not breathing when she was born. She was taken away from me. The next time I saw her she was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

On the third day after her birth, I was finally able to hold her. It was a wonderful moment. Then the doctors told us she was having seizures and had severe brain damage. We took Ella home at three weeks not really knowing what to make of the doctor’s gloomy predictions. A couple of months later, she was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy and we were told she would never walk or talk.

I fell into a deep depression that lasted for two and a half years. The depth of my depression was so extreme that I shudder to think of the dangerous thoughts I had during this time. Despite my depression, I did manage to do a lot of research on alternative therapies for brain injury. We tried a lot of them, some worked and many didn’t. With the therapies that worked, Ella improved. She has gone from a screaming baby to a happy little girl who smiles all of the time.

One of the therapies that I researched was Yoga for the Special Child™ developed by Sonia Sumar. I had practiced yoga for many years before Ella was born so I was drawn to this program. In the workshop, I was introduced to a step-by-step integrated system of yoga asanas designed to increase cognitive and motor skills. Sonia also encouraged me to practice yoga again along with read many of the ancient yoga texts. One of the lessons that I learned from my readings was that in order for me to take care of Ella I had to take care of myself. I began practicing yoga everyday by myself and with Ella. I woke each morning washed my face, brushed my teeth, read from the yoga texts, meditated, and practiced my yoga poses. My depression began to lift and Ella continued to improve. By practicing with Ella everyday, I gained a sense of power over her recovery, finally feeling like I could help her. Sharing our yoga practice gives us a chance to connect in a loving and gentle way. As we go through our practice, I think about the important lesson of non-attachment that yoga teaches: letting go of the expectations of my perfect life with the perfect baby. I live in the present moment finding joy each day and marveling at my incredible daughter and all she has overcome.

Yoga as Therapy for Children with Special Needs

Founded in science, enriched with compassion, Yoga for the Special Child™ is an innovative and effective approach to therapy developed by Sonia Sumar. The Yoga for the Special Child™ method is a complete system of therapy for children. The practice includes aspects of many of the traditional therapies that are offered to children with special needs—speech, physical therapy, manual competence and eye exercises… to name a few. Yoga asanas tone specific muscle and nerve groups, benefit organs and endocrine glands and activate brain cells. By encouraging an inward attention of the breath as you move through the poses, you focus the mind and encourage deep relaxation. Children begin to feel safe in their bodies by bringing attention to the specific parts of the body through yoga asana practice. They develop a sense of self—a map of me. When done correctly, yoga asana practice can lead to a more positive parasympathetic nervous system response. Many children with special needs are stuck in the sympathetic nervous system response-fight or flight. Yoga’s positive influence on the parasympathetic nervous system may make the child more resilient and better able to cope with stress, strengthening the immune system. Yoga may help regulate circadian rhythms, which control sleep cycles. Children with special needs tend to have terrible sleeping patterns. Improving a child’s sleeping patterns can completely change the quality of life in the family.

Yoga has been a wonderful complimentary therapy for Ella and for me. By learning and living the lessons of yoga each day, I have completely changed my life. I have come to peace with the tragedy of Ella’s birth and I have moved on. Ella is the greatest gift I could have ever received. She has taught me more about the person I hope to become than anyone else could. Ella is my guru!

Julie is certified in the Yoga for the Special Child™ method and a Registered Svadhyaya Yoga Teacher with the National Yoga Alliance. She is a former professional modern dancer and teacher of modern dance and ballet. Julie is the mother of an amazing three-year-old little girl with cerebral palsy. Julie handles the daily joys and challenges of raising a child with a disability by living and practicing yoga everyday. Julie continues her study of yoga and is enrolled in a 500-hour certification program with the Silver Lotus Institute. Contact Julie at juliepeoplesclark@verizon.net.