Posted on 15 March 2010. Tags: Family, health benefits of yoga and children, quiet them down, Yoga and kids
Back in 2008, Fox News covered a story on a toddler, his mother and an American Eagle flight. According to reports, while the plane was taxiing to Raleigh-Durham Airport, the child was upset and couldn’t be calmed down by his mother. The boy had autism and didn’t like his seat belt. Any 2 1/2 year old will revolt against a strap that will tie him in, but if the child has additional sensory issues as this little boy had, it makes it more difficult for that child to tolerate the confinement. The crew eventually kicked the mother and child off the plane and were quoted in the paper, calling the little boy “uncontrollable.”
According to the mother, the flight attendant created alot of their misery by repeatedly tightening the child’s belt and reprimanding the little boy for loosening his belt. This story was unbelievable to me and I had to wonder what the IQ was for that flight attendant. She obviously was ignorant when it came to understanding children, but when a child has a disability, it is unforgiveable to expect perfect behavior when the child sees the situation as threatening or untollerable.We all are born with different emotional temperaments and if the child has sensory issues, then the child will have to have understanding for his inability to tolerate the confinement.
Which Way Is It To Tranquility?
It’s hard being a parent and sometimes when a child is in the ‘red zone’, (that’s what I call the melt down state), it feels like you’re a passenger on the Titanic with no life boat to jump in. No matter what you try, you can’t calm the raging child. If your child has a mood or emotional disorder, then that will magnify the problem. Now you’re sinking a lot faster off the shores of Halifax. None the less, it’s your job as the loving mom not to give up the ship.
And mothers of today have more opportunities to learn strategies to teach their child appropriate behavioral responses. There are programs, videos, schools, camps and books galore. One book I read when my son was a toddler, suggested using yoga with children who were impulsive and had difficulty with controlling their emotions. It said with regular yoga practice, a child could develop greater body awareness, concentration and control. I tried it and it turned out to be a fun and healthy way to play with all my kids.
Studies are ongoing, but some have supported the benefits of yoga on a child’s health. For example, a child with impulse control will learn to concentrate by focusing on body movements or breaths. A child with anxiety will be learning how to relax and focus on pleasant thoughts, the way biofeedback has been used to treat adults for their anxiety. Some of the studies have documented improvement in self esteem, reduced frequency of disruptive behavior and oppositional tendencies . It’s an effective way to teach a child a new strategy on how to cope when his emotions start to take over. It’s a tool the child can pull out, when he’s feeling stressed at school, just by learning to breath slowly. It teaches the child how to be aware of what he’s feeling, as well as learning to control body movements, which is a developmental motor skill for young children.
Yoga is another modality that appears to improve some children’s well being, and it can be a fun way to spend quality time with your child. If you like the idea but don’t know how to get started, I’ve listed some books you might want to check out:
* Yoga with Children by Mary Steward (Fireside, 1993). Ages 3 and older
* Little Yoga; A Toddler’s First Book of Yoga by Rebecca Whitford and Martina Selway. Safe, easy, and fun yoga poses in a colorful board book.
A video is another way to begin.
* Yoga Gaiam Kids: Yogakids Fun Collection (2005)
There are many more, but the idea is to have fun and enjoy creative play with your child! It will be good for all of you!
Thanks for reading!
LU
Lu - who has written 141 posts on Essence Of Life Chronicles.
Lu is a freelance writer in the Boston area and the VP of Editing for DocUmeant Publishing. She's a published ghost writer and has other magazine publications to her credit. She writes book reviews for publishers and their authors. In her free time, she contributes to blogcritics.org.
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Nice posting. Do you know about these yoga books?
http://www.yogavidya.com/freepdfs.html
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Nice posting. Do you know about these yoga books?
http://www.yogavidya.com/freepdfs.html