What are the benefits of yoga for children and adolescents? And how can it help those with special needs?
That yoga and meditation are healthy activities for adolescents cannot be overstated. Yoga’s benefits extend far beyond physical health. Many cite its powerful physical, mental, and spiritual benefits.
A recent research article showed that those who practiced yoga and meditation achieved improvement in overall mind-body wellbeing, including stress resilience. The research team found that those who participated in a yoga retreat had observable increases in processes that help facilitate learning, memory, regulation of inflammation, immunity, mood regulation, stress response and metabolism.
There is much evidence that children are especially benefited from the activity. Studies have shown significantly higher levels of self-esteem and overall emotional balance in kids who are taught yoga. Not only does it benefit them on a therapeutic level, they enjoy it! The majority of of the young people in one study expressed that they wanted to continue to take yoga beyond the study’s completion.
For these reasons and more, yoga can be a great fit for many special needs children. The body awareness and concentration benefits that can be achieved are noteworthy. Additionally, the fact that yoga can be done at various levels of strenuousness means it can be tailored to your particular child’s needs and comfort level. Other ways yoga and meditation could help those with special needs in particular include the stress relief and release of tension (in muscles and joints, for example) it brings. Body processes helped include breathing, circulation, and mental and sensory processes.
Yoga is more than just a physical exercise. It is a greatly relieving, therapeutic activity that helps develop mindfulness and contributes positively to the wellbeing of those who practice it. Regardless of one’s age or special needs they may have, a program including yoga and meditation can be an enlightening and enriching experience.