Karen Fakroddin is one of these teachers and has witnessed some of these transformative moments. One of her students is a 20-year-old woman who independently blew out her birthday candle for the first time last year. Cerebral palsy has constricted her muscles to the point that she cannot walk or speak; yet she has been practicing yoga with Fakroddin for three years. Through this practice she has improved her breathing, digestion, and stamina and has less pain in her limbs; though it is the memory of blowing out that birthday candle that makes her smile.
Fakroddin teaches group and private classes for kids with special needs and embodies the true spirit of yoga as she explains, “the beauty of yoga is that it helps you wherever you are at.” Using this approach, she gently guides her students through stretches and breathing exercises that address their unique needs, focusing on their abilities rather than their disabilities.
Fakroddin, and many others like her, have been trained in the system developed by Sonia Sumar called Yoga for the Special Child. Sumar conceived the program when she noticed how much yoga helped her daughter, who was born with Down syndrome, and she became an avid yoga student herself. That was over 30 years ago. Since then she has written a book by the same name and now trains and certifies teachers in this methodology. One of her first students defied the limitations his doctors put on him, learning to ride a bike and play basketball, even after they said he never would.
Practitioners of this system conduct a thorough assessment and get clearance from the child’s doctor before working with them. Gadi Revivo, a doctor specializing in pediatric rehabilitation, cautions that there are some risks as some special needs are resulting from or intertwined with spinal cord issues. Still, he believes that yoga will inevitably be more beneficial than harmful to them. He points out that “many of these kids have been doing physical therapy, speech, occupational therapy most of their lives. They get bored.” Yoga allows them to “integrate stretching, body awareness, breathing and posture in a way they haven’t experienced it before. It’s different,” he says.
Another teacher describes a teen whose feet were curled up when she began yoga. Starting by rotating her toes and ankles, she slowly worked towards standing poses and is now learning to walk. She will most likely never take a single step for granted. May we all be so blessed!
Do you know of anyone with special needs that has experienced the benefits of yoga?
