Yoga for children with autism a scientific approach

The topic of yoga and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is of big interest to me. I want to know more about mind’s tricky behavior during social interaction.  As a PhD holder, I see the only way of exploring reality is in reading scientific literature and making reviews. As a yoga teacher, I want to apply all my scientific knowledge on people and body work in asanas. Even though I do not give advises on how to work with children with ASD, and I am not qualified to teach such type of classes and have no experience in teaching children, I started doing this review.

Yoga and autism is quite a new theme. There are few books and articles that study this problem. However, when you start digging you realize that more than a half of it is an advertising of some questionable “healing” methods. So as a result, you do not have a lot.

 

First, let’s see what is autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a childhood neurological disorder characterized by impairments in the social communication skills and presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). As a yoga teacher who works with kids with ASD you want expect improvement in social behavior, physical activity, and self-calming.

Second, as a teacher you should always be aware of view to teach a class for children with ASD is quite a difficult process. The room should be safe, without any distract materials and all props should be lined. So, there won’t be any unused props that can distract student’s mind (Ehleringer, 2010; Sharma, 2016).

Children with ASD do well with predictability, structure, and consistency. When you know your plans must change, it is important to stay positive, remain calm, and adhere to the routine and schedule as much as possible. If you know that there is a change coming up, warn the children before the new task is introduced (Ehleringer, 2010)

Additionally, the teacher should ensure a motivating and encouraging environment for the child. So, the friendly and pleasant environment can further motivate the children to continue practicing the training activities without losing focus and eventually getting better at it (Kaur, 2016).

Because of yoga intervention, students were advance in strength, flexibility, balance, focus, and concentration. Breathing techniques helped in self-regulation in stressful situations. Children feel their self less depressed and more self-aware. Parents reported improvements in social and academic engagement, greater tolerance to stressful situations and reduce in negative behavior (Ehlinger et al., 2010; Kaur, 2016; Koenig et al., 2012; Narasingharao et. al, 2016; Rosenblatt et al., 2011; Radhakrishna et al, 2010; Studnitzer et.al., 2014). Scientists noticed better imitation of the yoga poses, breathing exercises, vocalizations, and oro-facial movements as well as increased eye-to -eye gazes with the social partners following an intensive 10- to 20-month yoga intervention (Radhakrishna, 2010; Kaur, 2016). It was seen that children with ASD improved their gross motor skills after the 8 weeks yoga courses (Kaur, 2016).

Analysis of the affective states of children indicated that children showed high levels of interest throughout the training sessions.

Behavioral changes following yoga such as reduction in anxiety and stress can reduce social phobias and promote engagement in social interactions for children with attentional deficits (Kaur, 2016). In addition, relaxed and calm children are less likely to strain their interpersonal relationships; which could improve their social functioning or relationships with others (child-parent, child-friend relationships) (Kaur, 2016). Moreover, teachers noticed improvements in the social proximity in children following the training (Radhakrishna et al., 2010). Children with ASD increased their responsive and spontaneous verbalizations/ vocalizations directed towards the social partners. Scientists observed that across the training sessions, children became more familiar and comfortable working with the trainers, and hence they started talking more to the trainers in the late training session compared to the early session (Kaur, 2016). So, the yoga training increased the spontaneous attempts for socialization (e.g. social proximity, smiling, vocalizations) (Ehlinger et al., 2010; Kenny, 2002; Sharma et al., 2016; Radhakrishna et al., 2010).

Some studies suggest that yoga-based training could reduce the disruptive and maladaptive behavior of children with ASD (Goldberg, 2004; Koenig et al., 2012; Rosenblatt et al., 2011).

However, all these results and findings should be interpreted with some caution as the teachers were not blinded to the grouping of children (Cachia et.al., 2016; Kaur, 2016). Moreover, the test groups were small, some participants left the experiment (e.g. 10 out of 24 finished all the tests) (Rosenblatt et al., 2010) and the test methods and analysis do not allow to generalize the results. So, lack of empirical studies limits the use of yoga in children with ASD, even though yoga has a huge potential in helping them.

 

The list of asanas usually used for the tests is (Cachia et al 2016; (Ehlinger et al., 2010; Kaur, 2016):

• Standing poses (tadasana, vrikshasana, trikonasana, adhomukhasvanasana)
• Sitting poses (malasana, sukhasana, baddhakonasana, navasana, paschimottanasana
• lying poses (setubandhasarvangasana, savasana, jathara  parivartanasana)
• inversions (sarvangasana, viparita karani)

 

More examples of asanas you could find in the book Asanas for autism and special needs by S. T. Hardy (2014).

Do not forget to talk with exhausted parents. Teacher should keep in mind that parents are extremely stressed and need some help too (Akins et.al, 2010). So, relaxation sequence and tips on breathing would be very useful.

 

References

1. Akins, R. S., Angkustsiri, K., & Hansen, R. L. (2010). Complementary and alternative medicine in autism: an evidence-based approach to negotiating safe and efficacious interventions with families. Neurotherapeutics, 7(3), 307-319.
2. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). American Psychiatric Pub.
3. Cachia, R. L., Anderson, A., & Moore, D. W. (2016). Mindfulness in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review and Narrative Analysis. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 3(2), 165-178.
4. Ehleringer, J. (2010). Yoga for children on the autism spectrum. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 20(1), 131-139.
5. Goldberg, L. (2004). Creative Relaxation SM: A Yoga-based program for regular and exceptional student education. International journal of yoga therapy, 14(1), 68-78.
6. Hardy, S. T. (2014). Asanas for Autism and Special Needs: Yoga to Help Children with their Emotions, Self-Regulation and Body Awareness. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
7. Kaur, M. (2016). Creative yoga intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Doctoral dissertation, University of Delaware).
8. Kenny, M. (2002). Integrated movement therapy™: Yoga-based therapy as a viable and effective intervention for autism spectrum and related disorders. International Journal of Yoga Therapy, 12(1), 71-79.
9. Koenig, K. P., Buckley-Reen, A., & Garg, S. (2012). Efficacy of the Get Ready to Learn yoga program among children with autism spectrum disorders: A pretest–posttest control group design. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66(5), 538-546.
10. Narasingharao, K., Pradhan, B., & Navaneetham, J. (2016). Sleep Disorder, Gastrointestinal Problems and Behaviour Problems Seen in Autism Spectrum Disorder Children and Yoga as Therapy: A Descriptive Review. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research: JCDR, 10(11), VE01.
11. Radhakrishna, S., Nagarathna, R., & Nagendra, H. R. (2010). Integrated approach to yoga therapy and autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Ayurveda and integrative medicine, 1(2), 120.
12. Radhakrishna, S. (2010). Application of integrated yoga therapy to increase imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorder. International journal of yoga, 3(1), 26.
13. Rosenblatt, L. E., Gorantla, S., Torres, J. A., Yarmush, R. S., Rao, S., Park, E. R., … & Levine, J. B. (2011). Relaxation response–based yoga improves functioning in young children with autism: a pilot study. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 17(11), 1029-1035.
14. Sharma, N., & Sharma, N. (2016). Effect of Yogic and Recreational Activities for Improving Self- injurious and Aggression Behaviour of Autistic Children Objectives, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities, Special Issue, VIII (2).
15. Studnitzer, A., Miller, A. (2014). Yoga: Therapy for Children on the Autism Spectrum, Acad Exch Q, 18(2).

 

 

 

Prasarita Padottanasana Anatomy

Let’s dive into the muscles and bones names and movements )

Here are awesome pictures showing, explaining and pointing exact movements of the bones and muscles in the pose (pictures were taken from www.bandhayoga.com and www.dailybandha.com – I highly recommend to follow those websites. They are full of very useful and interesting information on yoga anatomy).

pic. 1 Movements of bones and muscles in the prasarita padottanasana.

Prasarita padottanasana II

The third pose in the list is Prasarita padottanasana II. It looks like this:

pic.1 Prasarita Padottanasana II (hands in paschima namaskarasana)

The sanskrit name of the pose translated as intensive stretch of the extended legs or the expanded legs are intensively stretching.

Main benefits of the pose are:

• stretches the inner and back legs;
• tones the abdominal organs;
• strengthen and stretches the spine;
• calmes the brain and nervous system;
• relieves lower backache.

urdhva prasarita eka padasana

The second pose in the list is urdhva prasarita eka padasana. It’s translated as One Foot Expanding Upward Pose.
The pose looks like this  (according to your abilities the upper leg can be higher and hips should be leveled in the variant near the wall)

Benefits:

• Stretches the backs of the legs
• Strengthens the thighs, knees and ankles.
• Stretches the hamstrings, calves and thighs
• Stimulate the liver and kidneys.

Utthita Parsva Hasta Padangusthasana Anatomy

So what is going on in the body during this pose.

First lets look at this picture of the Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana from the book “Yoga Anatomy” by Leslie Kaminoff:

Standig leg:

• The tibaialis posterior, digitorum longus, hallucis longus (calf muscles) are stretching.
• The tibalis anterior (the muscle which draws the foot up is contracting).
• The Gacillis and adductor magnus (muscles of the back side of the hip) are elongating too.
• The gluteus maximus (in the buttocks) extends the hip and thigh. It all starts from the movement of the heel to the floor.
• The quadriceps is contracting and straighten the knee.

Utthita Parsva Hasta Padangusthasana

So, the first pose in the list is Utthita Parsva Hasta Padangusthasana. It looks like this:

The name of the pose (Utthita Parsva Hasta Padangusthasana) is translated as Extended Hand to Big Toe Pose. (Utthita – raised up, Parsva – from the side, Hasta – hand, Pada –  foot, Angustha – big toe)

Benefits are as follows:

• stretches the backs of the legs;
• strengthens the legs and ankles;
• improves balance;
• stretches and strengthens lower back;
• enhances movements in hip joints.

Why I am writing.

I am starting this blog in order to discipline myself in preparations for Junior I Iyengar yoga certificate examination. I do not have exact days but I give myself at least 9 month to manage all poses and to study necessary theory. If you are interesting in learning more about yoga, especially Iyengar, feel free to join my journey.

The idea is that I am going to post every week one new asana from the list with detailed description and additional sequence that helps to prepare for the master pose. At the same time I will answer some philosophical and theoretical questions about yoga and its development. Anatomical study of the actions in poses is the third part of my study. Pranayama also is the necessary part and will be described together with asanas.