Ask the Expert: How Does Yoga Help Kids with Special Needs?

Lindsay Malejko, co-founder of Prasanthi Studio in Westchester, explains how yoga can benefit kids who have special needs, how yoga classes are modified for children with special needs, and why she recommends yoga for parents of kids with special needs.

Q: What are the benefits of yoga for children with special needs?

A: Yoga for kids with special needs helps the child learn to process information before they react. The breathing techniques help the kids improve their response time. It also gives them some alternatives to reacting too quickly to a situation.

Q: How do yoga classes for children with special needs differ from yoga classes for a more general population?

A: There are a lot of similarities, and there are a lot of differences. One of the differences is that there is usually a smaller class size. There are also a lot more modifications because we find that children with special needs have more difficulty with regulating their emotions and connecting with their physical body. The classes are broken down into a lot of steps so that kids can learn to actually feel their physical body. It helps them learn to process information before they react. Breathing techniques help improve their response time.

Q: Does yoga help kids with specific needs more so than others?

A: No, because I think all kids can benefit from yoga. I think children with special needs really benefit from yoga because they tend to have more needs—they don’t always feel their body the way general education kids do. With special needs kids, sometimes there are more impulses, attention deficits, and lack of focus. The yoga classes kind of draw their attention back into something focused.