Yoga for handicapped children

[Guest guest]

Sat Nam, dear Siri Ram Kaur,

 

well teaching handicapped children is for me not much different than

teaching 'normal' children.

The lessons are structured always like this:

We meet and greet each other.

As the kids need some exercises and jumping we first do some warm up

exercises - walking on place, swinging arms, squats, jumping criss-cross,

etc. When they get a little bit tired and have 'blown out' much of the

excessive energy from sitting too much at their school desks, I have them

sit down and then we chant

'Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo'.

 

The kids like it very much, that I even chanted it yesterday 5 times - and

every time the kids became louder and clearer.

Then I tell a story like making a journey 'to the beach'.

I try to provoke their imagination and interact with them. So we had the

exercises to make a palm tree, swing arms like a seagull, walk like a dog

(and lifting the legs for a pee :-), clap knees like a shell, hug the sun

with wide open arms, play a boat, rest like a rock (baby pose), etc.

The kids also come up with their own imaginations and make proposals (lets

make a chicken, a crab or a frog). So almost every child tries to find an

animal and some exercises for doing it.

 

After about 10 - 15 minutes I have them lay down on the back and I tell

them a visualization. I took them on a journey along the beach, let them

observe the clouds, fly with the seagull and feel the warm, soft sand

carrying them, etc. It is always important to make the kids in their

imagination 'weightless' and comfortable. It is really interesting to see,

that some of the kids have not yet (or no more?) the ability to lay down

and relax - so much tension already in the little ones :-o

 

After that we do a little wake up exercise - shake hand and feet, roll on

the back, rub hands and feet while rolling on the back (I call this monkey

exercise - the kids LOVE it).

 

We also made a short meditation:

Hands in Gyan Mudra, sitting in Easy Pose, when chanting 'Sat' lift the

arms to shoulder level, when chanting 'Nam' relax arms down into the lap -

did this for 2 or 3 minutes.

Then I had them sitting in couples and massage the feet of the partner -

lots of giggling, but also the feeling of becoming grounded and the feeling

of trust.

 

After that we have some quite time (5 min or so) and paint a little picture

of the beach. For the little ones I help outlining the sun, palm tree, sea

shell, seagull, etc.

To the end some of the parents are joining into the group.

Then we sing 'May the longtime sun...' and 3 long Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaat Nam.

Then as the final thing we sit in a circle, hold all hands, shake them

heavily and shout 'Bye-bye'. After that I give the kids some 'good' sweets

- like homemade cookies or natural jelly beans, etc.

 

The whole class takes about 45 minutes.

While class I have a CD running - like 'Prem' from Snatam Kaur or 'Aquarian

Sadhana' from Gurudass Singh or something similar. I just wanted to make

sure, that it is 'real' yoga-music and I adjust the volume to the exercises.

As decoration I had a incense stick burning and some sea shells on a silk

cloth. I avoid setting up a candle - kids might step over and burn themselves.

 

Books to recommend:

'Fly like a butterfly' from Shakta Kaur Khalsa.

In German: 'Yoga mit Kindern' from Sabina Pilguj (she is also KY -teacher)

 

Books and CD's you can find at 'www.yogatech.com'

 

What I am looking for is now some experts for handicapped children as I

want to understand more about their needs, abilities and limitations.

Anyhow: Interesting is, that whenever I am tuned in, my intuition guides me

through the class and the 'difficult' kids are pretty responsive to music,

exercises and visualization.

 

Just a short note: For the class I always wear white clothes and my turban.

I told the kids (and parents) that this is my yoga teachers uniform -

similar to a police man or a cooks uniform.

For the parents I have set up one folder per child, where I collect the

artwork and the text of the visualizations - some are interested in what we

are doing. Interesting enough - after class some parents start asking me

for adult classes ....

 

 

Sending blessings and light from Shanghai,

 

Adarsh S.

[Guest guest]

Dear Adarsh,

 

Sat Nam. Thank-you so much for your email. I have a few questions. When you tune

in with ONG NAMO GURU DEV NAMO how do you explain to the children what it means?

 

With the meditation, when you lift your arms up are they straight in front or to

the side? Do you keep your fingers in Gyan Mudra the whole time? I would like to

try this out with some of the children I teach. I normally do the "I am Happy

Meditation"

 

I would be very interested in some of the visualisations you use with the

children. is it possible to send me some of the text?

 

What version of the Long time Sun do you sing?

 

You might be interested in the following

 

www.specialyoga.com A step-by-step system of yoga designed to increase cognitive

and motor skills in infants and children with learning an developmental

disabilities.

 

Book: (Children: The Challenge by Rudolf Dreikurs, M.D.

 

Love and Blessings to you Siri Ram Kaur x

 

 

 

 

 

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