Help requested for teen

[Guest guest]

My daughter is 15. She has has mild disabilities all her life. She

didn't talk until 5. She had ADHD in early years, but now fights

anxiety and depression. She has been on meds most of her life. She is

in mainstream school and does ok, but it is a struggle. She is very

shy and shutdown and allowing life to pass by. My wife and I do work

with her as much as she allows. Self esteam is so low it is hard to

get her to believe enough in herself to try helpful techniques such

as affirmations. She did recently agree to try art therapy, so we are

looking into it. Recently, I did get her to agree to try some

breathing exercises that she could use to calm herself when she feel

anxiety. I simply just did breath awareness, and some breath

counting. Does anyone have any more specific techniques to help a

child of this type? It would have to be simple and not require lots

of disipline. She would never stick with it. Any ideas? Thanks,

shanti

[Guest guest]

Hello,

While I have no specific answers to your question, I want to share

with you that I tutored a college student who had been diagnosed with

ADHD.

I asked him if he would try a meditation with me, and I did long deep

breathing.

It was amazing! He was a football player, and I think had never been

exposed to anything like this. I didn't know if he would stick with

it. Actually he sat quitely for so long, I finally gently roused him.

 

Afterward, the meditation seemd to act as a catalyst. His

restlessness did not go away, but he came up with creative solutions

to deal with it. For example, he discovered that if he did math

problems standing at the blackboard, instead of sitting at a desk, he

was much more successful. Interesting, no?

 

Currently I am tutoring elementary students. They are in an

economically deprived school, they eat chemicals all day, probably

they are contaminated with environmental toxins, and they literally

bounce off the walls. They make me nervous.

 

I started with one student asking him if he would like to try an

experiment and we did some long deep breathing. I am gratified that

he even agreed to try it. And I will try it again next time.

 

So I just want to support you in your efforts. I think that breath

awareness and other kundalini techniques would be the best approach

in calming people (including children and adolescents).

I hope someone will respond with some specific advice.

 

Good luck, and if you want to, e-mail me off-list with your successes

which I hope will follow, and I will keep you similarly updated.

 

Kartar Kaur

[Guest guest]

My 17 year-old son has severe learning disabilities, communication

disorders and some mild developmental disabilities. Some years ago I

arranged for him to get yoga instruction from a teacher who had studied

with Sonia Sumar who wrote Yoga for Special Children. The one-on-one

attention and yogic techniques have helped my son and his self-esteem

immensely, even though my son does not practice on his own outside of

his classes. The yoga, of course, enhances the mind-body connection

and improves the functioning of both. It has meant a lot to my son and

helped him to feel special to have some one (in the person of his yoga

instructor) who is there as a teacher especially for him. Sonia Sumar's

book can be found at:

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/096580240X/ref=sib_rdr_dp/102-2516713-695\

7741

 

It includes the wonderful story of how yoga benefited Sonia's

downs-syndrome child. I'm not sure, but I believe the book may provide

resources for contacting a teacher or classes in your area.

 

Best wishes,

 

Steve Porter

[Guest guest]

You might read the book The Mind Cure by Julia Ross.

She has a quiz at the beginning the results of which

direct you to different chapters. The

over-the-counter amino acids she recommends have

changed my mood drastically for the better.

What do you think of ritual, such as Rite of Passage

for her or any ceremony honoring the Sacredness of

Life - Full Moon Ceremony, Solstice-Equinox ceremony,

etc.

My prayers are with you and your family,

 

Blessings and Light,

Soaring Eagle

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Thanks for the suggestions. She is difficult to get to agree to

things. I came close to having her agree to get a meditation

initiation through the himalayan tradition (Swami Rama disiples).

Then she changed her mind. It is not something I will push.

Initiations are sacred and need willingness of spirit. We are looking

into art therapy. She is interested in that. The problem is that is

costs $100/hour (50 minutes), and very little insurance coverage.

Then there is the logistics of driving, paying for parking, and

taking time from work. Is it really practical? It doesn't seem so. We

did biofeedback with her years ago and faced this. After many

sessions we saw no results and were burnt out from it all.

 

I will check out the book you mentioned.

Thanks,

Shanti

 

Kundaliniyoga, Kiyoko Soaring Eagle

<ksoaringeagle> wrote:

>

>

> You might read the book The Mind Cure by Julia Ross.

> She has a quiz at the beginning the results of which

> direct you to different chapters. The

> over-the-counter amino acids she recommends have

> changed my mood drastically for the better.

> What do you think of ritual, such as Rite of Passage

> for her or any ceremony honoring the Sacredness of

> Life - Full Moon Ceremony, Solstice-Equinox ceremony,

> etc.

> My prayers are with you and your family,

>

> Blessings and Light,

> Soaring Eagle

>

>

>

>

>

> Take Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone.

> http://mobile./maildemo