The Benefits of Yoga Therapy for Children & Families
Philip was on the verge of being kicked out of preschool, no longer got invited to birthday parties, and prevented his family from going out due to exceptionally long tantrums, which could last as long as four hours. His mother hoped yoga therapy could provide him and his family some relief. After just two sessions, his tantrums dropped to 20 minutes. His mother shared that when she lost her temper at home, Philip encouraged her to do a calming breath. At school, Philip now joined group time and taught classmates yoga to feel calm.
In our fast-paced, digitally regulated, and energetically complicated world, it’s no wonder we sometimes struggle to feel balanced, secure, peaceful, and happy. Children, like little antennae, absorb the energy around them, even if they don’t fully understand its source. When we are dysregulated, they mirror that energy. We are all wired that way.
The nervous system constantly monitors and processes feedback through mirror neurons, adjusting our feelings and behaviors to help us feel like we belong. When children experience consistent adult models of emotion and behavior regulation, they positively regulate. According to Daniel Siegel, this co-regulation enhances the “Window of Tolerance,” our ability to maintain optimal energy for social engagement and emotional integration. So, when children encounter difficult, negative, or unpredictable behaviors, they can steady themselves and recover more quickly from emotional imbalances.
In a recent family yoga therapy session, two parents and their teen and preteen children were wrestling with goal setting and pressure to perform professionally, academically, and as a family. They arrived guarded and disconnected. As we purposefully and playfully engaged in mind-body activities, they relaxed, became more joyful, and began to shift their collective energy. Journaling about their experiences, we crafted a family routine to practice at home to build positive energy together.
Yoga therapy is a structured framework to explore interpreting and regulating emotions and behaviors on neutral ground. By tuning into bodily sensations through movement, accessing the nervous system through breath, engaging in mindfulness practices to process thoughts and feelings, and leveraging our strengths to develop healthy routines and lifestyle choices, we can intentionally raise and lower energy, thus regulating our experiences and relying more on internal guidance than external feedback.
Lisa Danahy is a registered yoga therapist (C-IAYT, MS-Yoga Therapy, BA-Psychology) and advanced trainer (IAYT and Yoga Alliance YACEP).
Lisa specializes in making yoga an accessible and successful means for behavioral and emotional regulation, as well as physical and mental health. Lisa has supported yoga therapy clients (children and adults) with a number of chronic health conditions and injuries. She regularly works with neurodiverse, disabled, and underserved children and young adults through her non-profit, Create Calm. She also provides evidence-based foundational and advanced child-centered trainings through Radiant Child Yoga to enrich the lives of educators, therapists, parents, and caregivers in practices of self-care and resiliency. Lisa is a published author and national conference presenter and is grateful for every opportunity she has to co-create healing and healthy living.