Yoga for Autism | Project Yoga Richmond

How Does Yoga Support Students with Special Needs?

This sneak-peek into our monthly Freedom Yoga: Yoga for Special Needs demonstrates the ways yoga develops a positive sense of self and builds confidence in students. Unroll your mat with us the second Saturday of every month at 12:30pm at PYR’s studio for Freedom Yoga to be a part of this impactful class and/or make a donation online today to support the benefits of our programs!

6 Benefits of Yoga for Children with Autism according to Autism Parenting Magazine:

Increased Social-Communication Skills
Awareness and Expression of Emotions
Reduced Anxiety
Reduction in Challenging Behaviors
Increased Body Awareness
Positive Sense of Self

Bring these benefits to your community by practicing for Freedom Yoga on Saturday to support yoga for everyone in your community!

Support Yoga for Special Needs

Top 4 Yoga for Special Needs Programs in Your Community

Yoga for special needs classes provide a sense of belonging and community. These adaptive yoga classes focus on building strength, developing regulation skills through breathing, improving mobility and maintaining/improving overall health and emotional well-being.The physical sequences are similar from week to week (or class to class) to build confidence, encourage exploration, gain a sense of empowerment and independence, as well as increasing mobility, strength and balance.

PYR offers 4 Yoga for Special Needs programs:

Aspree Adult Day Services

Running weekly since Spring 2013

Instructors: Sarah Humphries and Dan Weiseman

Population Served: Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Founders Center of Commonwealth Autism

Running weekly since October 2012

Instructor: Carrie Puryear

Population Served: Teens with Autism (we work with the Upper School)

Freedom Yoga

Running monthly since Spring 2013 at PYR

Instructor: Carrie Puryear

Population Served: Adults with Intellectual Disabilities, their friends and family, and is also open to the entire community

“This was a doorway to yoga for us because there weren’t any other places we could go that was calm and relaxing and enveloping and welcoming and now we even go to a gentle yoga class on the regular schedule with all the other students. It has opened up a whole world that I never thought we would have the opportunity.” – Parent of a Freedom Yoga Student

Transitions Day Support Services

Running weekly since April 2015

Instructor: Natasha Foreman

Population Served: Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

“My brother and I wanted to thank you and Special Olympics for the So-Fit program and share with you all the difference it has made in his health. He really took the program very seriously and actively participated in the Yoga and Exercise programs.

I must say the coaches at Yoga and JCC were excellent! They gave individual attention to each member, which really made him try harder to accomplish especially the Yoga positions.

In July, we went to see his primary care physician, Dr. David Taminger, with results that were remarkable. Not only had he lost a total of 14 pounds, but also had the best lab results this year. For his diabetes the results of his HbA1C, which is a measure of your average blood glucose levels was 1.2 points lower. His fasting glucose level was also within normal limits. His cholesterol levels was also so much lower. Overall he showed remarkable improvements. His doctor sent us a note saying, ” Whatever you are doing, please keep up the good work.”

This program really worked and I am so glad that we were participants. Not only was it fun and gave him an opportunity to see old friends at the program, it has made a substantial difference in his health. My only wish is to have a continuation of this program on a more permanent basis.”

–Testimonial from a sister of a participant

Each time you practice with and support Project Yoga Richmond, you make programs and impacts like this possible. Provide the benefits of yoga to all, make a donation today!

Increase Access!

3 Tips for Teaching Yoga for Autism

Have you ever wondered how PYR’s outreach programs are different from a studio class? Or how yoga can impact different populations? At Project Yoga Richmond we are dedicated to finding the most impactful ways to share yoga with students of all abilities. As you help us make yoga accessible and affordable to all we want to make sure you know more about the impact your dollar makes when you unroll your mat with us!

Project Yoga Richmond has partnered with The Founders Center of Commonwealth Autism for the last four years and currently offers a weekly program serving students in their upper school, primarily serving youth/emerging adults ages 17-22. We see the impact these practices make in our students each time we unroll our mats.

Yoga holds a variety of benefits, some of which can be especially beneficial to youth and adults with autism. According to Autism Parenting Magazine, the results of a yoga practice can be especially beneficial to people with Autism. They found these 6 benefits to be among the top reasons for how yoga can benefit someone with autism.

1. Increased Social-Communication Skills
2. Awareness and Expression of Emotions
3. Reduced Anxiety
4. Reduction in Challenging Behaviors
5. Increased Body Awareness
6. Positive Sense of Self

We see many of these results in our students after they unroll their mats. One of our students from The Founder’s Center of Commonwealth Autism demonstrated all 6 of these benefits through a testimonial shared with a Project Yoga Richmond team member,

“I feel very calm and I can forget about the things that I do not like to think about. I calm down and then don’t need to be so upset anymore. I am grateful because you have taught me to control myself, thank you for your teachings, to be able to control my breath”

This testimonial conveys increased social-communication skills as the student was able to share with a PYR member about their personal experience on the mat. Awareness and expression of emotions is demonstrated in this testimonial by the student’s reflection on both calm and anxious emotions. The student shared that yoga helped to reduce anxiety by stating “I calm down” and demonstrates a reduction in challenging behaviors as the student shows self-regulation and control through the statement, “you have taught me how to control myself”. Increased body awareness is shown by the student’s ability to connect with and control his or her breath. Additionally, the student’s ability to positively share, reflect, and interact with others about his or her personal experiences demonstrates a positive sense of self.

Here are 3 things we do when we teach yoga at The Founders Center of Commonwealth Autism to best meet the needs of our students with Autism:

1. Start class by greeting each student by name as they are entering the room (specific verbal recognition is very important)

2. Providing verbal praise- again, specific verbal recognition– throughout the class

3. Incorporating sensory items into class

You can help us continue to bring the benefits of yoga to students with autism in your community. Start by joining us on May 27 for Saturday Salutations at the VMFA where Shannon Somogyi will share about teaching at The Founder’s Center for Commonwealth Autism as she leads the community in an all-levels yoga class on the VMFA deck. You can support our outreach programs by paying-what-you-can when you pre-register for this event! And know that anytime you pay-what-you-can for class at our studio 7-days a week, you are supporting outreach like this!

Make an impact. Unroll your mat. Sign up for Saturday Salutations at the VMFA today!

If you would like to learn more about how to support Yoga for Autism or to sponsor one of our outreach programs, you can make a donation by clicking here 365 days a year and you can contact holly@projectyogarichmond.org for more information!

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A special thank you to Mc Abbott Studios for providing all imagery content in this blog post!