The Benefits of Becoming a Yogi... - The Potential Ability Group (TPAG)

May 10th, 2021Tiana RamsayActivities & Ideas, Motor Skills, Play & Socialising, Self-Care

Yoga has become a very popular occupation during recent years and has become one of my favourite activities to do after a big day. For me, yoga is great for helping me to relax as well as building up my strength and balance. I love the versatility of yoga and that it can be done wherever is best for you - whether that be at home, with friends, at a park or in a gym!
To learn about yoga, click here: Yoga Link

The Benefits of Yoga

One of best aspects of yoga is that it can be modified to suit any individual, with consideration to their strengths and weaknesses. Yoga can be completed lying, seated, or standing and can benefit people of all ages. Research shows that yoga can have many positive effects, some of the areas that link well with Occupational Therapy goals include the following...

Gross Motor Skills

Gross motor skills are those that require the use of large muscles and include body movement; some examples include running, riding a bike, walking, and throwing a ball.
Yoga can help with strengthening various muscles of the body.
Standing poses can build strength and balance, whereas stretching poses can increase flexibility.
A study from Gaylord (2014) found that when yoga was completed for 6 weeks in a Kindergarten it increased the participants strength, flexibility, and coordination.
Tree pose, Warrior 1, downward dog, and plank pose are a few popular ones for gross motor development.

Fine Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skills are those that use the smaller muscles of the fingers, hands, and wrists; some examples include holding a pencil, using scissors, building Lego and doing up buttons.
Yoga poses that incorporate weight bearing in the hands can increase strength in the fingers, hands, and arms.
Developing strength in these muscles can assist with tasks such as pencil grasp, doing up buttons and precision.
Downward dog, bridge pose and cobra pose are great poses for upper body strength which in turn will help to develop fine motor skills.

Body Awareness

Body awareness is the ability to understand how our bodies move and where our bodies are in relation to space such as our arms, legs, or hands.
Yoga can help one to learn about different parts of the body, how they move and become aware of where their body is in space or in relation to other people or objects.
Various poses in yoga can help to develop the ability to cross the midline, which is the ability to reach across the body to the opposite side. This is an important ability in many daily tasks such as dressing, sports and doing school tasks.

Emotional Regulation

Emotional regulation is the ability to recognise, respond and control one’s emotions and feelings. Through using movement and breathing exercises, the brains emotional region (the amygdala) is activated which helps to develop one’s ability to recognise emotions and become more aware of how they are feeling.
Deep breathing can be practiced through yoga, which is an effective calming strategy. Deep breathing can be used when big feelings are experienced such as frustration, anger, or anxiety.
Yoga can assist with learning perspective, patience, a sense of accomplishment and can increase self-esteem.

Social Skills

Social Skills are skills we use to communicate to each other. These include both verbal and non-verbal communication through gestures, body language and speech. According to a study completed by Radhakrishna (2010), it was found that yoga increased eye contact and the ability to imitate others in facial and body movements.
Through completing yoga, various social skills can be developed. These include turn taking skills, cooperating with others, listening to others, engaging in conversation and playing with others.
Yoga is an activity that can be completed with other people; this can further develop friendships with people who have similar interests.

What Next?

Try some of these popular poses: Downward dog, Childs Pose, Tree Pose, Chair Pose, Crescent Moon, Bridge Pose, Cobra Pose. Click here for some examples: https://www.verywellfit.com/essential-yoga-poses-for-beginners-3566747

Why not purchase or create a dice which had different yoga movements on it and make it a game! Click on the link for an example of where to purchase some dice: Dice Link

Look on YouTube for tutorial videos- there are lots of different videos and you are bound to find one that suits you and/or your child. Here are a few examples:
o   Yoga for kids with Alissa: Link
o   Yoga for kids with Adriene: Link
o   Yoga for adults: Link

Start off by trying to hold poses for a few seconds and build this up over time… some poses can be trickier than others!

Yoga can be in incorporated into one’s daily routine as a relaxation activity. Try doing some yoga after a busy day of work, school or before bedtime. Yoga may also be helpful to do before completing homework tasks for self-regulation and to warm up the hands and fingers.

Remember to keep in mind that everyone has a different level of ability and to just have fun!

References

Gaylord, S. (2014). A Comparison of Preschoolers’ Motor Abilities Before and After a 6 Week Yoga Program. Journal of Yoga & Physical Therapy, 04(02).

Hagen, I. and Nayar, U.S. (2014). Yoga for Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Well-Being: Research Review and Reflections on the Mental Health Potentials of Yoga. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 5.

Jarraya, S., Wagner, M., Jarraya, M. and Engel, F. (2019). 12 Weeks of Kindergarten-Based Yoga Practice Increases Visual Attention, Visual-Motor Precision and Decreases Behavior of Inattention and Hyperactivity in 5-Year-Old Children. Frontiers in Psychology, 10.

Litchke, L. G., Liu, T., & Castro, S. (2018). Effects of Multimodal Mandala Yoga on Social and Emotional Skills for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Exploratory Study. International journal of yoga, 11(1), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijoy.IJOY_80_16

Rivest-Gadbois, E. and Boudrias, M. (2019). What are the known effects of yoga on the brain in relation to motor performances, body awareness and pain? A narrative review. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 44, pp.129-142.

Radhakrishna, S. (2010). Application of integrated yoga therapy to increase imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorder. International Journal of Yoga, Jan-Jun 3 (1); 26-30.

Verywell Fit. (2021). What Are Some Essential Yoga Poses for Beginners?. [online] Available at: <https://www.verywellfit.com/essential-yoga-poses-for-beginners-3566747> [Accessed 19 March 2021].

Youtube.com. (2021). [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTmyh2_c1wg&t=81s> [Accessed 19 March 2021].

The Benefits of Becoming a Yogi…