Yoga for the Special Child with Jo Manuel... By Sabine
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Mano and I met Jo Manuel, the founder and director of The Special Yoga Centre in North West London on two separate occasions to find out in particular about her fascinating work with children with special needs. The Special Yoga Centre is the UK home of Yoga for the Special Child programme. On the first occasion, we joined the group of participants who were taking the Yoga for the Special Child basic teacher training course. During the course Jo brings in a variety of children of different ages with different conditions to give the teachers a practical experience of using yoga therapy with these special children. We were able to watch Jo work ‘one on one’ with two boys, one autistic and the other dyspraxic with suspected Asperger’s syndrome. |
On the second occasion, we watched her give a yoga class at Salusbury Primary School in NW6 to three seven year old boys with behavioural problems.There is always something deeply moving about meeting someone like Jo who holds children so closely in their hearts, especially when these children have special needs. Her mission is to promote a better understanding of special children and to help them develop a sense of belonging by finding ways to help them cope better. Children do not come into this world with parenting instructions and children with special needs even less so. Through yoga, Jo reaches out to the families who seek help beyond what is already available, offering them support and opening pathways of information wherever they may be on their life journey. Her work, however, is much harder if there is no continuity and no prolonged engagement by the families concerned.
Like Jo said, the connection between parent and child is so profound that the child absorbs all of the parents’ emotions. Parenting a child with special needs may be the hardest thing one is ever given to do. This is why Jo, on many occasions, works with the parents first in order to support them and this in turn supports the child. The intention behind this precious and unique work is to help each child meet his or her full potential, allowing his/her inner grace and self-esteem to unfold and radiate outwards. The seed holding the blueprint of the most exquisite flower will not bloom without sunshine, water and nurturing soil. Through love and care, even in the most inhospitable of soils, the most beautiful flower will grow. In each child, there is a special star that needs love and proper guidance to shine forth. Some of the difficulties that special children are faced with stem from the way society perceives and treats them. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Jo and Sonia truly believe that we are no different to any of these special children, we all have special needs, its just that often theirs are more ‘obvious’ as opposed to ours which tend to be hidden inside ourselves. . If only we could equip ourselves with the keys that unlock the door to these children’s world, if only we could drop our habitual thinking and let ourselves be touched by their inner beauty, we would be truly amazed by their inner radiance. We have to love and teach our children and learn from them too for they are our teachers, looking through their eyes, hearing through their ears, feeling through their hearts… In a better understanding of our children, we come to a better understanding of ourselves, of the inner child within us The Yoga for the Special Child programme was started by Sonia Sumar in 1972 when she found out that her second daughter was born with Down’s Syndrome. With no early intervention, Sonia gave her daughter the gift of yoga and Roberta met all of her developmental milestones. More special children came to Sonia, and in 1997 as a result of the very encouraging results that she obtained, she developed a comprehensive eight-day yoga therapy certification training programme to teach parents, yoga teachers, health professionals and educators/carers working with children with a wide range of syndromes and disorders such as Down’s syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, ADD/ADHD, epilepsy, microcephaly, spina bifida, dyspraxia and other developmental difficulties. Traditional yoga practices (postures, breath work, chanting and deep relaxation) are gradually introduced in an adapted form to suit each child’s specific and evolving needs helping him/her reach his/her full potential. The various yoga techniques used in the Yoga for the Special Child programme provide structure and continuity, improve cognitive and motor skills (gross and fine), enhance flexibility, muscle tone and strength, correct postural alignment, develop balance, coordination and overall body awareness, alleviate respiratory problems, promote sleep, increase concentration, decrease hyperactivity and boost the immune system, encourage verbal communication and social interaction, improve focus and promote a feeling of calm and togetherness, as well as being instrumental in developing self esteem and confidence in an entirely non-competitive environment. The Yoga for the Special Child programme is a unique integrated system based on experimentation and intuition which establishes a strong bond between parent/carer and the child, laying down the foundation of mutual trust, reducing emotional volatility and fostering self-confidence and sociability in a way not easily obtained through conventional therapies. It is an effective and quite intensive programme incorporating touch and/or movement with vocal exercises, together with a combination of fun interactive elements. It is a programme where the teacher takes her/his cue from the child, never forcing, always encouraging, to bring out the best in him/her, resulting in a general improved quality of life for the child and his/her family and much improved moods all round. |
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