The Bottom Line
By Nicole Cuomo; 102 pages. Subtitle: Yoga With a Sensory Integrative Approach.
If you've tried all sorts of weights and brushes and games and exercises and equipment to calm or stimulate your child with sensory integration dysfunction, here's something new to add to the list: yoga. In clear how-to text and helpful photos, occupational therapist Cuomo shows you how to do some basic yoga poses, tailor them to your child's age and sensory needs, and expand them into related enrichment projects. Give it a try, and you may find that the calming and centering rubs off on you, too.
Pros
- Clearly describes the poses and how to get in and out of them
- Photos of each position make instructions even more clear
- Poses are modified for different ages and sensory considerations
- Author offers related projects to do with your child for each pose
- Two sequences of poses offered at the end
Cons
- If your kids aren't into it, you may have trouble getting them to go along
- You'll probably have to memorize the steps yourself and then do them with your child
- The text is just how-to, without a lot of "why" -- which may be a pro, depending on your needs
Description
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: What Is Yoga?
- Chapter 2: Sensory Integration - A Brief Overview
- Chapter 3: How Do Yoga and Sensory Integration Work Together?
- Chapter 4: Yoga Practice and Age Groups
- Chapter 5: Integration of the Practices
- Chapter 6: Basic Postures
- Suggested Reading
- List of Poses
- Index
Guide Review - Integrated Yoga
I love the idea of this book.
My daughter has problems with anxiety, and would likely benefit from slowing down and breathing deeply and moving her body into concentrated poses. We did some of the breathing exercises here when she had a little panic attack last weekend, and it helped.
My son has sensory integration problems and has been particularly revved up lately. If I could get him to do these poses, focusing on the ones that the author helpfully targets as being good for overstimulated kids, that might make a real difference for him at a highly hyper time.
And, not for nothing, I could use some calming and centering myself. The few occasions on which I've carved out the time to do a yoga DVD, I've felt better afterward. The three of us could do these poses together, discussing the topics the author suggests and doing some follow-up projects, and have some nice together time on top of it.
This book is an excellent resource for how to do the poses, with detailed descriptions and photos. There are short chapters at the start about yoga and sensory integration, but the bulk of the book lies in those helpful, age-specific, sensory-specific instructions.
If you're not fluent in yoga yourself, you may have to try these out first and learn how to do them easily before you guide your child. Waiting while a parent finds the page and reads it again and loses the place and drops the book is probably not the most peaceful experience an antsy kid could have. Once you've done that, there are a couple of sequences you can guide your child through.
What my problem will be here, and maybe yours to, is getting kids to try it in the first place. I've floated the idea to my two and, although they certainly need something like this, it doesn't appeal offhand. Some trickery and bribes may be required. And for that, you're on your own.
