Many children with autism, ADHD, and other special needs face challenges in how they respond to stress, tension, worry and anxiety. They can end up in a constant state of heightened arousal or anxiety, which can negatively impact health, mood and behavior.

When we get stuck in this “fight or flight” state, we can develop digestive problems, irregular sleep patterns, tension in our muscles and joints, weakened immune systems, anger or agitation, difficulty coping, conflict with others, social withdrawal, OCD behaviors and a variety of other issues.

Fortunately, yoga can help children with autism and ADHD develop better coping skills and give them tools for dealing with stress, tension, worry and anxiety.

In this 6-hour, 8-part course, yoga therapist and founder of Asanas for Autism and Special Needs, Shawnee Thornton Hardy will show how to design a yoga practice to support children with special needs. Shawnee will show how to activate the parasympathetic nervous system through specific breathing strategies, yoga poses and other yogic techniques to help children feeling grounded, safe and connected to the world around them as well as to support their physical health and well-being. 

You will learn how to support the visual, kinesthetic, auditory and sensory needs of children with autism and other forms of neural diversity. Through a specially designed combination of yoga poses, breathing strategies, and body awareness, Shawnee offers accessible tools to support sensory integration, self-regulation, communication, expression of emotions, balance and coordination, focus and concentration, self-confidence, and more.

What You Will Learn:

• The impact of predominant autonomic nervous system functioning, the fight/flight/freeze response and how this affects mood, behavior, social engagement and overall health and well-being.
• Strategies to teach and reach children with autism or ADHD of diverse abilities and needs.
• Strategies to teach children body awareness, how to “tune in” to their internal landscape and how to express and release difficult emotions.
• Physical poses and breathing strategies that activate the parasympathetic (rest and reset) response.
• Suggestions for poses and breathing strategies to support with improved, sleep, digestion, mood and behavior.
• What is Sensory Processing and how do sensory processing issues impact children’s mood, behavior, learning and social engagement.
• What are our eight senses and why is sensory processing an issue for the neurodiverse child.
• Physical poses and breathing strategies to support sensory integration and self-regulation.
• Our core and its relationship to behavior and learning.
• Poses to increase core strength and support with balance, coordination, focus, self-confidence and self-esteem.​​

Take a Sneak Peek at Shawnee's Course:​​