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Strike a pose!
McCarty Center offering therapeutic yoga group
for children
The J.D. McCarty Center
is offering a new group activity for children
that can help enhance their breathing, balance
and ability to maintain focus.
It can also stretch their
imaginations.
The center is starting
a therapeutic yoga group for children with and
without special needs who are ages 5 to 8.
The group will meet from
Feb. 22 to April 5 at the McCarty Center located
at 2002 E. Robinson St. in Norman.
The deadline to register
is Feb. 17, and the cost is $90. Yoga mats will
be provided.
The group will meet from
4 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. each Tuesday. During the
sessions, children will learn poses, while listening
to stories and music.
To participate in yoga,
children must have some physical control of
their bodies. Poses can also be modified to
accommodate a child's ability level.
The yoga group leaders
are Angela Moorad, a speech-language pathologist
at the center, and Chelsea Eland, a physical
therapist at the center. The McCarty Center
specializes in the care and treatment of children
with developmental disabilities.
Moorad believes that children
who participate in the yoga group will have
fun and "learn some skills that will help
them when they're stressed in school or life
in general."
Through yoga, kids can
improve their concentration and enhance their
flexibility, strength and coordination, according
to the Yoga Journal website, www.yogajournal.com.
The yoga sessions at the
center will also feature music and storytelling,
and kids will be encouraged to use their imaginations
and pretend to be characters in the stories.
Moorad will also take a
moment during the sessions to focus on each
child's strengths. She believes it is important
for children to hear that they are special and
unique just for being them.
She started a therapeutic
yoga group last year for patients at the center
after reading research about the benefits of
yoga for children. Moorad has already noticed
how well the patients have responded to yoga.
Some of the children have become more confident
and willing to try new things. Others have improved
their social skills and their ability to stay
calm and focused.
Given the positive response,
Moorad then wanted to offer therapeutic yoga
to more children.
Her experience with yoga
includes recently completing different levels
of the "Radiant Child Yoga" training
program, which includes guidelines for teaching
kids yoga and tips on how to keep the yoga class
focused and engaged. She is also a member of
the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
Moorad said she would like
to see yoga techniques become more widely understood
and embraced as part of the therapeutic strategies
that are used to help kids.
"It's just another
way of working on those same skills in a different
way, in a unique way and more of a whole-body
way."
Eland has also learned
more about the therapeutic benefits of yoga
after attending a workshop last year on combining
yoga practices with traditional therapy techniques.
She believes the yoga group can offer children
a confidence boost and a connection to other
kids.
"I hope that the children
who participate in yoga group would gain confidence
in their ability to be active and independent
within their environment for gross motor activities,"
Eland said. "I also hope that they would
enjoy participating in social activities with
other children and gain confidence in their
peer interactions."
For more information about
the yoga group or the possibility of additional
groups, call Moorad at 307-2802 or e-mail her
at amoorad@jdmc.org.
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