Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies
March 1, 2006
Yoga for Kids class helps pediatric patients get through difficult medical procedures, cope with fear
There may not be a Sanskrit term to describe the yoga pose of crawling onto dad's chest and lying there quietly for a few minutes, but for the little boy in the purple jumpsuit it worked fine.
The three-year-old and his father were participants in a recent session of the Yoga for Kids program, offered twice a week in the Blum Resource Room for Jimmy Fund Clinic patients and their families. Led by nurse practitioner Mary Jane Ott, APRN, BC, RYT, the program teaches relaxation and meditation techniques that can help children get through difficult medical procedures and cope with the fear that is the too-frequent companion of their disease.
"Take a long, slow, deep breath in. Imagine your backbone getting taller," Ott says lullingly, as she leads a Wednesday morning class of five children and three adults through a series of gentle movement and breathing exercises. "Imagine lifting your heart to the sun. Now, breathing out, let your body relax. Let any sounds you hear float by like clouds."
Often thought of as an activity for stressed-out adults seeking a way to slow down and relax, yoga has a long tradition in its native India of being practiced by children, says Ott, a registered yoga instructor. "Kids are often more spontaneous and interactive about the process," she remarks. "They have wonderful ideas about how to do things their own way. My role as an instructor is to guide their enthusiasm so they're safe and can learn. I help them see that there's more than one way of doing things - that through yoga we can explore the interconnectedness of our mind, body and spirit. Working together, they can discover something new - such as how breath can help them through a difficult experience."
In one respect, children have a natural advantage over adults in yoga. Their greater flexibility makes it easier to get into certain positions. That same flexibility, though, can be detrimental if children try to push themselves too far. Ott makes sure they don't.
Take-it-with-you practices
Diverting as the hour-long sessions are for children waiting for medical appointments, the real value of yoga is that many of its practices and benefits are portable, Ott comments. "We speak of 'yoga on the mat,' and 'yoga off the mat,'" she says. "There is a lot we can learn and practice on the mat that can be useful in day-to-day living, at home, in bed, sitting in class, walking down the hall," even - perhaps especially - during medical procedures.
"Kids who are ill can feel their body is untrustworthy and has betrayed them," Ott explains. "Yoga practice, especially abdominal breathing, can help them find a peaceful place inside themselves where all is well - so they know there is much more to them than their disease, that there is more right with them than is wrong."
She cites one young patient who, like many, was having difficulty dealing with lumbar punctures, in which a needle is inserted into the spinal canal to withdraw fluid. Ott worked with the boy on using measured breathing and "internal sound effects" to become more relaxed during the procedure. She often consults with Jimmy Fund Clinic physicians and nurses to identify patients who can benefit from such practices.
The sessions, which are offered Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., are intended primarily for beginners and are open to any Jimmy Fund Clinic patient and family member. There is no advance sign-up; Ott visits the clinic at starting time to see if anyone is interested in participating.
"One of the great things about yoga is that it fosters community," she says. "It offers an environment and an experience where you're not competing with anyone else, but learning more about how your own mind/body/spirit works to support your deepest healing. That's as important for children as it is for adults."
