Compassion - Daya

The Vedic Yama Daya means compassion. For two weeks now I have had the privilage to work with a lovely group of kids teaching them yoga. Two kids who have high energy (one is a lovely girl who I have worked with for over a year & a new boy). Both the parents of the high energy kids say that they would benefit from more focus based activities. The third child in the yoga class is a wonderul girl who has autism. Her parents wanted her to be in a class that was not primarily for autistic children. Immediately, the experience reminded me of when I taught first grade, and had one child with autism in a class of 23 kids. I knew it could work, and would be a wonderful learning experience for all! The high energy kids have A LOT of energy and are extremely chatty, while the little girl who is autistic is mostly non verbal. Last week, I had no idea what to expect and was amazed when I saw an incredible display of compassion. The girl who is usually eager to display her high energy/hyper take on yoga was extremely compassionate to this other young girl. She was encouraging, complimenting, understanding, and nurturing to her quiet classmate. This week, the little boy was the same. To top it all off, the little girl who was described to me as non verbal autistic, was speaking, laughing, and making animal sounds when cued!!! She was also very responsive to the music. It was so lovely to witness compassion in this unique yoga class. Often times, in adult yoga classes we talk about the ego with regard to the importance of being present without the obsession to get in the asana (pose), refraining from judgement. This was such a wonderful display of compassion and ego-less yoga. These are the highlights of teaching yoga.

Treasure Yoga with Autistic Spectrum Disorder Kids

I have enjoyed working with an inspirational young girl named Lena. This young lady was introduced to Yoga with some DVD's and came to me in a Yogi Beans class for further instruction. While I was told that she is ASD (autistic spectrum disorder), I knew that each individual child is unique and approached the situation without any judgement. Our first class was a private session. This young lady knew the poses like a pro! We played games like Yoga Adventure, Toga, and more. Her energy was absolutely fantastic. After class her mom mentioned that she loved the pace of the class but will be going away for the remainder of the summer. I was sad to not work with her again till the fall.

Because of Lena's enthusiasm about Yoga, her mom decided to sign her up in a group class I teach on Saturdays before they left for vacation. This young lady again impressed me. She introduced me to a new pranayama (breathing) technique and worked so great with the rest of the kids. At the end of class I gave the kids little word cards. The kids read the word on the card, and tell the group what that word means to them, and how it relates to Yoga. One sweet little girl had the word treasure, and with ear to ear grins she said she loved this word. She began to list jewels, crowns, coins and all the most beautiful items of treasure that she would love to have. My lovely student Lena said (and I quote) "it can also mean a special memory that you will treasure forever in your heart". She then said how she will always treasure her yoga class. WOW!!! Teaching this wise little girl is a memory I will treasure forever.