children with special needs

Many early students and staff at Boundless Yoga brought children with special needs and at-risk children to the studio. As a result, Kim became interested in working both in DC public schools as well as with after-care programs to teach the basic benefits of yoga to all children.

Since 2007, Kim Weeks has worked directly with the Easter Seals Society through its DC Child Development Center to develop a yoga therapy program for children with special needs. The inspiration for this work stemmed from energy therapy she had been doing with children with Autism and an adult with Cerebral Palsy.

Kim teaches private sessions for special needs children if 12 sessions are scheduled for a 3-6 month period. Clients pay $90 per session, as $1080 upfront. Click here to purchase a set of 12 sessions now.

special needs work at easter seals

Following are images and descriptions of some of the work Kim Weeks and her trainees have done with the Special Needs children at Easter Seals.

damani, born prematurely at 22 weeks

Yoga has helped Damani’s digestion and breathing, which she struggled with from birth, and she is able to self calm in a way that seemed impossible before. Damani has also learned more trust in interacting with people, and she loves to stand on her head!

Kim’s methodology at first was to help her contain a sensation of her own body through forward folds. This shape, especially child’s pose, has helped Damani experience the fetal position that she was only half-way through at the time her mother went into labor. The forward folds helped damani calm her nervous system and hear her own breath better. This, in turn, taught her to trust her own body’s movements better.

We have also worked with yogic “smelling” and yogic breaths while eating. This work has helped Damani. She did not trust food much before starting yoga, and now she likes to “follow her nose” and eat more healthfully!

kayla, diagnosed with autism

Kayla is the yoga super-star. as you can see from the pictures, she loves the more advanced physical poses, like wheel pose and lotus pose. Originally diagnosed with hypotonia, Kayla is flexible in every direction: back bends, forward bends, and twists.

Like Damani, Kayla also loves standing on her head. She also loves standing on her hands (as with the wheel pose and handstand). Kayla is learning strength, focus, and much more about her breath through yoga.

Kayla is also able to take advantage of her proclivity to stick with mind patterns as she learns the sun salutes and other pose sequencing. She looks forward to yoga every day, and will benefit in her life from the rhythm that a regular yoga practice provides.

sofia, down syndrome

Sofia is strong willed and likes to lead yoga classes more than take them. She loves teaching Kim how to do better cobra poses, as well as other backbends like camel pose!

Kim has worked experimentally with Sofia and Kayla (above) and Damani (above) together. Both children are working on improving their socialization skills, and through a weekly yoga practice, they are learning to work together–to do poses together, breathe together, and simply notice each other’s presence through yoga and help each other out. (Kayla was proud of herself recently for helping take Sofia’s shoes off, for example).

jason, cerebral palsy

this is jason, age three, with cerebral palsy. yoga helped jason become more upright: kim sat him on the top of a toy bus and he learned to propel himself forward and backward, through an increased use of his abdominals, thighs, and gluteus muscles.

children with special needs and their parents

Since late 2007, Kim has offered a weekly session for therapeutic yoga and energy work with special needs children and their parents. More information on the children we’re working with, and the mom’s testimonials, coming soon!

If you are:

• Interested in how we can work with your child or in your school, please contact us.
• A parent and interested in working with Kim and her trainees on providing yoga therapy to your child, please contact us.