For families
Parent Guide
Adaptive Yoga is about finding more ways to move, communicate, choose, connect, and rest. A child can participate while seated, supported, standing, watching, moving differently, or saying no.
Connection & co-regulation
Co-regulation means another person helps create conditions that feel safer, more predictable, accessible, or manageable. It may mean moving closer, giving space, changing the pace, or listening to a child's choice. Connection does not require eye contact, touch, or staying with the group. The goal is to respond together, not to demand calmness.
Explore the ten units
Body Awareness & Grounding
Unit 1 introduces participants to yoga through body awareness, movement exploration, and grounding experiences. Rather than beginning with expectations for specific yoga poses, participants are invited to notice their bodies, explore different positions and movements, and discover what feels supportive to them. The goal is not stillness or perfect imitation. The goal is awareness, access, exploration, and choice.
Notice how your child finds support and explores their body. Being seated, using a support, or moving instead of holding still are all ways to participate.
Explore Unit 1Movement & Flexibility
Unit 2 expands from basic body awareness into mobility, range of motion, direction, and flexible movement. Participants explore how their bodies bend, reach, rotate, lengthen, open, and transition between positions. Flexibility is not measured by how far someone stretches or how closely their movement resembles a traditional yoga pose. Instead, participants discover their own available range of motion and learn that movement can change from day to day.
Explore comfortable movement without measuring how far a stretch goes. Following a child's pace helps make movement a shared experience.
Explore Unit 2Balance & Stability
Unit 3 introduces balance as the ability to find, use, and change support, rather than the ability to stand perfectly still on one foot. Participants explore points of contact, weight shifting, stable positions, environmental supports, and recovery from movement. Balance may happen while standing, sitting, kneeling, lying down, moving, or using mobility equipment. A chair, wall, mobility device, or another support is not something participants should work toward getting rid of. Using support effectively is a balance skill.
Notice the supports your child chooses for balance. A chair, wall, or mobility device can be part of the activity, not something to remove.
Explore Unit 3Strength & Motor Planning
Unit 4 introduces strength as the body's ability to create, maintain, and adjust force for meaningful movement, not how long someone can hold a difficult yoga pose. Participants explore pushing, pulling, pressing, holding, moving against resistance, coordinating multiple body parts, sequencing movements, and figuring out how to complete movement challenges. Strength can look like pushing into the floor, holding the body upright, moving a mobility device, pressing hands together, reaching against resistance, maintaining a position, changing positions, or asking for help. Motor planning is explored through one question: “What do I want my body to do, and what could help me do it?”
Explore pushing, pulling, holding, and moving in steps. Offer help when it is wanted and leave room for your child to try their own way.
Explore Unit 4Breath & Rhythm
Breathing is not taught as one "correct" way, and breath work is never used to demand calmness. This unit expands beyond breath to explore rhythm — breathing, rocking, tapping, walking, swaying, clapping, vocalizing, music, repeated movement, and pausing. The central question: "What rhythms does my body notice, create, and choose?"
Notice rhythms in movement, sound, or breath without asking your child to breathe one 'correct' way. A shared rhythm can be changed or stopped.
Explore Unit 5Sensory Exploration & Regulation
Notice, explore, and choose what feels supportive.
Watch for what your child enjoys, avoids, requests, or changes. Sensory preferences are information to respond to, not a test to pass.
Explore Unit 6Choice, Autonomy & Self-Advocacy
Practice choosing, changing, asking, and saying no.
Make choices real: yes, no, maybe, more, less, help, wait, and finished can all change what happens next. Honoring a boundary builds trust.
Explore Unit 7Connection & Co-Regulation
Share movement without requiring touch.
Connection may look like moving together, watching nearby, choosing space, or returning later. Co-regulation means responding to what makes participation more manageable; it does not require touch or calmness.
Explore Unit 8Rest, Recovery & Transition
Discover personal ways to recover and shift gears.
Rest and transitions can look different for each child. Offer time, a choice of position, a pause, or a change in the environment rather than requiring stillness.
Explore Unit 9Yoga Flow & Integration
Bring your choices and movements into a personal flow.
Bring familiar choices, movements, supports, connection, and rest together. Your child can lead, follow, change, or end their own flow.
Explore Unit 10