How can you do yoga with children with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD)?

For many years the potential for yoga to be helpful for children who have limited or no voluntary movement, or cannot sit unaided, or cannot speak has been questioned. 

Jyoti Jo Manuel, founder and director of Special Yoga, joins Dale this week to discuss ‘Helping children with PMLD thrive with yoga’. Yoga for children and young people with PMLD doesn’t look like the usual bending/stretching that are synonymous with yoga. Jyoti tells us what it looks like and the impact it can have on the children - which can be life changing!

“I think we can never underestimate how impactful a millimetre of change is for a child like that.”

“I go in with no expectation, just an intention to help this child. To help this child feel the best that they can feel in this moment.”

Jyoti Jo Manuel

Listen to hear why bringing yoga as a therapeutic intervention to children and young people with PMLD has such great value.  Jyoti shares her real-life experiences, the benefits and how yoga can help improve the quality of their lives.

About Jyoti Jo Manuel

Jyoti has been practising yoga since 1974 and teaching since 1989. She is one of the leaders in the training and application of yoga as a therapeutic intervention for children with special and additional needs. She pioneered children’s yoga in the UK. She set up the global training school, Special Yoga in 2002 to provide sustainable and accessible training programmes and to support practitioners delivering the work . She works with local education authorities, NHS, academies and individual schools, parents/carers and paediatric professionals. She has travelled globally to extend Special Yoga in Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Australia, Mexico, Peru, Russia, and many countries in Europe. She is currently training 45 psychologists in the Ukraine to support their traumatised children.

Useful Links 

• B Squared Website – www.bsquared.co.uk 

• Meeting with Dale to find out about B Squared - https://calendly.com/b-squared-team/overview-of-b-squared-sendcast 

• Email Dale – [email protected] 

• https://www.peacefulpathwaysyoga.com/articles-and-research.html