Yoga has many connotations, but is actually a philosophy, a way of living. Yoga is a therapeutic intervention that works for everyone, you don’t have to be able to touch your toes - if you can breathe you can do yoga!

Jyoti Jo Manuel joins Dale for today’s episode ‘What Yoga, Why Yoga?’. Jyoti discusses how yoga can benefit everyone, both teachers and pupils. Its focus is to bring balance and regulation to the nervous system so that everyone practising is in the optimal state to thrive.

“Your biggest tool for emotional regulation is when we regulate our breathing. Once you build that relationship with your breath and you understand how to use it, you can use it anywhere at any given moment in time.”

Jyoti Jo Manuel

Did you know that the benefits of yoga include:

• self-regulation
• self-awareness
• improved quality and quantity of sleep
• improved motor planning and coordination
• strength and balance

Listen to this podcast to find out how yoga is helping children meet their targets at school and teachers feeling less stressed. Jyoti shares her first-hand experience of how yoga has helped children with SEND and how it has enhanced the quality of life for everyone who practises.

About Jyoti

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, the 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 Ukraine to support their traumatised children.  

Contact Jyoti:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: www.instagram.com/sarahjanecritchley/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/differentjoy/

Useful Links

https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/professional-practice/yoga-schools

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

Special Yoga's Website