Yoga For The Special Child Comes To New Zealand

Media Release

Yoga For The Special Child Comes To New Zealand

Statistics show that one out of every ten children has a special need. Parents, educators and health professionals face the often overwhelming challenge of integrating children with special needs into home and school environments. Yoga therapy is a highly effective approach to pediatric therapy using exercises and breathing techniques to improve cognitive and motor skills in children with learning and developmental disabilities.

Sonia Sumar, founder of the Yoga for the Special Child yoga therapy programme, will be visiting New Zealand for the first time in January 2007 as part of a tour that includes Australia and South East Asia. Sonia was inspired to use yoga therapy with her own daughter Roberta who was born with severe Down syndrome. As a yoga teacher with many years experience as well as a primary school teacher with a BA in Education, she was frustrated by the lack of early intervention when Roberta was born, and without any assistance, the prognosis for her was not hopeful. Adapting her own yoga practice to suit Roberta’s needs, Sonia used yogic techniques with the infant and the results were astonishing. So much so, that as Roberta grew, she was able to achieve near normal results in school and to function socially and physically on a par with other children her age. Sonia was subsequently invited to teach yoga at special needs schools around her native Brazil. The same methods became the cornerstone of the Yoga for the Special Child programme of yoga therapy.

Her book Yoga for the Special Child has been in print since 1983 and has been translated into Portuguese, Chinese and Spanish. This programme is recognised internationally as the benchmark for yoga therapy with special needs children. Sonia regularly travels throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia to conduct trainings.

While in New Zealand, Sonia Sumar will be conducting a Basic Certification workshop with yoga teachers, special needs teachers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and parents. The workshop will be held in Wellington on 27 January to 2 February 2007. Sonia will be available for interviews from 24-26 January. For more information on the programme, please visit www.specialyoga.com.

ENDS

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