Home | Directions | Our Staff | Contact | Community Outreach | Our Services | FAQ | Intake Fact Sheet Mind-Body Integration Services NESCA offers yoga instruction to both children and parents. For children, instructor Hannah Gould uses yoga to to address anxiety around social interaction or schoolwork, to overcome fears, and to promote a sense of ease and self-confidence. While Cynthia Gramer offers yoga sessions for parents, especially while their child is being tested. Sessions for Children with Hannah Gould, M.Ed., YT The primary basis for Hannah's approach to body-mind work with children is yoga. In addition to traditional yoga postures, Hannah incorporates specific movements from “Brain Gym” (Dennison and Dennison, 1989). These movements are designed to integrate the different areas of the brain involved in learning. Many traditional yoga postures are very similar to Brain Gym activities and although Hannah is not trained as a Brain Gym instructor, she is able to incorporate and integrate Brain Gym activities into the structure of a yoga practice to address a child's specific needs. Yoga sessions will generally conclude with a period of relaxation during which Hannah employs a variety of guided visualizations and meditations. These guided visualizations can help children to become deeply relaxed and deeply involved in listening and imagining. They can be used to specifically address anxiety around social interaction or schoolwork, to overcome fears, and to promote a sense of ease and self-confidence. For a young child who is highly verbal, a session might include interactive storytelling, games, and songs. An older child might be ready for a more traditional yoga session. A child who is non-verbal or delayed in language might require postures to be presented through pictures and other visual cues. In all sessions with all students, Hannah aims to create a safe and successful experience while honoring the unique strengths and abilities of the individual child. Sessions for Parents or Parent & Child with Cynthia Gramer, CYT For parents who want to spend an hour relaxing while their child is being tested, a mind-body session with Cynthia might consist of restorative yoga poses, guided meditation and deeply relaxing music. For others, the time might be spent learning and practicing simple stress-reduction techniques and ways of centering the body/mind under trying conditions. Still others might be looking for ways to better channel their anger, or to develop a yoga regimen that can address their chronic pain or fatigue. Or parents might simply want to talk about ways they can assist their children in grounding or attending. In addition to her training in yoga and meditation, Cynthia is a certified Reiki practitioner at the Master level and has worked for several years combining yoga, Reiki, and cognitive and behavioral techniques to help people with an array of challenges. She also works with parents and children together to develop a shared language of behaviors that can help the whole family in reducing stress. These can include shared yoga poses, non-verbal cues that can be used to stop the escalation of anger, and breathing exercises parents and kids can do together to calm themselves. Some Benefits of Yoga The physical practice of yoga includes movements, postures, and breathing exercises that have withstood the test of time in their ability to bring the whole body and mind into a state of balance and health. Yoga is appropriate for people of all ages and can be adapted for individuals with a wide range of physical, learning, and emotional needs. Yoga allows children and adults to experience the joy of connecting with and moving their bodies in healthy ways. Yoga activates and integrates all of the major muscles in the body. Yoga moves the body through space in different ways including crossing the mid-line, inverting the head, balancing, supporting weight with different parts of the body, flexing, twisting, and extending the spine. All of this movement provides the nervous system with proprioceptive and vestibular input to support healthy sensory integration. Some benefits can include strengthening cross-hemisphere communication, decreasing tactile defensiveness, and balancing high or low muscle tone. Yoga encourages mindfulness and focused attention during the practice. The experience of paying attention to oneself in the moment can transfer into all areas of one’s life. Increased self-awareness leads to improved self-regulation. Benefits can include the ability to sustain attention, appropriately regulate activity level, and manage emotions. Yoga incorporates breathing exercises that have an immediate effect on the nervous system. Simple breathing techniques can help people to relax, respond to stressors, or to energize themselves as needed. Speech and language skills can also benefit from the increased lung capacity and breath control developed through yoga. Yoga builds core strength, flexibility, motor-planning and balance for overall functional fitness. Increased physical skills can lead to increased confidence and involvement in social situations based in physical play. Yoga teaches simple grounding / centering practices that can be used to cope with stressful situations and challenging emotions. Yoga is fun and feels good! The best evidence for the importance of yoga is the enthusiasm of the students. Children and adults have reported feeling calmer and happier after practicing, and parents have reported that their children are using yoga on their own to calm or focus themselves! Additional information about NESCA, including biographies of our staff, is available on this site. If you would like to set up an appointment for your child, please contact Ms. Sandra Oliveira at (617) 658-9800. If you would like additional information on the services offered by NESCA, please leave a message for Dr. Helmus at (617) 658-9821. NESCA, p.c. | 55 Chapel Street, 2nd Floor | Newton, MA 02458 | (617) 658-9800