3.3% of students in England having an EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) or statements of SEN, and 12.1% in England receiving specialist SEN support without, schools are often looking for new and engaging ways to support their SEND students outside of the classroom.

Many schools report that a number SEND children will not have these statutory plans. While some interventions are put in place in mainstream schools, it is often the case that teaching across the curriculum is not adapted to their needs. There can also be significant delays in gaining EHCPs agreed by Local Authorities, leaving pupils without support and struggling to access learning.

With this in mind, the benefits of teaching yoga in a SEND setting can be wide-ranging and can provide teachers, parents and pupils with the tools needed to ensure the child’s health and emotional wellbeing while at school and beyond. 

Yoga is a non-competitive practice originating in India that goes far beyond the images of impressive handstands and body contortions. It encompasses breathing techniques to help calm the nervous system, and philosophical questions such as ‘what does it mean to be kind'? It works through the autonomous nervous system to promote relaxation and reduce stress. This is something that benefits SEND pupils in particular, whose needs are consistently not provided for and who, increasingly, may not have statutory plans such as EHCPs.

Yoga has been proven in numerous studies to reduce levels of cortisol in the body. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone and rises whenever we feel stress or anxiety. For young people, especially those with existing conditions such as ADHD and ASD, this can be twice as distressing and can exacerbate the challenges they face. Yoga has also been proven to reduce levels of adrenaline, another hormone provided by the ‘fight or flight’ response induced in stressful situations, and subsequently increase serotonin levels, the hormone known to regulate moods and often referred to as the ‘happy hormone.’ Most importantly, the neurotransmitter GABA which decreases and regulates anxiety increases with regular yoga practice.

Yoga is entirely inclusive of all children, irrespective of their abilities, and can be adapted by specially-trained teachers to cater to the needs of everyone. Lisa Greenough, a Northants-based yoga teacher specialising in yoga for SEND children said:

A child in a SEND setting will find yoga supports their physical, emotional, social and mental well-being as well as gives them a chance to feel included in a world that is sometimes alien to them. I have witnessed pure moments of joy when a child with SEND is welcomed, listened to, challenged and supported through yoga.

Her students have said that "yoga helps to switch my brain off and gets rid of busy thoughts" (a child with William’s Syndrome), and one student with ASD said that "it helps me find that place between busyness and calm and takes the weight off my shoulders."

There are specific benefits to children with a wide range of SEND needs. For example, for neurodivergent children, benefits include development of heart and lung strength, improvement and maintenance of a healthy digestive system. For those with Down’s Syndrome, it can improve attention and listening skills, help with hyper-mobility and explore the issues around social boundaries.

Yoga in SEND settings also supports parents. Greenough said that in her experience, there are many positive outcomes for parents. She said:

Parental bonds are formed and strengthened and new positive sleep patterns may occur for the child, which has subsequent benefits to the parents; the child and parent can use the techniques they learn in classes to relax together at home, and in some cases, a parent/carer may see an improvement in the formation of friendships between the child and their peers for the first time.

Research into the benefits of yoga for SEND students is increasing. In 2012, researchers in India assessed the ‘efficancy of a one-year, peer-mediated interventional program consisting of yoga, meditation and play therapy’ for a group of students aged 6-11 identified as having ADHD. Parents and teachers completed Vanderbilt (ADHD diagnostic ratio scale) questionnaires in order to assess both improvements in symptoms and academic performance. Teachers saw improvements in students within 6 weeks. This was then supported in 2015, when researchers in Spain found that, ‘Yoga exercise suggests an improvement in the core symptoms of ADHD.’ 

In terms of mental health issues, a 2016 meta-analysis research paper found that in a group of 501 participants living with anxiety, those with an ‘elevated level of anxiety benefitted [from yoga] the most.’ It also increased attention span and motivation.

Netia Mayman, a specialist SEND yoga teacher in Oxford, has found that yoga is highly valuable to her pupils. She identified the benefits of the combination of the physical movement with the rhythms of the music she uses. She said, ‘these working together means that pupils start to use their lungs properly immediately.’

Mayman believes the most important aspect of teaching yoga to this particular group of children is to ensure that visual cues and verbal explanations go further than what might seem obvious to neurotypical people. She also identified the importance of Teaching Assistants. She said:

The thing I’ve valued most is the opportunity to work with staff. The TAs, who are with them continuously, know how things are with each student on daily arrival, and are now highly participative in the yoga lessons.

These relationships help to increase the benefits of the practice of yoga in SEND schools, as all can be involved and watch the progress of their pupils.

Increasingly, evidence and case studies are building the case for the mandatory provision of yoga to SEND students, and perhaps this is something we can hope for as teachers and educational advisers. One day, perhaps all of our children will be given the gift of yoga in schools.