Sarah’s UDL Blog

I’m a pretty enthusiastic yoga practitioner, and one thing that I love about the practice is its accessibility– yoga has so many entry points, and has always appeared to me to be a meaningful, challenging practice for people at all levels of experience, flexibility, and strength. The philosophy behind yoga highlights self-acceptance and is undergirded by a deep spiritual belief that we are all exactly as we should be– something that UDL aligns with quite nicely!

However, until recently, I had never really thought about the ways that yoga might not actually be accessible to all. Obviously, it’s a physically demanding activity, and instructions in yoga classes are usually delivered verbally. There are lots of people who can’t access traditional yoga classes.

Some yogis are starting to build solutions, and break down the barriers that prevent people from accessing the benefits and challenges of yoga. One example is DeafYoga, a really great organization that trains yoga teachers to use sign language, lights, a fan, and touch to help guide students through the postures. Another approach is adaptive yoga, in which physical therapists modify stretches and postures from yoga to meet the needs of people who are in wheelchairs or who face other physical barriers to traditional yoga. While neither of these examples meets all of the UDL guidelines, I think they’re really wonderful ways to rethink yoga and make it truly accessible to all learners.

On a related note, organizations like Yoga for the Special Child (not crazy about that name, but…) are using yoga to help students with a wide range of special needs, from autism to Down syndrome to hyperactivity. Their work seems really interesting, and I definitely think that yoga is worth exploring as a means of supporting the physical, emotional, and intellectual development of all learners.

1.    shefali 05.05.09 @ 10:58 pm      

   Sarah: Don’t know if you also practice meditation, but some research has shown that meditation, if practiced regularly actually affects cortical structure. Here’s the article from the Science Daily:

   The structural changes were found in areas of the brain that are important for sensory, cognitive and emotional processing, the researchers report in the November issue of NeuroReport.

   Although the study included only 20 participants, all with extensive training in Buddhist Insight meditation, the results are significant, said Jeremy Gray, assistant professor of psychology at Yale and co-author of the study led by Sara Lazar, assistant in psychology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

   “What is most fascinating to me is the suggestion that meditation practice can change anyone’s grey matter,” Gray said. “The study participants were people with jobs and families. They just meditated on average 40 minutes each day, you don’t have to be a monk.”

   Magnetic resonance imaging showed that regular practice of meditation is associated with increased thickness in a subset of cortical regions related to sensory, auditory, visual and internal perception, such as heart rate or breathing. The researchers also found that regular meditation practice may slow age-related thinning of the frontal cortex.

   “Most of the regions identified in this study were found in the right hemisphere,” the researchers said. “The right hemisphere is essential for sustaining attention, which is a central practice of Insight meditation.”

2.    sfield 05.06.09 @ 2:36 pm      

   Awesome! I have been wanting to learn more about meditation and integrate it into my life, and you just prodded me in that direction Thanks for sharing!

3.    thesis writing 07.27.10 @ 2:06 pm      

   i am searching many blogs and others sources for complete my thesis writing assignment for holiday work i like your blog so informative and knowledgeable keep your blog updated.

4.    Yoga Instructor 05.12.11 @ 6:12 am      

   That is so true! There are many people who can’t go to a yoga studio. They have options such as watching DVD, YouTube videos, or getting a private yoga teacher. Thanks for sharing.