A Yoga Therapist’s Perspective on Cerebral Palsy: A Holistic Approach

The Cadabam’s Advantage: Integrating Expert Yoga Therapy into Your Child’s Care Plan

Choosing the right therapeutic partner is crucial. The Cadabam’s approach is built on a foundation of integrated, personalised, and evidence-based care that places your child and family at the center of everything we do.

Multidisciplinary Collaboration

Our yoga therapists don't work in isolation. They are a core part of your child’s care team, collaborating closely with paediatric physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and special educators. This ensures a unified approach where every therapy complements the others, all working towards your child's specific developmental goals.

Personalised & Adaptive Programs

We reject a one-size-fits-all model. Every child with Cerebral Palsy is unique, with different strengths and challenges. That’s why every child at Cadabam’s receives a fully customised yoga therapy plan based on their specific type of CP, motor abilities, muscle tone, and personal goals.

Safe, Purpose-Built Infrastructure

Our center is designed for safe and effective therapy. It is equipped with supportive props like bolsters, blocks, and straps, along with safe flooring and an environment built to make adaptive yoga accessible and comfortable for children with varying mobility challenges.

Seamless Therapy-to-Home Transition

We believe in empowering parents. Our therapists teach you simple, safe techniques that can be practiced at home, promoting continuous development beyond our center's walls. This not only reinforces the benefits of therapy but also strengthens the parent-child bond through shared, positive activity. This approach is central to our parental support philosophy.

How Yoga Therapy Helps Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Therapist’s Viewpoint

From a yoga therapist's perspective on Cerebral Palsy, the practice is less about perfecting a pose and more about using movement and breath as tools for empowerment. Here’s how we address common challenges associated with CP.

Managing Spasticity and Improving Muscle Tone

One of the most significant benefits is understanding how yoga therapy helps with spasticity in cerebral palsy. Through gentle, sustained stretches and mindful relaxation, yoga signals the central nervous system to reduce involuntary muscle tightness. This can lead to an improved range of motion, decreased stiffness, and greater ease of movement over time.

Enhancing Gross Motor Skills, Balance, and Coordination

Adaptive yoga poses are designed to challenge and improve postural stability, proprioception (the body's awareness of itself in space), and coordinated movements. In our safe, low-impact setting, children learn to engage specific muscle groups, improving their ability to sit, stand, and walk with greater control and confidence—a key goal of paediatric rehabilitation.

Supporting Respiratory Function and Breath Control (Pranayama)

The role of yoga therapy in managing cerebral palsy symptoms extends to breathing. Many children with CP have weaker respiratory muscles. Guided breathing exercises (pranayama) can strengthen the diaphragm and intercostal muscles, leading to improved oxygenation, better endurance, and a powerful calming effect on the nervous system.

Boosting Emotional Regulation and Sensory Integration

Yoga is a mind-body practice. The mindful, focused aspects of yoga help children better process sensory input, reduce anxiety, and develop greater self-control and emotional awareness. This focused work is often complemented by sensory integration therapy. This can translate to improved focus in school and better coping mechanisms for daily frustrations.

Setting Yoga Therapy Goals for Children with Cerebral Palsy

A successful therapeutic journey begins with a clear, collaborative plan. At Cadabam’s, setting yoga therapy goals for children with cerebral palsy is a meticulous process that ensures our interventions are meaningful and effective.

The Initial Consultation: A Comprehensive Physical & Functional Assessment

Your child’s journey starts with a thorough evaluation. Our yoga therapist, often in conjunction with a professional from developmental paediatrics, assesses the child's current muscle tone, flexibility, strength, balance, and motor skills to establish a clear baseline.

Collaborative Goal-Setting with Families

Parents are our partners in therapy. We work closely with you to understand your primary concerns and aspirations for your child. Together, we define meaningful, achievable goals—from improving sitting posture for mealtimes to enhancing focus in the classroom. This is a core part of our family support services.

Designing a Personalised Plan with Adaptive Yoga Poses

Based on the assessment and goals, we design a unique program. This plan features specific adaptive yoga poses for cerebral palsy guided by a therapist, ensuring every movement is safe, beneficial, and tailored to your child's abilities.

Continuous Milestone Monitoring & Program Adjustment

Progress is a dynamic journey. We regularly track your child's achievements and milestones through developmental assessments. This allows us to dynamically adjust the therapy plan, celebrate every success, and ensure the program evolves with your child's changing needs.

Inside a Session: Therapeutic Yoga Techniques for Cerebral Palsy at Cadabam’s

A session at Cadabam’s is engaging, supportive, and fun. We utilise a variety of therapeutic yoga techniques for cerebral palsy to achieve developmental goals.

Adaptive Asanas (Physical Poses) Guided by a Therapist

We modify classic yoga poses to make them accessible. Examples include:

• Chair-Supported Cat-Cow: For improving spinal flexibility and core awareness while seated.
• Bolster-Supported Child's Pose: To gently release tension in the hips and back.
• Wall-Supported Warrior Poses: To build leg strength and balance in a safe manner, often complementing goals in paediatric physiotherapy.

Pranayama (Mindful Breathing Techniques)

We use simple, child-friendly breathing exercises like "bumblebee breath" or "tummy breathing with a stuffed animal" to teach children how to calm their nervous system, improve breath control, and engage their core, which can be part of a broader behavioural therapy strategy.

Yoga Nidra & Guided Imagery for Relaxation

Known as "yogic sleep," this deep relaxation technique helps reduce the perception of chronic pain, improve sleep quality, and release deep-seated muscular tension that contributes to spasticity. For some children, this can help address related challenges like sleep disorders.

Integrated Play and Group Yoga Sessions

We incorporate principles of paediatric play therapy to make sessions engaging and motivating. Group sessions are also offered to help children build crucial social skills, confidence, and a sense of community with their peers.

The Collaborative Care Team Behind Your Child’s Yoga Therapy

Your child’s progress is supported by a team of dedicated experts who believe in the power of integrated care.

Our Certified Yoga Therapists

Our therapists are not just yoga teachers; they are certified professionals with specialised training in therapeutic and adaptive yoga for children with neurodiverse conditions like Cerebral Palsy.

Integrated Care with Paediatric Physiotherapists & Occupational Therapists

Our team communicates constantly. Yoga therapy goals are always aligned with physiotherapy objectives (like building strength) and occupational therapy objectives (like improving fine motor skills for daily tasks).

Expert Quote 1 (Yoga Therapist): "From a therapist's perspective, yoga for a child with CP is not about achieving perfect poses. It's about using movement and breath as tools to unlock the child's own potential for greater freedom, control, and self-awareness."

Expert Quote 2 (Paediatric Physiotherapist): "When we integrate yoga therapy, we see remarkable complementary effects. While physiotherapy builds strength, yoga enhances flexibility and body awareness, which is crucial for managing spasticity and improving functional movement patterns."

Real Progress: How Yoga Therapy Transformed a Journey with CP

Anonymised success stories illustrate the real-world impact of our integrated approach.

Case Study: Improving Balance in a Child with Spastic Diplegia

• Challenge: An 8-year-old boy with significant spasticity in his lower limbs struggled with poor balance and frequently fell during school activities. This is one of the common symptoms of CP.
• Therapeutic Approach: We designed a plan focused on seated hip-opening poses, supported standing postures using wall support, and breathing exercises to reduce overall nervous system tension.
• Outcome: After 6 months of weekly sessions, he demonstrated a 20% improvement in static balance scores. His parents reported he felt "less tight" and was more confident participating in games with friends.

Case Study: Enhancing Focus in a Child with Athetoid CP

• Challenge: An 11-year-old girl with athetoid CP experienced involuntary movements that made it difficult to focus in the classroom, leading to frustration and poor school performance.
• Therapeutic Approach: Her program emphasised Pranayama (breathwork) and guided meditation (Yoga Nidra) to improve her ability to regulate her nervous system and find moments of stillness. This is a technique also used in behavioural therapy.
• Outcome: Teachers reported a noticeable improvement in her on-task behaviour. She learned to use "calm breathing" independently when she felt overwhelmed, giving her a powerful tool for self-regulation.