Yoga Therapy at Children's Hospital Colorado

Dating back more than 5,000 years, yoga is an ancient method of achieving mind, body and spiritual health. Today, yoga has proven to be an effective form of therapy in our modern world, which is why yoga therapy is an integral part of the Creative Arts Therapy Program at Children's. A growing body of research supports yoga therapy as a means for decreasing anxiety, stress and depression, while increasing positive coping, self-induced feelings of relaxation, and powers of concentration and attention.

Listen to a "Yoga Nidra for Relaxation" recording created by Children's Colorado Yoga Therapist, Michelle Fury. This recording is given to patients and families to help them relax and decrease stress.

How does yoga therapy help kids?

A yoga therapist integrates
knowledge of psychology
with yoga techniques to help
treat the whole person:
mind, body and spirit.

When used as a form of therapy to help treat kids, the combination of breath and movement through various yoga postures improves balance and strengthens the entire body. As a result, yoga assists kids' (and adults') metabolic function and helps the cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine and musculoskeletal systems to function more effectively and efficiently. Breathing and meditation/relaxation techniques also help lower blood pressure and improve mood and concentration, thus reprogramming the body’s habitual response to stress associated with illness or hospitalization.

Yoga therapy for children embraces the same theories and philosophies as adult yoga, but with a greater element of fun and playfulness. Classical yoga postures as well as breathing, relaxation and meditation can be combined with story telling, games, dance and song. Read about other forms of creative arts therapy at Children's.

Some of the most common pediatric conditions our yoga therapists help treat include:

• Anxiety
• Chronic pain
• Grief/depression
• High blood pressure
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Sleep issues
• Sports injuries

How can my child get started in the program?

Yoga therapy could be an integral part of your child's visit to Children's Hospital Colorado. To get started, please contact the Ponzio Creative Arts Therapy Program by calling (720) 777-4360.