When RJC gets frustrated, angry or anxious, her "go to" is to yell, jump up and down (landing especially hard on purpose), hit her arms and face, pinch me, etc. A few months ago, I had the opportunity to speak with an LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) and we talked about the possibility of teaching her 1:1 using a modified version of Yoga. The goal would be for her to learn to breathe properly which should help her in situations when she needs to self-regulate. Other benefits would be giving her the opportunity for movement and flexibility and the added bonus of meeting a new person (socialization and communication) and having the experience of being in a new physical space that was set to feel calming.
It has been a few months and things are going well. RJC looks forward to going and is completely cooperative and invested when she is there. It has been interesting for me to watch. Before getting started with RJC, the LPC (I'll call her Sue for the purposes of this blog) asked me lots of questions about what the goals were, what RJC liked to do, the best way to communicate etc. Thanks to her dad, RJC loves Classical music (he plays it in the car for her) and she really enjoys The Nutcracker. Sue then developed a modified Yoga routine around the story of The Nutcracker. She would tell RJC the story with the music playing in the background and they would "act out" the story with modified Yoga moves. When they were finished, Sue would help her with her deep breathing and give her time to relax on the mat with the option of some light beanbags on her hands. Additionally, she could close her eyes and she had the option to put a beanbag on her eyes as well. RJC really loved the relaxing time and from the very start was quite willing to lay down quietly with the beanbags.
I was amazed at how quickly RJC took to both Sue and to Yoga.
Today I was even more amazed when I had the opportunity to witness the real-life application of what she was learning.
It was a difficult morning with an issue that had to do with two of her favorite things - baking and the calendar. She wanted to bake too much in too short of a period of time and she was not at all happy with me when I insisted that we come up with a better schedule. She was getting loud and repeating herself and I was quite concerned that her behavior was going to escalate. We worked through it (used visuals and reassurance) and once we had a plan that we both could live with and it was on the calendar, she looked at me and said, "Take a breath." Then she breathed in and blew a longer breath out, just as she was learning to do in Yoga. I joined her for a few more deep breaths and then we both sat quietly on the couch for a few minutes.
Ideally, it is my hope that RJC will learn to start her deep breathing when she first begins to feel negative emotions. In the past when I have tried to suggest it and model it, all it did was add fuel to the fire and her behavior would begin to escalate. This time, however, though she was initially yelling, she was able to gain enough control on her own to work out the issue with me and then realize that she was still feeling uptight and needed to breathe.
Today was a win.
