68 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No.
14 (2004)
Creative RelaxationSM : A Yoga-Based
Program for Regular and Exceptional
Student Education
Louise Goldberg, M.A., R.Y.T., L.M.T.
Abstract
School is a stressful place, especially for those with
special needs. Sitting still, paying attention, staying on
task are not skills that come easily to anxious learners,
yet classroom learning is very difficult without these
constraints. There are few opportunities in most educa-
tional curricula to train students in the skills required for
self-control and focusing the mind. Any Yoga teacher
knows, however, that control of the body and mind are
skills that one can learn with instruction and practice.
SM
Creative Relaxation is a Yoga-based program
designed to teach students to strengthen, stretch, and
calm the body, quiet the mind, and control the breathing.
The teaching principles of Creative Relaxation are as
follows: make a sacred space, engage the student, pro-
vide tools for success, and create opportunities for inde-
pendence. This article will demonstrate ways to apply
these principles in an educational setting for regular and
exceptional student education, based on the experience
of the author as a consultant in the public school system
since 1981. Anecdotal data and examples will be given
from the author’s work with children in regular educa-
tion, as well as with those with autism and related dis-
abilities, emotional handicaps, ADHD, and learning
disabilities, and with anxious learners. In addition, the
author collaborated with school professionals in a study
to evaluate the effectiveness of a Yoga-based relaxation
program for six children with autism over an eight-week
period. A summary of the group’s findings is presented.
Introduction
When I first began teaching Yoga in the physical
education department at a southern Florida community
college in 1980, I was concurrently teaching freshman
English composition. In my English classes, my students
strived to complete the perfect sentence, to distinguish
between subject and object pronouns, and to eliminate
passive voice from their writing. Across campus in the
gymnasium, my Yoga students perfected their breathing,
distinguished between downward and upward facing
dog, and worked to quiet their minds. My Yoga students
left class humming and serene; my English students
were drenched in sweat and growing increasingly tense.
It did not seem fair. There had to be some way to make
English composition, a subject nearly as dear to my heart
as Yoga, less painful. One test day, I began class by guid-
ing my students through simple neck rotations, shoulder
shrugs, and abdominal breathing exercises. The students
looked at one another in bewilderment, but I noticed a
slight lessening of the tension level in the room. I began
teaching abdominal breathing and progressive muscle
relaxation before writing assignments, and I watched my
students’ faces relax as their breathing deepened. In time,
my students regularly began to request these relaxation
techniques at the beginning of class. Bringing Yoga into
a conventional classroom was the beginning of my work
in Creative Relaxation.
Since that time, I have taught Yoga-based exercise in
scores of classrooms and provided trainings to hundreds

of teachers, therapists, and other
school staff in varying forms of
Yoga-based therapies.
Yoga is a complex and magnifi-
cent life study. Its rich and varied
postures, philosophic depths, and
codes of conduct make it an art, a
science, a way of being. Just as
teaching Yoga to special needs chil-
I watched my students’
faces relax as their breath-
ing deepened.
dren does not make one an expert on
exceptional children, teaching Yoga-
based exercise to children does not
make a classroom teacher into a
Yoga teacher. Teaching Yoga re-
quires a lifetime commitment to
practice and study. Nonetheless,
most of us who do practice and teach
Yoga while living in this demanding
world have improvised ways to
incorporate our practice into unlikely
settings. My teacher recommends
practicing balance poses while
standing in line at the grocery store.
Breathing practices anchor us while
waiting in a hospital for news about
a loved one. Finding a way to liber-
ate one’s spine on an airplane is a
lesson in adaptability. A yogin can-
not always assume sarvângâsana,
(shoulder stand), even when he
knows it is the posture most needed
at a given moment. Instead we find
shortcuts and variations that suit the
immediate demands of the moment.
Similarly, Creative Relaxation
adapts Yoga exercises, including the
elements of body awareness and
control, strength, flexibility, balance,
breathing, and relaxation, for use in
public school education. Training
classroom teachers who are gener-
ally not Yoga teachers to implement
this program has brought the princi-
ples of Yoga into a large sector that
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004) 69
might otherwise not have been so
disposed. The components of Cre-
ative Relaxation include creating
a sacred space, engaging the stu-
dent, providing tools for success,
and providing opportunities for
independence.
Most schools are noisy, busy,
demanding places—bells ring,
walkie-talkies squawk, kids and
teachers yell. There is always some-
where one is expected to be and
something one is expected to do.
There is little time that belongs to the
student—the adults around him
determine his activities. The student
is continually challenged, both intel-
lectually and socially. As observed
by one school social worker, “All of
the rules that are necessary to main-
tain order in a classroom are contrary
to the instincts of children. Kids are
not designed to sit quietly. They
jump and scream and dance and
kick.” Yet there is scarcely a place
inside a school where such activities
are acceptable or even tolerated.
School imposes restraints on chil-
dren that are contrary to their nature.
The physical environment, lack of
control, and continual demands cre-
ate stress.
What is Stress?
Hans Selye described stress as
the “non-specific response of the
body to any demand made upon it.”
There are certain alarms that most
humans respond to consistently, yet
we are all subject to unexpected
reactions that upset the internal
equilibrium. “Stress is caused by
many things, both pleasant and
unpleasant . . . [Even] such essen-
tially different things as cold, heat . .
. sorrow and joy . . . provoke an iden-
tical biochemical reaction in the
body.”1 Yet not all stress impacts
equally on the body: Mental frustra-
tion can be destructive and far more
likely to produce disease, whereas
the exertion of physical exercise
can “relax and help us withstand
mental frustration.”2
Learning, Stress, and
the Brain
Research shows that stimulation
and exercise enhance learning. Adult
mice that are moved from a sterile,
simple cage to a larger one with
running wheels and toys, for exam-
ple, will experience a “significant
increase in neurogenesis,” the pro-
duction of new brain cells.3 Experi-
ments show that this type of increase
“gave rise to enhanced memory and
motor coordination.”4
Learning, exercise, and environ-
mental enrichment can all stimulate
an increase in brain cells in the hip-
pocampus, where the brain stores
information.5 However, “stress is
known to restrict the number of
newly generated neurons in the hip-
pocampus.”6 This helps explain why
anxious individuals have such
difficulty learning and retaining
information.
Individuals under extreme stress
often become physically aggressive.
“Anxiety seems to wreak havoc in
the limbic system, the brain region
concerned with emotion,” explains
Robert Sapolsky. The amygdala, the
portion of the brain that responds to
fear, “is also central to aggression,
underlying the fact that aggression
can be rooted in fear.”7
Making sense of the world is
often challenging to those with spe-
cial needs. Anxious learners are
extremely vulnerable to stress, and
the sources of their stress may be
less predictable and less consistent
than those of others. Children with
ADHD are characterized as im-
pulsive, inattentive, and hyperactive8
in varying combinations. According
to the National Institute of Mental
70 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004)
Health (NIMH), they may be “easily
distracted, have difficulties with
concentration . . . [and] have out-
bursts of temper . . . due to anxiety or
depression.”9 Those with emotional
handicaps often exhibit “hostile
aggressiveness” and have “short
attention spans and unrealistic
fears.”10 Children with learning dis-
abilities are often distractible11 and
“may vent their frustration by acting
out.”12 They often have perceptual
problems, making it difficult to learn
by visual and auditory means.13 Chil-
dren within the autism spectrum14
may exhibit aggressive and/or self-
injurious behavior, resistance to
change, anxiety . . . and over- or
under-sensitivity.15 “Most people
automatically know when their
stress is so high that they must get
out of a situation quickly, . . . but
those with autism must be taught . . .
ways to escape overwhelming stress
before they lose control.”16
As varied as children with spe-
cial needs are, they may share com-
mon responses to stress. “Symptoms
exhibited by an anxious learner
include bodily sensations such as
irregular breathing, churning stom-
ach, sweating, trembling, racing
heart, nervousness, sweaty palms,
nausea . . . etc.” Anxious learners are
encouraged to “[Do] something
physical . . . notice body posture and
CHAIR SERIES
1. CHECK SEATED POSTURE:
Form as many right angles
as possible. Breathe softly
through the nose, keeping
belly relaxed.
2. 3 HUH BREATHS: Shrug
shoulders (both or one at a
time) up to ears with inhala-
tion; release with exhalation.
3. BUTTERFLY HANDS: Shake
arms and wiggle hands
all around your body as if they
were butterflies. (Good alter-
native to hand flapping or
straying hands.)
4. SILENT SCREAM: Open
mouth, yawn, and stretch eyes
open wide. Exhale with gush.
5. NECK ROLLS: Sitting straight,
lower chin to chest. Inhale.
With exhalation, roll head
right, keeping chin low.
Inhale. With exhalation, roll
head left. Repeat.
6. SEATED FOLD: Hang forward
in chair. Drop arms toward the
floor. Roll up slowly.
7. SUPPORTED BACKBEND:
Reach each arm around back
of chair. Lean back and stretch
chest.
8. TWIST: Reach across right side
of your body with both hands.
Hold onto back or sides of
chair and twist upper body
toward the right, keeping your
seat. Reverse.
9. PUMPING BREATH: Interlace
fingers. Bend elbows and
place palms behind head.
With inhalation, open elbows.
With exhalation, close elbows.
10. SEATED RELAXATION: Tense
and relax hands, arms.Tense
and relax feet and legs. Tense
and relax face. Yawn, stretch
face, soften face. Take slow,
soft breaths. Feel the abdomen
inflate with inhalation, deflate
with exhalation.
11. 3 HUH BREATHS
© 2004 Louise Goldberg
tense muscles and . . . make an effort
to change the posture and relax the
muscles by taking deep controlled
breaths, tensing and relaxing neck,
arm and back muscles, stretch, bend
forward, backward, sideways . . .”17
Why Yoga?
Yoga Calms the Body
“Science shows that meditation,
massage, yoga—even laughter—can
change bad habits in the brain.”
Methods such as Herbert Benson’s
“relaxation response” for controlling
the breath and focusing the mind
lower blood pressure, slow breathing,
and create an overall calm. However,
“if sitting in one position for more
than five minutes sounds impossible,
you might try yoga,” suggests
Newsweek. One anxious individual
describes the stretching and deep
breathing of Yoga as her “tranquilizer.”18
I have observed Yoga’s calming
effects on hundreds of children with
severe emotional disturbances. Kids
who were so guarded that they wore
heavy down vests and flannel shirts
even in the south Florida tropical
heat would begin to soften. They
would open themselves in mat-
syâsana (fish pose) and even allow
me, after I asked and they had
learned to trust me, to lift them by
the torso, to open them more. They
would peel off their jackets during
balâsana (child’s pose) so they
could feel a caring hand on their
back, and as soon as that was
over, they would put back on all the
layers they had been wearing. This
willingness by children—some of
whom had lived with abuse, and
some of whom had in many cases
perpetrated abuse—to be touched, to
connect with another human in
a way that could not be miscon-
strued, was a vivid lesson in Yoga’s
relaxing properties.

Yoga Quiets the Mind
Drugs such as tranquilizers work
in part by relaxing muscles, as well
as by curbing the stress reactions of
the brain. “The result is a calm body—
and a less anxious body means a less
anxious brain.” The challenge is to
achieve this state of release without
risking the “sedating and addictive”
properties of medications.19 Since
ancient times, Yoga scholars have
been keenly aware of the intercon-
nection of body and mind. Patanjali,
the sage who is believed to have cod-
ified the system of Yoga in the second
century20 identified this corollary:
“(Mental) pain, despair, nervous-
ness, and hard breathing are the
symptoms of a distracted condition
of mind.” 21 Patanjali’s instructions
for stilling the mind include âsana
(Yoga posture) and prânâyâma
(breath control).22 This is the reason
yogins and yoginîs work so hard to
hone the body, making it pliable and
strong, to do the more demanding
work of sitting and quieting the mind.23
Yoga Increases Strength, Flex-
ibility, Balance
B. K. S. Iyengar reports, “Yoga,
unlike other forms of exercise,
keeps the nervous system elastic and
capable of bearing stress . . . Yoga
involves the equal exertion of all
parts of the body and does not over-
strain any one part.” 24 According to
The Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, “Stand-
ing postures develop overall strength
and flexibility . . .”25 Backbending is
“invigorating . . . stimulating the
sympathetic nervous system . . .”26
“Forward bending . . . tends to quiet
rather than stimulate . . . enhancing
digestion . . . [and providing] train-
ing for meditation.”27 Twisting helps
in “improving circulation in the
great supportive systems of the
body . . .”28 Iyengar believes that
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004) 71
inversions “simultaneously calm and
stimulate the brain . . . activate
glands and vital organs for supplying
fresh blood to the brain, making
it alert but calm.”29
Yoga Breathing Fosters
Self-Control
Anxious students often breathe
shallowly, heaving the chest. This is
functional for short-term responses
to stress, but habitually breathing in
this manner predisposes the body
toward an activated sympathetic
nervous system. In fact, chest (tho-
racic) breathing is directly related to
the activation of the fight or flight
syndrome. However, “the workload
of the cardio-respiratory system may
be reduced by as much as 50% by
changing from thoracic to diaphrag-
matic breathing.”30 With coaching,
students can learn to observe and
gradually deepen their breathing.
As one is able to change the
breath, often the mind will follow
into a more relaxed state.
Early in my teaching career, I
had a Yoga student who had severe
asthma. At the end of the semester,
she approached me nearly in tears.
All her life, she explained, people
had been telling her to relax. “Try to
relax when you can’t breathe,” she
laughed. “And the more I panicked
because I couldn’t calm down, the
more breathless I became. In my 19
years of struggling with this condi-
tion, it wasn’t until now, through
Yoga, that anyone ever taught me
how to relax.”
Creative Relaxation:
Bringing Yoga into the
School Setting
Creative Relaxation adapts Yoga
âsanas and prânâyama to suit the
special needs of children and the
physical environment of the class-
room. The author has conducted
trainings for hundreds of educators
since 1981, helping them implement
these techniques into their own lives
and their curricula. The teaching
principles of Creative Relaxation are
as follows: create a sacred space,
engage the student, provide tools for
success, and provide opportunities
for independence.
Soft music, soft lights,
quiet voices can change
the atmosphere of even
the most ordinary room.
Creating Sacred Space
Feeling safe is essential to relax-
ation. Rules must be clear and
enforced without judgment. Mats,
carpet samples, or masking tape help
children identify their personal
space. Start with individual students
or small groups of two or three in
brief sessions to assure safety and
quiet. To make Creative Relaxation a
quiet time, ask students to hold ques-
tions and comments until a desig-
nated time in the session; let them
speak with permission before they
lose control. By carefully observing
the students, the teacher can extend
the periods between talk at a pace
that is tolerable for them.
Soft music, soft lights, quiet
voices can change the atmosphere of
even the most ordinary room. An
attitude of ahimsâ (do no harm) on
the part of the teacher creates a mood
within the classroom as well. As
long as a child is not hurting himself
or another, his efforts are acceptable.
Creative Relaxation is NEVER a
punishment. If a child is noncompli-
ant, he may be asked to sit out so that
his actions do not prevent others
from participating. Praise quiet in
the room, and include those who
appear not to be participating when
72 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004)

began pacing, but could usually be

coaxed into sitting again. This
student, a heavy mouth breather,
CREATE A SACRED SPACE
• Soften the lights (provide a lamp if needed) Yoga is ideal for visual
• Play relaxing music learners.
• Shoes off, comfortable clothing
• Extra towels if needed for warmth frequently panted with mounting
• Use your quiet voice
frustration throughout the day.
I noticed that while I guided the
RULES FOR CLASS other students through shavâsana,
his breathing became slower and qui-
• Stay in your personal space—on your own mat or towel eter. Although it might appear that he
or at your seat was not participating in the activity,
• Keep your arms and legs within your personal space the audible change in his breathing
• Listen to and watch your teacher suggested otherwise.
• Notice how you are breathing
• Notice your body Engaging the Student

Providing motivation
RELAXATION BREATHING
Noting improved flexibility can
Inhalation be motivating for some. High school
• Breathe in quietly through the nose aged students at a center for severely
• Feel the belly inflate like a balloon filling with air
emotionally disturbed children were
sometimes reluctant to participate in
Exhalation
• Breathe out quietly through the nose Yoga practice.31 My colleague and I
• Feel the belly deflate like a balloon letting the air out engaged them by measuring where
their hands touched their bodies in
uttanâsana (“weeping willow” pose)
TEACHER GUIDELINES or pascimottânâsana (“folded leaf”
pose) on the first day of class. Wait-
• Keep it safe: use exercises you are comfortable doing ing for us to come around the room,
and teaching students held this stretch and their
• Keep it positive: allow students to feel successful by starting hamstrings lengthened. As they
with the simplest routines became more comfortable in the
• Keep it brief: gradually lengthen sessions if desirable pose, the hold became self-reward-
• Model: let students see you using relaxation techniques ing. Periodically, we would remea-
during stressful moments in the classroom sure, especially when we noted
significant increases in flexibility
among reluctant participants. Soon
students began to point out and share
they are quiet too. his mat and within his personal their own “landmarks” of progress in
While working with a class of space. The other students in the class their postures.
middle school children with varying were able to enjoy a five-minute
exceptionalities, I noticed a subtle shavâsana (corpse pose), but this Multi-modal learning
form of participation among one of student never actually lay down.
the children with autism. He had During this portion of class, he was Engaging students is facilitated
very limited oral language and welcome to sit in a chair close to me, by speaking the language of the
needed lots of coaching to stay on as long as he was quiet. He often child—adapting the teaching style to

that which most closely matches the
child’s learning style. In schools,
most information is presented orally.
Children with autism, however, tend
to be visual learners,32 and those
with learning disabilities and at-
tention deficits are often kines-
thetic/tactile learners.33 In Creative
Relaxation, as in Yoga, we combine
learning modes.
Yoga is ideal for visual learners
because the teacher positions herself
“on the student’s eye level,” using
the “body as a visual tool.” 34 Visual
aids such as drawings of poses are
especially helpful for children with
autism.
By breaking the process into
steps that address each modality, the
teacher engages diverse learners. In
teaching pascimottânâsana (“folded
leaf” pose), for example, the student
first learns to sweep the arms up and
down while sitting in dandâsana
(staff pose). The teacher may tap the
hands to cue the motion or move the
child’s arm. This kinesthetic/tactile
experience helps clarify “up” and
“down,” challenging concepts for
some children. To help the child
coordinate the upward movement
with the inhalation and the down-
ward with the exhalation, the teacher
sits alongside the child and breathes
audibly. Next add the chant “hands
go up, hands go down” in rhythm
with the motion and breath. As the
child follows the movement of his
body, the feeling of his breath, the
sound of his own voice guiding him,
and the teacher’s visual instructions,
he is learning with all his senses. I
have seen many “distracted” learners
totally absorbed in this manner.
Making it fun
Making Yoga fun is even more
important than form in Creative
Relaxation. “Shared laughter,” ac-
cording to Steven Gutstein, “becomes
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004) 73
a motivating factor” in early child-
hood development. He believes that
this skill can be taught through
“experience sharing.” 35 In marjar-
iâsana (cat pose), for example, move
from happy cat—look up, smile, and
say “meow”—to angry cat—look
down, round up your back, and don’t
say a word. By switching from noisy
to quiet and back, the teacher main-
tains control, yet students still have
a chance to play. Simhâsana (lion
pose, or facial stretch) can be
done with a roar or silently. In
sarvângâsana (shoulder stand or
candle), the teacher “lights” each
candle and then gently blows them
out. Children may do the candle by
lying on their backs, raising one leg
at a time. All effort is praised—as the
Bhagavad-Gîtâ (2:50) says, “The
wise man lets go of all results,
whether good or bad, and is focused
on the action alone . . .”36
Providing Tools for Success
Structure
Providing stimulation and chal-
lenge within the framework of the
familiar is helpful for anxious chi-
ldren, who often dislike change.
“Organization and structure reduce
anxiety from distractions and
overwhelming sensory stimulation,”
writes Janice Janzen. To help learn-
ers “gain control . . . include frequent
opportunities to move about and
engage in strenuous exercise”
and a “balance of activities that are
. . . familiar and new, . . . active and
quiet.”37 Gutstein suggests working
“within expandable, evolving frame-
works.” 38 In Yoga we build on basic
structures. Vîrabhadrâsana (warrior
pose) is the starting point for many
standing poses, just as sukhâsana
(easy pose) is when seated. When
working with children with anxiety,
keep to a routine. I begin and end
every class with the HUH breath
(inhale, raise shoulders; exhale, drop
shoulders). Simple, systematic repe-
tition enables students to feel suc-
cessful and comfortable.
Simplify steps
Providing students with tools for
success requires simplifying the
process so that they lose neither
enthusiasm nor self-esteem during
the learning process. Break each
posture into its smallest steps, and
provide practice until each step is
mastered. Coordinating the motion
of the eyes and head as in neck rota-
tion provides practice with maintain-
ing equilibrium during slow, steady
motion. Before balancing, practice
training the eyes to stay focused on
an object such as a focus circle39 or
colored paper on the floor. Before
raising the foot even an inch off the
ground, help the children identify the
correct foot by wiggling the toes on
that side. Students may use a wall for
security and are encouraged to touch
down at any point. Part of the
teacher’s ability to maintain a sacred
space is to inform the students that
each variation is a “correct” form of
the posture. With this sequential
approach, students become profi-
cient with each phase of an âsana
and have the choice to further chal-
lenge themselves or not.
For many children, there is a
physiological reward for further
challenge. “Stress affects dopamine,
the main currency of the pleasure
pathway . . . Moderate and transient
amounts of stress . . . increase
dopamine release in the pleasure
pathways.”40 Finding the balance
between acceptable and unaccept-
able amounts of stress requires vigi-
lant observation on the part of the
teacher. It has been my experience
that quitting while the student is feel-
ing successful increases willingness
74 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004)
to return to the activity and attempt
further challenges in the future.
Robert Sapolsky’s findings offer an
explanation for that pattern: “More
dopamine can lead to a feeling of
well-being in a situation of mod-
erate . . . stress during which a sub-
ject is challenged briefly and not too
severely . . .” When the challenge
becomes too taxing, however, there
is an excess of the stress hormone.
Then “dopamine production is curb-
ed and the feelings of pleasure fade.” 41
Opportunities
for Independence
Relief through touch
pressure
The “modality of touch, . . .
along with . . . vision and the
vestibular sense, make it possible for
us to maintain our balance and equi-
librium.”42 As mentioned, children
with special needs often have sen-
sory challenges, including extremes
in their sensitivity to touch and
poor body awareness. Interestingly,
“the autistic child senses input
from his muscles and joints better
than he does through his eyes and
ears . . .,” according to Jane Ayres.
“Very heavy touch-pressure is the
kind of tactile stimulation that
often produces a positive response
in the autistic child . . . He wants to
feel something, but perhaps only
very strong sensations register
in his brain. Some of these children
act as though their . . . [body] felt
uncomfortable much of the time,
and the hard pressure made them
feel better.”43
This characteristic may suit
them to Hatha-Yoga. In shalab-
hâsana (locust pose or “prone boat”
pose), one can “feel the contact of
the skin on the floor, deep pressure
in the abdomen, and awareness of
extension in the . . . extremities,”
explains David Coulter. Thus strenu-
ous postures enhance an individual’s
body awareness through his or her
sense of touch. Further, Yoga offers a
motivation for stillness because it
may offer a respite from sensory
input. “Touch receptors adapt even
more rapidly than receptors in the
Strenuous postures en-
hance an individual’s
body awareness through
his or her sense of touch.
vestibular system, which means that
they stop sending signals to the CNS
after a few seconds of stillness . . . If
your posture is stable, the receptors
for touch stop sending signals back
to the brain . . .”44
I have observed that some of the
students with autism prefer to do
adho-mukha-shvanâsana (downward
facing dog pose) with their head on
the floor, in a variation of sha-
shankâsana (hare pose) with the legs
extended and significant weight
placed on the top of the head, and I
encourage teachers to cue their stu-
dents to assume this pose as an alter-
native to head banging. Perhaps
self-injury is the only method some
children have to distract themselves
from their constant state of hyper-
sensitivity. Yoga postures could pro-
vide an independent opportunity for
children with extreme tactile sensi-
tivity to experience a reprieve, even
if just for a moment.
Sense of control
Early researchers discovered
that “stress is exacerbated if there is
no outlet for frustration, no sense of
control . . .”45 Among the aims of
Creative Relaxation is to give chil-
dren some experience of control. By
associating an action that relieves
stress with a particular signal, teach-
ers can cue students as soon as they
observe their tension escalate. A
teacher may say, “Take five slow
deep breaths,”46 for example, as soon
as she sees a student exhibiting signs
of frustration. In that way, the stu-
dent begins the process of releasing
tension rather than increasing it. By
giving the student a picture descrip-
tive of those directions, combining
visual and verbal cues, and lots of
practice in the stress relieving activ-
ity when the student is comfortable,
the teacher begins to create an asso-
ciation for the child between the
prompt and the calming feelings. In
1978, Cautela and Groden “devel-
oped a relaxation program for per-
sons with special needs” to be used
at the Groden Center. Their goal was
to increase “self-control” by substi-
tuting a “relaxation response in place
of the typical maladaptive behav-
iors” exhibited during high stress,
such as acting out or aggressiveness.
In 1988 Groden and Prince reported
“44% of the clients are able to relax
when given a verbal cue by their
teacher . . ., and another 31% were able
to use the procedure independently.” 47
Training for the Special
Needs of Children
The following pilot project was
conducted in spring 2001 by Louise
Goldberg, Sally Miller, Debra Col-
lins, and Daniela Morales.
The purpose was to teach relax-
ation skills to students with autism
so that they could function more pro-
ductively in stressful situations.
Participants were upper elemen-
tary school children with autism
from self-contained classes and reg-
ular education with support. The six
students were chosen because their
teachers and parents documented
overt signs of anxiety and dysfunc-
 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004) 75

tion under stress. They would soon

make the transition to middle school,
and they lacked some or many of
the skills needed to cope with
changes in their routine. One or
S.T.O.P.
more of them were prone to violent
outbursts. Students were divided S - Soft face, soft shoulders
into two groups, and they partici-
pated in 30-minute sessions three
times a week for approximately
eight weeks. T- Take 5 deep
The relaxation program48 in-
cluded Yoga exercises and breathing,
Slow Breaths
role-playing, guided imagery, dis-
cussion, visual aids, music and soft
lighting, stories, and mnemonics. I
O- Open my chest
taught each class with the assistance
of at least one of the pro-
fessional team. Each class consisted P- Posture check
of exercises to 1) strengthen postural
muscles, 2) increase flexibility, 3)
improve balance, 4) practice abdom-
inal breathing, and 5) quiet the mind GRAPHS OF STUDENTS’ PULSE RATES: PILOT PROGRAM, 2001
through progressive muscle relax- The left axis of each graph shows the number of pulses counted per 10 seconds.
ation, imagery, and periods of The bottom axis shows the sessions attended.
silence, as well as 6) generaliza- The diamond-marked line indicates the pulse count on entry to the session.
The square-marked line indicates the pulse count at the end of the session.
tion—learning to use these skills in
other settings, including the class-
room and home.
The school staff and I made pre-
sentations to parents and teachers so
they would be able to reinforce the
relaxation skills the children were
learning. I taught a relaxation ses-
sion comparable to the ones the chil-
dren did in school to interested
parents in an evening presentation,
and also held trainings for teachers
and support staff. I instructed mem-
bers of the research team in hands-on
correction techniques and suitable
Yoga exercises. They coached me in
approaches specific to the needs of
children with autism.
We developed stories based on
the concept by Carol Gray49 to help
ease anxiety by preparing children
for a change in the curriculum
or any unfamiliar event. We devised
visual cues with words like
QUIET ZONE and S.T.O.P.50 (see
76 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004)

diagram) to help create an atmos- Table 1: Pulse Counts for Relaxation Pilot Study
phere conducive to relaxation.
Evaluation was by pre- and post-
rating scales from teachers and par-
ents; measurement of pulse rates
before and after sessions; observa-
tion of students’ breathing patterns
and muscle tone before, during, and
after exercises; teachers’ observa-
tions of overt signs of stress vs.
relaxation in target situations; and
anecdotal reports from teachers, par-
ents, and children who participated.
Students were videotaped early and
late in the training.
Evaluation results: Rating scales
completed by parents and teachers
demonstrated lower stress levels. In
almost every session, pulse rates
taken at the end of relaxation class
were lower than they were at the
beginning of the sessions. 51 The mean
pulse rate (based on a 10-second
reading) before class was 17.577,
and the mean pulse rate after class
was 14.954. Using the two-sample-
t-test, the difference was found to

be statistically significant (p < 0.01)
(see Table 1).
In addition, students demonstrated
deeper breathing and increased still-
ness, as evidenced by video clips
from early and late in the training.
Improved muscle tone enabled stu-
dents to do more challenging pos-
Students were success-
ful at following more com- Conclusion
plex instructions. School is
tures and sit straighter. They were
successful at following more com-
plex instructions. Students demon-
strated increased awareness of the
parts of their body and how to move
them. Their ability to fix the eyes on
one point and balance on one foot
increased significantly. Students
learned to respond to verbal cues
such as “relax” and “breathe.” Class-
room teachers reported increased
alertness after sessions and more
self-monitoring; teachers were able
to use the relaxation cues to help
children de-escalate in volatile situations.
Parents observed children using
relaxation techniques during stress-
ful situations and before bed. Stu-
dents shared scenarios of using
relaxation techniques and mnemon-
ics to help calm themselves. One
parent reported that her daughter was
having a very difficult time when
her dentist attempted to take impres-
sions of her teeth. After several
unsuccessful tries, she independ-
ently went through the S.T.O.P.
mnemonic; she was then able to sit
calmly while the dentist completed
the impressions.
What’s Happening Today
In schools I have conducted
training programs for over one hun-
dred staff members that include a
video for classroom use. Most
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004) 77
recently, the autism specialists and
I have led higher-level trainings,
preparing autism coaches to train
one another. Relaxation programs
are taking place in dozens of centers
and schools, and S.T.O.P. posters
are used in classrooms across the
county at students’ desks and on
their schedules.
a demanding place,
and learning is stressful, especially
for anxious learners or students with
special needs. Yoga enhances learn-
ing and self-control by strengthen-
ing, stretching, and calming the
body, quieting the mind, and control-
ling the breath. The principles of
Creative Relaxation enable class-
room teachers to implement aspects
of Yoga into their students’ day and
turn the classroom into a quiet,
|safe place, if even just for a few
moments. By engaging students,
providing tools for success, and cre-
ating opportunities for independ-
ence, teachers help students lessen
their stress levels. Including Yoga-
based Creative Relaxation in school
curricula offers students proven
techniques to calm down, focus,
attend, and experience self-control.
Endnotes
1. Selye, Hans. Stress Without Distress.
New York: New American Library, 1974, p. 16.
2. Ibid., pp. 73–74.
3. Gage, Fred. Brain, repair yourself.
Scientific American, Sep 2003, p. 52.
4. Halloway, Marguerite. The mutable
brain. Scientific American, Sep 2003, p. 81.
5. Sapolsky, Robert. Taming stress.
Scientific American, Sep 2003, p. 93.
6. Gage, op. cit., p. 50.
7. Sapolsky, op. cit., pp. 87–90.
8. American Psychiatric Association.
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR). 4th ed.
Text revision. Washington, D.C.: Ameri-
can Psychiatric Association, 2000, p. 78.
9. Neuwirth, Sharyn. Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder. National Institute
of Mental Health, 1996. URL:
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm.
10. Seefeldt, Carol, and Nita Barbour.
Early Childhood Education. New York:
Macmillan, 1990, p. 91.
11. Ibid., pp. 84–85.
12. Gorman, Christine. The new science
of dyslexia. Time Magazine, 28 Jul 2003,
p. 54.
13. Hall, Nancy. RESCUE, a Handbook of
Remedial Reading Techniques. Steven-
shill, Mich.: Educational Services, 1969, p. 4.
14. For more information, see Molly
Kenny, “Integrated Movement TherapyTM:
Yoga-based therapy as a viable and effec-
tive intervention for autism spectrum and
related disorders,” International Journal
of Yoga Therapy, 2002, no. 12, pp. 71–72.
15. Autism Society of America.
Common characteristics of autism.
URL: http://www.autismsocieyt.org/site/
PageServer.
16. Janzen, Janice. Understanding the
Nature of Autism. San Antonio, Tex.:
Therapy Skill Builders, 1996, pp.
358–359.
17. Child Guidance Clinic, School Based
Support Services, Winnepeg, Manitoba,
Canada. URL: http://www.childguidance-
clinic.ca/parents_anxiety.htm.
18. Kalb, Claudia. Coping with anxiety.
Newsweek, 24 Feb 2002, p. 54.
19. Sapolsky, op. cit., p. 91.
20. Feuerstein, Georg. The Yoga
Tradition. Prescott, Ariz.: Hohm Press,
1998, p. 284.
21. Taimni, I. K. The Science of Breath.
Wheaton, Ill.: The Theosophical Publish-
ing House, 1975, p. 82.
22. Feuerstein, op. cit., p. 299.
23. Taimni, op. cit., pp. 252–253.
24. Iyengar, B. K. S. Yoga: The Path to
Holistic Health. London: Dorling
Kindersley, 2001, p. 19.
25. Coulter, H. David. The Anatomy
of Hatha Yoga. Honesdale, Pa.: Body and
Breath, 2001, p. 272.
26. Ibid., p. 324.
27. Ibid., p. 381.
28. Ibid., p. 435.
78 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF YOGA THERAPY — No. 14 (2004)
29. Iyengar, op. cit., p. 11.
30. Nuernberger, Phil. Freedom from
Stress: A Holistic Approach. Honesdale,
Pa.: The Himalayan International Insti-
tute, 1981, pp. 173–178.
31. For more information, see Libby
Robold, “Yoga and emotional healing for
aggressive youth,” International Journal
of Yoga Therapy, 2002, no. 12, p. 83.
32. Hodgdon, Linda. Ten Keys to
Becoming a Better Educator: Solving
Behavioral Problems in Autism. Troy,
Mich.: QuickRoberts Publishing, 1999,
pp. 8–9.
33. Hall, op. cit. pp. 9–10.
34. Hodgdon, op. cit., pp. 8–9.
35. Gutstein, Steve, and Rachelle Sheely.
Relationship Development Intervention.
URL: http://www.connectionscenter.com.
36. Mitchell, Stephen. Bhagavad Gita,
a New Translation. New York: Three
Rivers Press, 2000, p. 55.
37. Janzen, op. cit., p. 152. and G. B. Mesibov, eds., Behavioral
38. Gutstein, op. cit. Issues in Autism (New York: Plenum
Press, 1994), p. 186.
39. Goldberg, L., S. Miller, D. Collins,
and D. Morales. S.T.O.P. and RELAX, 48. Goldberg, Miller, Collins, and
a Visual Curriculum. Shawnee Mission, Morales, op. cit.
Kan.: Autism Asperger Publishing Com- 49. Gray, Carol. The Gray Center for
pany, 2004. Social Learning and Understanding. URL:
40. Sapolsky, op. cit., p. 93. http://www.thegraycenter.
50. Goldberg, Miller, Collins, and
41. Ibid.
Morales, op. cit.
42. Coulter, op. cit., p. 51.
51. Ibid.
43. Ayres, A. J. Sensory Integration
and the Child. Los Angeles: Western
Psychological Services, 1995, p. 125. © Louise Goldberg 2004
44. Coulter, op. cit., p. 51.
Louise Goldberg, M.A.
45. Sapolsky, op. cit., p. 88.
Relaxation Now LLC
46. Goldberg, Miller, Collins and
Morales, op. cit.
P.O. Box 93-6123
Margate, FL 33093
47. Groden, J., J. R. Cautela, S. Prince,
and J. Berryman. The impact of stress and Email: louise@relaxationnow.net
anxiety on individuals with autism and
developmental disabilities. In E. Schopler