Special needs summer camps are specialized programs designed for children and young adults with a range of disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), ADHD, Down syndrome, and other developmental or physical challenges.
The boom in reformer pilates has created a wild west of studios where poor regulation has resulted in inexperienced teachers and a rise in injuries, professional standards bodies have warned.
Body agency is a power returned after an incident took it away from the user's physical form, and some wearable devices and technologies have this exact goal in mind.
The Sesame Workshop resources want the same for everyone. They are meant to help facilitate safe, inclusive group settings by giving children (and adults!) tips and engagement ideas for reaching out to someone, inviting others into your play, and offering encouragement to a kiddo who might feel a little uncertain or left out.
Devon Hase states, 'People are trying desperately to fix, optimize, or escape their way out of relationship difficulty - and suffering more for the effort. Social media has made this worse! We're surrounded by images of perfect partnerships while quietly drowning in our own ordinary struggles.' This highlights the pressure couples feel in the age of social media.
It got me thinking. While everyone's obsessing over the latest fitness trends and biohacking protocols, these folks have been consistently moving their bodies for decades. No fancy equipment, no Instagram-worthy routines, just simple habits they picked up long before movement became a multibillion-dollar industry. So I started asking around, digging into research, and talking to people who've stayed active well into their golden years. What I found wasn't revolutionary or complicated. It was refreshingly simple.
Instead of guessing where your body is in space, you receive immediate physical feedback when you rest or press part of your body against the support. Practicing poses against a wall can reduce the intensity of a pose. But it can also increase the challenge. A wall isn't just a 'make the pose easier' prop.
Though there are as many asanas as there are species of living creatures in the universe, the old hatha yoga manuals report there are just 32 that are beneficial for humans, and Chair Pose is included among them. Chair is essentially a half-squat, or a half-stand: The feet are flat on the floor, the shins are angled forward about 45 degrees over the feet, the thighs are almost parallel to the floor, and the torso stretches up and back with the arms reaching upward.
If the goal to to offer a truly transformative practice-and a class students want to return to again and again-a welcoming environment for all should be the goal. But what, exactly, does that include? In short, the vulnerability that comes with yoga requires a container that supports it. Paying attention to the accessibility, vibe, and clarity in and around any class is a strong place to start.
