Improve Childhood Autism with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “yoga can be of significant benefit to children with ASD. In addition to benefits typically associated with yoga such as increased strength, balance, coordination and flexibility, benefits such as increased social-emotional skills, language and communication, body awareness, self-regulation, focus and concentration and […]
Improve the Psychological Condition of Patients with Spinal Cord Injury with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “yoga can be practiced by someone with a spinal cord injury under the supervision of a qualified and experienced yoga therapist. The wide range of practices that range across physical postures, breathing techniques and meditative […]
Improve Autism with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Children with autism have very different sensory experiences from other people, and these responses often cause their bodies to get stuck in fight, flight, or freeze modes that divert blood from the digestive organs to the skeletal muscles. This activity results in disrupted […]
Improve Cystic Fibrosis Symptoms in Children with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “There are two main types of breathwork that are particularly helpful for people with Cystic Fibrosis that can either increase lung capacity or facilitate airway clearance. Any physical activity or breathing exercise that expands the chest, encourages full breath […]
Improve High Level Cognitive Function in Traumatized Adolescents with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “With the girls in India, I’ve found that they most enjoy Thai massage, partner yoga, and expansive, “outer- focused” yoga. I believe that they greatly benefit from receiving loving touch, and they love watching an adult yoga […]
Improve Mental and Physical Health with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “As an osteopathic physician, I focus a lot of my efforts on preventive medicine and practices, and in the body’s ability to heal itself. Yoga is a great tool for staying healthy because it is based on similar principles.” – […]
Reduce Medical Student’s Stress Response with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal — for example, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing respiration.” – Harvard Mental Health Letter Medical School […]
Improve ADHD in Children with Yoga By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “For individuals with the ADD/ADHD wiring, who have a tendency toward addiction and extreme behavior, building awareness is essential. Mindfulness and the ability to focus go hand-in-hand. I think of mindfulness as a muscle that can be strengthened through meditation/prayer, yoga, […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “It may not be the typical way to start an English class, but Gonzalez’s students were familiar with these five-minute mindfulness exercises—from counting breaths and focusing on the sensations of breathing, to visualizing thoughts and feelings—that he uses to help train their attention, quiet their thoughts, and […]
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D. “Although teens frontal lobe activity is still developing well into their twenties, they do have frontal lobes. Mindfulness practices can help teens engage their frontal lobes, and slow down and weigh the outcome of their actions.” – Donna Torney Adolescence can be a difficult time, fraught […]