I recall the day R visited my office, tucked away in the ground-floor level of the group home where he resided with several other boys, receiving intensive treatment for mental illness and trauma. He arrived at my door, sullen, agitated and anxious after a day of difficult interactions with peers, staff, and teachers. He had no intention to “talk” about his day, and he was not receptive to offers to utilize the therapy toys, stuffed animals, or sand tray that I kept on hand for non-verbal clients. The only piece of information that he shared with me was that he was dreading the bed time routine as he has difficulty falling asleep. Other than this, I was met with silence.
I watched R sitting on the carpeted floor in my office, and decided to become creative. I offered R some body positions that I hoped would help him find what he needs to induce sleep, and he began to imitate me as I moved through cat and cow, a bent-kneed, wide-legged, hanging rag-doll forward bend; tree pose; knees to chest; reclined supine twist; and finally ending with legs at the wall. To my surprise, as we worked through the poses, he slowly engaged, began to giggle, and stated that he knows this is “yoga”, which he had learned during a previous psychiatric hospitalization. He was eager to jump up and show off some other asanas he recalled. Out of the poses we practiced, he chose his favorite ones to practice in his room before bed time.
I watched R leave my office seemingly calmer, his mood lighter, less anxious, and realized that the magic of yoga just added a powerful option into my bag of tried-and-true therapy tools.
By Wendy A. Terra, LCSW-R, a therapist in private practice in Westchester, NY.
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