The Highly Sensitive Child

One in every five people is born with a heightened sensitivity. They are gifted with great intelligence, intuition and imagination. But there are also drawbacks. Frequently they come across as aloof, shy or moody and suffer from low self-esteem because they find it hard to express themselves in a society dominated by stress and excess. The highly sensitive child tends to be a highly anxious child.

The highly sensitive child has trouble screening out stimuli. Things that don’t bother most people, like loud music, sirens, glaring lights, strong odours, clutter and chaos, can be highly stimulating and stressful.

Most children walk into a classroom and perhaps notice the furniture and the people. An highly sensitive child can be instantly aware (whether they want to be or not) of the mood, the friendships and enmities, the freshness or staleness of the air, the undercurrent of tension in a teacher’s calm voice, visual clutter from wall displays past their prime, claustrophobia from too many decorations dangling from the ceiling, constant peripheral movement, and overload from continuous classroom conversation.

After a day of busyness and stimulation in school, highly sensitive kids often need solitude to recover. He or she is so overloaded with information through the senses that s/he reacts with withdrawal, tears and shyness. Also, the highly sensitive child is likely to have more allergies, insomnia, colic and IBS than the average child.

Positive aspects of being Highly Sensitive.

On the flipside, highly sensitive children have a deeper appreciation of beauty – in nature, art, music and poetry. They become the visionaries, creatives, empaths and healers in our culture. Their unique gifts should always be encourages and applauded.

Highly sensitive children are also better at spotting errors and avoiding making mistakes, highly conscientious, able to concentrate deeply (when without distractions), often able to think about their thinking, able to learn without being aware they have learned.

Maybe your child isn’t the only sensitive person in your family. The chances are, you are too. Or the child’s other parent. Maybe both of you.

How will Sensitive Kids’ Yoga help the highly sensitive child?

9 years of teaching yoga to children has shown me that although all kids can love and benefit from yoga and mindfulness, highly sensitive people get more out of it than others. Yoga and mindfulness deepen your connection to the subtle aspects of life. The sense of peace and joy that yoga gives is deeper and more profound for highly sensitive people.

Highly sensitive children find it easy to move into deep meditation state. They emerge from meditation happy or peaceful to their core.

One aspect of yoga is Pratyahara – concentration and the quietening of the senses. Practise in this area teaches children how to manage over-stimulation in a balanced and healthy way.

Yoga practised with a parent enhances the bonds between parent and child. It’s fun and it’s connecting. Parents and kids feel very close and loving towards each other by the end of the class.

The breathing techniques taught in class activate the child’s parasympathetic nervous system. This balances out the higher levels of anxiety to which highly sensitive children are prone. It enhances their coping skills.

Sensitive Kids’ Yoga develops a child’s confidence in their physical skills, and makes them feel body-positive.

Reviews

The Yogini sensory Yoga practice that Noush has implemented with the students at BIS has a beautiful and powerful connecting impact. The combination of traditional yoga with this process of concrete awareness practice of the “self” and “other”, leads to a shared sense of connection. It is an embodied social and emotional learning. I would recommend every parent experiences this process with their child as it will undoubtedly change your interaction for the better and grow your connection. This is such a powerful opportunity for all parents and children to experience. Having watched the beautiful embodied practice that Noush takes the children through, I can see how powerfully it will bring parents and children together.

Jen Haynes

PrincipAL, Brisbane Independent School

We attended family yoga over the Christmas holidays on three occasions, my family included my 68 year old mother, myself, my 11 year old son and 13 year old daughter. Noush has such a lovely connection with all her students, the class introduced my children to concepts of mindfulness, mind body connection and awareness as well as a range of carefully selected yoga poses that were both challenging and fun. This class is a wonderful way to introduce children to yoga practice and is skillfully adjusted to meet the needs of its attendees. We all left calm, relaxed and will certainly return. Thank you.

Mother of sensitive teenagers.

We had a lot of fun together and enjoyed the partner work… My daughter has a poor attention span, but she kept in it pretty well. Two thumbs up from my daughter. She really enjoyed it. I think she got into the chanting at the end, and it was really interesting for her.

H. T.

Mother of ASD 9 year old child.

My highly sensitive daughter and I attended a yoga event with Noush as I was concerned about her sedentary lifestyle choices. She enjoyed the session immensely and as a result of the experience since has chosen more physical activity as she knows this is an effective calming strategy that can also work for her.

C. Barnaby

Father of 12 year old

Loved this. It was needed after a moment of family challenge and growth last night! Oliver had a great time. His favourite pose is the Tree.

E.P.

Mother of sensitive 6 year old

What a wonderful class, thank you Noush. My kids and I got so much from class. I even overheard my kids reenact the whole class later in the day. Clearly had a very positive impact on them (and me). Look forward to doing it again some time.

A.M.

Mother of highly sensitive children, 9 and 5.

It was AWESOME!

P. O. H.

Highly sensitive 13 year old.

Yoga helps open the mind and keeps you healthy. It really helped me become more calm and healthy with a challenge. I think it’s great for the body and for mental health.

Harry

Student of 3 years

Noush Baxter

My Profile

I am a registered school teacher, and a registered children’s yoga teacher.

As a school teacher since 1992, I have regularly worked with kids with ADHD. I have seen the challenges that kids with extreme sensitivity face.

As a yoga teacher I have been teaching adults since 2006 and with children since 2010. I’m registered with Yoga Australia as an Intermediate Level teacher. My training includes 320 hours with My Health Yoga, 520 hours with Yoga Physio and 10 hours with Radiant Child Yoga Program. I recently trained in yoga therapy for Children with special needs. My yoga teaching won a Business Achiever Award in Fitness and Sports in 2011.

I started teaching yoga to children when my daughter was attending Chapel Hill Kindergarten in 2010. When she moved to Brisbane Independent School I started to teach yoga to the children there. I’ve worked with children from prep to grade 7 ever since. At this school I have regularly worked with students with ADHD and ASD. I have also seen the challenges that highly sensitive children experience.

My work at BIS has shown me that the more sensitive a child is, the more they benefit from yoga and meditation. I have discovered that although sensitivity can be a challenge for the child, it can also be a blessing when given gentle and confident guidance. In my 8 years at BIS I have observed how students with sensitivity issues, whether ADHD, ASD or HSP can use embodied practise to move into profound levels of peace, self-awareness and self-connection that far exceed those without sensitivity issues.

Contact Noush

0416 328 317

Email noush@yogini.net.au