40 Yoga for Speech-Language Development
is relatively passive; the caregivers’ roles, in contrast, are active.
Infants depend on their caregivers to move their bodies into
the yoga poses. These movements strengthen infants’ muscles,
improve their digestion, and facilitate sleep. Research indicates
that sleep is critical for the maturation of infants’ brains and the
integration of their memory networks (Tarullo, Balsam, and Fifer
2011). Researchers found that 15-month-old infants who napped
within four hours of exposure to a language sample remembered
the general pattern of the sample 24 hours later. In contrast,
infants who did not nap shortly following familiarization with
the language sample showed no evidence of remembering the
pattern (Hupbach et al. 2009). Therefore, the sleep benefits of
yoga in infants may facilitate language learning.
Toddler classes
When children are considered strong walkers at about 18 to
24 months to approximately three years of age, they become more
active participants in yoga classes. Caregivers typically continue
to be present in sessions for this age group. Partner poses between
children and caregivers offer opportunities for communicative
interactions. Children in this age range begin to follow verbal
directions that include various linguistic concepts with the
support of demonstrations and gestures, providing a context
for the development of language comprehension. Concurrently,
these toddlers learn to move their bodies independently as they
pretend to become elements of nature, such as butterflies,
flowers, and waterfalls, in the various poses, which promotes the
emergence of symbolic play. This topic will be explored in greater
detail in Chapter 8. Yoga classes for children at this level involve
breathing exercises that support their developing speech skills;
Chapter 5 addresses this topic. Simple chants and songs enhance
motor planning for speech, which will be discussed in Chapter 6.