72 Yoga for Speech-Language Development
proximal (the spine) to distal (the extremities) direction, a strong
trunk is necessary to produce the fine motor movements of the
jaw, lips, and tongue needed for articulate speech (Wills 2015).
Down syndrome is a congenital disorder resulting from
an extra chromosome, which causes intellectual disabilities,
language delays, physical abnormalities, and various health issues.
Children with Down syndrome typically present with low muscle
tone throughout their body, including the trunk. Muscle tone
refers to the resting length of muscles in the body. In low muscle
tone, the resting length of the muscles is greater than average
as in children with Down syndrome. While congenital low
muscle tone cannot be changed, yoga poses and breathwork can
strengthen muscles, resulting in decreased effects of low muscle
tone and increased trunk stability. This stability leads to improved
alignment, respiration, and speech production.
Breathwork for the infant years
As explained in Chapter 3, the infant’s participation in yoga
is relatively passive, whereas the caregiver’s role is active. In
order to try to synchronize breathing, an adult can place one
hand on her own chest and her other hand on the baby’s chest.
Similarly, the caregiver can lay the baby on her chest to encourage
synchronization of their breathing cycles. These acts could initiate
the process of increasing the child’s awareness of the breath.
Breathwork for the toddler and preschool years
As discussed in Chapter 3, a child becomes an active yoga
participant when his walking skills have become more firmly
established around 18 to 24 months. In order to continue to
increase the young child’s awareness of the breath, as well as begin
to control the flow of air in and out of the body, it is beneficial to
provide auditory, verbal, visual, tactile, and kinesthetic feedback