THE FOUNDATION
A practical path toward steadiness, health, and self-awareness.
Yoga is an ancient system of physical and mental practices that helps people move toward greater balance, clarity, and well-being. Hatha Yoga begins with the body: posture, alignment, breath, movement, and relaxation.
Through regular practice, students may build more strength, flexibility, coordination, focus, and emotional steadiness. For children and students with additional needs, the practice is adapted carefully so Yoga meets the person in front of us.
SUPPORT
Yoga can meet students through body, breath, and attention.
Because Yoga works through many layers of the person, it can support students in more than one way. The practice is not one-size-fits-all. It is shaped around the student's needs, communication, energy, and readiness.
Body and movement
Supports posture, mobility, coordination, strength, and flexibility.
Helps students become more aware of how their bodies feel and move.
Breath and regulation
Uses breathing and relaxation to support calm, focus, and nervous system balance.
Gives students practical tools for settling and returning to themselves.
Attention and learning
Encourages concentration, memory, sequencing, and body awareness through repeated practice.
Helps students build confidence through small, meaningful successes.
Relationship and respect
The teacher adapts the practice with patience, observation, and care.
Progress is not forced. The student is met with dignity.
ADAPTATION
The method adapts to the student.
Students may come with many different needs, including autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, rare syndromes, developmental delays, sensory differences, and other disabilities. The starting point is not the label. The starting point is the student.
Yoga for All Abilities uses movement, breath, sound, relaxation, attention, and relationship to support each student's development in a respectful and practical way.
Short note:
The same practice may look different from student to student. That is part of the method.
PRACTICE
Small, consistent practice can create meaningful change.
Yoga is most supportive when it becomes a regular practice. Over time, students may become more familiar with their bodies, more comfortable with breath, more able to settle, and more confident in their own abilities.
For parents, teachers, therapists, and caregivers, the practice also offers a way to observe more carefully and respond with more patience.
THE METHOD
For over 50 years, our Method has supported babies, children, and adults with additional needs.
Sonia Sumar began this work through daily practice with her daughter Roberta. What started in one family became a method of service for children, families, teachers, therapists, and communities around the world.
The method is rooted in Yoga, but it is also rooted in love, observation, respect, and the belief that every student has potential.
THE SONIA SUMAR METHOD
FOR MANY KINDS OF NEEDS
Yoga can be adapted for different bodies, nervous systems, and ways of learning.
Students may come with autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, rare syndromes, developmental delays, sensory differences, anxiety, physical disabilities, or other additional needs.
In the Sonia Sumar Method, the diagnosis is not the starting point. The student is. The practice is shaped through observation, respect, and careful adaptation.