Yoga instructor helps kids with anxiety meditate and relax

Sybil Shelton-Ford is a yoga instructor who does things a little different.

The East Lansing resident obtained her bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Michigan State University in 1988, followed by a master’s in early childhood education from Siena Heights University in 2010 — with a total 21 years of classroom experience.

While already practicing yoga individually, she started to get interested in teaching it to her own children too. And the idea took off.

She started teaching yoga in 1999, then began to specialize in family lessons — which led to one-on-one sessions with kids who have disabilities (such as cerebral palsy or Down syndrome). At the time, teaching yoga was only a side job, until 2005 when she opened the ‘As You Are Yoga’ studio. 

“I’ve been a teacher for a long time, and the number one rule is you teach to who’s there,” Shelton-Ford said.

It was there she decided to take it one step further, and offer her lessons to more groups of kids and especially children with disabilities.

‘Yoga for the Special Child’

Shelton-Ford was particularly interested in yoga for kids because the oldest of her three children has autism. At the time the family found out, she already had a personal passion for yoga and was curious as to how yoga could benefit her children.

After finding a program called ‘Yoga for the Special Child’ from Sonia Sumar (an instructor based in Brazil), she wanted to learn more. It was 2003 when she found a week-long class Sumar was teaching in New York City and decided to travel to the Big Apple.

From there, the mother of three combined what she learned from Suman with her own experience in the classroom and created a specialized yoga program for kids with disabilities.

Each yoga lesson is unique

Whether it’s preschoolers, older children or adults, Shelton-Ford ensures each lesson is uniquely taught for whomever is in the room that day. She specializes in neurodiverse children’s yoga —  designed to help kids identify and cope with tough or uncomfortable emotions.  

“When I work in preschools especially, I like working with the teacher and see if they’re working on any themes or a learning goal,” Shelton-Ford said. “I try to structure the [lesson] around that goal.”

As a form of engagement, the yoga instructor sometimes uses stories to weave into instruction and match the energy of the room. 

“Anxiety looks different in little kids. It could look like sleeplessness or stomach aches that they can’t figure out,” Shelton-Ford said.

Sharing a lesson through a story could help; having her as a calming influence certainly does.

“What happens is children pick up on their environment and the adults in the room.”

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Switch to online, reaching new audiences

The pandemic forced many to go online, and Shelton-Ford was no exception. In 2017, she became a certified health coach and, in 2020, she changed the name of her business to ‘As You Are Yoga and Yum’ to reflect that.

Her programs are now mostly taught online, and the studio is closed. Being more animated virtually, while still keeping things simple, were difficult adjustments to make. She’s still working on her process.

“My preschool classes are generally 30 minutes long. I might back it up to 20 minutes,” Shelton-Ford said. “Because their attention span looking at a screen and doing this with me is limited, the lesson is shorter.”

Providing lessons online also gives her the opportunity to expand her audience. Cut the commute out, and she can now reach people in different states — from California to Pennsylvania.

September through May is the busiest time of year for ‘As You Are Yoga and Yum’ — and currently she is also partnering with the program, ‘Anxious to Awesome’ for children ages 6-12. Through yoga and other pathways, the project helps families — especially with younger kids — understand and improve mental health. Shelton-Ford is currently the only ‘Anxious to Awesome’ certified facilitator located in Michigan.

Registration for her lessons opens on August 30, with an option to meet one on one with her to figure out how yoga lessons can fit an individual child’s needs.

Through movement, breath work, mindset exercises, journaling and artful expression kids have the opportunity to purposefully relax their body and mind. Learn more at asyouareyoga.com.

Veronica Bolanos is a news assistant at the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at VBolanos@lsj.com or 517.267.0460. Follow her on Twitter @BVeronica19.