Therapeutic Yoga for Down Syndrome & Hypermobility
Building strength, grounding, and confidence through supportive, embodied movement and breath.
Therapeutic Yoga & Somatic Practices for Down Syndrome & Hypermobility
Strength, Stability & Embodied Confidence
This public module offers an in-depth exploration of therapeutic yoga and somatic practices to support children, teens, and young adults with Down syndrome, with particular attention to hypermobility, hypotonia, postural stability, emotional regulation and embodied confidence.
Rather than focusing on correction or performance, this course centers empowerment, joy, relationship, and building trust in the body. Practices are designed to help individuals feel supported, capable, and safe in their bodies, honoring each person’s unique strengths, needs, and pace.
Grounded in strength-based, developmentally informed, and relational approaches, this module emphasizes stability before mobility and connection before complexity.
Down Syndrome, Hypermobility & Embodiment as Core Learning
A central focus of this course is understanding how low muscle tone, joint laxity, and differences in motor planning impact movement, endurance, coordination, and self-confidence in individuals with Down syndrome.
Participants will explore:
- Hypotonia and hypermobility and their impact on posture, balance, and fatigue
- Why strength, grounding, and joint stability are foundational
- Proprioceptive and interoceptive support for safe, organized movement
- Motor planning and coordination differences
- How therapeutic yoga and somatic practices can provide organizing, protective sensory input
- Designing practices that support confidence and success rather than over-effort or collapse
This learning is experiential and practical, supporting participants in feeling stability, support, and clarity in their own bodies while learning how to offer the same to others.
What This Course Explores
Through discussion, experiential practice, and clinical reflection, participants will learn how to support:
- Strength, stability, and postural organization
- Grounding and sustained attention
- Proprioceptive and interoceptive awareness
- Motor coordination and functional movement
- Nervous system regulation and emotional balance
- Confidence, agency, and trust in the body
Practices emphasize clear actions, support, repetition, and choice, supporting safety and accessibility for diverse bodies and nervous systems.
Strength-Based, Relational Approach
This course centers:
- Individual strengths and capacities
- Stability over flexibility
- Support over strain
- Joy, connection, and relationship as therapeutic foundations
- Trauma-educated, developmentally responsive care
Participants will gain both conceptual understanding and practical tools they can immediately integrate into therapeutic, educational, clinical, and community-based settings.
Who This Course Is For
This module is well-suited for:
- Yoga teachers and yoga therapists
- Mental health and somatic practitioners
- Occupational therapists, educators, and allied professionals
- Anyone working with children, teens, or young adults with Down syndrome
No prior specialization in Down syndrome is required—this course is designed to be accessible, inclusive, and immediately applicable.
Course Details
Pre-Recorded
Gain access to the Recording plus addiitonal resources right away upon registering!
This course offers a thoughtful, embodied exploration of yoga therapy for individuals with Down syndrome—supporting strength, safety, confidence, and a sense of belonging in the body.
Course Investment
💰 Regular Registration: $165
Your registration includes live participation on Zoom as well as access to the course recording for 6 months, allowing you to revisit the material or participate if you’re unable to attend live.
Looking Ahead: Upcoming Public Modules
✨ Next Public Module:
Therapeutic Yoga for Teens with Scoliosis
This upcoming module will explore therapeutic yoga to support spinal organization, balance, strength, confidence and embodied awareness for teens with scoliosis with guest teacher Rachel Krentzman (Yoga Therapist, PT, Hakomi Practitioner)
👉 Click HERE to view details and register for a la carte public modules
Want to Go Deeper?
You can also explore the full 100-Hour Yoga Therapy for Youth Training & Certification, which brings together all public modules along with additional in-depth learning to support comprehensive, trauma-educated work with children, teens, and young adults with complex needs.
👉 Click HERE to learn more about the full 100-Hour training
Your Instructor
Shawnee Thornton Hardy is a yoga therapist, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Ayurvedic wellness guide, and somatic touch facilitator. She is the founder of Embodied WellBeing Yoga Therapy, Asanas for Autism and Special Needs, and Yoga Therapy for Youth, and brings over three decades of experience working with diverse populations across all ages and stages of life. Her work is devoted to supporting children, teens, and young adults with neurodivergence, sensory processing differences, and complex needs—while also guiding the professionals who care for them. She is deeply passionate about helping individuals reconnect with their inner child through her trainings and offerings, supporting healing, play, and a return to authenticity.
With a deeply integrative and somatic approach, Shawnee weaves together yoga therapy, sensory integration, Polyvagal-informed practices, Somatic Experiencing, and embodied awareness to support regulation, resilience, and authentic expression. Her work is rooted in the understanding that behavior is communication, and that healing happens through safety, connection, and the body.
Shawnee is the creator of the C.A.L.M.M. Yoga Toolkit and Body Sensations Curriculum, and the author of Asanas for Autism and Special Needs and Yoga Therapy for Children and Teens with Complex Needs. She leads trainings and workshops internationally and serves as faculty for yoga therapy programs, mentoring practitioners in developing compassionate, inclusive, and effective approaches. She has been featured in numerous magazines, online publications, and podcasts.
Her teaching is both practical and deeply human—bridging science, lived experience, and heart-centered care. The root of her teachings is inclusion and accessibility. Through her courses, Shawnee invites you into a way of working that honors the nervous system, respects individuality, and supports meaningful, lasting change.
See her Website Here