A Breath Spa For Kids

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 16:42:39 +0000

I've just read about another UnLtd project: it is offering a breath spa for kids. The workshops are available for children with sleep-disordered breathing (a.k.a. snoring, sleep apnoea).

There is a research summary of sleep-disordered breathing that indicates that it is common in children with physical, emotional or behavioural issues. The project is set up to work on establishing healthy breathing habits for children to reduce the incidence of sleep-disordered breathing. If the techniques work, and the children stop snoring, it would be interesting to see if their other health outcomes improve.

I've participated in some of the pilot workshops for this project before at a pre-school and I had a great time (hey, I got to wear my Darth Vader mask). So, I've offered to run more laughter yoga and meditation sessions as part of the workshops so that the children can have an enjoyable learning experience. It will be interesting to see how this works out!

Dancing, video games, laughter and health

Tue, 10 Jan 2006 12:13:38 +0000

I’ve just learned about an upcoming project that will use movement and/or dance to promote the mind-body connection. The group is for people with medically-unexplained conditions who are referred to as revolving-door or heart-sink patients. The sort of patients who have an extensive history of investigations but no diagnosis to explain their symptoms. The same group of patients is targeted by Dr. David Beales for breathing re-training. His patients learn how to balance the body’s systems by improving the way in which they breathe.

A while ago I mentioned that bibliotherapy is available on the NHS in pilot areas and suggested that video games might not be that far behind. Mid Devon’s Primary Care Trust spread the message that laughter is good for you and that humour helps to make connections between people by its involvement in Off The Wall last World Mental Health day. Big Ideas in the North West offers stress management, complementary therapies, failure-free dance workshops and a rich variety of techniques to introduce health living support and boost the confidence of people with severe weight problems.

It seems as if there are some exciting projects out there, all of which are aimed at boosting the health of groups who are typically marginalised in some way by the traditional health care system. These projects all support the movement towards encouraging patients to be more involved in their own health-care and self-management of long-term health conditions. Importantly, these projects offer choice. Dance, movement, breathing re-training, self-help books, support groups, laughter and video-games might all appeal to different client groups. It will be interesting to see if the projects can attract further funding from PCTs and become both self-sustaining and more widely available.

UnLtd Blogs - breathing

A Breath Spa For Kids

Dancing, video games, laughter and health