Proprioceptive System

Those of you who are early childhood educators and/or parents of young ones know what it looks like when a toddler has one of their "moments". It typically involves tears and almost always throwing themselves on the floor. While this seems over the top, they aren't doing this for dramatic effect! Here's what's going on in their little body:
They are feeling overwhelmed by all the emotions they are feeling (sad, angry, happy, scared). When this happens, the child starts to feel out of control and it affects their physical body. This out of control feeling translates to a lack of physical boundaries on their bodies and makes them feel unsafe. So what do they do to solve this and put some control back in their lives? Throw themselves on the ground! They are literally "grounding" themselves. They feel the floor on their bodies and through their proprioceptive system understand where there body is in space.
We can use yoga to teach children tools to use in these situations that are not just throwing their body to the floor. Downward facing dog in particular is a pose that is well-suited for grounding a child and allowing their proprioceptive system to figure out where they are.

Next time your toddler is having a "moment", remember that there is always a reason behind their actions. Help them use these yoga tools to calm their mind and body.