The Missing Link in Pediatric OT Practice: How Kids Yoga Improves Sensory Processing, Emotional Regulation, and Motor Development

Why Pediatric OTs Are Turning to Yoga-Based Interventions (Backed by Research & Real Outcomes)

Pediatric occupational therapists are facing more complex caseloads than ever. Children are showing higher levels of sensory dysregulation, emotional overwhelm, difficulty with transitions, and challenges with body awareness and motor planning.

And while sensory diets, play-based therapy, and self-regulation coaching remain foundational, more OTs are recognizing a significant missing link:

Structured movement + breathwork is one of the most effective tools for supporting regulation, participation, and emotional stability in children — especially those with sensory processing differences.

This is where kids yoga, when adapted correctly, becomes an OT’s secret weapon.

⭐ How Kids Yoga Supports OT Goals (What the Research Shows)

Yoga aligns with core areas of pediatric OT practice:

1. Sensory Processing & Regulation

Yoga provides predictable proprioceptive and vestibular input that helps children:

• organize their sensory systems

• calm the nervous system

• improve body awareness

• decrease sensory defensiveness

Slow, mindful movement + controlled breathwork create a neuromuscular environment where regulation becomes more accessible.

2. Motor Development & Coordination

Kids yoga supports:

• bilateral coordination

• motor planning

• balance

• core strengthening

• postural stability

This directly supports participation in ADLs, school tasks, play, handwriting, and group activities.

3. Emotional Regulation & Behavior Support

Breathwork and grounding techniques help children:

• manage frustration

• recover from dysregulation

• transition more smoothly

• improve impulse control

• increase frustration tolerance

For kids with ADHD, Autism, SPD, or trauma histories, these tools can be transformative.

4. Group Participation & Social Skills

Yoga-based group activities mirror functional classroom expectations:

• waiting

• turn-taking

• shared attention

• following multi-step motor directions

• participating in group routines

OTs can use yoga as a bridge to classroom success.

⭐ Why Yoga Should Be Part of Every Pediatric OT’s Toolkit

As an OT, you’re constantly balancing clinical demands with real-world participation goals.Yoga-based movement meets children at the intersection of:

• sensory regulation

• physical development

• emotional balance

• behavioral readiness

• nervous system resilience

It’s one of the few interventions that supports the whole child — body + brain + behavior.

And best of all?

It’s fun. Kids love it. And it works.

⭐ What Most OTs Don’t Know: Yoga Training Can Count Toward Your NBCOT PDUs

Many OTs and OTAs don’t realize that yoga training is NBCOT-eligible as long as it meets these criteria:

• relevant to OT practice

• evidence-informed

• structured learning

• includes certificate, syllabus, and objectives

The Kids Yoga Teacher Training for Pediatric Occupational Therapists offered by Yoga Phamily meets these expectations and includes:

• 20 contact hours / 20 PDUs

• Certificate

• Time breakdown

• Learning objectives

• Syllabus

• OT relevance statement

• Assessment verification

This makes it ideal for OTs in states like Massachusetts, Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Arizona, North Carolina, and others that accept self-directed continuing competence activities.

Even in states with stricter CE rules, this training supports NBCOT renewal and often counts toward the state’s “professional development activities” category.

⭐ The Gap in Pediatric OT CE Courses (And Why This Training Fills It)

Most OT CE offerings are:

• highly clinical

• lecture-heavy

• not movement-based

• not immediately applicable

• not kid-friendly

Pediatric therapists don’t just need theory — they need tools they can use tomorrow in sessions.

This is why more OTs are turning toward movement-based, practical CE that blends:

• sensory strategies

• motor development

• SEL (social-emotional learning)

• trauma-informed care

• breathwork

• mindfulness

• co-regulation strategies

Yoga naturally integrates all of these.

⭐ A Complete Pediatric Yoga Training Built for OT Practice

The 20-hour Kids Yoga Teacher Training for Pediatric OTs covers everything you need, including:✔ sensory-informed movement✔ proprioceptive & vestibular input through yoga✔ child-safe sequencing✔ breathwork for emotional regulation✔ scripts and cues kids respond to✔ trauma-informed & neurodiversity-affirming approaches✔ group facilitation for school-based OT✔ behavior and transition support✔ printable lesson plans & sequences✔ OT-relevant learning objectives

You’ll walk away with:

• full yoga sequences

• breathing games

• classroom routines

• regulation strategies

• quick sensory resets

• ready-to-use lesson plans for 1:1 and groups

This is real-world OT practice, not surface-level yoga.

⭐ Who This Training Is Perfect For

• School-based OTs

• OTAs working in pediatrics

• Early intervention providers

• Sensory clinic therapists

• Outpatient peds

• Mental health OTs

• Feeding therapists managing sensory issues

• Any OT who wants more movement-based tools

⭐ Why OTs Are Buying This Training

Here’s what pediatric OTs say about this training:

“This training gave me so many regulation techniques I now use in almost every session.”— COTA, Massachusetts

“The breathwork module alone was worth the entire course.”— OTR/L, Texas

“I now feel confident leading groups and creating sensory-friendly movement routines.”— School OT, Georgia

⭐ Ready to Add Powerful Sensory & Regulation Tools to Your OT Sessions?

If you want to help kids regulate better… transition smoother… feel safer in their bodies… and participate more fully in daily occupations—

Then this training is the bridge.

👉 Enroll Now – Start Your 20 CE Hours

Self-paced. Online. Lifetime access.

👉 Get Instant Access to the Kids Yoga Teacher Training for Pediatric OTs & OTAs