When Stillness Isn’t Regulating: A Spanda-Based Approach to Neurodivergent Support
Many therapeutic approaches—well-intentioned as they are—assume that regulation comes through stillness, quiet, and control. Sit still. Breathe slowly. Focus harder. Calm down.
For many neurodivergent bodies and minds, this model doesn’t regulate the nervous system—it overwhelms it.
Neurodivergence is not a deficit of attention, discipline, or awareness. It is often a difference in how the nervous system processes stimulation, rhythm, and sensory input. When the body is asked to suppress movement, sensation, or expression in order to appear “regulated,” the nervous system compensates. Over time, this compensation—often referred to as masking—can lead to fatigue, dysregulation, burnout, and disconnection from the body.
Yoga therapy, when practiced thoughtfully, offers another way.
Regulation Through Rhythm, Not Restraint
Spanda is a classical yogic principle that describes the subtle pulsation between expansion and contraction—movement and stillness, activation and rest. It recognizes that life itself is rhythmic, not static.
A spanda-based yoga practice applies this understanding directly to the nervous system.
Rather than prioritizing long holds, silence, or aesthetic alignment, spanda-based practice emphasizes:
rhythmic movement
repetition with variation
predictable patterns
choice and autonomy
movement-led regulation
In this approach, regulation is not forced. It emerges naturally when the nervous system feels safe enough to organize itself.
Why Movement Can Be More Regulating Than Stillness
For many neurodivergent individuals, especially those with heightened sensory awareness or variable attention, movement is not a distraction—it is a regulatory tool.
Rhythmic movement:
supports proprioceptive feedback
organizes breath without forcing it
reduces cognitive load
allows excess stimulation to move through the body rather than accumulate
When movement is predictable but not rigid, the nervous system can settle without being suppressed. Focus arises as a byproduct of regulation, not as a demand placed on the body.
This is particularly important for individuals who experience:
restlessness or internal agitation
difficulty with prolonged stillness
sensory overwhelm
nervous system fatigue
cycles of hyperfocus followed by burnout
An Ayurvedic Lens: Supporting Vata Without Silencing It
From an Ayurvedic perspective, many neurodivergent patterns resemble Vata predominance or vitiation—characterized by variability, sensitivity, creativity, speed, and lightness.
Traditional approaches to Vata imbalance often emphasize heaviness, slowness, and stillness. While these qualities can be supportive, they can also feel constricting or dysregulating when applied without nuance.
A spanda-based yoga approach offers Vata support without suppression.
Through rhythm, continuity, and gentle repetition, the nervous system receives grounding without being asked to shut down its natural expressiveness. The goal is not to make the body quieter, but to make it feel held.
Yoga Therapy as Permission, Not Correction
This form of yoga therapy is not compliance-based. It does not ask the body to perform calmness or conform to external expectations. Instead, it creates the conditions where regulation can arise from within.
The practice meets sensory needs before cognitive demands. It allows movement to be part of focus. It honors the intelligence of the nervous system rather than attempting to control it.
For bodies and minds that have been told—explicitly or implicitly—to sit still when they needed to move, this approach offers something different:
permission instead of correction
regulation instead of restraint
embodiment instead of performance
This is not yoga as discipline.
It is yoga as relationship—with the body, the breath, and the nervous system as they are.
And for many neurodivergent individuals, that shift makes all the difference.
