Yoga teacher Peach Mascariñas is a Relationship Development Intervention Consultant-in-Training for families with children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder.
In one of her trips to the US, a friend introduced her to Relationship Development Intervention or RDI.
RDI, unlike other special needs program, focuses on remediating the guiding relationship between parent and child. It teaches parents how to guide their child to seek out and succeed in truly reciprocal relationships, while addressing key core issues such as motivation, emotional regulation, episodic memory, self awareness, appraisal, flexible thinking to name a few.
“RDI concepts can be used in everyday life with your neurotypical kids, or with your employees, not just for individuals and families in the spectrum. I apply the concepts I have learned when I communicate with my son, or with others,” shares the single mom.
What Peach likes about RDI is it taught her ways to better guide her son and encourage good communication line with her son which she hopes to stay open until he grows older.
“I know that as he enters his teenage years, we will be arguing even more. I’ve seen friends struggle communicating with their neurotypical kids. I’ve witnessed even more struggle with atypical kids. And I felt bad when I realized that those kids are not even in their teenage years and they couldn’t communicate properly with their parents, how much more when they do?” says Peach, who graduated at Yoga District, Washington D.C.
Peach’s life has changed since she found yoga and it changed even more when she became an RDI Consultant-in-Training. While she helps families with children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder, she admits that RDI has also helped her a lot.
“I am hyperactive. Through yoga and RDI, I have trained myself to slow down and self regulate. I still struggle from time to time. I have learned to quiet my mind. I am in better control of my emotions and my thoughts. I am more present now. I value time and connecting with people even more now,” she adds.
Peach’s day starts at 4 in the morning when she does her meditation. At 4:30, the struggle to wake her son up for school begins. When his son is off to school, Peach teaches private yoga classes, starting at 6:30 a.m. then does her own yoga practice before lunch. She takes naps; answers work emails, or do her autism consultancy and reports mid day and goes back to teaching private yoga classes after work hours. She picks her son up from soccer training, tries her best to spend time with him at night by having dinner together, helping him with school stuff, and putting him to bed.
Peach is a single mom who enjoys an active lifestyle and traveling. She also stages sports events and does TV production with her company.
From yoga and RDI, Peach has learned the following: There are so many ways to communicate and verbal is just one of them. There is always something to be grateful for. Be in the present moment.