At a weekly yoga fusion class, 29-year-old Atticus Baldwin learns how to enjoy the quiet.
"Feeling centered helps me especially if I'm in a kind of a panicked mode," he said.
Like Baldwin, many with autism experience heightened anxiety. Sensory and motor challenges can lead to frustration.
"Sometimes the ability to concentrate or stay on the mat can be challenging," said Nikka Pamenter, a certified yoga therapist with Sacred Spectrum Movement.
Her mix of tai chi, martial arts and mindful breathing teaches her students to regulate their emotions.
"Into a state where our mind is able to be more steady and make better choices and feel a better sense of ease," she said
At the Ed Asner Family Center, students are transformed.
"Any anxieties, any struggles that they deal with daily seem to melt away," said Avivah Paskowitz-Asner, program director for the Ed Asner Family Center.
Studies show yoga can help balance the nervous system and bring a sense of well being.
"It makes me calm actually. It actually does actually," said Maggie Arabdzhyan who is living with autism spectrum disorder.
Skills learned at the center are helping 18-year-old Dominic Mojica, who volunteers at a kids museum which can get pretty intense.
"Yeah, but I calm down by taking deep breaths in and out," he said.
Other forms of exercise like sports offer too many distractions and stimulation, but classes like yoga ask the student to focus inward on their own bodies and experiences.
"We're practicing how to develop that inner agility to be able to fall and pick ourselves up and try again with determination, with peace," said Pamenter.
The staff says everything yoga offers aligns with their overall mission.
"To build confidence, to be independent and to build lifelong lasting connections," said Paskowitz-Asner.
"I really love this class so much and we're a great crew," said Mojica.