Let’s talk about yoga! There are so many components to yoga. I am sure many of you have heard of hot yoga, meditation yoga, power yoga, core yoga etc. I think you get my point. Yoga is an ancient practice that did not focus on simply exercise until it was brought to Western culture. This eastern practice was created thousands of years ago for a daily mental practice that incorporated the body to improve peace, concentration, and oneness. With that being said, yoga has so many other benefits than just physical exercise and stretching. This amazing practice is comprised of so many poses that provide both a mental and physical benefit or mind and body. Yoga allows participants to:
- Increase their self-confidence, decreasing feelings of sadness
- Increase concentration
- Increase body-awareness
- Improve muscle tone
- Improve balance
- Reduce anxiety
- Improve sleep
- Identify emotions
- Develop coping skills
- Increase patience
How is this possible?
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- Yoga is comprised of meditation, breathing skills, and asanas (poses). Meditation allows participants to calm the mind, focus on their breathing and recognize and let their thought pass. Breathing skills are very similar and give the participant control to slow their breathing if they notice their heart rate has increased or they want to slow down their thoughts. Lastly, asanas, which is just a fancy word for poses focuses on participants using their breath to manipulate their body in various positions that are challenging that take thought, patience, and concentration.
- For instance, if I ask you to stand still in a tree pose (balancing pose) standing on one foot for as long as possible, then you will have to first decide that you want to take the challenge, accept your abilities even if it does not match your peer or instructor, focus on holding the pose by remaining still, not giving up because the pose is difficult but pushing yourself to do the best that YOU can do! Here you would be practicing mind body connection using your breathing, patience, concentration, and self-confidence.
Yoga specifically help kids with ADHD improve:
Social skill deficits/ problems
Feeling overwhelmed in unstructured environments
Feeling overwhelmed in unstructured environments
Problems with memory
Processing speed
Organizational issues
Shifting between tasks
Self-regulation
Emotional dysregulation
Reading comprehension
Based on the benefits of yoga and the challenges that kiddos with ADHD have, YOGA can be a huge additive to therapy.
How can I help?
- I focus on developing the ‘parenting book’ for your child- we discuss personality types, learning strategies, behavior modification, parenting styles and how they relate to your child’s diagnosis.
- We develop sensory solutions that make sense for your child, and implement them both at home and at their school. I also offer monthly support to their teachers!
- I teach emotional awareness to both you and your child. We focus on the deep-rooted emotions that trigger the anger, and find better coping skills that actually work.
- I teach your family empathy skills to strengthen your child’s ability to connect with others. We focus on regulation skills that help them stay focused and aware of the peers around them.
- I provide intensive in-school and in-office support to quickly improve behaviors, while supporting the teachers and counselors to feel confident in working with your child. I go the school as often as necessary to improve the environment or help you find a better fit school!
- We focus on the biological and neurological components of a diagnosis to help you understand the genetics, developmental and behavioral aspects of your child’s diagnosis. This is a key part to supporting any child with unique needs!