Yoga and breathing exercises may hold some big benefits to children with ADHD. There are children all over the world who are living with ADHD, and while it may be a common occurrence, it can provide struggles for children and their parents. These struggles can be in school, at home, or when out in public. Parents and medical professionals look for resources and strategies to help these children, but that is why research is so important and as it continues, the community learns more about what they can do to help.

According to Study Finds, a new study is showing that breathing and yoga exercises may be able to help children with ADHD improve their focus. Being able to sit still and focus can be a very real problem for children with ADHD. While a common treatment has been medication, more parents are looking for more natural remedies.

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This study was done by psychologists at Ural Federal University, and it can be read in full here. The report indicated that yoga and breathing exercises can help ADHD children decrease their hyperactivity, improve attention, boost their energy levels and be able to participate in complicated activities for a longer period of time.

For the study, they studied 16 children who were diagnoses with ADHD and were between the ages of 6 and 7 years old. When they looked at ADHD, they knew that the part of the brain that is responsible for regulating brain activity is “deficient.” So, it became clear that they needed to find a way to improve this function in children. They worked with the children on a specific type of breathing, “belly breathing,” to help these children and better supply oxygen to the brain. This helps the part of the brain cope with the role it has to play.

The researchers stated that when the part of the brain receives enough oxygen, it can better regulate the state of activity within the child. Belly breathing involves taking deep breaths, enough to fill up the entire lungs. When we breathe normally, we are not taking deep breaths, and while this is normal, children with ADHD may benefit from taking in more oxygen and engaging in deeper breaths.

Yoga exercises proved to be the most helpful as well. Exercising, in general, is vital for health and wellbeing, but Yoga involves a lot of deeper breathing and focus, making it the ideal exercise for children with ADHD.

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Sources: Study Finds, Ural Federal University