Meditation Helps Children with ADD, Focus and Memory
Meditation is the answer to suffering and is the ultimate purpose of human birth, but besides these Highest “goals” of meditation, there are a great many other benefits and applications to meditation as well. In today’s guest article, David, who is the founder of http://www.blisslotus.com/, reveals how meditation helps children who suffer from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), by helping them develop calmness, presence, focus and control over their reactions to external stimuli.
If you would like to be a guest author on Mastery of Meditation and Yoga, please email me at anmol@anmolmehta.com.
Meditation Helps Children with ADD
Frustrated parents and educators have long sought alternatives to medication when helping children deal with Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Who knew that ancient Buddhists have long held a valuable tool in reaching that goal? Only recently are we realizing the tremendous benefits that Meditation can bring as a very viable course of action in aiding the over 5.2 million children diagnosed in America with ADD or ADHD, according to the Center for Disease Control. The art of Mindfulness, or focusing the thoughts, has been a practiced meditation technique for thousands of years. Scientists and medical professionals are now discovering that meditation can be a huge factor in teaching ADD/ADHD children to increase focus, improve overall memory, reduce anxiety levels and calm a hyperactive mind and body.
“One recent study found evidence that the daily practice of meditation thickened the parts of the brain’s cerebral cortex responsible for decision making, attention and memory”, claims a study from Mass General Hospital. According to a study published in Time Magazine, scientists discovered that those who meditated just 40 few minutes a day reaped huge benefits for many aspects of the brain development.
Teaching children how to meditate in school can increase student’s ability to successfully perform as it heightens awareness and increases attention sustainability. Additionally, schools specializing in educating learning disabled students are incorporating meditation into their school-wide curriculum and noticing a huge increase in the ability of ADHD students to perform.
Teaching a child to meditate at home, when ADD/ADHD children are now able to ‘let off the steam’ built up in trying to focus at school, gives kids an additional outlet to take a few moments of calm and center themselves to handle homework or retain calm for their other activities after school. Parents have reported happier homes once they incorporated daily meditation into their routines.
Sara, a mother of 4, reported that her son Gabe has been dealing with ADHD since the age of 5. His hyperactivity really reduced the amount of play dates he was offered as he was not able to understand boundaries and he often overwhelmed the other children in school. When Sara first discovered Meditation for her herself, she realized the soothing affect it had on her entire day. She decided to teach Gabe some of the techniques she had learned during her sessions. Within days, she realized that Gabe was generally less anxious and overall easier to handle at home. Three years later, daily meditations have taught Gabe to focus and calm the mind and better hyperactivity management. Meditation has been a life-changer for their family and Gabe’s functioning both in school and at home.
Meditation practice teaches children how to learn to control their thoughts and in turn their reactions, to outside distractions. One of the main components that ADD/ADHD children struggle with is the inability to control themselves, their thoughts and their reaction to stimuli. Through practice of Meditation children can learn to calm the mind, focus on the purpose of restructuring the thoughts back to the deliberate and intentional spot or focal point. Meditation can also provide a much needed break in routine that allows children dealing with attention disorders to come back and refocus on the task refreshed and renewed.
Parents, educators and Medical Professionals have been looking to incorporate alternative methods for years. Meditation practice is a proven effective, healthy and holistic way to improve the overall anxiety levels, focus levels and functioning levels of the over 8.4 % of children dealing with ADD/ADHD all over the country.
For more information on Meditation Benefits and how to meditate please visit www.blisslotus.com.
HOW does one start with children, especially in a group. What sort of fous to give them….breathing mantras? what?
You can search the site for kids yoga and kids meditation guidelines. I have provided details in those articles. But here is a good meditation for kids to start with…
https://youtu.be/gdj4MGYR_Lk
I can definitely see meditation helping with ADD! I’ve been meditating as the main chunk of my yoga for about a year.
At first the mind drifts fairly often, noticing and gently bringing it back quite a lot.
Then as some samskaras start to clear out, the mind moves in a smaller circle and subtler levels of what you’re meditating on, subtler states of awareness, slowly begin to open.
Now my mind runs in a small circle and barely shifts at all in meditation compared to when I started. No samadhi yet though, but I know it will come eventually.
The trick is not trying to FORCE the mind to be ‘still’ or ’empty’. That only makes things worse in the long run. The trick is balance between focus and surrender, allowing the process to develop over months of steady practice.
Namaste Anmol… :D
A friend of mine whose child was recently diagnosed with ADD. They too started working with her on meditation techniques. It’s been a slight struggle, but we can already notice a difference in her concentration.
Meditation is a relaxation technique
that is truly beneficial for those
kids sufferring from ADHD and ADD.
Since the major symptom of these diseases
is mainly hyper activity, the method
in meditation allows them on how to
curb the symptom in order for them to
relax a bit. Meditation is a practical
way of curing these abnormalities in
children.
http://www.yogainformer.com
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/