6 Tips to Help Kids Calm and Focus: Yoga and Mindfulness for Kids with ADHD
As a parent to a child diagnosed with ADHD, please join me in exploring the overwhelming sensory environment of homes and schools and the critical need for strategies that help children find a balance between activity and relaxation.
To be frank, I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m ready to share some ideas and start the conversation. I’m open to your thoughts and feedback!
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1- It Starts with Us:
Setting the Tone for Regulation, Balanced, and Calm
It is through calmness and self-regulation demonstrated by educators and parents that children learn to monitor their own energy levels.
As Dr. Bruce Perry says in his book with Oprah Winfrey, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, “We know that a dysregulated adult cannot regulate a dysregulated child. An exhausted, frustrated, dysregulated adult can’t regulate anybody.”
As a parent to a spirited child, I’ve learned first-hand after years of struggle that adults play a critical role in setting the tone for children’s behavior.
I’ve also learned the importance of being patient and accepting as we navigate challenges together. I meet my daughter where she’s at, get curious about the cause of her inattention, and notice her triggers.
It’s an ongoing journey, which can feel a bit like two steps forward and one step back, but it’s worth the effort when we find a tool or strategy that works.
Actionable ideas:
My own yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and exercise routine brings me back to balance and enables me to coregulate with my daughter when she’s having a hard time. It’s really who I decide to “be” with my daughter, not so much what I decide to “do.”
My sense of calm and regulation is key, which is often easier said than done. I get it. It could be simply sitting silently for a few minutes at the beginning of the day or taking a few deep breaths to ground myself before she comes home from school. It all makes a difference.
2-Quiet Time:
Nurturing Calm in the Overstimulated Child with ADHD
In a world where distractions are the norm and the pace of life never seems to slow down, it’s increasingly challenging to help children with ADHD focus so that they can thrive both academically and emotionally.
Actionable ideas:
One practice could be to start the school day with silent “morning work” to help ground children and enhance their attention span throughout the day. They could choose between mandala coloring, reading, writing, or drawing—anything creative and calming.
Another bite-sized practice is that you could have “2 Minutes of Silence” after a recess or lunch break, while playing soothing music, to allow the children to regroup and refocus before diving into the next academic subject.
3-Movement:
Energizing the ADHD Mind Through the Body
Movement is not a mere physical activity but an essential component for healthy brain function.
A few years ago, I heard author John Ratey talk about the enlightening link between exercise and cognitive performance—check out his book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain—that provides the scientific evidence of the importance for movement in schools.
Incorporating movement breaks and cardio exercise can be a game-changer, as evidenced by the marked improvement in students’ readiness to learn and by their academic scores.
Actionable ideas:
Some of the students with ADHD at the school I work at go down to the gym at the start of the day to run around, play basketball, and get exercise before joining the class for their morning meeting.
At another small private school I worked at years ago, the whole school population went outside to walk or run around the playground for 15 minutes to start the day, rain or shine.
Another quick idea is to practice chair yoga stretches during transitions or before taking a test. After hours of sitting, chair yoga poses offer students a chance to open up their chests, straighten their spines, stretch their legs, and give themselves a much-needed movement break so they can focus.
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4-Breathing:
Embracing Regulation to Support Children with ADHD
When it comes to ADHD, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.
There are many diverse needs and preferences for children diagnosed with ADHD. The best thing we can do is to try a variety of tools (ex. breathing, movement, mindfulness) to help children with diverse needs feel balanced, successful, and expressive.
To move away from an overscheduled life, we could benefit greatly by simplifying life and focusing on the essentials in order to foster a better environment for children to thrive at home and in school.
Actionable ideas:
Grounding techniques, such as Deep Breathing or Three Deep Breaths, are powerful tools for self-regulation, providing a foundation upon which children can manage their emotions and attention in chaotic, stressful, or anxious moments.
Practicing the Extended Exhale Breath has been proven to calm our nervous system. There are many fun and creative ways for children to practice extending their exhalation, including pretending to blow a flower, make a candle flicker, or cool down hot chocolate. They could even move pom-poms around the table by blowing through straws.
5-Mindfulness:
Mediating the Impact of Technology on Children with ADHD
Without a doubt, we are experiencing the challenges of moderating technology usage, particularly post-pandemic.
This digital addiction can exacerbate ADHD symptoms, making it crucial for both children and adults to strike a balance between high-energy and calming activities.
Johann Hari’s popular book Stolen Focus is both insightful and terrifying, but it’s a good reality check that this is an “us problem” globally.
Actionable ideas:
By modeling moments of mindfulness with our children, we can begin to plant the seed. For example, we can point out the sights and sounds while waiting for the bus, sit quietly looking out the window while sipping our morning tea, or by not having our phone at the dinner table.
In the classroom, we can incorporate 5-minute creative and sensory mindfulness activities like I Spy with My Little Eye, noticing the sounds around you or watching the settling of a bubbler or mind jar.
Inspired by Yoga Sutra 1.32: “Bringing your mind to a single focus will help to eliminate life’s obstacles.”
You are probably already doing little moments of mindfulness, but it’s about sharing why and how you’re doing them with children that will help them see the importance of coming to the present moment.
6-Community Support:
Looking at the Global Perspective of ADHD
Drawing from my international teaching experience and my tri-cultural expat family, I’ve seen the universal needs and issues confronting children globally.
Also, we hear from our global KYS community of the issues of inattention and lack of focus. For example, on our recent School Yoga Program call with participants from the United States, Canada, and Australia, we were all sharing the difficulties of engaging children and the impact on their mental health.
Actionable ideas:
Regardless of cultural differences, children fundamentally require love, connection, and validation. From feedback from our global KYS community, we’ve heard time and time again about the positive impact of incorporating yoga and movement in addressing the basic needs of children from diverse backgrounds.
My yoga teacher, Katie Rose, says that we are currently experiencing a “Vata imbalance” across the world, as our lives are filled with distractions, disruptions, and overstimulation. Even children and adults who don’t have an ADHD diagnosis are suffering from inattention and lack of focus.
Inspired by the Yoga Sutra 2.23, which could be translated as: “Think the opposite when faced with negative thoughts.”
Instead of resisting the inattention of children, let’s see if we can lean in and accept that this part of childhood right now. Maybe we can see the positive side of ADHD and help children to channel their strengths and not that there is something “wrong” with them.
Mindfulness, yoga, and similar practices are more than trendy buzzwords. They are essential practices that resonate deeply with children. By incorporating exercises that blend mindfulness, meditation, and intentional movement, we can help our children thrive, preparing them to face an accelerating world with calm and focus. By giving children the tools to self-regulate, we give them the key to a balanced and mindful approach to life’s challenges.
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