In a previous blog, I wrote about the benefits of the life-changing practice of yoga, how it benefits humanity, and how it could cure certain diseases. The feedback I received encouraged me to take my studies further into the idea that yoga is directly correlated to an ADHD cure. ADHD is a chronic condition when a person cannot control their impulsivity, sit still, or focus on a topic for extended periods of time. Signs of this disease range from each individual, but most symptoms consist of inattention and distraction. Still unknown as to why, the diagnoses of this disease have increased over the years. This increase in diagnoses calls for an increase in treatments to suppress or cure this disease. To date, yoga, the practice of body and mind control, has been named the healthiest cure for this disease.

When I was 14, I attempted to participate in my first yoga class. Being accompanied by multiple friends, you can assume that it didn’t live up to the meditation expectation I planned it would. Each time “om” or “namaste” was chanted, we would laugh instead of embracing the psychological meaning behind it. Since then, many elements of my practice have changed. Although maturing was a huge part broadening my yoga experience, people with ADHD benefit from the 3 C’s:  Concentration, Control, and Confidence.

ADHD impairs the ability for people to be in control of their thoughts and actions. Yoga is used to promote health through spiritual and physical discipline. This trains the brain how to control energy through breaths. Having ADHD means your brain is almost always in frantic, making it normal to have shallow and short breaths. With the concentration of pranayama (breaths), the deep and long breath gives more time for the oxygen to reach the brain. The simple exercise of breathing reduces the amount of anxiety and irritability a person usually experiences with ADHD. They feel the foreign feeling of calmness. But the exercise of breathing is harder said than done. It takes amence amounts of concentration, which trains the person to focus on this exercise. ADHD, an attention deficit, makes the person become aware of this focus and it strengthens their self-control. It trains their brains to stay in one place. After undergoing control and concentration, the person tends to feel confident since they are experiencing feelings that are almost always out of their control. They become confident with their poses and start to master the practice.

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and University of Pennsylvania underwent multiple experimens to see the effects of yoga and its physical outcome on children. The most prominent one was conducted with controlled and pilot studies, mainly randomized and cohort control trials that examined the intervention it had on children. The experimental study was filled with clinical treatment accompanied with a control condition. The children were randomly assigned to groups. Each group either experienced breathing exercises (pranayama), physical postures, or meditation. The experimenters compared exercise with a placebo, controlled comparison or standard care. The conclusions were that yoga had a positive impact on motor performance in children. It also suggested that yoga increases working efficiently and increases the ability to concentrate and focus, making it easier to put their energy into goal-driven tasks.

Although my argument throughout this blog was to demonstrate that yoga is a natrual cure for ADHD, yoga is also a cure for many other things. You don’t need to have ADHD to practice. A rough day could require some individuals to get to yoga. It clears the brain and creates an organic meditation. I encourage everyone to try at least two classes to see if it works for them.

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