Study Shows Meditation Reduces Symptoms of ADHD in Children

Child Meditating

A study of students with ADHD who meditated for three months showed statistically significant reductions in stress and anxiety and an improved ability to think and concentrate .  The participants in the study were students ages 11-14 with pre-existing diagnoses of ADHD.

The students meditated twice per day at school using the Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique, which is considered to be one of the simplest meditation techniques to learn.  TM practitioners sit quietly with their eyes closed and silently repeat a mantra (a sound, word or short phrase) for 10-20 minutes, thereby calming the mind and relaxing the body.

After three months,  the students had lowered their stress and anxiety levels, while improving their ADHD symptoms, based upon questionnaires that were filled out by their parents and teachers.

The lead researcher Sarina J. Grosswald, a cognitive learning specialist, stated “The effect was much greater than we expected…The children also showed improvements in attention, working memory, organization, and behavior regulation.”

The study showed that TM  can be learned and successfully practiced by children with ADHD to reduce stress, anxiety, and stress related ADHD symptoms (including improved behavior) within three months.

News Source: Current Issues in Education

Image Source: DistortedSmile’s flickr photostream

Related posts:

1. ADHD: Eliminating Red 40 Dye May Help Bypass Ritalin
2. The Single Most Important Thing You Can Do For Yourself
3. Nearly 1 Million Kids Misdiagnosed with ADHD
4. Study Links Meditation to Longer Cell Life
5. Iowa Meditators Reduce Violent Crime Across America

Posted by clnews on Nov 1 2010. Filed under _Featured_, Meditation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry