Hello.
I am a new member.
My son is 14 and has very mild ADD. He was examined by MDs, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, etc, etc, etc…they all said it was too mild for prescribing drugs.Yoga was recommended by many. They said it would be good to focus his energy, prevent him from mind wandering, and enhance his concentration.
QUESTION: Is there a Yoga technique, position, approach, and / or a DVD or book for this?
I would appreciate your advice on this.
Thank you.
Andrew Jackson
Welcome to the forum, Andrew!
Is your son relatively healthy with no injuries? If so, I might recommend classes like Asthanga (the Pattabhi Jois method), where the practice is very active and dynamic, to grab his attention, but still very focused on correct alignment, specific and controlled breathing, and even correct placement of the gaze. These are complicated and challenging to almost everyone, and it takes years to master even the first series, which provides an adequate challenge for people who may have wandering attention. It should only be taught by an experienced and preferably well-certified Ashtanga teacher, however, as it is very complicated and people without guidance can easily injure themselves in strange postures.
There are other practices like ashtanga which achieve the same dynamic, attention-getting activity which brings you back again and again to the same concentration but are still dedicated to to focusing the mind and breath as well, but those teachers are really found on a case-by-case basis and I can’t name a particular style. Could you tell us where you live? People might have recommendations for other teachers in your area who would teach something appropriate.
I’m sorry I can’t think of any books off the top of my head which would help but I am sure recommendations will come. You could look into meditation practices too, as they are designed for drawing the perception inward. This could be helpful, but there are many practices out there, and without knowing your son I can’t say which would be of the most benefit. There are a lot of podcasts in itunes or elsewhere online that you could download for free, to see if you have any success with them.
I know some people who have had some success with designing guided, multi-dimensional focus-oriented projects for ADD kids to also, usually that involved building something or working with their hands. Examples: planting a small window garden, making a fence, asking them to take pictures of 25 blue objects or spell out the letters of the alphabet in photographs and then put on a mini-art show at home, painting a wall. Even puzzles and strategy games would be an excellent idea, as long as the subject matter is something he finds intriguing.
I think the idea is just to be a reinforcing guide, and find projects big enough to make them feel good about themselves upon accomplishment, and yet small enough to feel accessible and without insurmountable many barriers. As they progress they are given more difficult challenges that offer more reward (psychological) and require more time and effort. So begin by limit available distractions and offering small attention-locking practices and work towards the harder stuff. Keep it fun and interesting.
As a side, we made sugarcube castles in school when I was a kid. My mother had to take me to the library where I collected all the medieval architecture books and lugged them home, then we designed a blueprint for this thing. It took a long time, and it turned out pretty awful (I was eight), but it took ALL of my focus after school for at least a week, exercised my motor skills, improved dexterity and hand-eye coordination… maybe you should try it. In fact… I would like to try it again! I bet I could do a much better job. 