yoga for the kids

It appears that yoga may be good for yet another thing that ails us. An intriguing study shows that children with mild attention problems were able to increase the amount of time they were engaged in a classroom lesson after they did 30 minutes of yoga. Researchers observed ten grade schoolers with attention problems (though not diagnosed with AD/HD) and compared them with their classmates without attention issues. They found that before yoga, the attention-problem kids were on task 20 percent less often than their peers. However, during the yoga period, that difference almost disappeared, and after yoga, attention continued to be sustained, although not as fully as during the yoga phase of the study. Researchers stress that more research is needed before yoga can be labeled a potential remedy for AD/HD, but this study shows that the idea is worth further investigation. And then there's the fun factor, says lead study author Heather L. Peck, PhD: "The kids loved it."