Research Findings

“Studies increasingly show that yoga promotes stress reduction, positive coping skills, and improved cognitive performance. A study using brain MRI demonstrated that increased yoga experience is associated with larger volume in grey matter, particularly in the areas involved in attention, emotional regulation, and stress regulation.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry www.jaacap.org S49 Volume 59 / Number 10S / October 2020 Presentation: THE BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: EMERGING FINDINGS Janet J. Baek, MD, San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services.

“Conclusions: Dance practice may contribute to body awareness and social involvement using techniques that provide mirroring, synchronization, rhythm, and reciprocity in adults with normal to high-functioning ASD.” Dance promotes positive benefits for negative symptoms in autism spectrum disorder (ASD): A systematic review Beatriz Menezes DeJesusa , Romário Costa Oliveiraa , Fernanda Oliveira de Carvalhoa , Jair de Jesus Marib , Ricardo Mario Aridac , Lavinia Teixeira-Machadod,. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 49 (2020) 1022

“This study demonstrates that yoga practiced as little as 10 min a day over 8 weeks can have a significant impact on decreasing anxiety in children aged 8−10 years.” Using Yoga to Reduce Anxiety in Children: Exploring School-Based Yoga Among Rural Thirdand Fourth-Grade Students Marilou Shreve, DNP, RN, CPNP, Allison Scott, DNP, RN, CPNP, IBCLC, Charleen McNeill, PhD, RN, & Lisa Washburn, DrPH J Pediatr Health Care. (2021) 35, 42−52

“This study demonstrates that use of daily classroom wide yoga interventions has a significant impact on key classroom behaviors among children with ASD.” Koenig, K. P., Buckley-Reen, A., & Garg, S. (2012). Efficacy of the Get Ready to Learn yoga program among children with autism spectrum disorders: A pretest–posttest control group design. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 66, 538–546.

“Yoga should be used as an important therapeutic intervention along with the other rehabilitation techniques because yoga is not only for the body but also to control the mind, behavior, attitude, perception, and memory.” Management of Autism through Yoga - A systematic review. AIP Conf. Proc. 2378, 020016-1–020016-11

“Significant changes were observed post-intervention in the mean scores of the social communication aspect in social responsiveness (p = .021), irritability (p = .041), and social withdrawal (p = .047) aspects of problem behaviors. Sindhu Shanker, Balaram Pradhan” Effect of yoga on the social responsiveness and problem behaviors of children with ASD in special schools: A randomized controlled trial, EXPLORE, Volume 19, Issue 4, 2023, Pages 594-599,

“This study suggests that children, including adolescents, with ASD and their parents can benefit from a mindfulness-based program with parallel sessions for children and parents.” Ridderinkhof, A, de Bruin, EI, Blom, R, and Bögels, SM. Mindfulness-based program for children with autism spectrum disorder and their parents: direct and longterm improvements. Mindfulness. (2018) 9:773–91

“…the experimental group showed enhanced EEG activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region that mediates self-control, whereas the PMR group did not. The present findings support the potential application of Chinese Chan-based mind-body exercises as a form of neuropsychological rehabilitation…” Chan, AS, Sze, SL, Siu, NY, Lau, EM, and Cheung, M-C. A Chinese mind-body exercise improves self-control of children with autism: a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. (2013) 8:e68184.

“Compared to the group that was waiting to receive the intervention, parents in the yoga group reported significant gains for their children in regulating their overall executive control immediately after the session and again at follow-up.” Tanksale, R, Sofronoff, K, Sheffield, J, and Gilmour, J. Evaluating the effects of a yoga-based program integrated with third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy components on self-regulation in children on the autism spectrum: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Autism. (2021) 25:995–1008