Super kids deserve a ‘super-brain’.

Did I ever mention that I take Yoga and mindfulness training for children? From what I see at the center, and even outside, one of the biggest challenges facing parents of 3-6 year olds is that of hyperactivity and small attention spans. TV (please notice I did not say ‘too-much-TV’), late-nights, junk food..... I won’t go into the entire set of contributing factors.... Juhi does a much better job of doing that!

Here’s a simple exercise that has shown amazing results with ALL school children, including children with ADHD/ADD, developmental and cognitive delays, Down’s syndrome and specific learning disabilities.

Using principles of energy dynamics and acupressure points, ‘Super-brain yoga’ will shift the excess energy in a way that it actually goes to energise the brain.
Step 1: Face east. Keep your feet shoulder width apart, back erect.
Step 2: Take your left hand and hold your right earlobe with your pointer finger and thumb. Make sure that the thumb is facing away from you. Remove any jewellery before proceeding.
Step 3: Take your right hand and hold your left earlobe with your pointer finger and thumb. Once again, make sure that your thumb is facing away from you, and remove any jewellery from this ear as well.
Step 4: Continue to hold your lobes as you press your tongue to the roof of your mouth.
Step 5: Inhale through your nose and slowly squat down to the ground. Keeping your elbows up helps to keep your back straight.
Step 6: Hold your breath and do not exhale until you start making your way back up to a standing position. Continue holding your lobes and sticking your tongue to the roof of your mouth as you perform this move.
Repeat this action 6 more times, for a total of 7. You may not notice a change immediately, but after a few weeks an improvement in concentration should become apparent.

Sadly, a much deformed version of this has taken root in our minds as a ‘punishment’, so initially if we as parents do these steps with the children, it helps to remove these notions.
A few words of caution: This is a powerful exercise; please do it for no more than 7 cycles in a day. Also, please do not do this exercise during the menstrual cycle or in case of urinary tract infections.

Ajay Mehta is a print designer, an Advanced Pranic Healer and a ‘spiritual’ seeker. He can be reached at ajaxmehta@gmail.com