Create a Routine
Children with ADHD are drawn to new activities, adventure, and change. Yet they’re balanced by the opposite: activities that are calming, relaxing, and nurturing. Your son needs regularity and structure to counter his natural tendency toward chaos: a regular time to do his homework, exercise, relax, eat, go to bed, and wake up to begin a new day. Here’s some advice about how to create a vata-calming environment for him at home
Bedtime Massage
Oil is the quintessential vata balancer, so a bedtime massage is particularly calming for children with ADHD. To begin, wet your hands and pour a teaspoon of organic unrefined oil in your palm. (Olive, almond, and sesame oils are especially grounding.) Then rub your hands together and massage the mixture into your child’s skin. Let the oil soak in for a few minutes, then towel off any remaining residue. Try to do this at least once a week. If you don’t have time to give your child a head-to-toe treatment, just massage his feet (covering them with socks to protect the sheets). If your child has trouble falling asleep, this bedtime activity will help.
Relaxation
Do a 5- to 10-minute relaxation with your son at least once a day. Lie down on the floor or in bed in shavasana (corpse pose), supporting your heads with a pillow and covering up with a blanket to stay warm. Then ask your child to feel his body from head to toe. Turn the practice into a game; together, pretend you are a scoop of ice cream melting in the sun, or that you’re sinking into a huge feather pillow. Imagine your breath is like the waves of the ocean–or ask your child to instruct you. The idea is to get your child to relax and deepen his breath, which helps his CNS switch from a sympathetic mode, which is a “fight-or-flight” state, to a parasympathetic mode, which is a nourishing and restorative state. Try this when your child comes home from school, or before supper or bedtime; these are times when our kids can be most overstimulated.
Diet and Nutrition
Despite multiple studies in the last 20 years suggesting that diet and food additives can exacerbate hyperactivity, the current medical stance is that there is no causal link between food and ADHD. In my own practice, parents who have reduced their child’s intake of sugar, refined foods, and foods with chemical additives (food dyes, preservatives, MSG, etc.) report significant improvement in their child’s behavior over four to eight weeks. These children are also less disruptive and more focused when they eat plenty of cooked vegetables and whole grains, along with moderate amounts of protein and organic unrefined oils.
In addition, give your son 50 mg of B-complex vitamins and 100 to 200 mg of fish oils geared for children. These supplements nourish and stabilize the CNS while improving mood stability, mental focus, and brain function.