It’s pretty common these days to have a child (or children) that struggle with both anxiety and ADHD. While this combination can make for a tough school year, there’s things we can do to minimize the effects of anxiety and ADHD in your precious, young students.
It’s understanable why school to tends to cause anxiety for kids. Grades, homework, and, of course, the complicated social dynamics. What if they can’t find their classes, figure out how to open their locker, or, even worse, someone wears the same outfit as them… so embarrassing!
No fashion tips in this blog… but here’s some inspiration for addressing anxiety and ADHD to help make the school year a bit more enjoyable (and successful)!
1. How Mindfulness and Breathwork Help with Anxiety
I love having a mindfulness routine for a few reasons: it’s free, you can do it anywhere, and the benefits are astounding!
Now you might be thinking to yourself, “Sheila, you are crazy! My child will never go for this.” I hear you!
The good news is that simply sitting or laying still and focusing on slow, deep breaths for a measly two minutes (yes, really, just two minutes!) counts as meditation and breathwork.
Here’s how to do it:
- Sit or lie down–ideally with a neutral spine.
- Breathe slowly and deeply–in through the nose and out through the mouth.
- For “extra credit” you can cycle through the 4-7-8 technique a few times for your two minutes: breathe in through the nose for 4 seconds, hold the breath for 7 seconds, and breathe out through the mouth for 8 seconds.
That’s it!
The 4-7-8 technique was one of the first things Andrew Weil, MD taught us during my integrative medicine fellowship in Arizona.
If your child is particularly restless, try playing some peaceful meditation music or nature sounds in the background.
Building a consistent meditation and breathwork practice can do wonders for managing stress and anxiety in both children and adults–don’t be afraid to join in, moms and dads!
You can implement this practice at any time of the day, but I recommend trying it shortly after waking up and when getting ready for bed at night.
2. Addressing Anxiety with Music and Movement
Another super easy and free way to release stress and help ease your kids’ anxiety is to play their favorite music, and the whole family can sing and dance along to it!
Singing and dancing releases tension in the body and gets us all out of our heads for at least a few minutes.
Now, I don’t have any case studies or medical school lingo to back this one up… but I can tell you I’ve never been anxious or stressed while singing at the top of my lungs and boogying to my favorite Beyonce song (Crazy In Love, obviously) in the car on my way to work.
On that note, I highly recommend this for the car ride on the way to and from school. Starting and ending the school day on a fun, lighthearted note can help relieve stress and anxiety.
Bonus points if you get your child to put together a before and after-school playlist of their favorite songs!
3. Whole Food Supplements to help with Anxiety and ADHD
When it comes to introducing supplements, I always start by priming the gut to absorb nutrients more effectively. Our HKHM Digestive Enzymes do exactly that.
Enzymes help the body break down and absorb fats from supplements, and promote healthy brains and nervous systems.
Omega-3 fatty acids are critical for our overall health. They make up part of our cell walls and create an anti-inflammatory environment in the body.
By reducing inflammation, the body is better able to manage cortisol (our “stress hormone”), which helps kids get out of that fight or flight mode. We will always have stress, and stress isn’t always bad, but most of us need more tools to manage it. Our aim is to build resilience.
Our HKHM Omega-3s are available in two forms–liquid or capsule.
The final key supplement is HKHM Advanced magnesium. Fifty percent of the US population does not get adequate amounts of magnesium… seriously, 50%!
It’s one of the most abundant minerals in our bodies and is extremely important for many different functions–including calming the nervous system (to help with anxiety, for example).
Medications like stimulants for those with ADHD, along with anti-anxiety medications, can deplete our magnesium levels. Therefore, supplementation is usually necessary in order to ensure we’re getting adequate amounts.
The HKHM Advanced Magnesium we use in our practice is gentle and well-absorbed. It contains some magnesium citrate, along with magnesium glycinate. This formulation won’t irritate the lining of the gut like a drug store supplement might. The HKHM Advanced Magnesium is available in capsule or powder form.
Remember, the body takes some time to adjust and while I never reccommend supplements as an end-all solution, you might be surprised how much of an impact a whole food diet, weight bearing excercise, and the right supplements can have on our overall health!
