Research on Yoga’s Benefits for Children’s Mental Health

Did you know that yoga can do more than just help your child stretch or relax? A study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research found that yoga may also support children’s mental health and behavior.

With more kids struggling with anxiety, ADHD, and depression, researchers wanted to see if yoga may help as a school activity or as part of mental health care.

The study looked at 16 different research papers that included more than 1,000 children and teens ages 5 to 19. Across all the studies, kids who practiced yoga showed improvements in many areas.

They had better focus and self-control, felt calmer, and showed fewer emotional or behavioral problems. Many also reported feeling happier and more relaxed.

The researchers believe yoga helps kids develop lifelong tools to handle stress and emotions better. It’s a great complement to other treatments, especially since it’s affordable and safe.

Understanding the Research

To understand how yoga supports children’s and teens’ mental health, researchers did an integrative literature review by analyzing multiple studies instead of a single experiment.

They searched CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycINFO for research published between 2012 and 2023 on kids ages 6–18, which focused on yoga’s effects on anxiety, depression, ADHD, and autism.

After reviewing each one carefully, they narrowed the list down to 16 studies that were strong enough to include. They looked for patterns, such as improvements in focus, behavior, or mood.

The study found these key benefits of yoga for children and teens:

• Yoga supports mental health with reductions in anxiety, depression, ADHD, and autism symptoms.
• It improves focus and behavior, including attention, self-control, and classroom conduct. This was shown across 11 studies with 889 participants.
• Boosts thinking skills such as memory and executive functioning (planning, organizing, self-control, flexible thinking) as observed in 3 studies with 241 participants.
• Promotes relaxation and helps children feel calmer and sleep better, as reported in 7 studies with 503 participants.
• Yoga is easy to include in both school and mental health settings, and is well-liked by participants. Multiple studies reported acceptance and enjoyment of yoga. Participants expressed their willingness to share it with others.

Practical Strategies for Parents and Caregivers

It is clear that yoga is beneficial for children’s mental health. What’s even better is that, as caring adults, we can introduce yoga into our homes in very manageable ways.

This can be especially helpful for school-related stress and other challenges that our children face daily. We can start with the following tips:

Start with short but consistent sessions

Begin with just 5–10 minutes a day. Focus on simple poses (like the Child’s Pose and Bridge Pose) or breathing exercises (like the Balloon Breath). Consistency matters more than length, and short sessions help children build a routine that feels manageable.

Incorporate yoga into your daily routines

Use yoga as a “relaxation tool” to start or end the day, before homework, or after school.

For example, you can do a few minutes of stretching and deep breathing in the morning to improve focus, and incorporate it before bedtime to improve sleep.

It’s a good idea to also sit down together with your child to talk about how these yoga sessions make them feel and what they notice.

Practice together as a family

Better yet, do yoga together as a family. Practicing together encourages your child to participate, and it also creates quality family time, which strengthens your connection.

fParents may experience the calming and focus-enhancing effects of yoga, which can improve stress management and patience. These are benefits that naturally translate into more positive interactions with your child.

The researchers also recommend that future studies explore how yoga can be adapted for different groups of children and teens and examine benefits such as reduced medication use or fewer sick days.

Bring the benefits of yoga into your home or classroom by downloading our Managing Stress With Yoga Handout. You can also check out our Coping Skills Worksheets for more strategies to support your child or teen emotionally.