Promising results for Mindfulness Martial Arts Training

A new study led by Ryerson University, released June 2019, suggests teens with learning disabilities and mental health challenges practicing a mix of meditation, yoga and martial arts can focus better. The researchers found, among other results, that the youth who participated in Child Development Institute’s (CDI) Mindfulness Martial Arts program (MMA), through the Integra Program, paid better attention to critical information in tasks at the neural level, even three months after they finished the program.

Controlling for pre-treatment levels of attention, significant post-treatment group differences were indicated on parent-reported attention and P3 amplitude on EEG for one attention task, with significant gains noted for the treatment group (48) but not the control group (38 on waiting list). Significant gains identified were maintained at 3-month follow-up for the treatment group. The authors concluded that mindfulness-based martial arts training appears to significantly impact some, but not all, indices of attentional control.

Impact of Mindfulness Martial Arts Training on Neural and Behavioral Indices of Attention in Youth with Learning Disabilities and Co-occurring Mental Health Challenges

Milligan, K., Sibalis, A., McKeough, T. et al. Mindfulness (2019).

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-019-01161-3