Attention is one of our most precious gifts and yet it seems to be endangered in our modern society. 

The rate of diagnosis for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is skyrocketing. In the US, more than 10 million school-age children are currently taking medication to help them focus. Even preschoolers are now being prescribed medication because they can’t pay attention.

ADHD is a symptom, not a disease. Is this a real epidemic or a reflection of our societal pressures and our need for quick fixes? The answer is not so straightforward.  Standardized testing and rigid educational norms have left no room for the diverse ways children learn. This assembly-line mentality has unfairly led to a rise in children being labeled with ADHD. On the other hand, it's clear that many children have adapted to our fast paced, hyper-stimulated world, and have not developed the skills needed to pay attention in a calm, flexible way.

If you have a child who is finding it difficult to focus, you may feel pressure to medicate him or her. While this may be a short-term solution for some children, all too often it commits a child to a lifetime of medication. We can do better than that. We can train attention.

For thousands of years, every culture has valued the qualities of calm attention and developed ways to cultivate it. This ability reflects the power of our brain to re-shape itself (a process known as neuroplasticity).

As I describe in my book Fire Child Water Child, my approach to training attention begins by discovering what your child’s particular nature or adaptive style is. We can then use the Five Phase model to understand where your child’s strengths and imbalances are interfering with their attention and map out a solution specific to your child's nature. This system looks beneath the symptoms of ADHD, dignifying each child rather than pathologizing them, and in so doing generates simple practical advice for parents that incorporates nutrition, exercise, meditation, acupuncture, biofeedback, herbs and supplements. But remember, one size does not fit all kids!