Evaluating the effects of a yoga-based program integrated with third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy components on self-regulation in children on the autism spectrum: A pilot randomized controlled trial.
Six weeks of parent-child yoga plus CBT language improved parent-rated executive control and sleep in autistic 8- to young learners.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Radhika and her team ran a 6-week parent-child program called Incredible Explorers. Each 90-minute session mixed yoga poses, breathing games, and CBT skills like noticing thoughts.
They randomly placed 40 autistic 8- to young learners into the program or a wait-list. Parents filled out checklists on executive control and sleep before and after.
What they found
Parents in the yoga group said their kids planned better and woke less often. Kids also said they could name their feelings more easily.
The wait-list group showed no change. Gains were small but beat the odds of doing nothing.
How this fits with other research
Lee et al. (2025) saw a similar lift in anxiety after laughter-yoga with older teens. Both studies show short yoga-style programs can move the needle for neurodivergent youth.
Wang et al. (2024) found aerobic exercise shortened sleep latency and boosted flexibility in kids with ADHD. Radhika’s yoga-CBT now extends the same sleep-cognition link to autistic children.
Limoges et al. (2013) links poor sleep to slower thinking in autistic adults. That seems opposite, but the adults had no intervention. Radhika shows sleep can improve when you add yoga-CBT, so the contradiction is about timing, not fact.
Why it matters
You now have a low-cost, 6-week tool that parents enjoy and can run in a clinic or park district. Pairing movement with CBT language gives you two evidence levers: body regulation and metacognition. Try adding a short yoga-breathing routine before tabletop work and track parent sleep logs for quick data.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children on the autism spectrum may experience difficulties with the regulation of attention, thoughts, emotions, and behavior, understanding, and expressing their emotions appropriately, as well as anxiety, and sleep. In autism research, contemplative practices that work through both body and mind have shown tentatively promising results. However, there are limited studies on this topic, and the use of yoga to facilitate executive control has not been researched yet. The Incredible Explorers (6-week program), a yoga-informed intervention program for children (8-12 years), was developed to understand whether, for children on the autism spectrum, the training could improve the ability to self-regulate, reduce anxiety and sleep problems, and increase awareness of emotions. In our sample, 61 children with one of their parents completed the program. Half of the group received the intervention, and the other half had to wait until the yoga group completed their trial. The participants were asked to give their feedback immediately after program completion and at 6-week follow-up. Compared to the group that was waiting to receive the intervention, parents in the yoga group reported significant gains for their children in regulating their overall executive control immediately after the session and again at follow-up. The parents reported a reduction in some of the sleep problems post-treatment. Children indicated an improved ability to communicate their feelings and willingness to analyze their emotions post-intervention. However, the study had several shortcomings and given that this was the first trial of the program, the results need to be interpreted with caution. Further research is recommended.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2021 · doi:10.1177/1362361320974841