Insights that drive hope
Learn more about the data supporting our evidence-based MATIO method.
Our method is evidence-based and backed by leading pediatric hospitals.
In Sara’s Pediatric Healing Program, we use martial arts therapeutic techniques to help children, teens and young adults cope with challenges associated with chronic health conditions such as cancer, sickle cell, hemophilia, heart disease, and chronic GI disease, organ transplant and other pediatric illnesses.
Research, Grants & Case Studies
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Meditation reduces brain activity in the default mode network in children with active cancer and survivors
Mounting evidence demonstrates that meditation can lower pain and emotional distress in adults, and more recently, in children. Children may benefit from meditation given its accessibility across a variety of settings (e.g., surgical preparation). Our…
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Martial Arts-Based Curriculum Reduces Stress, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems in Elementary Schoolchildren
This exploratory study examined the impact of Heroes Circle, a martial arts-based curriculum on stress, emotional, and behavioral problems in elementary school children.
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Martial arts based meditative techniques reduce pain and emotional distress
Research shows that meditative techniques are effective for reducing pain and emotional distress in adults and more recently in children. However, compliance to meditation and other psychosocial interventions is low, particularly among children.
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Martial Arts-Based Therapy Reduces Pain and Distress Among Children with Chronic Health Conditions and Their Siblings
This study surveyed children’s pain and distress levels immediately before and after a 1-hr in-person KKC class. Results found that Kids Kicking Cancer’s martial arts-based therapy can reduce pain and emotional distress in children with…
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Understanding the Psychological Effects of Childhood Cancer
Many forms of childhood cancers have gone from being a death sentence to a curable disease. Thanks to advances in treatments, the overall survival rate for childhood cancers has increased from 10% a few decades…
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Martial arts intervention decreases pain scores in children with malignancy
Martial arts intervention in disease has been mostly limited to adult inflammatory, musculoskeletal, or motor diseases, where a mechanical intervention effects positive change. However, the application and benefit to pain management in childhood malignancy are…
Podcast archive
I Am Not My Pain Podcast
A podcast where real warriors living with pain and illness discuss their challenges and victories including treatments and coping strategies that they use to get through each day.
Meditations
Breathing and meditation is a fundamental aspect of the MATIO Method
Breath is the one part of our autonomic and involuntary nervous system that we can easily control. Regulating one’s breath is the key to stopping the body’s stress response from a message of “flight or fight,” to one of calm and relaxation. When we inhale, we “lift ourselves up.” As we exhale, we can release the tension in our muscles and “push out” any darkness in our bodies. Combined, , you have the tools to practice a “Breath Brake,” an powerful source to combat stress.
Want to discover the awesome power of your breath? Please check out our free meditations and know that when you do so, that you are supporting the powerful students of MATIO as they aspire to teach the world with their own practices of the MATIO Method.