ADHD and meditation

[PaulRosedene]

I posted a couple of days ago as an undiagnosed newbie. Thank you to everyone for sharing your thoughts and suggestions.

A couple of people have suggested meditation to help with ADHD. How do people with ADHD find the experience of meditation ?

I have been meditating for a few years now, or trying to. The idea I have is of sitting with my body and mind in profound stillness.

But the reality is rather different. My mind and body are both extremely restless. After two minutes I am checking my watch - "are we nearly there yet ?" I seem to have a constant stream of thoughts, ideas, plans etc. Someone described it as like having several TV channels on the go without any control of the remote.

[Gettingittogether]

The point of meditation is not to sit with a perfectly quiet brain. That's the novice's error. The point is that you TRY to focus on say, your breathing ... your brain will rebel ... call up music, tell you you're hungry, think of that guy/woman you saw on the street who was good looking.

Boom. You catch yourself ... And simply return to breathing and focusing on the breath.

BTW: you return to focus on the breath WITHOUT judgment. Spacing out is not failure. But when you catch yourself and bring back focus on breathing (can be other focuses) ... you strengthen your concentration ....

Start with 5 minutes a day ... then gradually try to increase ...

[Hidden]

I have tried it but stilling still is a little counter productive. Your mind will fly from topic to topic while you struggle to find those calm waters. You’ll notice that you really never stay in that spot because one thought leads to another and then suddenly all the leaves are shaken from the tree and you’re trying to sort them by size.

My point is that you might find it better to integrate those techniques you’ve learned into movement. You will find calm in movement. You will find your focus. The profound stillness does not belong to us. We can find it occasionally but it will jettison away when it’s within sight of your minds eye. There is freedom and breath within your natural flow.

[Hidden]

The only thing that has worked for me is stimulant medication. It gets me on track in the morning with less screwing around and it helps me organize, executive function, and focus/listening. Without it I can’t remember a thing.

[PaulRosedene in reply to Hidden]

can you explain what you mean by stimulant medication ?

[ADDSufferer]

Try Headspace. It is really really good. They have a bunch of beginner free ones. Then you are listening to something which makes it a bit easier than just randomly trying to sit still.

[LeopardSavannah]

Hi Paul, I have been meditating for thirty years, lived four years in monasteries in the USA and Asia, and been teaching meditation for twenty years. I have also been studying ADHD for ten years. I have so much to say on this subject, I do not know where to start. I am actually teaching a two day course of mindfulness and meditation for ADHD the weekend after next, July 16-17. The 7p to 11p session times may be a challenge from the UK, but you are welcome to attend if interested. Details here: intromeditation.com/Wordpre... .

[PaulRosedene in reply to LeopardSavannah]

Dear Leopard,

Thank you for your kind invitation. I have visited your website and sent you an email.

I guess part of the question is whether or not a leopard can change his spots !!