ADHD Support

People with ADHD can learn to meditate well and meditate in a way that works for them. In fact, ADHD has specific benefits for meditation, such as noticing your nervous system's particular needs, noticing small details, and an abundance of attention and energy. This meditation will help you get settled into practice, noticing body cues, the space around you, and what is happening in your mind. By softening your attention and approach, you will create a sense of safety where you, as an ADHD person, fully belong.

Transcript

If you have ADHD, I welcome you to this practice. It's so great to be turning towards meditation, Even for people who are told in our cultural conceptualization that they can't pay attention, That they have a lack of focus, Or are too hyperactive to sit still. Meditation can be an amazing resource for ADHD and in this meditation I invite you to enter it fully as yourself. You don't have to put aside your ADHD to be here. So what that means is just getting settled into a position that's comfortable for you. So somebody who does have ADHD may need a little bit more physical support to do this practice. That means maybe pillows, Maybe a weighted blanket. You could either lie down, Sit. You could also choose a pathway just a few ten paces long to walk slowly back and forth while you're listening to this practice. So any of these options might help you find more comfort for your body. If your body is on the more hyperactive side and tends to want to move around, If that's not something that you struggle with, You might find it easy to drop into some stillness here. So find whatever that setup is for this meditation practice for you. Some people might even like, If they're trying to sit with stillness, Just to sway gently back and forth on their seat. This is a really rhythmic motion that doesn't require being up and going, But can allow the body to move. You might even find that the body wants to move naturally, Like swirling around in circles a little. You could move your neck and shoulders a bit. So pay attention to your ADHD in this practice and let it be a part of it. So you might feel that it's helpful to take a deep breath and just release it, Letting go of the heaviness of the day or the things you know you need to do. They'll be there waiting for you, Just trying to find your way into the present moment here. The present moment may feel uncomfortable, That's okay. So to anchor yourself a bit more in the present moment, I want to invite you to find some kind of pleasant sensation point. So this could be visually with your eyes open. You can scan around the space that you're in and hopefully if it's not too cluttered or overstimulating, You might be able to find something in the environment that's calming and soothing. So this could be a lighted candle, It could even just be a blank wall and the smoothness of the surface of the wall. It could be a pattern on the rug. Sometimes I like to let my eyes trace around the corners of a room, So going up the crease of the wall to the ceiling and then really gently and slowly just letting my eyes trace around the ceiling, At the edges, Maybe down the doorway, Back to the ground. Another pleasant sensation anchor point could be a physical sensation. So in your body you might notice if there's anything that is feeling good to you at this moment. So that could be like a full body sensation, Maybe you already exercised today and your body feels more at peace. You could just notice this sensation in the body of your body feeling strong or clear or healthy. If your body isn't feeling that way, Maybe there's a smaller sensation that feels good where it could be the palms of your hand, The skin that's smooth on your hand, Or the feet. Maybe just the feet feel nice and relaxed. You could use your hand to help identify a place in the body that feels positive or pleasant to you, So you could gently rub circles over your chest. It's helping you feel more heart-centered here. Or your belly, Helping your breath come deeper into your body. So this is a somatic practice. It's a practice of being in the body even if you aren't perfectly still or focused. You might just take a moment to notice if anything in your energy has shifted since we began here. Meditation is not about being a certain way. It's not about just creating a perfect sense of calm and peace like a sitting Buddha statue. There are really positive qualities that can come with a meditation practice and it is a goal to help build regulation and a sense of clarity and calm. But that doesn't mean that every time you sit down you're going to be perfectly calm, Quiet, And still. You're going to be able to quiet your thoughts. That isn't true and it's not fair to hold ourselves to that expectation because our minds do what our minds do and meditation is a practice. It's something that we work with over time to be able to train the mind to do things a little bit differently. So let's turn to thoughts for the moment now that you have a little more anchoring in the physical space in the body. If you feel like you want to close your eyes for this, That's excellent. You're welcome to keep your eyes open and gazing in a way that helps you feel at ease in your body. So I'm just going to be quiet for a few moments here to let you notice what your thoughts are doing in this moment. Do you notice scattered thoughts or a congestion of thoughts? Do you notice a certain kind of thought coming up? Maybe there's a feeling physically like a pressure in your head that goes along with the feeling in your mind. So thoughts are a natural part of the human experience and in fact they are not bad. They often aren't good either. They can be neutral, Somewhere in between, Sometimes just completely random. I like to think of thoughts as birds chirping. They are in Buddhism they're thought of as a sense like feeling, Seeing, Hearing. Thought is a form of sensation. It just happens naturally just like you hear sounds around you or taste something that you put in your mouth. The mind just naturally thinks in response to the environment. It's like birds chirping. You don't need to shove them away. You don't need to tuck them into neat tidy containers and put them organized on shelves. Birdsong can be wild and irregular and it can get loud at times and quiet at times. Sometimes it might even go silent for a little while. So let's spend another moment, A few moments here in silence for you to just notice this bird chirping in your own mind. Do you notice any resistance to your thoughts internally? Like you wish you didn't have them or you are monitoring your thoughts, Hyper attending to them, Maybe trying to manage them. So practice now softening your attitude towards your thoughts, Not worrying about them so much. It's okay that they're here. You're not responsible to fix them or to control them. It's a saying in Zen that the best way to control your cows is to give them a wide pasture. So what that means is that clenching down and grasping for control can make things harder to control. So let's spend another couple moments in silence seeing what it's like to give your thoughts a wider pasture to roam and worrying less about them. Good. Now I want you to just come back to some of those somatic cues of the body and the space around you to feel back into this present moment here with a candle or the walls or the swaying of your body, A feeling of your hand on your belly. And take a breath with that subtle shift in attitude of acceptance and not needing to control as much. You've met yourself here completely just the way you are with your ADHD. And you were able to meditate. And in fact, I believe that people with ADHD can be great meditators. So thank you for joining me. Please feel free to follow me on Insight Timer for more neuroaffirming meditation. Take care.