I'm not claiming to be an expert on ADHD.
I don't have it,
So I'm not claiming to know what it's like to walk in your shoes.
But several close members of my family,
Including my husband and daughter and several of my friends,
Live with ADHD.
The one thing I have experienced from them,
And what they would all agree on,
Is that they have difficulties regulating attention.
ADHD is characterised by many things,
But particularly restlessness,
Impulsivity,
And,
Depending on the interest and the context,
Focused attention.
This can make everyday life more challenging in certain situations.
When it comes to meditation and the practice of staying with the breath,
We can all struggle.
We can all get so easily distracted by our busy minds and by the outside world,
And so I wanted to create something that I hope might help.
I know ADHD is experienced differently by each person,
And my intention here is to support,
Not define.
But I hope this might give us all a better understanding and a deeper compassion towards ourselves when we do get distracted,
When we do struggle.
But firstly,
Let's check in.
I invite you to close down your eyes and just notice what is present for you in this moment.
What sounds?
The temperature in the room?
The thing that you are sat on?
And your body?
What's going on in your body in this moment?
Do you notice any areas in the body that might be tense or show sensations of pain?
Anything familiar?
Anything new?
How are the shoulders and the neck?
The sides of the neck?
The throat?
How is the pelvis and the hips?
And the groins?
How is your tummy today?
And the chest?
The jaws?
The hands?
And the breath?
How is your breath today?
Would you say this breath belongs to somebody who is at ease in this moment?
And feel free to open your eyes now if you wish.
To do this check-in,
There were three parts involved.
When I asked you the question to see what was going on,
The torch of attention,
The spotlight,
Was directed to a specific place,
Such as the shoulders or the neck or the breath.
Secondly,
The mind got involved with the labelling,
Ooh,
Yes,
That's a bit tense there,
Or nope,
There's no tension or anything there,
All clear here.
Or giving suggestions and reasons of why it is there.
That tension in your neck is because you slept funny last night.
Or ooh,
No,
That breath is definitely not at ease.
I wonder if it's because I was rushing around before I started this meditation.
Or I bet it's because I'm worried about everything that's going on in my life right now.
And then the third part is awareness of all of that.
I'd like for us to create a story together.
I want you to use your imagination.
This story has illustrations and you are the designer.
There are a few characters in this story.
The first character is called Mind.
What does Mind look like in your story,
Based on how you imagine your mind to be?
Can you paint them?
What would they look like in this story?
How would you illustrate them?
What gender would they be?
Mind in my story is a mix between two Mr Men characters,
Mr Messy and Little Miss Chatterbox.
What does yours look like in your story?
The next character is called Attention.
This is a child.
How do you illustrate attention?
Mine is a little girl.
She has freckles and a tooth missing.
She's about five or six.
She's super cute and excitable.
How old is attention in your story?
What do they look like?
The next character is called Breath.
The character Breath in my story is feminine.
And looks very transparent,
Very floaty.
Kind of like what I imagine a spirit to look like.
What does Breath look like in your story?
Breath is pretty amazing and can do all sorts of fantastic and magical things.
She can bring peace into a moment without doing very much.
She's good at bringing calmness to a situation.
She's really good at relaxing people and is a healer and a giver of life.
She is a leading role character but a very unassuming one.
You wouldn't know she was a lead role because no one ever really takes much notice of her.
Everyone kind of ignores her.
No one seems to realise that she is a big deal.
Have Breath wearing some kind of cloak.
Any material of your choosing.
Any colour you fancy.
And it can be as decorated as you please.
What is Breath's cloak like in this story?
At the bottom of the cloak is a thread.
This thread moves as if dancing.
Like a leaf playing on the wind.
Can you see that?
And then there is a character called You.
You in this story is a higher version of yourself.
A more enlightened,
Evolved,
Wise version.
My character You looks like a viking warrior princess.
She looks like someone you wouldn't like to mess with but also someone you would trust.
What does the character You look like in your story?
Would you trust this You in your story?
Okay,
Let's begin.
I invite you to close down your eyes and allow your imagination to flow.
One day,
Breath,
Who is You's and attention's best friend,
Has told them that she could take them on a journey to somewhere really special.
It is a secret place.
She doesn't tell them what it's called or where it is,
Only that they would need to follow her as she knew the way and not many did.
She told them,
You will need to stay really close to me as I might give you clues along the way.
But they will be whispered.
They are only for your ears.
So you will need to stay really quiet and stay really close to me so that you don't miss anything that I say.
She warns them of the potential dangers that lay ahead on this journey,
Describing how many,
Many before them who had set out on this same journey had gone astray.
Countless people lost in the land of forgetfulness.
Numerous kidnapped by that rascal mind whisked off to the nearby town of past,
Which was always completely in the wrong direction to where they were heading.
Once there,
They would be stuck in thick trenches of mud,
Stuck,
Unable to move forward,
Their destination always out of their reach.
Breath cautioned them that mind would beguile them and seduce them into believing that whatever she said was really important and that it would be crucial that they listen to her.
Breath tells them that mind will try and hypnotise them into believing that whatever they heard and saw was real.
But Breath cautions them both.
Remember,
It is not real.
It just appears to be so.
It is an illusion.
Make-believe.
A mirage.
They call this place future.
But do not believe it to be made of stone and wood and concrete.
It is not solid.
It is made of wisp and wind and dreams.
Do not believe it to be the truth.
Breath tells them both they need to be super alert because stories had been told that people suddenly woke up in these towns,
In these lands,
And couldn't even remember how they got there.
Breath reassures them that they need not worry,
As she will stay close to them until the very end,
As she always has.
She assures them that if they get lost in any of these lands,
They simply need to look for the thread at the bottom of her cloak and to hold on tight and she would lead them out of that place and set them back on the path,
Continuing on their journey to the magical place.
She reassured them that it didn't matter how many times that happened,
That she would always be right there waiting for them,
To turn back towards her,
That she would wait for them.
And so you and Attention decide that this sounds like a great adventure and they would really like to go to this secretive and magical place and so they agree that you would hold Attention's hand on this journey so they can stay as close as possible to Breath so that they don't miss anything that she says or that they don't get caught off guard and end up in these troubling places,
The muddy town of past,
The strange and fanciful future,
Or the land of forgetfulness.
And so the journey begins.
The story is about you and the friends Breath and Attention,
Best friends,
On an adventure.
And the only job now is for you to hold Attention's hand and stay as close as possible to Breath.
Stay close.
Stay close to Breath.
Listen closely,
Just in case.
In case Breath whispers anything,
Any clues.
Listen carefully.
Stay close to the guide,
Breath,
Leading you.
And as they travel along,
You realise that she can hear Mind who has a very loud voice and is constantly talking.
And every now and again,
Attention lets go of you's hand and wanders off to listen to Mind.
She is drawn by Mind,
Entertained and amused by her constant chattering.
She's wondering what Mind is saying.
She wanders over just in case she says something interesting.
Attention is just a child.
She is easily distracted by anything that appears new.
You goes over to her,
Takes her hand,
Reminds her about the journey that they are doing,
Reminds her that she is supposed to be staying close to Breath,
That she is supposed to be keeping hold of your hand.
She forgot.
But You sees that Breath is right there with them,
Has never left their side,
Ensuring they don't get lost,
Waiting.
And so they begin again.
You holding on to Attention and turning back towards carefully following Breath,
Back on the journey and staying very close.
Listening carefully to Breath.
As if,
At any moment,
A secret was about to be shared and You doesn't want to miss it.
A friend Breath.
This one who has been with you right from the beginning and will be there with you right until the very end.
Breath.
Friend.
A constant companion.
Even when You forgets all about her,
She is right there with you,
Waiting for you to remember her.
With you in all moments.
Moments of laughter and joy.
With you in moments of pain and sorrow.
Best friend.
Breath.
In times of sickness she was with you and in times of health too.
Faithful.
Loyal.
From the beginning and to the very end.
Best friend.
Breath.
Stay close.
Listen.
Trusting.
Listening.
Breath.
As guide.
And whenever little attention has been distracted by the seductive moves of mind,
Glittery,
Shiny lights,
Sounds that tempt,
Sweet,
Appealing,
Beguiling to a child,
And you and Breath go take her hand again and simply and gently remind her again about the journey,
About following Breath,
Reminding her that although mind looks like it is offering something irresistible,
Breath is taking them somewhere much better.
With her little hand held tightly they set off on the journey again,
Trusting and following Breath,
Their guide.
Listening to Breath.
Watching Breath.
Staying close to Breath.
They understand that attention is just a little one,
Easily distracted,
Easily bored,
Always looking for something new and shiny,
Doesn't like it when nothing seems to be happening,
When it's the same thing over and again.
But you promised to take her to this place,
To get her there safely,
And this is what you must do.
So every time attention wanders off,
Back to the shiny lights and the intoxicating sounds of mind,
You gets it,
You smiles at her and takes her hand again.
Come on little one,
We are on an exciting journey,
Remember?
Let's follow Breath again.
And you continues on with attention,
Following friend Breath,
Trusting,
Following.
And suddenly Breath whispers to you,
We have arrived.
You and attention look around.
You has been to this place before,
Yet everything looks brand new.
You has never seen the sky like this before,
And the clouds have never looked like this before.
It was magical.
They had been here previously,
But yet it was brand new.
Where is this place?
You asks.
Breath answers.
Here.
Attention asks in awe,
What is it called?
Breath responds.
Now.
This place constantly changing,
The clouds changing,
The sounds changing,
The noises coming from mind changing,
The weather changing,
The shadows changing,
The wind changing,
Each raindrop and snowflake changing.
With every single blink of the eye or inhale of Breath,
Each moment completely new and alive.
This now and new and different now,
But yet in the very same place.
A magical place.
Constantly new,
Constantly fresh,
Constantly alive.
This magical place called now.
Here.
With your best friend Breath and your little one,
Attention.
In this moment.
In this now.
New.
Fresh.
And alive.
Remaining with Breath.
Noticing attention,
Where she roams,
How she wants to play and run and see.
Keep bringing her back to here.
For she doesn't yet understand the wonder of this place.
She doesn't yet see the subtlety of the beauty and the aliveness here.
She is still lured by the evocative mind.
Doesn't yet discern that there is nothing new there.
It just appears to be new.
It appears to be interesting,
But really it is just repetitive,
Unimportant ramblings.
She can't perceive that yet.
But you can.
You knows.
You knows the preciousness of this place.
This now.
The value of this moment here.
You understands how valuable this moment here in now truly is.
And that is why she keeps gently bringing attention back.
She understands attention needs to be helped and trained to remain here.
She knows this will take time and patience.
And so we are coming to the end of our story.
You following Breath.
Holding on to attention's hand.
To this now.
To the space where you are right now.
To your room.
Still with breath.
Still with attention.
But here.
Now.
And in this here and in this now.
Stay with breath.
You listening to breath.
You trusting breath.
Being aware when attention wanders off.
Gently,
Patiently bringing her back.
To here.
Now.
Become aware of the freshness and the aliveness of this now.
You have never experienced this now before.
And you will never experience this now again.
Here with best friend breath.
With you from the beginning.
With you until the very end.
Faithful friend.
Become aware of any sounds here now.
Aware of your body in this room here now.
And only when you feel you are ready.
Please feel free to open your eyes.
I'd love to hear about your story.
Your characters.
How you illustrated them.
What creations did you develop?
What did they look like?
How was your journey to now?
Was it difficult to keep hold of attention's hand?
Was mind very powerful in your story?
Will you share your story with me?
And so in this now.
This is the end.
Thank you for listening.
