A Morning Ritual
I’ve just finished my meditation, and my mind is crystal clear. It feels like focusing a camera on something that might otherwise be fuzzy and distracted. After meditation, my ADHD brain is totally focused. When I meditate in the morning, I get things done and am much less distracted throughout the day. The difference is huge.
Discovering ADHD and the Power of Meditation
When I did massive amounts of meditation over a couple of decades, I didn’t know I had ADHD. It wasn’t until around six years after I stopped that the effects of meditation began to wear off. I found myself becoming incredibly distracted, with a scattered quality to my mind. Around that time, I discovered I was autistic and had ADHD. I had given up on meditation as a formal practice, but I missed the clarity it brought.
I went back to meditation to see the difference it would make on my ADHD brain. What did I discover? Meditation is like medication for ADHD. Because I’d done so much meditation before, I could slip back into it quickly. I had to build up a practice again to let it filter through my life. It’s easy to skip it, but I’ve made an audio guided practice with a mantra which makes it easy for me to take the time to do a good length of practice. I have short, medium and long versions, and no matter which I choose, by the time I have finished my mind is incredibly clear.
The Right Meditation Style for Me
When I first tried to meditate as a young adult, I tried the simple watching-your-breath meditation, but I just got bored and fell asleep. Not surprising for an ADHD brain, since meditation trains the brain in how to focus without distraction, and that’s exactly what ADHD brains find hard to do if they’re trying to focus on something boring. Meditation trains our brain to do exactly what we need to get better at, but we need some inspiration to help us get started. This is why the Tibetan Buddhism style of meditation suited me well. It’s not boring.
Tibetan Buddhism uses the tantric (or vajrayana) form of meditation which involves visualization and chanting while using a mala (Buddhist rosary) to count recitations. I’m not promoting the religion because it has the same kinds of issues as all religions, but the style of meditation I found excellent for my imaginal overexcitability (highly imaginative brain). Also the repetitive movement of flicking beads is very helpful for remaining focused and is particularly calming for the autistic side of me – a kind of stimming. The visualization process, starting with a magnificent being of light, was delightful. I did a lot of it and rewired my brain to such a degree, thanks to neuroplasticity, that I did not believe I was easily distracted until I stopped doing it.
Discovering Meditation as ADHD Medication
I stopped meditating after discovering my spiritual teacher was abusing his close students. The organization didn’t behave with integrity or show any compassion to those who had been abused, so I left the group I had studied and practiced with. I dropped meditation, and by about six years later, the benefits had worn off. (Yes, neuroplasticity is reversable.) I was amazed to discover how easily I could be distracted. I realised that the distractible, overthinking me I had known as a young adult was returning, and I didn’t like it. I don’t know if medication does something similar, but people have told me it makes them less distractible and clearer.
It’s obvious to me now that meditation is my ADHD medication as it focuses my brain for the day, and primes me to remember how to work with my mind during the day. If I feel myself losing that mental clarity, I take a deep breath, exhale slowly and return to awareness.
Wanna try it?
If you want to try this imaginative style of meditation practice, I have a simple one called a loving light meditation. You can download it (Mental Health Checklist for Social Media) by clicking the link to sign up for my email list.
And for a summary of the essential points of meditation practice that I learned from my twenty years as a Tibetan Buddhist get my book How to Meditate Easily, Effectively & Deeply . I also have guided meditations set to a background of rainforest sounds available for free – or donate what you want – on Bandcamp.
Let me know if you want the book as an audiobook as that will give me the inspiration to get that project finished – it’s very close to being ready for publication. I literally do need a push to get back to it and finish it. ADHD right!
Do you meditate? If so, what benefits does it bring you? Let me know in the comments below.
