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Meditation and ADHD

So, what is the correlation between meditation and ADHD? In my experience, meditation is an excellent source to enhance your attention to detail. There used to be a time in which I could not pay attention. It was a struggle for me to remember the most routine and mundane tasks. Yet, when I was interested in a subject, I exhibited hyper-focused behavior.

I have always been a very artistically inclined individual. Because of this, whenever I’d work on a new manuscript, screenplay, or lyrics, it would consume hours at a time. In the process, I’d neglect eating, drinking water, and showering.

Of course, this made me susceptible to irritability. This was especially evident when I didn’t live up to my impossibly high standards. Then, I remember feeling so overwhelmed daily that I had to find an alternative for reprieve.

I even had a full-circle moment yesterday. Long story short, I realized that throughout grade school, junior high, and some of high school, I suffered from inattentiveness. I don’t know why, but it just required a lot of energy and mental stamina to sustain.

And while I have never officially been diagnosed, I have most of the symptoms associated with ADD — the inattentive variant. That said, I am a witness to the more than speculative benefits of meditation. My focus has definitely improved and my tolerance for the most mundane tasks has certainly improved. Also, I have a more robust insight into my past. Nonetheless, those symptoms have not left me entirely. While more mindful, I am still prone to misplacing my belongings.

Increased Focus and Concentration

Despite this, I have always had a good memory. My memory has improved significantly ever since I started meditation. This includes my recollection, processing speed, and ability to synthesis and retain. Because of this, meditation makes it easier to not get distracted by external stimuli.

People with ADHD are quite similar to those with the monkey brain. It can feel nearly impossible to focus when your mind is going in thousands of directions simultaneously. Yet, the world impossible simply means I’m Possible. It depends on how you look at the situation.

Thus, suffering from ADHD is a welcome opportunity to have an excellent attention span. There is hope at the end of the rainbow. Moreover, the bottom line is doing what works best for you. Meditation and ADHD have at least one thing in common: individuation. This means the power to do what makes you the most you. There is no one size fits all solution.

As such, only meditate for as long as you can. You can also work with meditation coaches. I would advise you to consult with your therapist or counselor. Sometimes it is just refreshing to obtain a consensus. Other times, it just helps to note that meditation is a cure for ADHD.

Nonetheless, meditation has been proven to help children and adults alike. Not to mention how ADHD symptoms can occur at any stage of life for any number of reasons. That said, one limitation is that the cause and effect relationship between meditation and ADHD are lacking high-quality evidence. Overall, though, the documented cases have noted a positive correlation. Indeed, meditation transforms ADHD sufferers and thus increases their propensity to let go of distractions.

Greater Self-Love and Emotional Regulation

Without a doubt, it is relatively easy to get down on yourself. There have been countless cases in which I have beat myself with a hammer over this. I felt stupid for not being able to remember the specifics. Furthermore, I encountered self-loathing as I did not feel as though I measured up.

However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. A hallmark characteristic of ADHD is the struggle to emotionally regulate. Truth be told, to contend with the last point, you don’t have to be an adrenaline junkie to suffer from this. In fact, ADHD is a spectrum and anyone can develop these symptoms.

Because meditation increases self-awareness, it also boosts one’s emotional intelligence. As a result, it allows one to see themselves in a much higher light. This is the type of light surrounding non-judgmental acceptance.

You do a significantly better job loving yourself when you are mindful. Mindful of your strengths, your weaknesses, and your potential to overcome all odds. The simple act of meditation boosts your dopamine levels and regulates your serotonin. Accordingly, you cannot help to feel great and happier. The irony is that your attention is even better than average.

The moment you train yourself, the moment you see the value in meditation, your focus will effortlessly flow.

After all, whatever you focus on grows. No worries of course. You are a work in progress.

This is a journey to self-love and emotional regulation. Soon, you will take care of yourself like never before. Never has the voice of your mind and body been more succinct.

To reiterate, it is not your fault. All you need is balance, chemically and otherwise, and a reinvigorated perspective.

You are a natural!!

He’s a Meditation (and adhd?!!) Walking

Speaking of which, why not take a forest bath? Why not get invested with the heart of nature? Did you know that this simple act is one of the best meditation and ADHD techniques thereof?

FYI, this is a pun on Dead Man Walking. Only, it is a false negative as you will feel more alive.

We all just need to breathe, release, and finally let go. Whatever this may or may not be.

Also, this might be the better alternative for ADHD. This is because it can be difficult to sit down instead, let alone sans fidgeting or twitching. The hyperactive variant needs stimulation to avoid falling asleep. But, instead of just having a few hours of peak performance (Adderall like supplements), why not recharge your batteries and be the peak?!

However, if you are more inattentive, not including the hybrid variant, this can still help ever since the hustle and bustle of everyday life can be quite distracting and consequently draining — sensory overload anyone?!! Nonetheless, meditation is a highly effective catalyst for tuning out the noise. That way, you can listen to your inner voice.

Inner light working can easily translate to inner light walking. Indeed, you are walk-in progress. You are walking towards a happy medium between meditation and ADHD. Personally, I would recommend building up your stamina. When you first start meditating, it will be like a baby on milk. You must crawl before you can walk or dare run. So, this entails starting out with one-minute meditations and gradually increasing the duration. Again, individuation.

Regardless, always do what makes you feel the comfiest. Whatever helps you to shift from auto-pilot to mindful pilot.

If you want to go to the park, that’s great. If you have a preference for the morning, afternoon, or evening, that’s even better. Either way, you must give attention to blowin’ off steam!

More Attentive, Less Reactive

Essentially, meditation makes your habits all but transparent. It gives you insight into how you focus and provides a thickening lucidity into your unique situation. And the benefits you witness are everything but transparent as well. It serves you well on the inside out. Even the most homogeneous tasks show shades of gray. In other words, recalling and executing the most intricate and/or minuscule of tasks give a framework of incentive.

It feels great to become an expert at something you were once a novice. To reiterate, this applies to meditation and ADHD. Moreover, the more attentive you are, the more productive your life. This grants you the capacity to spot opportunities as they arise and take full advantage of them as necessary.

Who knows? You might be able to eradicate one of your most fundamental self-sabotaging behaviors?

Better late than never. Except, I digress, you are never late for progress. You are in divine timing.

Anyways, the philosophy to slow down is to speed up pertains to the gap. In other words, mindfulness activities encourage one to consider how to best respond to external stimuli. It progressively creates a harmonious, logical, grounded, and balanced approach between input and output. Even when you are being provoked, within and around, you mindful of this and instead quite simply respond. As a result, you are less reactive.

And because of this, you dampen the ADHD symptoms thereof. You take back your power and shift your focus to a more mindful, zen, and stress-free life. You realize that the sky is the infinite potential therein. The gap in which you hold all the power, in which you are all the power. The clouds are the thoughts, emotions, implications, and sensations that will inevitably pass. As such, when you are more attentive, less reactive, ADHD doesn’t stand a chance against meditation’s saving grace.

Be Consistent to Lessen ADHD?

In the end, you get out of it what you put into it. After all, there is a relationship between all things. Indeed, there is an interconnection between meditation and ADHD. One could argue that the more one meditates, the fewer ADHD symptoms persist. Of course, this is a general rule of thumb. There are exceptions to the rule.

Nonetheless, being consistent is the key to break free. Again, you don’t have to meditate all day or night to suffice. But, a mindful fraction of that amount will sustain you. Also, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This means that every time you set the intention to overcome ADHD or at least damper it, you are setting yourself up for success. You are investing in a more mindful, woke, and well-focused individual.

Furthermore, you will arrive at a point of contentment. This feeling that all meditations are equal. The type of focus that informs you that the process must have ebb and flow. Isn’t progress meant to be euthymic?

Nonetheless, you are the calm in the storm. You are the peace in the war. You are the painless joy in the suffering. Above all, you are the focus in the distractions.

Accordingly, it does not matter whether you do mantras, walking in the forest, or lie in bed. BE CONSISTENT!!

Set the intention to be the short and long-term benefits of meditation. The more you establish these thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, the more consistently you can practice them in your sleep. Speaking of which, sleep is necessary to awaken to what is not and vice versa.

We’ve all just gotta brush off the dust and get back in the ring.

Why race like it’s a sprint when it’s indeed a marathon? Why throw in the towel when the game is just beginning? Why quit a tool that dampens stress, cortisol, anxiety, depression, inattentiveness and hyperactivity, heart disease, and MORE?

At last, why not consistently, mindfully bridge the gap between meditation and ADHD?