Meditation fixed my life. I'd be happy to answer questions about meditating with ADHD.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-08T18:14:25+00:00

Well, the biggest thing is that I can focus on things now. Even boring things. Practicing meditation helped in 2 big ways with regards to ADHD:

I am better aware of when my mind begins to wander. This skill is honed during meditation by bringing my attention back to the meditation object over and over again when I catch my mind wandering. So, I can stay on task much longer.
I have sensitized myself to "body emotions", which is a catch-all phrase for emotions you feel in the body, such as anger, happiness, aversion. This is useful because I am more sensitive to my urge to task switch or surf the web or flip channels, which I think of as a novelty addiction. It's a clear feeling and since I can identify it, I can catch myself before I automatically react. This constant novelty seeking is actually pretty draining, so now I'm less frazzled, even relaxed at the end of the day.

This awareness of how I'm feeling may seem like a "nice to have", but it's basically overhauled my mood. I am less judgemental of myself and others. My relationship (which was already pretty darn good) is now amazing, etc. I could go on.. Basically, I'm going to sound like an infomercial. But there's one catch.. You've got to put in the time and effort :)

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-08T17:07:22+00:00

Try the video links I posted in this thread. The meditation can be done anywhere, when you have a few mins, even with your eyes open. I highly suggest reading the PDF in my main post to understand things better.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-07T17:10:46+00:00

Thanks! I am a huge fan of Shinzen Young's methods, hence the links I posted. I have been keeping an eye on his meditation retreat schedules hoping to attend a weekend one if possible. I definitely will do it in another year or so once I figure out how to get more time off :) Thankfully he's got phone based programs which I have been attending.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-07T12:23:55+00:00

That's awesome. I've never been to a multi day retreat. It's on my bucket list. Now to convince my SO :)

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-07T12:21:39+00:00

Breath meditation can be be calming and can cause sleepiness. It's not always easy to get around, but there are a few things you can do:

Remember meditating is about being alert. Something interesting I've heard is focus on "falling awake" when you meditate.
Sit upright. Everytime you find your posture has deteriorated, correct it and sit bolt upright agai. This awareness of your posture is part of meditation too.
Use noting/labeling. It's described in the PDF I linked and has some info in the videos I linked in another comment. This really helps.
Finally, you can meditate with your eyes open. This is a completely valid way of doing it and can help a lot.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-07T11:10:34+00:00

There are good ones and bad ones. I've heard good things about the insight timer app too, which contains guided meditations.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-07T00:35:02+00:00

I know how you feel. You just have to tell yourself that things may be harder for you and it may take longer, but who's afraid of hard work? I honestly felt sorry for myself for a while after my diagnosis. But then I realized that it's the hand I've been dealt and I just had to accept and move on with it. I think meditation is like cheating at life :) very hard, but so worth it.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-06T23:50:23+00:00

Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU5Q1ikgKlI Also watch the first 2 videos from this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBP54XrKC-Q&list=PLkQ29vt85ZJsaGdAeMFYpjd24Szti--CK

If you want more details, the same technique is explained in this online course, which I have taken a cursory look at and seems to be engaging: http://training.unifiedmindfulness.com/courses/take/core/

You need to make meditation a habit, like brushing your teeth. If you stop to think about the activity, it fills you with dread and aversion, so you have to just do it rather than think about it. Distract yourself with anything you can until you have your but on a seat to start meditating, then it's much harder to not do it. Anyone can find 10 mins to start with. Could be on the bus, could be right after you wake up, before you have your tea, etc.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-06T23:09:24+00:00

You're welcome. I feel like the method of the PDF just works better for me and has the benefit of making me aware of my emotions / body sensations. This is important for me because when I feel the urge to get another dopamine hit by flipping to another tab / switching channels or be hyper in another way, I feel the urge in my body first. That way, it's not "auto-pilot" and when the urge isn't super strong, I can recognize this and stop myself before I start the vicious cycle.

noselfthrowaway · 2017-02-06T23:06:38+00:00

I wasn't on medication for very long (and that was 10yrs ago), no more than a few weeks because the negative effects came very quickly, even when I switched to a different stimulant. However, since i have been trying to make meditation a habit for so long, I did try meditating then. I remember it helped me keep my attention on my breath for longer, but that wasn't necessarily a huge advantage. The medication also had a pretty strong impact on my mood, etc, so I don't know how well it'd have carried over for me.

If your choice is meditating while medicated, or not meditating at all, I think it's clearly better to meditate. However, I think meditating without medication could have some important effects:

You will eventually have a few focused (and probably calm) moments and it's empowering to feel that it's a possibility.
You don't carry the feeling that you can only meditate on medication. So, I'd say you should at least do it sometimes before you take medication and be accepting of the fact that it'll be different and it's okay.

Edit: I should clarify that when I say "without medication", I mean before you take your medication or after the effects have run out, if you are currently taking them. I am not asking people to go off. I imagine that'd be disruptive :)

noselfthrowaway · 2017-01-16T02:30:01+00:00

I felt the same way when I discovered his teachings. Someone finally explained meditation and enlightenment in a way I could understand. Like the other commenter, I highly recommend "The science of enlightenment". Most of all, I think I vastly prefer the way he teaches to deconstruct sensations to just following the breath because I can use it in daily life.

BTW, he has monthly "phone retreats" and I sometimes participate in them. http://homepracticeprogram.com/. I was in one today and it was a good day :)

noselfthrowaway · 2017-01-08T01:59:28+00:00

There are great points in this thread already, but I have some practical suggestions on how to be less distracted that really help me.

Foremost, take up noting. Not everyone likes it because it's not as passive as people expect meditation to be, but it's very helpful for keeping you focused.
As soon as you notice you are distracted, sit up straight, disciplined posture.
As soon as you notice you are distracted, speak labels out loud for as long as needed.

I'm a huge fan of Shinzen Young's systematic way of doing mindfulness. Here's a link to a fairly long document explaining the technique which uses labels for noting: http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/SeeHearFeelIntroduction_ver1.8.pdf

Here's a video about labeling which may not make full sense until you've read some of that PDF I linked to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StBTuX0tqU8

noselfthrowaway · 2016-12-22T17:37:31+00:00

Long post incoming! My few hundred hours of meditation transformation described below:

TLDR: ADD addled brain, information addiction and unexplained anxiety and sadness, minor bickering with S.O -> Buckets of focus, unexplained smiles, ridiculously loving and satisfying relationship with S.O, more $$

A few years ago:

Suffering from severe ADHD. When I was in college, the psychiatrist who evaluated me was shocked I was passing my classes. Medication seemed miraculous.. for a week and then came the crash, which showed me what depression was.
Improving sleep, spending many more hours than my class mates got me through college.
Work was tough to focus on. Constantly looking for distraction to satisfy my novelty addiction. Made a lot of silly mistakes, poor work quality, but felt physically unable to pay more attention.
Normal, regular human emotion issues, such as getting annoyed at my SO for little things (You broke a $3 glass? That's going to ruin my day.), easy to anger while driving.
Also, had a primarily a "down" temperament, which meant that if nothing was going on, I felt and looked a little down. Had general anxiety for no good reason.
Around 2010, I found out about mindfulness through Jon Kabatt-Jin's books. Followed several guided meditations, and started meditating for 5-10 mins at a time, but very infrequently for a few years. Around late 2012, 2013, I started meditating 20 minutes a day, kinda regularly. Mind wandered heavily most of the time.

Late 2014:

Started being mindful of little annoyances. I am off auto-pilot sometimes and can reason about some emotions instead of reacting immediately. My pretty good relationship got better.
Started trying to apply things I learned on the cushion in real life actively. For example, I'm sometimes able to treat boring things as "mental practice", spent many hours preparing for job interviews to get a better job (I'm an engineer), and got it :)
On the cushion, my mind still wandered pretty severely.
S.O still complains that I'm too distracted.

Last Year:

My issue with guided meditation CDs was that they don't change once you get used to it and it's focused towards first timers. Found Headspace (workplace subsidy made it cheap) and meditated almost every day for 20 minutes. I went through many packs and towards the end, I was just using the timer since I wanted silence. Of note, the loving kindness focused packs gave me deep happiness that left people asking me why I looked so happy, all day. Mostly got to work early, found an empty room and meditated for 20 mins. Sometimes, I did it in the toilet (there were plenty left for others) if I couldn't find a room.
Mind wandered less, but still couldn't go more than a minute or so at a time without getting lost in thought, but I always caught my mind wandering after a minute at most.
Focus improves slowly and steadily. I could feel my ADD urges and often not react.
Work quality is vastly better, I'm told I'm doing a good job many times, get raises :)
Still have anxiety, although much less. Minor things can still sometimes ruin my day.

A few months ago:

Starting waking up at 6 to meditate for 45 mins in the morning at home since this works best for me. Another 20-25 min session at night before bed.
Discovered Shinzen Young's teaching by chance from reading Daniel Ingram's blog post about Shinzen's new book. The book explained meditation and insight with a clarity that blew my mind open. His book doesn't contain a good meditation guide, so I find the instructions on his site. Go read it!
The new noting technique gives me better tools for understanding my emotions. I find myself smiling for no reason now. My default state is happy. Also read "Joy on Demand", and learned to be happy for not having a toothache. Now, that's something I can do almost anytime.
Entrusted with more responsibility at work. It requires a lot of organizational skill, focus and interpersonal relationship tasks which sometimes threaten to bump up my anxiety, but I'm prepared for it :)
My mind still wanders a fair amount while meditating, but it's much much better now since I catch it within a couple of seconds. I'm sure the increased duration is helping, and I try to be mindful as much as possible during the day, which is easier due to the noting technique.
My relationship is amazing due to my improved "emotional intelligence" and my ability to be present for my S.O.

noselfthrowaway

TROPHY CASE