Zen and the Art of Attention Deficit Disorder
Some may consider this (and everything else I say) as nothing more than “anecdotal” evidence, after all, my personal experiences weren’t produced from a double-blind study, or by the “scientific method” (whatever that is). That’s fine by me, because I’m not writing research papers, nor am I a doctor, scientist, or whatever … I’m an adder! I live the experience everyday, and I’ll gladly take the advice and opinions of other adders any day of the week!
One day Chuang Tzu and a friend were walking by a river. “Look at the fish
swimming about,” said Chuang Tzu, “They are really enjoying themselves.”
“You are not a fish,” replied the friend, “So you can’t truly know that they
are enjoying themselves.”
“You are not me,” said Chuang Tzu. “So how do you know that I do not
know that the fish are enjoying themselves?”
One of the things that help me most in dealing with my adhd is meditation. And let me tell you, I’m fully aware of just how difficult it can be for an adder to quiet the mind and meditate. It can seem IMPOSSIBLE! But it’s not.
As I read about (adult) adders, and get to know more and more, I find we have one particular thing in common (prior to diagnosis) - an underlying knowing of something not being right, and not being able to figure out what it is. If you’re like me, you’ve been searching for answers almost all your life. I’ve bought so many self-help programs, I couldn’t even list them all. I’ve done the Tony Robbins programs like an A+ student, listened to countless motivational programs, took notes, and TOOK ACTION. I’ve used the subliminals, hypnosis techniques, and read every book I could find. Quite frankly, I’ve done enough work and study on “improving myself” to earn a Doctorate in “personal power”.
But struggle on, I do …
A couple years ago, on my continuous quest to “fix” myself, I discovered a little technique involving the amygdala. It’s a mental exercise with profound affects. It’s called “clicking your amygdala forward“. For detailed instructions, please click on the previous link. I’ll give you the short version here.
What you do is take a few deep, full breaths. Breath with your abdomen, not your chest. Relax, close your eyes, and picture your amygdala. If you have trouble creating the visualization, click on “amygdala” above to see a picture. Once you have your amygdala pictured in your mind, see them being tickled softly by feathers in the front. Use your imagination and allow yourself to feel your amygdala being tickled. And that’s it! When you accomplish this, you may feel a slight tingling in the front part of your brain (as I do), or at least get a smile on your face. It’s simple, free, and effective.
Accomplishing this reignited my interest in meditation - the quieting of the mind. I think any adder out there will agree with me that quieting the mind, even for a few seconds, would be a blessing in our fast-paced world of non-stop thought. So I started practicing a little bit, but wasn’t getting too far. I had been reading about brainwaves and how they operate, so I bought a couple cds with brainwave entrainment and started improving. I think the music gives your adhd mind something to focus on, plus the brainwave entrainment definitely works.
I’m a music lover. I have a music collection as big as a store. My meditation music collection is growing at a very fast pace too. The music has really helped me with meditation, and the meditation has helped me with the rest of my life. I believe I’d be sitting here today, still wondering “what is wrong with me”, if I hadn’t taken it upon myself to learn and practice meditation. It calmed me down and allowed me to focus more. I don’t think I would have sought out a shrink to help me sort out my thoughts if I hadn’t started meditating. And if I hadn’t sought out my shrink, I still wouldn’t know about my adhd.
I can’t recommend strongly enough how important meditation is for an adder. If you’re an adder, please give meditation an honest effort. Be patient with it. Don’t worry about it. If you chat away to yourself all the way through, it’s no big deal. Eventually you’ll get there. I promise. You’re not on the clock. You have a lifetime. Hey, I’ve been at it for a couple years, and I still have a long way to go.
I found guided meditation (with entrainment) to be the most helpful in the beginning. It gives you something to try and pay attention to. It also gives you other things to think about instead of the usual. As you start to get used to it, you can try using soundtracks with entrainment, but nothing more than sound and music. Meditation is work, it’s RELAXATION.
Since I started taking medication for my adhd, my ability to meditate has greatly increased. And my advancing meditative states have brought many improvements to my life. The biggest being my ability to handle OVERWHELM.
That, my friend, is worth a couple years of patient persistence with meditation alone!
Soon I’ll post some of my favorite meditation cds to help give you a place to start. In the mean time, good luck, and God bless!
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2 Responses to “Zen and the Art of Attention Deficit Disorder”
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"Dr. Glauberman's Technique is right on time." The New York Times
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I posting something about being bothered on my blog.. and your post came up under, “Things that might be related…” I think that my thought process is one of a ADDer with a pessimistic outlook.
Thank you for posting this. Do you mind if I ask what type of medication do you take that enhances your meditation?
I’m currently taking Vyvanse, and it really helps a ton! It was the first medication I tried, but I was getting bad side affects - dizziness.
I then tried Concerta, but it felt like I was on something. I took Adderall XR for awhile and got good results, but the Vyvanse was better and I talked to my Dr. about it after about 6 months, and I’m back on Vyvanse again with no side affects at all.
It’s a bit of an experimental process to find what works best for you. Just be straight with your Dr. and you’ll find the right one.