Mindfulness and ADHD
In our toolbox for mental health and wellbeing, our most indispensable tool (the screwdriver? box cutter? duct tape?) may very well be mindfulness: simple, free, and available to us in any and every moment. Mindfulness can help with emotion regulation, stress management, trauma recovery, anxiety, and so much more — including ADHD, which we’ll get into below. The benefits of mindfulness definitely deserve their own post. First, though, a misconception I often encounter is that mindfulness equals meditation, and many folks will tell me that they are not interested or comfortable with meditation.
Let’s start by sorting this out. You can practice mindfulness, you can practice meditation, and you can incorporate mindfulness into meditation. But the two practices are distinct.
Mindfulness is just about noticing our present-moment experience, on purpose, without judgment. We can do pretty much any task mindfully — from the complex, like navigating a conflict with a loved one, to the exquisitely simple, like breathing — by resisting the drift toward operating on auto-pilot. Instead of just going through the motions while getting mentally absorbed in the past or the future, mindfulness asks us to tune in and bring open awareness to our senses, our actions, our thoughts, and our feelings.
How does this compare to meditation? Meditation, across a diverse history of traditions, is about cultivating greater insight and equanimity by focusing our attention on something in particular: in religious contexts this could be prayer, it could be a concept or teaching in Zen or Vipassana, or a mantra in Transcendental Meditation. And not all meditation requires sitting in silence with eyes closed. There are walking meditations, moving meditations, eating meditations… These are all potential options for anyone curious about meditation but uncomfortable sitting in stillness.
And finally, when we incorporate mindfulness into meditation, the resulting practice is mindfulness meditation: using our present-moment experience as the focus point for developing deeper calm and connection with self.
Now let’s take a look at what mindfulness practice offers to folks with ADHD.
At first, practicing mindfulness may seem completely incompatible with a diagnosis of ADHD: mindfulness is a practice of paying attention, and people with ADHD famously struggle to pay attention. But this is, in fact, exactly why it can help: to paraphrase Dr. Lidia Zylowska, ADHD is a disorder of attention and self-regulation, and mindfulness is training for attention and self-regulation.
There is a sizeable evidence base for mindfulness as a helpful intervention for adults with ADHD, with studies demonstrating a statistically significant reduction of symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity. In these scientific studies, mindfulness is taught to participants in a series of sessions; out in the world, you can access similar training at home via online courses, in person through a meditation class or mindfulness-based therap, or in self-guided practice using a book, audio guide, or another resource.
While the content and methods of trainings may differ, the core work is practicing how to bring mindful awareness to breath, sensations in the body, thoughts, emotions, ADHD patterns, and interactions with others. As we become more skillful in these domains of mindfulness, we are better able to turn off auto-pilot, strengthen control of our attention, and deepen our ability to choose how we respond in any given moment.
Mindfulness alone can’t alleviate all the struggles that come with ADHD, but strengthening control of our attention and responses (in short, self-regulation) can go a long way to living with less chaos and more ease.
If you’re ready to start living with less chaos and more ease, I’d hear from you and see if I can help. Please reach out!