A Mindful Approach to ADHD

By now, it is quite impossible that you haven’t heard the latest buzzword in the news and media: mindfulness. Celebrities are preaching it, classrooms are teaching it… even the military is adopting some of it! It’s everywhere, but what is it exactly? The practice of mindfulness is the idea of being aware of the different sensations of your body and mind and in doing so, being present in the moment. While this practice has ancient beginnings, it makes sense that it is having a rebirth of sorts in our busy, ever connected modern day world. With so many stimulants in our lives, mindfulness is a tool to help us consciously respond to our world rather than react to it, connect and understand ourselves better, and develop and sharpen our emotional and social skills. While these benefits would be enticing to just about anyone, they may have a real and meaningful place in the lives of adults and children with ADHD.

The primary challenges of having ADHD are maintaining focus and self-regulation. A mindful approach to ADHD simply means practicing and developing these skills just as you would if you were learning math or basketball. Think of it as focus training, where the drills are practicing awareness of the breath and more importantly, practicing the return of the focus back to the breath when it has wandered, which it inevitably will. The act of continuously being aware of where the attention is in the moment and re-shifting the focus is what makes it such an effective practice for those with ADHD. As it becomes more familiar to check in with your inner emotional state, it helps you to understand your relationship to your different emotional states and how you react to it. More and more studies are backing mindfulness as a promising method to support executive functioning for those with ADHD. One study by Lidia Zylowska, M.D., a psychiatrist who heads the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, showed significant improvements in inattention and hyperactivity for adults and adolescents with ADHD after participating in an eight week mindfulness program.

If you are curious if mindfulness has a place in your own approach to ADHD, Dr. Gordon at Pathways NA has the answers for you. Dr. Gordon and his staff are highly trained and educated in meditation training and various ADHD treatments and coaching. Call him for a thorough, comprehensive evaluation and learn about what methods may work for you!

Source: https://www.additudemag.com/mindfulness-meditation-for-adhd/