Meditation | ADHD Information

I was in a support group where the psychiatrist taught us a method of relaxing and calming your mind that he said was basically meditation and it was pretty simple. 

You sit or lay down in a quiet room and pick a word or sound (I picked the word 'relax') and just concentrate on the word, saying it in your mind and even visualizing it if you need to.  When you notice your mind straying, just go back to the word, without being judgmental with yourself for straying. 

He had us do it for just two minutes at first and later we would start the group with this meditation for up to 4 minutes.  It was hard at first, and he said our minds would wander a lot at first, but after a few session I found I could do it better. 

It did help calm me, and I practiced it several times a week while I was in the group and got better each time.  But since the group has ended I don't do it much.  I should get back to it though cause it helped.  You might try it, it's not hard,but it is hard to do well, does that make sense?  He said don't worry if you keep straying cause everybody does(except maybe the Dahli Lama?)

Barb

Another reason I love Yoga. I get a whole hour + to do nothing but concentrate on breathing and balancing. It gets a little easier as time goes on, most def, but if you skip for a few days...I find it harder again, if that makes any sense.

I do have the worst balance out of anyone in all my Yoga classes. My balance skills are that of like, a 5 year old.

Can it be learned correctly from a book I wonder, or even a website?
I know this is a difficult question, but, I'm seriously interested.

                      Frankly, I have been thinking a lot about meditation.  It is kind of funny with meditation.  People whether they have ADHD or not do it to be calmer, but also people with ADHD also in many cases do it to help increase their focusing powers.... There is kind of a catch 22 situation with ADHD and Meditation...You want to do it to focus and be calm, but yet you need to have somewhat of that to facilitate the experience.... So basically be very patient with yourself.... I often do a few minutes of it....

                        There are many ways to meditate.  You can visualize a certain object and just think of it while your eyes are closed.  Or, you can count backwards at regular 2-second intervals from 50 to 0.  That exercise would help build your concentration.   Just do not focus on the numbers so much. 

                      I often kind of cheat and listen to hypnosis CDs.  For example, I like listening to Paul McKenna.  He is kind of refreshing.  I so much liked him that I ordered the 10 CD set.  But you don't have to do that, of course, and choose one if you like.  It is another way to relax and change your state of mind....

I do highly recommend meditation... I am sticking to a few minutes a day for now...

Actually the BEST meditation I've ever done and helps ALOT is one of the simplest too.......

Close your eyes, sit in a relaxed but upright position....don't lean on the chair or anything, back upright and sitting, this is usually best on the floor.....

Close your eyes and choose one of your 5 senses.......start to concentrate on that one.....for this purpose I'll start with sound but you can choose whatever you want really...

Start to listen to what's going on around you... DON'T PICTURE IT... no visuals, just sound and concentrate on the sounds...concentrate to the point where you feel and see nothing else.... all you do is hear... you are now blind, you can't feel, you can't smell, you can't taste, NOTHING Just sound....once you have that going and you're focusing on sounds as a whole choose ONE sound.

FOCUS on this one sound, hear the sound, listen to every little detail in it and start to block out every other sound until all you hear is the one sound you decided to focus on, again, don't imagine any visuals, NO VISUALS, just sound. Once you've concentrated on that sound for awhile (at least 15 seconds) and you've blocked everything else out, go back to hearing all the sounds and choose a different sound, focus in on that one now...

After doing that a few times, switch senses.....again NEVER visualize unless you're on the Visual sense, Sight.....so when you're on touch and you FEEL your clothing, DON'T PICTURE IT, the wind rushing by you...stuff like that...

taste can be hard, sometimes you have to imagine tastes but again, avoid visualising the pineapple you're imagining to taste....

Go through ALL your senses one by one and inbetween the senses, feel ALL your senses briefly and then switch frmo say hearing to touch or whichever...

Order isn't important, but making it last is....you can't do this in 30 seconds, set aside 20 minutes at LEAST.... the longer the better, but you can start small and work your way up...

  Wow! that's a really cool technique!  I'm gonna have to try it.  I like it better than the one I was taught.  That one worked but was kinda boring.  And we sure don't like boredom!  Thanks!

Barbj

[QUOTE=The Resistance!]Can it be learned correctly from a book I wonder, or even a website?
I know this is a difficult question, but, I'm seriously interested.
[/QUOTE]

Here is a site I found. http://vipassana.com/audio_files/  and http://vipassana.com/meditation/ It has text and audio files. For some reason the guy's voice bugs me... but it's a good start. The text files are excellent.

There are many books out there, I don't know enough to recommend any though. Go to amazon.com and read some reviews and such.

Hello all. This is my second post here.

Has anyone here use formal meditation as a way to treat their ADD? Is it a common pratice?

I became interested in Buddhism years ago (due to a racing mind), and while I don't meditate all the time, I can attest to it being very helpful.

Once you have calmed your mind, it becomes easier to focus. Actually meditation is the practice of focusing. And once you obtain a certain level of calmness, you can make note of it and use it for future reference.

I just thought I would pass on the obvious. Good night.

I have also tried meditation.It helps my anxiety a lot. My biggest problem is finding time to meditate, and meditation is a skill that needs to be practiced.

I learned how by going to the book store.I found a book by Brian L. Weiss M.D.titled Eliminating Stress, Finding Inner Peace. I also found a Dummies book on stress relief that had a section on meditation.My community colledge is offering a course titled beggining meditation this summer.

What is the best way to learn meditation?
I've always been a bit interested but I think I'd like to know more from someone who does it, and if that someone is adhd all the better.