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This looks interesting. I've tried mindfulness and meditation on and off for over a decade (mostly mindfulness) and struggle as much now to keep focus and not d

by porker 6y ago

This looks interesting. I've tried mindfulness and meditation on and off for over a decade (mostly mindfulness) and struggle as much now to keep focus and not drift into continuing internal conversations as I did when I started. Recently I have realised I have many Attention Deficit Disorder traits, and likely have ADD. What's your experience of meditation and people with ADD? How does the practice change for them, and what works best?

aliabramovitz 6y ago
I am SO glad you asked this. Meditation is amazing for people who struggle with attention. Essentially what you are doing in meditation is training the brain to be able to stay focused on one thing and that, just like with any other muscle, makes your brain better at this over time. The kind of meditation that is the most effective for helping with focus and things like ADD is called "Focused Attention." In this kind of meditation you focus on an object of focus and dont let you mind drift away. In Chorus we do TONS of focused attention techniques. Essentially what you want is a "concrete object of attention" - so something like a mantra (a phrase you repeat over and over) would be more concrete than say, just feeling your breath. We designed Chorus to give people super concrete objects to focus on so its easier to get into that meditative state. Since starting to meditate myself I have become way better at reading speed, comprehension and overall focus has improved dramatically. Here is a study that talks about it: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1087054707308502 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/108705470730850...
mtalantikite 6y ago
"...and struggle as much now to keep focus and not drift into continuing internal conversations as I did when I started." If you notice that you're having an internal conversation then you have awareness and you should rejoice in that! I think too often people assume that meditation needs to be a completely focused empty mind at all times. Mingyur Rinpoche does a great job explaining it (and is a great teacher, would highly recommend his courses): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thcEuMDWxoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thcEuMDWxoI

by porker 6y ago

aliabramovitz 6y ago

I am SO glad you asked this. Meditation is amazing for people who struggle with attention. Essentially what you are doing in meditation is training the brain to be able to stay focused on one thing and that, just like with any other muscle, makes your brain better at this over time. The kind of meditation that is the most effective for helping with focus and things like ADD is called "Focused Attention." In this kind of meditation you focus on an object of focus and dont let you mind drift away. In Chorus we do TONS of focused attention techniques. Essentially what you want is a "concrete object of attention" - so something like a mantra (a phrase you repeat over and over) would be more concrete than say, just feeling your breath. We designed Chorus to give people super concrete objects to focus on so its easier to get into that meditative state. Since starting to meditate myself I have become way better at reading speed, comprehension and overall focus has improved dramatically. Here is a study that talks about it: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1087054707308502 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/108705470730850...

mtalantikite 6y ago

"...and struggle as much now to keep focus and not drift into continuing internal conversations as I did when I started." If you notice that you're having an internal conversation then you have awareness and you should rejoice in that! I think too often people assume that meditation needs to be a completely focused empty mind at all times. Mingyur Rinpoche does a great job explaining it (and is a great teacher, would highly recommend his courses): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thcEuMDWxoI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thcEuMDWxoI