It can seem like meditation and mindfulness aren’t as accessible for ADHDers, but that's just not true. There are so many techniques that can help you shut down survival brain activity and spend a few minutes each day in healthful present moment awareness. And there are so many important benefits for the brain. It's doable, and worth pursuing.
Dr. Richard Davidson is one of my favorite speakers, writers, and champions of mindfulness. In one interview, Dr. Davidson shares the idea of what he calls “microdosing happiness” (here's a link to an interview where he shares this idea) by developing a practice of pausing throughout the day to bring ourselves into the present moment. Here's how I use mindfulness in this way, and how I teach my clients.
For the length of three breaths, focus all of your attention on one physical sensation. I like to focus on the contact points between my body and wherever I'm sitting at the moment: I notice my backside against my chair, then my back, the back of my thighs, and then my feet.
Other examples of physical sensation that work well:
💡Near and far sounds - What's the furthest sound you can hear? What's the nearest?
💡The sensations of your breath - Notice the temperature of the air as it enters and exits your nostrils.
💡Rubbing your thumbs and forefingers together - Notice the sensations of touch like texture and temperature.
When you pause for moments throughout the day and bring your attention to the present moment for just a few breaths, you interrupt the over-active survival areas of your brain, and allow the modern parts to produce feel-good hormones and neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and oxytocin. This increases your mental and physical energy, builds more neuronal connections in the prefrontal cortex, and frees up your creative problem solving skills and innate wisdom.
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