I have always struggled with meditation. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to successfully meditate and the advice that people give me does not work.
I have ADHD (Inattentive), autism and OCD/CPTSD and I can’t stop the constant stream of thoughts, it’s like my brain has a problem with authority and is like “oh, you don’t want me to think? I’m just gonna think even harder” so folks advice of “just quiet your mind!” does not work at all.
The other advice I was given was “just let your mind wander” and that’s not an option either. If I let my mind wander, it pivots fast to dark, traumatic, intrusive thoughts and/or replaying every cringe and embarrassing moment of my life, so up to this point, all of my attempts to meditate have never worked out.
If there’s anyone with similar issues to mine that has been able to meditate with success, I’d very much appreciate some advice to help me along.
“Meditation” is a very broad term, and there are many types and approaches. Some of these, such as the admonition to quiet your mind and stop all thoughts, are designed to induce a crisis that leads to an insight.
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It is not possible to silence your thoughts, and you will run in circles trying until you throw up your hands in frustration and give up. That acceptance can also come with the realization that you don’t have to pay any more attention to them than to any other sensation you are experienceing - that they are not under your control, and therefore no more “you” than the sounds, sights, tasted, smells, and textures that you experience while meditating.
Meditation is about directing attention, and is called “practice” for a reason. Many people think that each time their mind wanders and they lose track of their meditative focus they have failed, but that is exactly backward. Each time you notice your attention bas wandered and you bring it back to your focus you have succeeded!
These are all great points, I think a lot of my problem was viewing meditation as a black and white thing, or perhaps compartmentalizing it too much. I should definitely reframe my redirections as successes, thank you 😁
Exactly. Realizing that you got lost in thought is the practice.