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.

  • Coliseum7428@fedia.io
    2·
    10 hours ago

    I went to therapy for ADHD, and was given a worksheet from this course, where she recommends body scan meditation. She mentions meditation builds cortical tissue, helping with executive function, focus, impulse control, emotional regulation, etc. This gave me motivation to try again. I also think I was taught or assumed meditation had certain rules, so I let them go.

    I did 5 minutes of this video, seated with noise canceling headphones on. It felt like I was relaxed, and not thinking about my troubles. So next day did the other 5. After that, I think I tried the whole thing. Then looked for others so it doesn’t get repetitive.

    That’s my starting advice. If you still don’t feel it, some more tips follow.

    Try again tomorrow. Maybe add a tip from below. Try again in a year+. That’s how long I had given up originally! Sometimes my focus is on the “wrong” body parts for the audio. That’s okay. Sometimes I pause to linger on a body part. Sometimes I need to scan everything quickly. Sometimes, I think in the smallest, detailed body unit. For example, Fingers vs. tip of my right index finger. I might move in place and shift. And then I focus on what’s changed. Most times I lie with eyes closed in the dark. These are natural ways to tell the body to relax. Seated and/or gazing is okay too. I’ll scrunch my muscles and relax to focus on the change in feeling. I’ll pause the audio and stretch, focusing on the feeling of stretching. I absolutely have to do it with noise canceling headphones. “Being in the present” is not my goal anymore. Sometimes I’ve fallen asleep :> I try to do it every day. I prefer videos with relaxing background audio. Possibly 10Hz binaural beats. You might prefer videos with only spoken audio! You can get up entirely and walk around and focus on those feelings. eg. Hands if you touch something getting up, pressure on feet while walking.

    There really aren’t any rules. My goal is to relax, so I experiment until I’m relaxed.