ADHD and Meditation: Can a Busy Brain Actually Do It?

"My brain never switches off, so I can't meditate." Rebecca hears it constantly from clients with ADHD, and her answer is: neither does anyone's. Every human brain thinks. That is the job. This is Part 1 of 4 in our ADHD series.

Rebecca explains what meditation actually is (observing thoughts, not stopping them), how to use an anchor like the breath or a word and keep reining your attention back, and why 10 minutes a day every day beats an hour once a week. She also asks the uncomfortable question: is "my brain's too busy" a reason, or a cop-out?

David, diagnosed and unmedicated, describes what it was like to chase nothingness in his head and fail, how observing without judgement started leaking into his everyday life, and how he meditates now: no timer, no journal, one hand on his heart at Cornelian Bay. He also played with a matchbox car for the entire recording, which tells you everything.

The back half gets into traits vs diagnosis, why everyone sits somewhere on the spectrum, a friend whose ADHD was noticeably worse the day after drinking, and Rebecca's book-in-progress idea of treating your own life as an experiment.

Want help getting started with meditation? Rebecca works one-on-one