Why Having ADHD Makes You Better At Meditating

Ever felt like you can't meditate just because you have ADHD? In this video we dive into why it's actually your superpower, what real meditation actually is, going over aum chanting, and sharing what to practice.

▼ Timestamps ▼
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00:00 - Is meditation boring if you have ADHD?
02:40 - What real meditation is
06:55 - Looking into the brain of ADHD
09:58 - Explaining hardcore meditation
12:11 - Teaching Aum Chanting
18:35 - ADHD is an advantage for this
19:45 - What you should actually practice
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Harvard-trained psychiatrist and former gaming addict Dr. Alok Kanojia—known as “Dr. K” to his millions of followers—offers a proven, tested plan to help parents define, set, and reinforce healthy boundaries around video games and help kids who have developed an addiction to gaming.

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#meditation #ADHD #healthygamergg

[dragonabsurda]

I'd never thought of that kind of internal exploration as a meditation before. I feel like I've been doing that for as long as I can remember, but just called it daydreaming. 😂

[AnymMusic]

My mom always taught me that meditation isn't about not thinking. It's about when you think, you don't latch on. You might notice that sometimes you latch on to a thought and suddenly you're constantly thinking and making a whole story, etc. The idea my mom taught was to look at thoughts from an observer's point of view. It's okay to think and have thoughts, just not to latch on to every thought you have. Have a thought? Realize you have it, and let go again. Ofc easier said than done, but still

[Chiken_Tendy]

Please never stop making meditation and spirituality videos. Your explanations are the clearest I've heard on the subject

[cailenfernschild]

Holy Sh**!!! 😭 I cried, I sweated, I raised my vibration…went from pmsing and feeling depressed to euphoric!! How has no one told me about this before?! Well not put in this way at least…thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart! I will be meditating this way from now on…I struggled with consistency and having ADHD I blamed it on that…now I’m exciting to see what this does for me going forward. That was such an uplifting experience and I’m so grateful to have found your video! It was EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR!!

[burritosupreme]

I actually did a nonverbal version of this once. I was really into particle physics and all that when I was younger, and what I did was close my eyes, and use my minds eye to imagine/visualize all the photons/particles and their motions in the room, including my own body. It basically overloaded my brain until when I was finished, I was actually the clearest I’ve ever felt mentally, it was amazing.

[TheVioletWolf]

This here.. i am def adhd and i have been able to meditate in the most disciplined and hardcore way, for hours of just sitting quiet. It’s almost like a psychedelic experience when i get into the zone. It took me a long time to get to the point where the distractability or racingthoughts didn’t bother me or hinder me as much as it did at first. As long as you can shift your perspective into something as you’re experiencing and observing as opposed to something youre making yourself do, it opens up an entire universe of existence. It’s saved my life, dude. I don’t use medications anymore for my adhd or anxiety/depression. Straight up meditation and breath work feels like my actual brain chemistry has changed. I don’t say this lightly, as I started this endeavor 5 years ago. Totally worth it.

[MaxAngor]

"They're exploring their internal universe."

I've been doing that since I was an abused kid! I literally do that every lap I walk without my dog! If my headphones are in and my book/music is on, I am plumbing the depths to figure out how to improve myself or why a random thing happened or why I said a certain thing instead of another thing. That people CAN'T do that is astounding to me. That's my #1 way to kill boredom!

[lparanormal]

I use to accidently meditate when I was younger while trying to fall asleep. My mind was so active just thinking about whatever, but my body was super relaxed, feeling paralyzed, trying to coax myself to sleep to the point I even ignored itching sensations and comfortability. But it took hours for me to actually fall asleep and after doing that for so many months, I had the craziest spiritual/paranormal experiences during this part of my life. I was having prophetic dreams, astral projection experiences, mediumship abilities, while getting tangible evidence for my skeptical mind. It was so mind opening that it lead me to deeper research and strengthened my faith. But I feel like I understand what Dr K means about enhanced awareness leading to "understand things about the universe" in an "esoteric and mystical" way. Very very true in my experience. It's like a key to unlock a super power in us, but so easy to ignore in today's society.

[DWEGOON]

I've always thought meditation was the suppression of emotion, not the exploration of them. Whenever I try to do it, I always get distracted by my own thoughts, and it makes me feel like I've "failed" at meditating. I'll give this a shot though

[friedensgabel]

"there is an endless amount of expolation within you" is an extremly powerful observation. I'm so thankful to my parents for teaching me meditation as a child, letting me explore that inner universe freely. There's so much I've found during that time that I only could put in words years later

[epistemophilicmetalhead]

we're highly sensitive to small things, not distractable
we love novelty
there is endless exploration within you. backtrack on your thoughts and feelings. It's an infinite, engaging game :)

Aum chanting: the goal isn't to complete a task, it's to explore
version 1: open your mouth and make a sound and take it all the way to when you close your mouth (that's how you pronounce aum XD)
notice within yourself when you're chanting, you'll realize there's a subtle vibration within you
15:26-15:52
you'll start noticing the different kinds of vibration in different parts of you. This is the goal: getting your brain hyper-focused on trying to find the vibrations
many many rounds (usually 33). you'll focus better in the later rounds.

[FaerieEnderHare]

tldr: I can control my organs because of a practice similar to this.

I honestly have always been fascinated with things in my body. Over the years, I would spend lots of time playing with different sensations and trying to figure out what they were. eventually, I discovered that I can change many things within my body. The first thing I learned how to control was muscles, and it was fascinating to be able to isolate a muscle group and move just that on command. Then I discovered I could change my heartrate. Now, I can even change my blood pressure, I can influence my digestive system, and control so many things that feel weird to mention. It truly is an addicting thing, and I am fascinated by this mode of meditation.

[jespinola]

Was diagnosed and medicated back in February. Started meditating about a month ago, at least twice a day, roughly 30-60 minutes depending on how I'm feeling. After that and looking into things regarding the self image and ridding one's self of it, I truly, truly have found peace and true mental clarity. Not just my anxiety is gone, but all forms of neuroticism. There truly is nothing that anyone can say to me besides a threat that can negatively affect how I feel. It is absolutely amazing. Please meditate, if you feel terrible.

[kena]

I have never been able to meditate longer than 13 minutes and usually DRAGGING myself accross that finish line. I set a timer for 30 minutes and it interrupted me. That is awesome.

[nomadicgodking]

One of the best explanations for meditation I’ve ever heard. I have ADHD and have been meditating daily for about 6 years now. It’s is one of my superpowers I truly believe. And I recently started doing the AUM chants during my meditating. I’m happy to hear your clear explanation of it being AUM and not OM. And the vibrations felt during those chants you explained perfectly as well. I’m a fairly recent subscriber and I look forward to more content like this.

[sicklecellwithdr.o]

I love how you provide a positive reframe on ADHD to allow us to optimize the condition.

[SuntzuDragon]

It’s so incredibly validating to hear Dr K. put into words what I’ve been doing for years without even realizing. I tried so many apps and guided practices but would always do it for a few days, get bored, and move on.
In addition to aum chanting, I experienced a lot of benefits from some exploration at random moments during the day. You can ask what you’re feeling (physically, mentally, or emotionally) and try to understand what caused it and where it came from. The more you do it, the more subtle stuff you’ll be able to pick up on. I love it because it basically turns understanding yourself into a game. Except this one has infinite levels and constant new DLC 😎

[MultiWeb]

Just a side note on Zen: I am a Soto-Zen Buddhist practitioner/student (with ADHD, btw) and the stick part is not accurate at all. The "stick" is called kyōsaku and it is flat and *it causes only a little sting-like sensation but no real pain or injury at all*, it is gone in seconds. The monk in charge of the kyōsaku walks around the meditaion hall during retreats and stuff like that and only hits you *if you ask him to do so* . If you think you are getting sleepy, you just bow your head, put your palms together and wait. It is not punishment (since it does not hurt and you ask for it), it is meant to help you keep focus.

Now, talking of maditation itself, knowing my attention deficit, my family and friends usually get surprised to know that I can meditate 40 minutes a day. That's when I tell them: "literally anyone can maditate", it is just like going to the gym, you start very unconfortable, unable to lift heavy weights, but after sometime it works just fine. Practice is the magical word.

[SuperheroWannabe]

Really appreciate this one. I agree that the way we talk about "distractibility" vs "sensitivity" needs more encouraging explanations like this ❤

[TheRedValue]

I am a likely candidate with ADHD and I have always felt that my meditations are easier and better when there is a slight discomfort around. Things like sitting in the cold outside during winter or sitting in a cold/hot (Onsen) bath works wonders.