It can be difficult to stay still, pay attention, or do your work when individuals have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). It can also be difficult to manage all tasks and also deal with stress. Fighting ADHD isn’t easy, especially if the symptoms make it hard for individuals to get things done or do well at work or other social gatherings. When dealing with such incidents regularly, individuals can become anxious, depressed, or unhappy.

Even though there isn’t a cure for ADHD, individuals can still control the symptoms with meditations, therapy, and other mental health treatments. Multiple treatments have been proven to help deal with the symptoms of ADHD in the past years. For instance, meditation can reduce ADHD symptoms. ADHD counseling experts say that the main goal of meditation is to be present with one’s thoughts, emotions, and sensations without judging them. In simple words, it’s about both being aware and being able to be kind to yourself. This is why it is proven that meditation reduces ADHD symptoms.

What is Mindfulness Meditation?

Individuals wanting to reduce ADHD symptoms, stress, become more aware of themselves, and improve their attention, can do mindful meditation. It is also known as mindfulness or mindful awareness. There are multiple ways to be mindful.

Worldwide, people can perform breathing exercises or visualize what they are doing, or simply can just pay more attention to what’s going on around them. People who study ADHD, say that when performed regularly, mindfulness meditation can help people with the condition stay more focused and less impulsive. As a result, it can help with reducing daily stress as well as more severe symptoms of anxiety and depression that often come along with ADHD.

How to Bring Mindfulness Meditation in Daily life?

When a person sits to meditate, they need to mindfully pay close attention to their breath, their thoughts, and their bodily sensations. The most basic form of meditation is to sit down somewhere and pay attention to the breath as it comes in and goes out. This will result in individuals being less likely to be distracted by other things. Incase attention wanders (which is normal even for those not suffering from ADHD), they must bring their focus back to their breath.

Many of the meditation courses can be found for free on the web or for a small price. Individuals can be mindful at any time therefore it’s good to turn on the “mind-awareness-state” at any time of the day, even for just a few minutes.

How Mindfulness Meditation Reduces ADHD Symptoms?

Increase Attention Span

In the long run, mindfulness meditation helps individuals with ADHD increase their attention span. It improves the person’s ability to control their attention, self-observe and form new relationships with things that used to be stressful.

Make Brain Muscles Stronger

When an individual has weak muscles, doctors recommend them to exercise so that the muscles can become stronger. Same is the case with the brain because it is also full of muscles. It promotes the mind to reduce ADHD symptoms.

Increases Focus

Mindfulness meditation can strengthen the ability to control how to pay attention. It teaches individuals with ADHD how to observe themselves. Additionally, it increases the capability to focus on something for as long as they want. Gradually, focus increases hence meditation reduces ADHD symptoms.

Builds Emotional Intelligence

Meditation can also make individuals more aware of their emotions. In other words, it builds emotional intelligence, which is critical in regulating emotions. Meditation trains ADHD individuals to bring back their mind to a specific point and stop it from wandering around.

Changes Brain Structure

Structural changes in the brain of ADHD patients is related to the thickening of their prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain is responsible for focusing, planning and controlling impulses. It is also proved to raise the levels of dopamine which is usually short in ADHD patients.

If you have ADHD, Noblero’s “Organize Your Mind and Move Closer to Success” can help you become more aware of your emotions so that you do not act so quickly. Multiple studies have shown that mindfulness is versatile and flexible, which allows people with ADHD to use it in a way that works for them.

Scientific Research on Mindfulness and ADHD

In the last decade or so, research on meditation and ADHD has significantly caught hype.

In 2010, the Journal of Applied School Psychology published a study that found that kids who had trouble with their executive functions showed big improvements after an 8-week mindfulness training class. Mindfulness training is a feasible intervention for a small group of adults and kids with ADHD and it may improve their behavior and neurocognitive impairments.

In 2009, a study found that mindfulness training for both kids with ADHD and their parents made them more willing to follow rules. It also made both parents and kids happier with their families. A study in 2008 which was conducted by a team in UCLA studies 25 adults and 8 teenages, half of whom had ADHD and half who didn’t. People who took part in the study saw significant changes in both their attention and their hyperactivity. They also did better on cognitive tests and said they felt less stressed out at the end of the study. 

 

Another study in the Journal of Child and Family, in 2021 researched how mindfulness training can help kids with ADHD and how their parents can be more mindful when they are around kids. The study looked at the effectiveness of the 8-week mindfulness training for kids with ADHD and mindful parenting training. They found that there was a big drop in parents reporting ADHD symptoms, as well as significant improvement in parental stress and overactivity. 

Conclusion

Meditation can be good for people who want to improve their mental health. Not only is it beneficial for ADHD patients, but it has significantly proven to be effective and only in a short span it produces astonishing results. ADHD Individuals can sign up for meditation courses to help them overcome everyday challenges. The most effective meditation is which is followed on a regular basis. Regular meditation can significantly improve the well being of individuals suffering from ADHD. In other words, meditation reduces ADHD symptoms.  

Read more: How To Increase Patience Through Meditation