J Adam G:
I have ADHD and I concentrate. Here's how.
2. I tried different techniques for jhana until I found one that worked. Now, this might seem to contradict the usual advice that says "Stick to one meditation technique and master it. Don't go from one thing to another without mastering them." But I'm not really trying to contradict that advice -- it's great advice, and it applies to people with ADHD too! It's just that there's another thing you need to know: you simply aren't going to master some techniques. Sorry to break it to you -- but then again, this isn't so hard to accept. You already knew that you were never going to permanently master the email inbox, right? You just found some "system"(ish) that worked(ish) and at least now you can quit worrying about missing the really important ones.
Hi there J (and anyone else interested in Jhana / concentration practices and ADHD).
I also have ADHD and was hoping Shamatha practice could be the ticket to being able to get rid of (or massively reduce) my ADHD symptoms and the need for stimulant drugs which I hate taking but make life so much doable. I came across Shamatha in the form of Alan Wallace's Attention Revolution book which I googled my way to some time ago. At that point I had been doing MFB in the JKZ style for about 30 mins for a year and had found enormous benefits in my life however these were more along the lines of emotional regulation / inserting the pause, rather than doing anything for my concentration / working memory issues.
In AW's book, he describes achieving Shamatha in terms of accessing the first Jhana, yet says that this is somethign that requires full time retreat commitment of usually several months or years. Am I confusing terms here? Because I've now read a few different things that says Jhanas can be reached by most in 10 day retreat (e.g., Shaila Catherine).
That aside however, the way AW described Shamatha, his description of it is kind of the antithesis to ADHD. I am not in a position to go to full time retreat (or even a 10 day) as I am a single working mother however my hope was that with dedication I'd at least be able to really see some improvements. So I've been sitting for 1-3 hours per day since the start of the year according to the AW instructions and while I'm certainly much calmer, the inattention / distractacbility etc are still a big part in my life. So I'm just wondering about the reality of these practices actually generalising to real-world cognitive ADHD problems?
Do you mind if I ask you whether achieving (sorry if wrong word) 1st Jhana impacted your ADHD out in the real world? You mention you take medication, have you been able to reduce dosage as a result of your practice? Are you able to focus better in work or study? What about working memory improvements, which is my biggest issue although much research says WM deficits are ultimately down to deficits in attention.
I'm new here and hope it's OK to post on old threads. If not, pls let me know and I can start a new one. I've also tried searching for posts on ADHD but don't seem to be able to locate a search function on here?
Many thanks and really pleased to be part of this community,
Ruby