Can Meditation Help With ADHD?

We know from decades of research that meditation can have a positive effect on a variety of cognitive skills related to ADHD including attention, reaction time, and memory. For example, Pagnoni and Cekic (2007) found that Zen practitioners had faster reaction times than control subjects. Hodgins and Adair (2010) found that regular meditation was associated with more accurate, efficient, and flexible visual attention processing across a variety of tasks. Jha et al. (2007) found that subjects attending an eight-week MBSR course demonstrated significant improvements in selective attention and distraction.

Not only has meditation been shown to improve performance on cognitive tasks, but it has also been shown to change the structure and function of the brain in ways that are directly related to ADHD. While there are many different brain patterns associated with ADHD, perhaps the most common relates to having an underactive brain — a lack of activation, particularly in the frontal lobes.

This pattern of hypo-arousal has been observed in studies examining glucose metabolism, brain blood flow, and brainwaves (Bush, 2010). What this essentially means is that the stereotypical ADHD brain is under-aroused, which is why stimulant medications often help! If the frontal lobes of the brain are not getting enough activation, they are unable to do their job efficiently or effectively. Because the frontal lobes are very much involved in executive functions such as impulse control and sustained attention, these are the skills often impacted.

Not surprisingly, strategies to manage ADHD often involve waking up the frontal lobes, increasing brain blood flow, and reducing slow brain wave activity. These strategies include stimulant medications, exercise, diet/nutrition, and cognitive skills training, which is where Focus meditation comes in.

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Meditation can be defined as a “systematic mental training designed to challenge habits of attending, thinking, feeling, and perceiving” (Tarrant, 2017). Different forms of meditation involve different skills and tasks. For example, focus styles of meditation emphasize holding attention on a single object (the breath, a mantra, or a visual image). When the mind inevitably wanders from its target, the meditator recognizes this as soon as possible and returns attention to the target.

Essentially, this form of meditation is training the person in skills associated with sustaining attention, minimizing distractions, self-monitoring, and promptly redirecting focus. These are exactly the skills needed by someone managing ADHD. Luckily, the brain is extremely adaptive and “plastic” or malleable. It will almost always change in response to how you use it. So, if you want the brain to get better at paying attention, the most effective way to do this is to practice paying attention

One of the most impressive research studies to demonstrate the impact of meditation was conducted by a group of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. The subjects in this study were enrolled in a 9-month meditation program which was composed of three consecutive meditative training modules designed to address different meditation-based skills (attention, compassion, and perspective-taking). In essence, the subjects received specific training in one style of meditation for 3 months and then switched to the next style for 3 months. Between each three-month interval, the subjects received a battery of tests that even included an MRI to determine if any areas of the brain grew over the course of the training. This study revealed that each of the three training modules resulted in different brain changes and different skills improvement. The Focus-based training resulted in brain growth in the prefrontal cortex as well as improvement in executive attention and conflict resolution (Valk et al., 2017).

This, and many other studies, show clear evidence that meditation can directly influence the brain to reduce ADHD symptoms. Of course, this means we are asking someone with ADHD to do exactly the thing they struggle with: to pay attention on purpose to a boring task. Just like reps at the gym, these brain exercises strengthen the areas of the brain that the person most needs. To increase the likelihood of success, it is helpful to provide a variety of supports or aides for the ADHD meditator. Here are a few that work well:

1. Guided Meditations: This is probably the most common support. By having verbal guidance, it provides a direction for your experience and a constant reminder about the intention of the practice. We recommend InsightTimer, a free app on your phone or computer. There is a large library to choose from, including a Focus Neuromeditation.
2. Standing While Meditating: Persons with ADHD often report feeling sleepy during meditation. By standing during meditation, you are automatically activating the brain, making it easier to stay engaged, and harder to fall asleep.
3. Movement: Introduce a simple repetitive movement with the meditation so that the movement is coordinated with breathing. You can see an example of this in the Earth Meditation video below.
4. Biofeedback: By incorporating heart rate variability or EEG biofeedback into the meditation, it becomes much more engaging and provides something concrete for the meditator to focus on. These systems also provide near-immediate information on the person’s performance. You can learn more about this option at the NeuroMeditation Institute.

5. Virtual or Augmented Reality: Both VR and AR have meditation-based programs that provide an immersive, visually appealing environment for the meditation experience. Users consistently find this to be more engaging and motivating. We recommend Healium software which can be used in Oculus Quest headsets or on your mobile phone.

6. Meditating Every Day for Only a Few Minutes: Keeping the duration of meditation manageable will encourage consistency and motivation. Use a timer, the same time of day, and location to facilitate conditioned cues for learning.

Meditation Essential Reads

How to Meditate Without a Formal Routine

Can Meditation Make Microbes Mellow?