My family and friends would tell you that I have a hard time sitting still. I’m always looking for the next adventure. “Hey Gary, do you want to go for a bike ride?” “Are you ready, Bobbitt?” “Mobilize Ezra, let’s go!” And my after dinner favorite, “Ok, time to leave – people are waiting.“ My poor family has never seen an encore at a concert because I’m halfway to the parking lot before the last song is even finished. Oy, I can be such a pain in the ass.
Just think what I would be like if I hadn’t been meditating for 25 years. Yup, I’ve been practicing for a long time, and I still find it difficult to just breathe and be at peace. Having said that, I can’t even imagine what my life would be like without my daily 30 minute practice.
As a person who has been hyper-active my whole life (oh, the stories my poor parents could tell), I have had to create a practice that is soothing, sublime and satisfying without sitting rigidly still for an extended period of time. Fortunately, recent research has found that moving meditation can be as effective as absolute stillness – if not more so.
In my work with very busy people who want to experience more peace and harmony in their lives, I discovered two ways to live life with more ease, flow, and grace. The first is a mediation that incorporates 20 mantras; the second involves mindful moving. As you will see, both involve variety and movement – the perfect recipe for people on the move.
I will start with the Mantra Mediation, but I want to emphasize that each person has to design her/his own practice – a series of exercises or breathing patterns that works for who they are and how they live. Not many people can find 30 minutes every day for quiet, meditative reflection.
My Mantra Meditation employs 20 spiritual triads. As the title of the this post indicates, THIS is an ADHD’s guide to meditation. I start out with my feet flat on the ground and my back straight. I imagine energy coming Up from the earth, Out of my body, and Beyond to the Universe. – Up, Out, and Beyond. When I feel totally at One with the Universe, I gently bring the energy back into my head, down my body, and through my legs letting it return to the ground: In-Down and Through. I continue breathing to a count of 6-2-6- 2. Six counts for Up, Out, and Beyond; two counts of hold, six counts of In, Down, and Through, and two counts of hold. I repeat those two mantras until I am feeling calm and still. For crazy-busy, hyper people, just experiencing those two simple mantras with deep breathing will produce a relaxation response. Caution – don’t focus on the results, just the reflection and the experience.
Mantra 3 is Do-Allow-Welcome. This mantra has power beyond breathing. If you are a leader in any organization, think about the difference in impact you would have if you didn’t think you had to DO everything yourself, you ALLOWED people more flexibility and you WELCOMED fresh ideas. Yup, leadership starts with breathing. First take a deep breath (Do it!), hold it and let it go. Then, ALLOW yourself to breathe without getting in your own way – not that easy. Finally, WELCOME being breathed. Ahh, experience the peace of effortless breathing. Now, put your finger on your pulse and simply observe the beating of your heart. Notice that you aren’t DOING anything to make your heart beat. It just does. What a blessing. WELCOME it. Now for the ultimate ADHD experience, as you welcome being breathed, allow your body to move gently in figure eights. Start by focusing your energy at your solar plexus and then move that energy up and around your heart and back to where you started. Then, move the energy down and around your genitals and return to the solar plexus. Finally, welcome the figure 8ing and experience the sensation of being moved.
You would never have to go beyond Mantra 3. It’s perfectly sufficient and will be blissfully rewarding. If you want to venture further, however, I will briefly take you through Mantras 4 through 20. For each set of mantras, you will continue the figure 8ing. Fair warning – it gets a little more esoteric from this point on.
Mantra 4 and 5: Please-Help-Thank You and Cleanse-Energize-Balance. Anne Lamont calls the three essential prayers: Help, Thanks, Wow. These three prayers – asking for assistance, appreciating the good we witness and experience, and feeling awe at the world – enable us to get through each day. Please-Help-Thank you is a way to ask the Universe for a cosmic blessing. I pair that prayer with Cleanse-Energize-Balance in the hope that, with assistance, I can cleanse my 12 Chakras of any trauma, restore my whole being with energy, and experience a sense of balance in my life.
Mantras 6-9 activate those 12 Chakras with simple pleas: Mantra 6 is Turn-Tune-Read. I focus on my Crown Chakra and say Turn toward your purpose and welcome being turned. At the Forehead Chakra, I Tune into what’s going on in the moment internally and externally and welcome being clued in. At the Third-Eye chakra, I Read whatever situation I am in and welcome deeper discernment.
Mantra 7 is Care-Grow-Bloom. At the Heart Chakra, I Care about all that is dear to me and I welcome love into my life. At the Solar Plexus Chakra, I urge myself to Grow and welcome being transformed. At the Navel Chakra, I Bloom with gratitude and welcome the blooming and constant unfolding of possibilities in my life.
Mantra 8 is Reach-Greet-Join. At the back Heart Chakra, I Reach out to others and welcome initiative. At the back Navel Chakra, I Greet others warmly and welcome being greeted. At the Sex Chakra, I join with others in community and welcome being embraced.
Mantra 9: Share-Speak-Glow. At the Root Chakra, I Share openly my thoughts and feelings and welcome genuine sharing from others. At the Throat Chakra, I speak out to express possibilities and perspectives and welcome being spoken through. At the Spirit Chakra, I glow in the radiance of Universal Love and welcome being enlightened.
Mantra 10: I Am-I Can-I Wish. In the Fourth Way, Gurdjieff discusses the three phases of spiritual growth. A great deal of spiritual literature revolves around these themes. I am at One. I am at Peace. I am Calm and Still. I am Here Now. I can lighten being. I can be kind. I can extend love. I can smile on the world no matter what it brings. I wish to awake. I wish to unify. I wish to harmonize. I wish to heal. The “I am” statements are aspirational; the “I can” statements are motivational; and the “I wish” statements are “directional.”
Mantra 11: Solid Mountain-Warm Sea-Wild Flower. I am as strong as a mountain. I am as supportive as the buoyant sea. I am as free as a wild flower.
Mantra 12: Earth-Water-Fire. I thank Dao for the Earth and all its beauty. I thank Dao for Water and all its sustenance. I thank Dao for the Sky and all its colors.
Mantra 13: Time-Knowledge-Space. I thank Dao for each day I have been given. I thank Dao for all the Knowledge that is accessible to me. I thank Dao for the boundlessness of Space.
Mantra 14: Light-Thought-Sound. Joy Harjo, the 23rd Poet Laureate, wrote the book Catching the Light in which she reflects on significant points of illumination and experience from her 50 years as a poet. In this mantra, I thank Dao for the light at the origins of the universe as well as the moments of illumination in our daily lives. I also thank Dao for my ability to process my experience, and hear the sounds of Nature, music, and song.
Mantra 15: Love-Hope-Sensation. I thank Dao for the loving relationships I have, for the hope of joy and possibility in future moments, and for the sensations of being alive.
Mantra 16: Center-Weight-Extend. In Aikido, three key principles are: stay centered, keep weight on the underside, and extend love/ki/chi to the world. I thank Dao for the ability to center, weight, and extend.
Mantra 17: Accept-Forgive-Be Grateful. The most important verbs I have learned in my 78 years on this planet are accept, forgive, and be grateful. I accept the fact that we are all different and have different interests and values. I forgive others for not satisfying my neurotic needs. And I am grateful for all the gifts others bring to me.
Mantra 18: Patient-Gentle-Sensitive. In this entire meditation, I notice when I am becoming impatient, when I am forcing myself to move, and when I am not appreciating each moment. I am constantly vigilant to the degree to which I am being patient, gentle and sensitive.
Mantra 19: Ease-Flow-Grace. Life can be difficult. There are times when we feel like we need to force our way to the finish line. In my meditation, I try to stay tuned into how effortlessly my body, mind and spirit flow with the moment. Living our life with ease, flow and grace makes life so much more meaningful.
Mantra 20: Love-Power-Joy. My meditation culminates by consciously experiencing the love of the important people in my life, the power of ideas, and the joy of connecting with the sounds of Nature and music.
I love my Mantra Meditation every morning. It may seem like a lot, but for an ADHD person like me, it works. I find Mindful Moving even more energizing.
Mindful Moving is a process of noticing what’s happening in your body with every step you take. My wife and I typically walk 5 miles each day, so I have a lot of opportunity to actually pay attention to what’s happening in my body. In moments of consciousness, I notice how my feet touch the earth. I scan my body and look for any tension in my ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers. Once I have let go of any tension, I experience effortless walking. I get into a flow by gently turning toward each foot as I take a step forward. All joints become frictionless pulleys. My forced march becomes a rhythmic dance. Instead of the walk draining me of energy, it actually restores my energy.
In this crazy world, it’s helpful to be able to find a quiet space for reflection and restoration. Even in the midst of chaos and crisis, it’s wonderful to be able to return to a place inside that’s calm and still. With these two practices, you always have a home where you belong. You just need to be conscious and intentional about it and notice when you are in need. The point is that if each of us could find a path to peace within ourselves, the world would be at peace.
So, there you have it – a mantra meditation and/or mindful moving. The perfect pair for all of us hyper folks and for those of you calm and steady folks as well. The perfect solution for creating more peace and harmony in the world. I hope you will design a practice for you that will not only soothe you, but give you sublime experiences. May it be so.
Also published on Medium.
