When I work with clients who have ADHD, they often say...I can't sit for very long, meditation just wont work for me!
For some, a wondering mind is all we have ever known. It is true to some degree that a wondering mind can cause unhappiness.
Our thoughts come and go but we are often stuck on a continuous cycle of chasing after those thoughts instead of letting them come in, saying hi and then letting them go.
A thought isn't fact and a fact isn't a thought.
My thoughts have often made me feel unhappy and it usually starts with something that hasn't happened yet ( in the future) or something that happened long ago (in the past) that I have not power to change, unless Dr. Who is happy to have a new assistant! When we practice mindfulness, we use our attention like a flashlight, shining it onto our experience.
Imagine your thoughts as trains passing by. You sit on the bench at the station and you watch as the trains come and go.
You see the difference, the colours, sounds and vibrations but you know that soon they will depart. Our thoughts are very similar, if we can be present to the experience, acknowledge and let go. We might experience some discomfort if the thoughts are negative but remember, a thought is not a fact. Every time you have a thought that sweeps you up and sends you through an enormous sensory explosion.
Take 10 deep slow breaths, saying to yourself
I am breathing in,
and as you breathe out say,
I am breathing out. I am breathing in I am breathing out This will set your parasympathetic nervous system in relax mode and gently lessen the worry or panic from progressing.
Our thoughts are more powerful that we give them credit for, this can take us by surprise or leave us lingering in self doubt. My answer to this is, stillness can be a journey of untold treasures, be open to trying.