I have always struggled with meditation. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to successfully meditate and the advice that people give me does not work.
I have ADHD (Inattentive), autism and OCD/CPTSD and I can’t stop the constant stream of thoughts, it’s like my brain has a problem with authority and is like “oh, you don’t want me to think? I’m just gonna think even harder” so folks advice of “just quiet your mind!” does not work at all.
The other advice I was given was “just let your mind wander” and that’s not an option either. If I let my mind wander, it pivots fast to dark, traumatic, intrusive thoughts and/or replaying every cringe and embarrassing moment of my life, so up to this point, all of my attempts to meditate have never worked out.
If there’s anyone with similar issues to mine that has been able to meditate with success, I’d very much appreciate some advice to help me along.
Meditation is all about the trying. “Sucess” is in the attempt itself.
When your mind wanders, don’t worry that it wandered. It inevitable will. You can’t really stop that. What you can do is notice when it’s happening. Then pay attention to the wandering. Why did that thought pop up? Now that I noticed it where does it go. It’s like watching what the bus driver does instead of just letting the scenery absorb your attention as it passes by. Or it’s like thinking about how a movie was made instead of letting yourself get swept up in the narrative.
Don’t stress meditation. Half the point is to just chill.