I got diagnosed with ADHD at 28. Before that I just thought I was bad at being a person. The constant mental noise, the inability to just sit and exist without fidgeting or reaching for my phone – it’s exhausting in a way that’s hard to explain to people who don’t have it.

Medication helps with the focus stuff but it doesn’t really touch the internal restlessness. My psychiatrist suggested I try breathwork as a “grounding exercise” and I literally rolled my eyes in the appointment. But she was pretty insistent, so I gave it a shot.

I started doing box breathing for just 4 minutes a day. That’s it. Four minutes. And tbh? Those four minutes are now the calmest my brain gets all day. It’s not a cure, it’s not replacing my meds, but it’s like pressing a soft reset button. The mental chatter dims for a bit and I can actually feel my body instead of just living in my head.

I use Lunair to guide me through it because left to my own devices I’ll forget where I am in the count (thanks, ADHD). Having the visual guide is the only reason I can actually do it without getting distracted.

Does anyone else with ADHD do breathwork? I’m curious if the effect builds over time or if it’s always going to be a temporary calm.

  • kingofras@lemmy.worldEnglish
    73·
    2 days ago

    Don’t worry about the downvote(s). People have a problem with new accounts posting immediately.

    But thank you for sharing your story, and can confirm that box breathing, any form of meditation, doing dishes, vaccuuming, folding laundry, walking in nature without any headphones or sunglasses are all good solutions.

    I wouldn’t say it builds over time, but as with everything, if you plug it as a daily thing, it creates routine which also really helps.

    • catbum@lemmy.worldEnglish
      13·
      2 days ago

      Yeah so unfortunately this is probably another shill. I’ve seen other day-old accounts post the same type of recovery story quoting this exact app over the past couple weeks.

      ADHD grudges are a thing and I will continue not using “lumair” even harder now thanks OP’s spam. Mwahaha.

    • B0NK3RS@lazysoci.alEnglish
      12·
      2 days ago

      Don’t worry about the downvote(s). People have a problem with new accounts posting immediately.

      It’s mostly because their first post is to recommend a product so people are naturally suspicious. I’m glad that OP found something useful for them though.

  • Ananääs@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    My brain insists on counting the sides of the box while breathing. My brain always wants to count things, be it steps or breaths or hearthbeat or the sides of a person’s eyebrows or the straight lines on digital numbers. Basically only way to make it quiet is by listening to someone talk (=podcast) while walking. But counting breaths is among the least annoying babble it produces so I often do it, intentionally or not.

  • CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    I use Lunair to guide me through it because left to my own devices I’ll forget where I am in the count (thanks, ADHD).

    I enjoy meditation that focuses on breathing. A key point of breathing meditation is that everybody loses focus. ADHD only lose focus much faster and more eften. You are supposed to have stray thoughts and go elsewhere. You need at accept it. And refocus on breathing over and over again. The purpose of breathing based meditation is not to get the higher score of seconds between distractions. Its to constantly practice pulling yourself back. Thanks to the magic of neuroplasticity, the more you pull yourself back, the easier it becomes and only then do you get the longer periods of undistracted focus.

    I suggest you drop the tech like lunair, because for whatever amount you feel it helps, its actually defeating the purpose of meditation. You trade a small bump in your focus score for the benefits of building new neural pathways via neuroplasticity that will bring long term benefits.

    Just one person’s opinion, but I hope you find it worth looking into.

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.netEnglish
    2·
    2 days ago

    I’ve been doing breathwork since I fist read about box breathing a year ago. I’ve integrated it into my meditative practices. I’ve been doing meditation in one form or another for about thirty years, and it’s a lifesaver.