June’s Mindfulness magazine advertised a 3-day Mindfulnessfor ADHD: Training for Adults, Parents and Professionals in early August. I was intrigued, and found out that I qualified to attend as a professional. Sweet! I paid the retreat fee and airfare, flew to San Fran and drove up the coast to Petaluma, CA.

My experiences at the EarthRise Retreat Center during those three days were sometimes heartbreaking, frequently heartwarming and always heart-expanding.

The 40 or so attendees included about 20 professionals—therapists, social workers, psychiatrists … and one organizer—and about 20 adults and/or family members of adults who struggle with symptoms of ADHD. As a parent of two ADHD adults and as a professional organizer who has ADHD clients, I participated in both realms. I was exhausted. I was exhilarated. I was challenged. And ultimately, I was inspired.

Mindfulness practice can help ADHD clients slow down, be present, and pay attention to “where am I now?”  “where do I want to be next?” and “what do I do to get there?” Mindfulness practice can help ADHD clients establish new habits of behavior, emotions, and thoughts. But it’s not a panacea. If you don’t actually PRACTICE mindfulness techniques, you will not get to the next steps—intentionally addressing behaviors that undermine your success and creating new behaviors that help you get past being “a square peg in a round hole.”

The leader of the retreat, Dr. Lidia Zylowska, has published a *book and CD called the Mindfulness Prescription for Adult ADHD. I highly recommend it, if you think you’d like to give mindfulness practice a try.

And if you do, please let me know how it goes!

*Note: I do not benefit monetarily from sales of the book.