Episode 20 of the Meditation, Doing, and Learning way (MDLWAY) audio feed sums up how practicing Bare Attention, non-reactive awareness, and mindfulness of the body could be useful for managing challenges that might otherwise contribute to overwhelm. 

After a short break, the MDLWAY audio feed will resume on April 25th.

Find episode transcripts and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

The eight preceding episodes have considered relatively common neurodivergent issues related to executive functioning, emotional regulation, and sensory processing. Challenges in any or all of these areas can lead to overwhelm. 

This episode defines overwhelm along with the related states of overload, meltdown, shutdown, and burnout, and considers how insight meditation and mindfulness techniques can help to identify and comprehend these states.

Access episode transcripts and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

The second of two episodes on mindfulness of sensory processing explores possibilities for internal interventions and external accommodations based on insight meditation and/or mindfulness practice.

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As a neurodiverse approach to meditation, the Meditation, Doing, and Learning way (MDLWAY) prioritizes the potential benefits of focused insight meditation and the practice of mindfulness in day-to-day life for sensory processing. 

This episode introduces sensory processing in the context of mindfulness and summarizes the instructions in the ancient Satipatthana sutta for practicing mindfulness of the six sense bases.

Access episode transcripts and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

This episode concludes a three-part series on emotional regulation. Episode 14 considered how insight meditation can be useful for identifying emotions or detecting mental and physiological variations from one’s baseline or 'resting' state. Episode 15 suggested ways to explore emotions through the tranquility meditation techniques of loving-friendliness, compassion, and sympathetic joy. Episode 16 sums up how meditation practice can gradually lead to clearer comprehension of emotions.

Access episode transcripts and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

Emotional regulation refers to the use of internal mechanisms to adjust one's emotional state. Some people – including a number of neurodivergent individuals – have difficulty recognizing, managing, or expressing emotion. This is the first of three episodes (14, 15, and 16) on identifying, exploring, and comprehending emotions.

Find episode transcripts and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

This episode introducing loving-friendliness meditation is being released on February 14, which is a holiday known as Valentine’s Day in some parts of the world. The historical observance of a saint’s day has become associated with the celebration of romantic love, often as expressed through consumption, such as giving gifts or going out on dates. 

What better time to introduce the concept of loving-friendliness – which goes beyond romance, and even friendship, to promote an unselfish, unattached love that wishes the best for everyone?

Find episode transcripts and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

The second episode in a three-part series on emotional regulation goes beyond the identification of emotions to consider how individuals can explore emotions through focused meditation practice and more casual mindfulness practice in ordinary life. This episode considers three tranquility meditation techniques -- loving-friendliness, compassion, and sympathetic joy -- as adaptive and prosocial tools to supplement emotional regulation mechanisms.

Find a transcript of this episode and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

Individuals who experience symptoms of the inattentive (ADHD-I), hyperactive (ADHD-HI), or combined (ADHD-C) subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder may encounter significant obstacles when learning to meditate. Many recent studies show that meditation can be possible, and likely beneficial, for people of all ages with ADHD.

Find out more about meditating with attention disorders, including the best exercises and techniques for those who encounter concentration challenges.

Access a transcript of this episode and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.

Those seeking practical results from meditation can try structured insight and/or tranquility meditation, mix and match techniques from both methods, or experiment with more customized forms of practice. This short episode considers some potential benefits and risks of personalized meditation practice.

Access episode transcripts and more meditation resources on MDLWAY.com.