Neurodivergent Contemplative Prayer

Neurodiverse Hi. My name is Tony. I'm an Urban Mystic & I have ADD. Neurodiversity and contemplative prayer may seem like two unlikely friends. “Just quite your mind.” “Let your thoughts go.” “Enter into stillness and silence.” Ha! For an ADD brain like mine, these kinds of instructions are hard to hear. I have never experienced a “quiet mind” or had enough control of the thought activity in my brain to decide that I was going to “let them go.” The more I tried to do contemplation the way typical brains do contemplation, the more I was led into frustration, envy, and failure. I created this episode for all of the people that I have spoken to that experience the tension between meditation and neurodiverse brains. The truth is, you can experience deep stillness and enter into deep presence with God – you just have to discover how YOU do that best, and then let yourself do it. It might not follow all the “rules,” but let’s be real – neurodiverse brains also tend to have a tenuous relationship with rules, so that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. I truly hope this series of episodes is helpful for Urban Mystics listeners in some way. I hope that each of you hears something in this that was for you – something your soul needed to hear. This episode is written, hosted and produced by Tony Duppong, exclusively for the Urban Mystics Podcast. Learn more about Urban Mystics by visiting the Urban Mystics website at https://www.urbanmystics.org/, or by joining the new ReWire Hub community and checking out the Urban Mystics space at https://rewirehub.mn.co/share/bUZrUTYAa8OHBTVg?utm_source=manual. Find us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/urbanmysticscommunity/ or send us an email at mailto:[email protected] Urban Mystics is a ministry of ReWire. Meditations and recordings are property of ReWire. Use of this copyrighted material is not allowed without consent. Learn more about ReWire at http://www.rewireteam.org Episode Audio Credits: Valley of Silence Meditation Audio File # 122612 by alanfrijins https://pixabay.com/music/meditationspiritual-valley-of-silence-meditation-yoga-relaxation-work-study-sleep-music-122612/