Stillness For Overwhelmed ADHD Brains
Ron Shuali is an author, educator, martial artist, and passionate neurodivergent disruptor who blends humour and humanity into every insight. While navigating his own ADHD journey, he stumbled across a deceptively simple question that changed everything: I wonder what my next thought will be?
“In that moment, your mind has nothing to hold onto… and it’s completely quiet. And in that quiet, is peace.”
— Ron Shuali, ADHDifference guest
This short question might sound like a curiosity trick but in practice, it’s a powerful mental reset. By pausing to ask this question, the noise quiets. The internal chaos of spiralling thoughts, emotional triggers, and mental overstimulation takes a breath. Suddenly, your mind has nothing to say. Just stillness.
This practice is rooted in the teachings of spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle, who introduced the question as a way to access present-moment awareness and quiet the “thinking mind.” Years later, it exploded on platforms like TikTok as a viral tool to stop overthinking. And for ADHDers, it’s become an accessible, low-friction strategy to stop mental spirals before they take over.
Why It Works
The ADHD brain can feel like a pinball machine, bouncing from task to task, thought to thought, emotion to emotion. Often, the most painful moments are not caused by the external world but by the internal commentary:
This strategy interrupts that loop.
When to Use It
Ask yourself this question whenever your mind starts to spiral:
- When you’re catastrophising or overthinking
- When emotional flooding or frustration hits
- When you’re stuck in a shame loop or self-talk spiral
- When focus has completely slipped and you need a way back in
It’s also a great “reset” moment during transitions – between tasks, meetings, or emotional states.
How to Use It
This strategy doesn’t require silence, special settings, or meditation training. Just awareness.
- Notice the moment your thoughts start to race or spiral.
- Ask the question internally: “I wonder what my next thought will be?”
- Wait. Just listen.
- Often, nothing happens… and that’s the point.
- Repeat as needed. It’s a mental interruption you can use anytime, anywhere.
The more you practice, the faster you’ll catch the spirals – not to fix them, but to gently step outside them.
The Science Behind It
In ADHD, research shows that spontaneous mind wandering (when your thoughts drift away from the present task) is a core feature of the condition and is linked to how the brain’s default mode network (DMN) functions. Normally, the DMN is most active when the brain is at rest or thinking internally (eg: daydreaming, recalling memories), and it decreases activity when the brain engages in focused attention.
In people with ADHD, the DMN often remains more active during tasks, leading to internal focus where the mind can wander instead of staying anchored in the present moment. This can make it harder to sustain attention, initiate tasks, or escape a cycle of self talk spirals.1
Research confirms that altered interactions between the DMN and attention networks are associated with ADHD symptoms like distractibility and lapses in attention. These altered patterns mean that spontaneous internal thought can intrude when focus is needed, exactly the scenario this strategy interrupts by cultivating curiosity and present moment attention.2
💬 Final Thought
Ron didn’t invent the question but he uses it in a way that’s beautifully ADHD-friendly. It’s fast, non-judgmental, and low effort.
“I wonder what my next thought will be?”
That tiny pause could be your path back to peace.
🎧 Listen to the full episode with Ron Shuali (S2E26) here 🎧
REFERENCES
- Bozhilova, N.S., Michelini, G., Kuntsi, J. & Asherson, P. (2018). Mind wandering perspective on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
- Norman, L.J., Sundre, G., Price, J., Shastri, G.G. & Shaw, P. (2022). Evidence from “big data” for the default-mode hypothesis of ADHD: a mega-analysis of multiple large samples