Ying Deng
Meditation Teacher. ADHD Coach. Resonance Amplifier.
I think in layers—and I live in layers.
If you’re curious about the kind of person you’d be working with, here’s a glimpse into the dimensions I move through:
- Cognition: Multi-threaded thinker with fast processing power; I think in webs—constantly weaving patterns across disciplines and frameworks.
- Emotion: I experience emotional highs and lows with nuance and clarity, supported by strong regulation. Love is the fuel and practice I return to, again and again.
- Somatics: Zumba is the only cardio I can do without being bored to death. I dance to feel viscerally alive (currently learning salsa), and I love people by feeding them.
- Narrative: I reexamine, reconstruct, and reimagine my self-story often. I use narrative as fuel for change and execution. For me, identity isn’t static—it’s a continuous unfolding.
- System: In 2025, I’m exploring how narrative can be a tool for shaping systems—not just individual lives—and expanding my systems thinking into new domains.
Meditation Teacher
An early existential crisis first led me to explore meditation. I’ve practiced fairly regularly for over 7 years (on and off for much longer—ADHD life, of course), and completed a two-year training to become a certified meditation teacher trained by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. For me, mindfulness isn’t just a practice—it’s a way of life.
ADHD Coach
My own late ADHD diagnosis came after years of masking and trying to fit into systems that were never built for my brain. I’ve since worked with hundreds of ADHD adults—especially late-diagnosed clients, BIPOC, and immigrants, offering mindful, strategic and multidimensional coaching to help them design lives that feel sustainable, aligned, and alive.
Resonance Amplifier
I often describe myself as a human tuning fork—I sense, reflect, and amplify the frequency of what’s already alive in others. Whether through coaching or meditation, my work isn’t to impose a direction, but to help you hear yourself more clearly, so you can move in resonance with your own rhythm.
I spent my early childhood in Hunan, grew up in Shanghai, and moved to the U.S. for college.
At 19, I had my first existential crisis.
I was doing everything “right” on paper—earning As in college, interning at NOAA, and enrolled in an Honors program. But inside, something collapsed.
I looked around at what life was supposed to be and thought: Is this all there is?
I didn’t have the words then, but what I was really feeling was:
I want to live differently. I want to feel alive.
That crisis cracked me open—and started a lifelong journey into meditation, psychology, systems, becoming a life coach and keep pondering the deep question I’ve never stopped asking:
How do people live lives that feel meaningful, alive, and alligned—especially when their brains and bodies don’t operate the way the world expects?
Like many late-diagnosed ADHD folks, I spent years masking and trying to fit into systems that were never built for my brain.
I earned an M.A. in Economics and worked in startup operations.
I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until my late 20s, after feeling bored and burnt out at my “dream job”, working for a mindfulness startup Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach co-founded.
That diagnosis didn’t define me, but it gave me self-compassion, deeper awareness, and a clearer reason to start designing a life that truly aligns with how I’m wired.
Combined with my long-standing hyperfocus on psychology, I dove headfirst into understanding ADHD—devouring research, testing tools, and eventually becoming an ADHD coach myself. I’ve now worked with hundreds of ADHD adults, received a Coaching Mastery Award, and built a life that follows my own rhythm.
Threads That Guide My Work
Because we’re always part of something larger—woven into relationships, traditions, and living lineages—these are some of the people, practices, and wisdom streams that have deeply shaped me:
Buddhism & Mindfulness Meditation – especially the teachings of Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Sebene Selassie, Lisa Pedscalny and La Sarmiento.
Liberatory Thinkers & Writers – Audre Lorde, adrienne maree brown, john a. powell, and Makani Themba.
Animism – Animism reminds me that everything is alive and in relationship—people, land, ancestors, objects, stories. It shapes how I listen, how I build, and how I honor the unseen threads that connect us.
Daoism – part of my ancestral roots, Daoism teaches me to trust rhythm over force, softness over struggle. It’s a deep influence on how I move through life, favoring attunement, timing, and letting things unfold in their own natural way.
Positive Psychology, Strength-Based Approach, Resilience.
Behavior Design, Life Design, System Design.
Ying volunteered at Tara Brach’s in-person meditation workshop.
Now
When I first got diagnosed, I found very few Asian voices in the ADHD space. So I created ADHD Asian Girl—not just to share tools, but to create the representation and resonance I didn’t see, and to remind others that they’re not alone or broken, just wired differently.
I offer 1:1 coaching that is mindful, strategic, and multi-dimensional. I also offer meditation and share resources through my YouTube channel and podcast, ADHD Gathering.
I help ADHD adults do what truly matters—by working with their brains, not against them—to build lives that feel aligned, sustainable, and deeply alive.
I’m currently building The Resonance Field—a space where I’ll likely share more of my emerging systems insights.
When I’m not coaching or leading meditation, you’ll probably find me baking bread – kneading bread dough is totally one form of meditation, taking slow hikes in nature, dancing to reset my nervous system, reflecting on how systems shape our lives, or having long, layered conversations with close friends. I also love spending cozy time with my partner Eric, and our pup, Jade, here in Northern Virginia (the Greater D.C area has truly become home). These are the everyday rhythms that keep me grounded, curious, and connected.