Ying Deng
Award-Winning ADHD Coach | Featured Meditation Expert | Conference Speaker
If you’re curious about the kind of person you’d be working with, here’s a glimpse into the dimensions I exist in:
- 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.
- Cognition: Multi-threaded thinker; I think in webs, constantly weaving patterns across disciplines and frameworks.
- Somatics: Zumba is the only cardio I can do without being bored to death. I dance to feel viscerally alive, and I show love to people by feeding them.
- Narrative: I reexamine, reconstruct, and reimagine myself often. I use narrative as fuel for change and execution. For me, identity isn’t static; it’s a continuous unfolding.
- System: I’m exploring how narrative can be a tool for shaping systems—not just individual lives—and expanding my systems thinking into new domains.
My Story
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 thinking, 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 don’t operate the way the world expects?
Meditation Teacher
An early existential crisis first led me to explore meditation. I’ve practiced meditation fairly regularly for over a decade and completed a two-year training to become a certified meditation teacher trained by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. I am a featured expert in Self Magazine on ADHD-friendly meditation alongside industry leaders like Jeff Warren and presented at the 2023 Annual International Conference on ADHD on making meditation more ADHD-Friendly.
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, received a coaching Mastery award, and now offer mindful, strategic, and multidimensional coaching to help folks design lives that feel sustainable, aligned, and alive. Learn more about my credentials and coaching approach here.
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.
Like many late-diagnosed ADHD folks, I spent years masking. I earned an M.A. in Economics and worked in startup operations until my late-20s ADHD diagnosis at my “dream job” working for Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach’s mindfulness startup.
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.
Now
I created ADHD Asian Girl to provide representation I didn’t see when I was diagnosed and remind others they’re not alone or broken, just wired differently.
I now offer 1:1 coaching that is mindful, strategic, and multi-dimensional
Moreover, I share meditation and resources through my YouTube channel and podcast, ADHD Gathering, which highlights diverse narratives within the ADHD community.
Learn more about my credentials and coaching approach here.
When I’m not coaching, you’ll find me baking bread, taking mindful hikes, dancing to reset my nervous system, or having long conversations with close friends. I love cozy quality time with my spouse Eric and our pup Jade here in Northern Virginia. These everyday rhythms keep me grounded, curious, and deeply alive.
Ying (in the middle) assisted at Tara Brach’s in-person meditation workshop in March 2025.