Sonja:
Welcome to another episode of Femme on Fire.
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I'm Sonja and today we're talking about
something super close to my heart.
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How to actually relax when
you have some form of ADHD.
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Especially after those really intense work
sessions where you're totally in the zone.
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Or even if you try to change
task after being really focused
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on something, it might be
extremely hard to refocus on them.
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So even though some think that ADHD
is where you cannot focus at all and
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you just run around like a headless
chicken, which sometimes is the case.
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In most of us, that's not always the case.
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We have this great ability to hyper
focus, sometimes even for several hours.
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And our brains get really
completely flooded with what
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we are doing at that time.
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And at those times, that is when I'm
so focused on work that I forget to
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eat, I forget to drink, uh, sometimes
I even forget to go to the bathroom.
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And then when you try to relax,
your brain just keeps going.
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It won't shut up.
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It just goes and goes and goes.
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So today I want to help Find
some ways to make that better.
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I will tell you about
ways that work for me.
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So we're not going to do any of that
Breathe deeply stuff that never works
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for us ADHD Queens, but I will share
with you how I solve this problem.
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The first thing is to get physical.
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And I mean, your body needs to
know it's time to switch gears.
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And I love doing little things like
getting up and doing a few silly wiggles
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and dance moves or anything like that.
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Or I might take the dog for
a walk for five minutes.
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I mean, taking the dog actually gives
me purpose, but it's the walking
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that's really important in this case.
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And if you are somewhere like in an
office where a little dance might
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get you some weird looks, then try
giving yourself a quick hand massage.
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The hand massage really
stimulates your physical needs
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that you have at that moment.
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Another option is to wake up your senses.
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So, your brain loves sensory stuff.
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I mean, any ADHD brain
loves sensory stuff.
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And especially when it
comes to calming down.
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And I find that there are some
that work really well for me.
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So, whenever I get a chance,
I always walk barefoot.
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I don't at the moment because it's
really cold, so I have my, uh,
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slippers on, but normally I do.
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So when you feel that you
need to relax, try walking on
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different kinds of surfaces.
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My favorite is my chakra mat.
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A few minutes walking in place on
top of that really chills me out.
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It does take some getting used to because
it can, well, be a bit, I wouldn't say
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painful, but it could be a bit sensitive.
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Another option is to stick
your feet into warm water.
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It sounds very silly, but sometimes I do
this while I'm watching my favorite show.
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So that way my, both my head
and my senses are kept busy.
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And I feel really relaxed after that.
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The other thing that I love to
do, especially after a busy time,
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is to wrap myself into something
heavy, like a weighted blanket.
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A weighted blanket really makes
you feel like you are being held.
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What you could also try is breathwork.
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And, forget about that emptying
your mind stuff, because that
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really doesn't work for us.
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But you could try it in another way.
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So, try and lie down or
sit in a comfy chair.
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Then close your eyes.
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And imagine that your breath
is like waves at the beach.
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They go in and they go out.
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And then with each wave, you
count the waves that come in.
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And you could even try and improve
that by picturing that the breathing of
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your waves is in your favorite color.
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So, breathe in, breathe out,
breathe in, breathe out, and count.
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I have done this while sitting at my
desk for five minutes as a quick reset.
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And that helps me to make
it easier to change tasks.
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And I can say that for us the
main thing is to stay active while
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we're calming down, unlike a lot
of other people who want to clear
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their mind and be really calm.
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We need to stay active.
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And here's a little secret.
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You should keep your hands busy.
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You can, for instance, make paper
airplanes, which my kids love, uh,
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sort through your makeup collection,
do your nails or organize your desk,
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but do something that, you know, you
have to be careful that you don't
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get caught up in a new project.
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It's really to Give your mind
something else to do and relax.
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The last thing I want to share is some
time tricks that I have implemented to
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help my brain shift a little bit easier.
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I know time is a weird thing for us.
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So here's what really helps me a lot.
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I set actual timers for work periods.
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This way my brain knows when
it's going to be over and I
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can move on to the next thing.
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It also helps my time management
as it links perfectly into
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my time blocking strategy.
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I also use different colors for
different parts of my day and it makes
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it visually easier to block my time.
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I take breaks before I think that I
need them and that's really important.
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I just go up and get a cup of
coffee, pet my dog, talk to my
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husband Or do anything, just a quick
break, just before I might need it.
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This way I do not exhaust my brain
and I stay much more productive.
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I feel our ADHD brains are a bit
like sparkly, energetic puppies.
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You can't really force them to sleep.
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And they need the right kind
of attention to settle down.
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So, my advice is, don't fight
against your brain, work with it.
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If you love these tips,
hit that follow button.
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And share this episode with any amazing
woman that you might think needs it.
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And I will see you next
time on Femme on Fire.
