Stress and ADHD
Transcript:
stress and ADHD are a nasty combo today
let's talk about ways to de-stress give
me five minutes and I'm going to walk
you through some unconventional tips for
relaxation these aren't the ones you
always hear I promise also I have a free
video training that you can watch which
will show you exactly how I go through
step one of my four-step framework with
my clients to help them kick their ADHD
to the curb the natural way just drop me
a line below and I'll reach out and send
it your way
for those of you who don't know me hey
my name is Julie sad I'm an ADHD and
nutrition coach who's certified in
functional therapeutic diets in a
nutshell I help my clients reduce their
ADHD symptoms without relying on
medication so that they can go from
frazzled to focused and get fit and
find time for fun
so stress can make ADHD worse and ADHD
itself can make us feel more stressed
great so clearly we need to make
de-stressing a priority here are some
tips
first off pay attention to make sure
you're not using excessive stress as a
way to get yourself to do things some of
us use stress as a way to Spur ourselves
into action for example procrastinating
on something until it's urgent or
staying up late until the stress of
being so tired kind of pushes you into
getting started on that project you've
been putting off
I invite you to ask yourself if you
might be relying on very high levels of
stress to motivate you if so ask
yourself how sustainable that actually
is and if you notice that it's a pattern
then you can begin to take steps to
change it but step one is actually
bringing your awareness to the fact that
you're using stress to get your yourself
going if that turns out to be the case
next it's important to be skeptical of
traditional advice not all the standard
stuff works for us folks with ADHD for
example some people may find that
sitting on the couch and watching a
movie can be very relaxing for me
personally I find it depends if I'm kind
of stuck thinking about something and
that's stressing me out then yeah it can
distract me and reduce my stress that
way but if I'm having more of a physical
feeling of stress like it's in my body
not necessarily because of any one thing
then I find that watching a movie does
little to relax me and can actually
stress me out more especially if I'm
watching the movie with someone because
then I know I'll have to control my
fidgeting so as not to drive the other
person nuts which then well
just stresses me out
also please please please hear me now
meditation if you suck at meditation
please don't beat yourself up about it
meditation is one of those things we
always hear and mentioned as a way to
deal with stress some of us with ADHD
can benefit greatly from it and some of
us are really adverse to the idea of it
some of us have even had adverse effects
from it in my case I tried mindfulness
meditation and it actually made me see
violent imagery in my head for the first
time in my life and totally freaked me
the F out not cool
if you like the idea of meditation but
are having trouble with it I recommend
just starting with simple breathing
exercises instead one that I like is to
inhale for four counts hold it for seven
counts and exhale for eight counts four
seven eight how long do I do it for us
usually less than a minute yep I'm all
about the bare minimum when it comes to
this stuff
while breathing exercises definitely
take the edge off hands down the number
one thing that calms me down is doing
something that requires movement this
could be going for a walk dancing around
the house jumping up and down or doing
some kind of chore around the house now
as I say that last one I'm shocked that
those words are coming out of my mouth
as cleaning has never been my forte
however if I tell myself that it's my
mini therapy session instead of this
thing that I have to do it's a bit
easier to get started and I find that
even just a few minutes of putting
things in their proper place
really chills me out so to recap in
order to reduce stress levels in an ADHD
brain we want to one treat the
underlying ADHD and two find the stress
reduction techniques that work
specifically for us even if this means a
bit of trial and error
if you have found anything that relaxes
you and helps you deal with stress I
would love to hear about it in the
comments now if you don't know this
about me already the first part in my
four-part framework for reducing ADHD
the natural way is through dietary
therapy and the diet that's considered
the gold standard in the treatment of
ADHD is the ketogenic diet or keto for
short I've created a free video guide
that you can watch that shows the exact
steps I use with my clients to get them
started on keto for mental health it's
free no email address or opt-in form
required just leave a comment and I'll
send it your way thanks for being here
have a happy and healthy day and comment
below if you'd like the guide
