Finding ADHD Movement that Works For You

Host: 00:00:01

And welcome to another episode of ADHD Women's Wellbeing Wisdom.

Host: 00:00:06

Little short, bite sized pieces of wisdom that I've curated from all the many, many episodes that have been recorded over this time.

Host: 00:00:15

And I really hope that this short insight will help you on the week ahead.

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So today I am sharing with you some ADHD women's wellbeing wisdom with Karen Broder.

Host: 00:00:25

Now, Karen was a guest of mine way back at the very beginning of this podcast, but there's still so much wisdom there.

Host: 00:00:32

And we talk about movement, we don't talk about exercise.

Host: 00:00:34

We talk about the power of movement to help boost our dopamine in a healthy way and to be able to sort of reclaim our wellbeing using the power of movement.

Host: 00:00:46

So it's just being able to access different ways of looking at movement exercise so we can reframe it.

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So it's not sort of this kind of like, oh, a necessity and it weighs us down.

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It's this sort of dread.

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It's actually being able to, to invite a fun way of moving our body, recognizing what it's doing to our mental wellbeing and embracing it to help with our adhd.

Host: 00:01:08

So let's take a listen to this week's shorter episode with Karen Broder.

Karen Broder: 00:01:14

This is what I coach on in my programs and in my community is this term called you'd movement flow.

Karen Broder: 00:01:21

And what I describe it as is finding some form of movement that so intently incorporates your body and your brain at the same time that everything goes quiet.

Karen Broder: 00:01:33

Your mind is really just focused on what's happening in the moment and it doesn't even have a chance to ping around to different thoughts or different things.

Karen Broder: 00:01:42

It's really in this state of flow and it can look different for everyone.

Karen Broder: 00:01:48

And to find what that is for you, it's just thinking, okay, what activities have I stuck with?

Karen Broder: 00:01:53

What have I really loved in the past?

Karen Broder: 00:01:55

And starting there and then starting to deduce that down.

Karen Broder: 00:01:59

Like, when I do this activity that I love, am I just so in the moment that I could literally just do this forever, but my, you know, my body physically is going to probably give out before I want to.

Karen Broder: 00:02:13

That's a really good path to go down to see, like, is that my movement flow?

Karen Broder: 00:02:18

It's the things you do that you're like, I am just so focused on, you know, my breathing, coordinating my limbs, engaging my muscles just so, so in the moment things go quiet, it feels like this flow.

Karen Broder: 00:02:30

It's challenging, but it also feels really inviting.

Karen Broder: 00:02:36

And that's the movement that I want you to follow.

Karen Broder: 00:02:39

Because when you find that you're going to want to go do that, it's still challenging.

Karen Broder: 00:02:45

So you're going to get so many benefits.

Karen Broder: 00:02:46

You're going to grow in your strength, your stamina, your energy, whatever your goals are.

Karen Broder: 00:02:52

But it's going to be inviting to do, and it's going to calm your mind and start to train your brain to be like, oh, I can focus on this.

Karen Broder: 00:03:03

I can do this.

Karen Broder: 00:03:04

I don't have to be bouncing around all the time.

Karen Broder: 00:03:07

And now that can also start with just ignoring what you think you should do.

Karen Broder: 00:03:11

Like, I love weightlifting.

Karen Broder: 00:03:12

You love weightlifting.

Karen Broder: 00:03:13

I love circus, but I don't like playing soccer or basketball or anything.

Karen Broder: 00:03:18

Kind of team sports, not my thing says ignoring you should do and finding what feels good.

Host: 00:03:24

Yeah, me too.

Host: 00:03:25

And I've heard that a lot from different people that team sports is not really an ADHD thing.

Host: 00:03:31

But maybe I'm wrong.

Host: 00:03:32

What I did hear today, which is funny that we're talking, is that I was listening to one of Tracy Otsuka's podcasts, and one of her podcasts, recent ones, was about exercise.

Host: 00:03:42

And I actually listened to it by chance, not because we were talking today and she said that she's never met someone, a female weightlifter, that isn't adhd.

Host: 00:03:52

She said it's full of ADHD women, because it kind of ticks a lot of the things with regards to the dopamine and the challenge, I guess it's like an internal restlessness and this internal motor to keep kind of competing against yourself.

Host: 00:04:08

So it was really interesting when you said, because I didn't know that you were, you know, that was your.

Host: 00:04:13

The professional athlete side of you was the weightlifting.

Host: 00:04:15

So it was really interesting that she said that because I think she used to do quite a lot of weightlifting.

Host: 00:04:21

But also what I'd like to touch on is, as women, we have so many different cycles.

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You know, we've got the cycle of, obviously our physical cycle of menstruation, so of feeling different throughout the month.

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We've got puberty and, you know, adolescence.

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Then we go into pregnancy and childbirth, and then we've obviously got sort of like perimenopause and menopause.

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So it's like our body is just constantly evolving.

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Even though we say we enjoyed swimming or soccer growing up, as we got older, that cycle of our life might not be, you know, quite right for it.

Host: 00:04:58

Or on the flip side, if you're into yoga, you might have been like, really into, like, hardcore kind of vinyasa style.

Host: 00:05:05

Yoga and then as you get older, you want to do something a little bit calmer like restorative yoga.

Host: 00:05:12

So do you get a lot of women who come to you who are going through these different cycles and feel maybe like lost or stuck and not quite sure where to begin their movement process again?

Karen Broder: 00:05:24

Yeah, definitely.

Karen Broder: 00:05:26

I'll start with giving the kind of my story a little bit more here and then touching on the clients I work with, which yeah, you hit the nail on the head again there where I was doing weightlifting or I started that I started because I loved it.

Karen Broder: 00:05:40

But then it was really fueled by this need to be strong enough to also stay skinny and to feel like I'm enough.

Karen Broder: 00:05:47

And during that period of life I had, as we all do for the most part, just depends on how much self growth you want to do is a self growth journey.

Karen Broder: 00:05:57

So I was growing myself and my mindset.

Karen Broder: 00:06:00

So when I ended weightlifting, I was like, I kind of learned what I needed to learn during this journey.

Karen Broder: 00:06:05

Then I went into circus and at the time it was just really fun.

Karen Broder: 00:06:08

It was really freeing.

Karen Broder: 00:06:09

It was really great for my mind.

Karen Broder: 00:06:12

It was so different.

Karen Broder: 00:06:14

But over the last couple years, really over the last year, I realized this circus and like Arielle Silks journey is really about me learning to express myself and to be more vulnerable and to through movement show yeah that expression of what's really deep inside of me and find that creativity, which is rarely really hard for me, but it's matching my own self growth and mindset journey.

Karen Broder: 00:06:43

And that's why I'm really gravitating towards it, because it's a challenge, it's something I need and it's feeling really liberating as I start to overcome that challenge.

Karen Broder: 00:06:54

So I talk with a lot of clients where they're like, oh, in high school I was an athlete or my 20s, you know, I played like competitive soccer.

Karen Broder: 00:07:02

I keep coming back to the soccer example.

Karen Broder: 00:07:03

I don't know why.

Karen Broder: 00:07:05

And then it's just shrouded with this.

Karen Broder: 00:07:08

I need to get back to that.

Karen Broder: 00:07:09

I should still enjoy soccer, I should still be doing this.

Karen Broder: 00:07:13

I should be at the same, you know, strength level or weight or fitness level as I did before.

Karen Broder: 00:07:21

And I always start with asking them, it's like, should you?

Karen Broder: 00:07:25

Like who said?

Karen Broder: 00:07:27

Because what you liked before doesn't mean you have to still like that.

Karen Broder: 00:07:31

And then we go back to like, what activities light you up right now.

Karen Broder: 00:07:35

And if you're not sure, what aspects of activities do you have you liked in the past?

Karen Broder: 00:07:41

Why did you like them?

Karen Broder: 00:07:42

Does that still call to you and if not, what are you looking for in movement?

Karen Broder: 00:07:47

And let's start to brainstorm different activities that could feel really good for you right now based on your own self growth journey that like you said, also matches our own physical journey.

Karen Broder: 00:07:59

You know, if you're trying to have kids or you did just have kids or you are going through menopause, what you need physically is also going to change.

Host: 00:08:10

I do feel there is this juxtaposition between having adhd, which, and I'm just going to say from a personal perspective, I have a lot of inner restlessness.

Host: 00:08:20

I wouldn't call myself the typically hyperactive, but I have to, I can sit for long periods of time.

Host: 00:08:28

I don't, you know, like tap my feet and I can sort of sit, but if I don't get out, you know, a couple of times a day to move my body, then it's almost like, it's like a pressure cooker inside me.

Host: 00:08:41

Like I can just feel something bubbling which is going to come out like in, you know, shouting at my kids or being irritable with my husband or just getting really impatient.

Host: 00:08:52

So I know that if I've been on a walk in the morning, so that's my typical thing is I love walking my dog.

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I'll go on a fast pace.

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It has to be fast paced.

Host: 00:09:00

I can't walk with people as I have lots of gorgeous friends who I can't walk with because they walk too slow for me.

Host: 00:09:07

So I'm now I'm a pretty antisocial walker because if I don't walk to the pace that I can, I can't, I just can't walk.

Host: 00:09:15

It's like I have to either walk that pace or not walk at all.

Host: 00:09:19

So I've had times where I've had friends like trailing behind me and I'm like, you have to walk faster.

Host: 00:09:24

They're like, you have to walk slow.

Host: 00:09:25

I was like, I can't walk slower.

Host: 00:09:27

And, and so yeah, it's, it's a bit of a funny one.

Host: 00:09:31

But I, I know that a lot of other women suffer from a lack of motivation and this, this, they have, you know, they need to exercise.

Host: 00:09:42

They know they need to and they know they want to and they know they should be exercising.

Host: 00:09:47

But they are standing in their own way.

Host: 00:09:50

Their ADHD brain, this neurological makeup, which has got nothing to do with our personality.

Host: 00:09:55

And it's not a flaw, it's not a character, you know, trait.

Host: 00:09:59

It is literally our brains standing in our way.

Host: 00:10:02

And so I know that there's lots of different ways that we can hack our brains.

Host: 00:10:07

You know, neuroplasticity, we've got these amazing neural, neural pathways that can be, you know, changed over time.

Host: 00:10:15

So how do you help people that come to you that say I want to exercise and all day I spend, you know, saying I'm going to and then it gets to like 7pm and I've still not done it again.

Host: 00:10:27

And that is obviously going to contribute to mental health problems.

Host: 00:10:30

It's going to contribute to, you know, depression, anxiety, shame, guilt, anger, resentment, all the things which then has a knock on effect to the rest of your life.

Host: 00:10:39

So you know, it sounds like it's, you know, just going out for a walk is such an easy thing to do but for some people it really isn't.

Host: 00:10:47

And that, you know, can affect your career, your relationships, so many things.

Host: 00:10:53

And so I wanted to address that today to, to be able to offer people some brain hacks and tips to try and you know, I guess override their ADHD brains, which gives us so much but also is a bit of a hurdle for many of us as well.

Karen Broder: 00:11:10

Yeah, this is question of the century and really my coaching is focused on creating consistent exercise habits.

Karen Broder: 00:11:17

That is my bread and butter.

Karen Broder: 00:11:19

It's what I've worked with clients on to create success and I look at it a little bit differently.

Karen Broder: 00:11:26

So I call it my mindset method and I'll explain it with using an analogy because I feel like sometimes that's the easiest way to really get a grasp on it.

Karen Broder: 00:11:35

So in order to create a consistent exercise habit, if I just kept giving you all the hacks and tricks, they would work for a short period of time.

Karen Broder: 00:11:45

But as we know, you'll probably fall off again in a week, two weeks, 30 days time.

Karen Broder: 00:11:51

So this mindset method, I want you to think of a house.

Karen Broder: 00:11:55

So for a house to stand, to be furnished, it needs different parts.

Karen Broder: 00:11:58

The first thing you need is a foundation, a really sturdy foundation.

Karen Broder: 00:12:03

Or like myself, I live in a tiny home on wheels.

Karen Broder: 00:12:05

I have a very sturdy trailer to live on and that is the mindset piece.

Karen Broder: 00:12:11

And mindset being a catch all term, but it's really diving into these self sabotaging beliefs, things that you carried from childhood from like who raised you or the people around you.

Karen Broder: 00:12:25

It's all the thoughts that and beliefs that are in your subconscious and conscious brain that are essentially preventing you from sticking with some sort of movement.

Karen Broder: 00:12:35

So that's the foundation we need to address that first and simultaneously as we continue to build an exercise habit.

Karen Broder: 00:12:42

The second thing for that you need is a house on this foundation.

Karen Broder: 00:12:46

The house is the same system, and I call this your fitness system.

Karen Broder: 00:12:51

Think of it like a habit.

Karen Broder: 00:12:52

It's something that you're going to put on autopilot or systemize so you know what to expect every day.

Karen Broder: 00:13:01

And you're really breaking down the barriers to exercise whatever you choose.

Karen Broder: 00:13:07

So it's easy.

Karen Broder: 00:13:09

It doesn't feel like you have to plan or, you know, do all these things.

Karen Broder: 00:13:15

That feels overwhelming.

Karen Broder: 00:13:16

It's just easy.

Karen Broder: 00:13:16

You show up, you know, the day at that time, and it just feels inviting.

Karen Broder: 00:13:21

So that's the house and you need that on the foundation, which is the mindset.

Karen Broder: 00:13:25

The third thing is, I mean, everyone's favorite is the decor and the furniture for the house that you go shopping at like Urban Barn for that.

Karen Broder: 00:13:34

Those things are all the hacks, the like, tips and tricks.

Karen Broder: 00:13:39

But if you just had that, without a house to put them in and without a foundation to put the house on, they're never going to last.

Karen Broder: 00:13:46

It's like putting furniture outside in the rain.

Karen Broder: 00:13:48

It's going to get damaged right away.

Karen Broder: 00:13:50

So when I work with clients, we address the mindset piece first or we start to dive into that.

Karen Broder: 00:13:56

It's like, okay, what is really causing you to get in your own way?

Karen Broder: 00:14:00

And often for us, it's not, I'm not good enough, or if I do this workout plan, it's not enough.

Karen Broder: 00:14:05

I need to do more.

Karen Broder: 00:14:07

So then it's like this all or nothing approach.

Karen Broder: 00:14:09

So we start to uncover where is the root of this?

Karen Broder: 00:14:13

Why are you holding this in your subconscious that's causing you to get in your own way.

Karen Broder: 00:14:19

And as we're tackling that, we start to build the system.

Karen Broder: 00:14:23

And this is before we start to put in all the fun tips and tricks.

Karen Broder: 00:14:26

And the system is, yeah, putting on autopilot.

Karen Broder: 00:14:30

So to give everyone who's listening how to get started with a system is find, of course, the movement you love.

Karen Broder: 00:14:40

That's going to be the most important because then you're going to look forward to doing it.

Karen Broder: 00:14:44

And I have some videos I can also link in the show notes to that and how to find that.

Karen Broder: 00:14:50

But for your system, you want to essentially automate your workouts.

Karen Broder: 00:14:56

Not so you're not present or mindless in your workouts, but everything around the workouts.

Karen Broder: 00:15:02

So say every Monday you are going to go swimming first thing in the morning.

Karen Broder: 00:15:07

That means when you wake up Monday morning, you already have your swim bag packed.

Karen Broder: 00:15:11

Because, you know, every Monday in the morning you go swimming and you go the Same pool at the same time.

Karen Broder: 00:15:18

And you follow maybe a same type of swim workout, or you set your timer for 30 minutes, whatever that looks like.

Karen Broder: 00:15:23

So you have this whole system set up around it.

Karen Broder: 00:15:26

You know exactly what you're doing.

Karen Broder: 00:15:28

It's really easy to show up for that.

Karen Broder: 00:15:30

And then every Tuesday, you're like, I go for my morning walk every single Tuesday, so I already know, make sure I have clean socks and that my shoes are ready.

Karen Broder: 00:15:38

And even if it's raining, I know to bring an umbrella.

Karen Broder: 00:15:41

And you do that every single Tuesday.

Karen Broder: 00:15:44

And I encourage people to have the same relative time every single day, so it's easier to create that system.

Karen Broder: 00:15:50

The reason this is so important to do the same thing, it gives us structure.

Karen Broder: 00:15:55

We love structure, but it still gives you lots of flexibility, which we also need.

Karen Broder: 00:16:01

So within the actual workout, you know, when you're walking, it's like, well, maybe you're doing a power walk, maybe you're doing an interval type style walking.

Karen Broder: 00:16:08

When you're swimming, maybe you're doing a different type of swim workout.

Karen Broder: 00:16:12

And as you continue to do this, it builds, trusting yourself that you can do this.

Karen Broder: 00:16:18

Because when you tell yourself, I'm going to go walking Tuesday morning, every Tuesday morning, you're creating a promise or you're making a promise to yourself.

Karen Broder: 00:16:26

And when you keep it, you're building trust.

Karen Broder: 00:16:28

The more trust you can build in yourself, the easier and easier it becomes to continue this exercise habit, this fitness system.

Karen Broder: 00:16:38

And then you can start to be more intuitive as you know, you move along.

Karen Broder: 00:16:42

And you don't want to be as regimented or as structured, but you could always come back to the system, too.

Karen Broder: 00:16:48

But the big underlying piece is tackling those beliefs that are holding you back and causing you to get in your own way.

Karen Broder: 00:16:55

And then of course, we can throw in the tips and tricks of, you know, all the things you can find online on Instagram, those tips.

Host: 00:17:03

So I hope you enjoyed listening to this shorter episode of the ADHD Women's Wellbeing podcast.

Host: 00:17:09

I've called it the ADHD Women's Wellbeing Wisdom.

Host: 00:17:12

Because I believe there's so much wisdom in the guests that I have on and their insights.

Host: 00:17:18

So sometimes we just need that little bit of a reminder, and I hope that has helped you today and look forward to seeing you back on the brand new episode on Thursday.

Host: 00:17:26

Have a good rest of your week.