Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hi, I'm your host, Tracy Outsuka. Welcome to our Monday shift. Every Monday, I'll be sharing one short, prescriptive episode built around a single idea that can help you see yourself, your ADHD, or your situation differently. Let's get started. Have you ever noticed that the harder you try to think your way out of feeling overwhelmed, the more overwhelmed you become? You replay conversations. You worry about the future. You analyze every possible outcome. You keep thinking that if you can just solve the problem, you'll finally feel better. But what if thinking is not the answer? What if your brain is not the best place to start? Today, we're going to look at something that completely changed the way I think about a dysregulated nervous system. My nervous system. Sometimes the fastest way to calm your brain is to actually start with your body. Let's find our suds score. I want you to tune into how you're feeling right now. Quiet your mind, Focus in on your body, and on a scale from zero as calm as you've ever felt to 10, as distressed as you've ever felt. What is your suds score? Your suds score is just a quick snapshot of your current state. No judgment allowed. Write it down, though, so you don't forget it. I want you to be able to compare your beginning sudscore to your ending set score so you can tell the impact of this shift. Okay, next, let's set an intention for today. Today, I trust that my body can help calm my brain. Next, we're going to create an identity around this intention. We're going to ask, who can I be in this intention? How about this? I am the kind of person who. Who knows that when I get into my body, I get out of my head. So let's go. For a long time, I thought that the only way to feel better was to think differently. If I could just figure it out, solve the problem, or make sense of what I was feeling, then I'd finally feel better. But now I understand something different. When my nervous system is dysregulated, my attention gets trapped inside my head. I replay conversations, worry about the future, overanalyze decisions. My brain keeps looking for answers because it somehow believes that I can think my way into feeling better. But my brain is not the only part of me that's gathering information. So is my body. When I get into my body, that is exactly how I get out of my head. The moment I start using my body, my attention has somewhere else to go. So instead of replaying my thoughts, I am paying attention to what I'm doing because it can't do both. Replay my thoughts and pay attention to what I'm doing at the same time. Now I'm paying attention to what I see, what I hear, what I smell, what I feel, what? My brain has less room for rumination because it's busy paying attention to what's happening right now in the present. That's one of the reasons that activities like cooking or walking or swimming or painting, woodworking, gardening, playing an instrument, lifting weights, or even washing my car can actually feel calming. It isn't the activity itself that's changing me. It's that my body is reminding my brain that I'm here, I'm paying attention, and I'm safe. I don't think my way back to feeling better. I move my way there. So here's our strategy for today. We're going to call it get into your body. The next time I notice myself spiraling, overthinking, or feeling overwhelmed, I'm going to stop trying to solve the problem for just 10 minutes. Instead, I'm going to ask myself, what can I do that gets me into my body? Maybe I'll go for a walk. Maybe I'll cook dinner. Maybe I'll stretch or lift weights or shoot baskets, play the piano, swim a few laps, work in the garden, wash that car again, organize a shelf or build something with my hands. Look, the activity doesn't matter. What? What matters is that I stop asking my brain to do all the work. I'll let my body lead for a few minutes and see what changes. Because when I get into my body, I naturally get out of my head. Now, let's do some breath work. We're going to start with three deep breaths. And all I ask is that your exhale be twice as long as your inhale. Are you ready? Okay, let's inhale for a count of four and then exhale for a count of eight. Inhale. And exhale. One more inhale and exhale. That's it. Shake it off. Now we're going to do our gratitude check in. Can you think of a time when moving your body completely changed how you felt? Maybe it was a walk that suddenly cleared your head. Or a workout that shifted your mood. A meal you cooked, A hike you took, A project that absorbed your attention. Those moments, they weren't accidents. Your body has been helping your brain all along. Now let's get into our body and feel grateful for that time. I'm going to give you a moment. Okay, let's take a deep breath in. And exhale it all the way out. Now can we re rate our SUDS score on a scale from 0? Calm as you've ever felt 10. Distressed as you've ever felt. What is your SUD score now? How much has a decrease? Check in with yourself the next time I catch myself trying to think my way out of feeling overwhelmed, I'll remember that my brain isn't the only place that healing happens. Sometimes the best thing I can do isn't to think harder, it's to move. Because when I get into my body, I get out of my head. Until next time, stay curious. Stay connected. Stay present. Stay brilliant. Now the music will continue for a few more minutes. You don't need to rush off to the next thing. Maybe stay here for a bit. Think about one activity that always helps you get out of your head and back into your body. Or simply enjoy having a few minutes with absolutely nothing being required of you. And if today's message felt important, consider listening again. If you'd like more guided experiences designed to help you see yourself and your ADHD differently, I created something called SHIFT. Learn more at tracyoutsuka.com SHIFT.