15 Minute Nervous System Reset for ADHD

ADHD can make your brain run wild from time to time, causing irritability, overload/meltdowns with simple things, and the feeling of being in fight or flight. In this post I will take you through how to calm down your nervous system and what tools can help you.

How Can This Show Up?

Having a dysregulated nervous system can take over your day, week, even year! Knowing the signs within yourself can help you see what you need to work on, this may look like this:

• Feeling overloaded in your day

• Having meltdowns/overwhelm

• Feeling like you are in fight or flight state

• Feelings of anxiety and panic

• Stiff muscles

If you find this challenging you can always ask someone close to you if they have picked up on anything, when I started resetting my nervous system I ran into this too, sometimes a second pair of eyes can help.

What You Can Do For Yourself

Once you have been able to identify a dysregulated nervous system you have done the first step! Now you can start resetting your nervous system. Here are a couple of things to start you off:

• Yoga* - This helps ground you and bring you to the present moment, focusing on your mind and body connection

• Sleep - Back to basics! 7-9 hours of sleep every night is very important, if you're a napper like me on the weekends, keep it to 30 minutes max, as anything over this can disrupt your sleep.

• Nutrition - What you put in your body can affect you a lot, whole foods, vegetables and fibre.

• Spending time in nature - Psychology Today says: "Spending time outside has the power to lower blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, and improve mood. Even just a few minutes outdoors can start to re-regulate your nervous system."

Why Yoga Works

A simple yoga practise can help calm your nervous system and melt all of the stressors away. "Yoga is recommended as a management technique for individuals with ADHD." Says Muhammad A. Hamid in the article: Yoga for the Management of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

I have a bad habit of not wanting to do anything when I'm in this state, causing the irritability, and anxiousness to fester within me, which makes it worse. For me, yoga is perfect for erasing these annoying feelings as you become more focused on your body and mind connection rather than being stuck in your own head.

Here's a 15 minute practice to start with:

Final Thoughts

Resetting your nervous system doesn't have to be complicated or time-consuming. Whether it's rolling out your yoga mat, stepping outside for five minutes, or simply getting to bed a little earlier, small, consistent actions add up. Your ADHD brain isn't broken; it just needs a little more intentional care.

The next time you feel the overwhelm creeping in, the irritability rising, or your body going into fight or flight — come back to this. You now have the tools. The most important thing is to start, even imperfectly, because doing something will always beat doing nothing.

You've got this.

How did you find the yoga practise? Let me know.