Audhd Forward

22/10/2025

✨ Awareness is step one.

💛 Compassion is what turns it into healing.

👉 Have you noticed moments where you’ve caught yourself being gentler with you?

21/10/2025

Supporting others to understand, accept and love who they are is my purpose, passion and privilege 🫶

18/10/2025

My letter to my younger self popped into my consciousness in the middle of the night- it was unplanned, heartfelt and late …

Which was a pain but also somehow fitting.

Thank you Cynthia Hammer for including it in the updated version of the publication ‘Letters to My Younger Self’ - a collection of letters written by late diagnosed women with ADHD.

This publication is free to access during October and can be found via the link www.FINDtheADHDgirls.org/repository along with a wealth of other resources helpful to girls and all those who are supporting them on their ADHD journey from curiosity onwards.

www.FINDtheADHDgirls.org/repository

17/10/2025

I’ve just seen this podcast promoted on BBC breakfast - it sounds real, direct, balanced and empowering celebrities yes but also everyday focus on schools, work place and relationships. A brilliant initiative in my book. Trustable and informative - fighting the fight.

There’s a part of me that feels like passing the mantle to those with power and influence but there’s the ‘everyday people too… and coaches and educators like me to play a role in providing support to other ‘everyday folk’

Whether these are one off sessions to set someone on the start of an adhd/autism journey and particularly how the two interact.. these have often lead to steps towards diagnosis.

A short term coaching relationship flipping the narrative away from external neurotypical internalised judgements, Discovering Alexithymia, time blindness, waiting mode, rejection sensitive dysphoria … unique relationships with needing to understand, honesty, justice, communication, processing information

Or a longer term option which creates space for ongoing practical strategies and diving into work place psychological safety, self advocacy and the secondary trauma responses which are often identified as traits but are a response from your nervous system to getting unsafe - in the moment and your whole life.

If coaching founds like something you need a one off session is £75, multiple sessions are less.

If this sounds like something you would benefit from get in touch I currently have one space each weekday but can offer evening sessions too.

Self awareness is everything 🫶

I'm ADHD! No You're Not · Episode

14/10/2025

Why it’s so hard to notice you’re overwhelmed until you crash.

💭 You’ve spent years running on adrenaline, juggling, overthinking, holding everything (and everyone) together, without even realising how much energy that takes.

Your nervous system has learned that being “on” all the time = safe.

So when you start to burn out, your brain doesn’t send you a neat calendar reminder saying, “Hey, you’re overwhelmed!” It just quietly pushes through… until you can’t anymore.

That moment you forget what you were saying mid-sentence. The tears that come out of nowhere. The exhaustion that hits like a wall. That’s your body finally getting a word in.

🌿 The work isn’t about avoiding overwhelm completely, it’s about noticing the whispers before they become shouts.

Those tiny signals, tension, fogginess, irritability, are your body’s first language. Listen early. Respond gently. You don’t need to earn your rest by reaching the crash point. 💛

👉 Do you notice your overwhelm creeping in, or does it usually hit all at once?

10/10/2025

Reflections on my journey …

My business which at times has felt more like a hobby or passion project is evolving.

I trusted and knew I was laying foundations without that clear idea of what the end result would like.

My guidance has been reflection and trust - knowing every step I’ve taken has been based on integrity, a commitment to serving others and authenticity.

It’s still emerging but I feel a shift. The clients I attract are poets, writers, therapists, educators and game changers. They’re not looking for productivity hacks they’re looking for a space of self reflection where they can find the answers inside themselves, their truths which sometimes can be difficult to face on their own, deeper connection with their own authenticity, truths, gifts and a space to be heard, seen for all the gifts they have to share with the world.

And I’m so aware every coaching client is a gift on my journey of self reflection too.

My coaching uses organic client centred coaching tools advocated by ICF. I disagree with people who feel this isn’t appropriate ADHD/neurodivergent clients. The adhd/AuDHD insight comes into play in the reflections, the questions, the recognition of how a dysregulated nervous system lingers, hides, forces the agenda, shows up - in fight, flight, freeze, response but the organic coaching puts the client in the driving seat and answers have to come from the inside if they are going to create shifts.

My instinct about the importance of addressing the nervous system for someone has grown and deepened over time. And alongside my own personal journey I hace an increasing knowledge base and tools to address this. How they drop into a coaching session is unique to the coaching relationship.

Recently ICF updated its standards to include the sharing, where appropriate of knowledge. That’s a game changer for me. My autistic brain needs ‘rules’ to follow and being ‘allowed’ to do what occurs naturally anyway is a release for me.

So what goes a coaching session look like? Typically a deep dive into thoughts, feelings, experiences which feel uncomfortable or unsettling … will strip back the layers of understanding together and look at next steps. We may focus on next steps for the week - keeping them kind, manageable, in line with my clients life demands , processing and emotional needs and neurodivergent response to the world, maybe a vent, a celebration. We may add in a bit of body doubling … having identified a crucial email, or need to research crucial information - why wait?

I love this work, I know my client’s experience shifts, new perspectives with ripple effects and each session shows me more about the world and myself.

I don’t plan sessions, which sometimes feels scary but I trust in my skills and in the relationship.

Like this picture of the sunrise reflected in the stone and the trees this morning- the beauty and insight isn’t always where we expect to find it and I’ve learned to appreciate that.

07/10/2025

On my way to Spain last week to a deep healing retreat, somebody suggested I was brave. I suppose because I was travelling alone to somewhere I didn’t know with people I didn’t know, to do what … I didn’t know.

The word ‘brave’ jarred for me. I didn’t feel brave, it didn’t make sense in that moment.

I could recognise strength in what I was doing - something that was purely for me, for claiming that time, effort, investment for myself - a new found sense of self worth. But brave? No not really.

Because the feeling about going on the retreat was the same as everyday no matter what I’m doing. There was more to think about logistically which added layers of emotion (stress) but that feeling of being brave which I assumed was a sense of unease at the lack of familiarity and belonging that might be waiting for me, was my normal.

And it’s always there no matter where and who I am with.

It’s a feeling of being alone even in a group of people. I don’t think it’s the same as being lonely although that comes into play too.

As an adult I rationalised this - we are all individual brings, our hearts, minds, souls, encased within a body so this is just a ‘normal’ state of being. It’s logical to feel separate from everyone else because ultimately we are.

As a child I felt it, I would make excuses to escape the playground - usually pretending I felt sick just to give me a break from that feeling.

It was a shock when i understood more about my diagnosis to learn everybody else didn’t necessarily feel this way. Or maybe they just don’t disect their lives in the same way…

Maybe that’s why I like writing because I’m interacting with the world… but not actually.

The difference for me now is that I’ve shifted my focus to looking out for that little version of me who carried the weight of those feelings and experiences without any understanding. Now I’m slowly unpicking those beliefs, behaviours and strategies she developed and am slowly releasing them, peeling them back and replacing them with strategies which serve me.

She did her best but now I know I can do better.

If that resonates- let me know 🫶

06/10/2025

Don’t think I succeeded in not waffling… but had to share because autism really came from nowhere today and bit me on my bum… delayed emotional processing BIG TIME, plus good old Alexithymia and the inability to understand what it was I was feeling and why.

It is hard work and frustrating and part of you feels as if you’re creating the intense response for no reason… but letting going of that and accepting this is part of who and how I am. Maybe there will be shifts in time and maybe the fact that my emotions only took hold for a couple of hours, I’m not exhausted, went on to hold space for a coaching client, shows that there already are.

Self awareness helps, body and breath work helps, choosing the right people to turn to helps. With knowledge and awareness come choices, even if it doesn’t feel like it in the moment … we can create practices, scaffold our lives with strategies to catch us, pick us up.

I’m not a coach because I’m sorted… I’m a coach because I know about learning from our individual experiences … the pitfalls and the wins, the need to listen to ourselves and how valuable the coaching space is to create those possibilities for doing things differently.

So happy to see the sun ☀️ again 🫶

05/10/2025

Sometimes I pull a card and yes it resonates but my defences speak first …’yes I know that’ or ‘yes I do that already’.

I have to stop and breathe, let go of the feeling of being judged (by the universe 🥴) and feel into it.

I confess though … Before this card I had 2 others jumped out at me - ‘cleanse’ and ‘self sabotage’. Ouch... ‘Yes I know’ was my response and I put them back - I wanted something deeper, more exciting …

But actually all 3 cards are about me - and awareness and practices which have to be in place for anything exciting to happen.

So yes although I’m already working on cleansing my body, mind and soul and intend to continue to in new ways, a friendly reminder that this is time and effort well spent is helpful.

Self sabotage has always been a sensitive issue because it’s so real on so many levels, so many ways … and for the first time I feel I may have a handle on this … though I think the Universe is yet to be convinced as I do keep getting reminders/warnings …. But I’m convinced - I know that if I stay present on the now and let go of the future all will be well.

And self love… well really that ties all 3 cards together doesn’t it?

Yoga, meditation, clean(er 😬) eating, running, body oil, sunrises and rest.

Acts of self love will cleanse my body, mind and soul , will help make sure I stay present and away from acts of self sabotage and will let my heart know she is loved and valued:

I have never in my life put so much energy, tine and effort into myself.

And this is my first week when I look like I actually have business model that is in alignment with me, my energy, my flow state.

A Coincidence?

But there’s no standing still. From a place of growth and excitement rather than striving frantically I have more plans for learning and growth and connection incoming.

And who knows, that may include cards and tarot and readings in the not too distant future. But for now, I’m treading gently… staying in a zone where things feel like they’re flowing and taking one step forward and enjoying the journey.

🫶

03/10/2025

Why go on a deep healing retreat?

Is the focus body, soul, mind, spirit?

I don’t think any two people on our retreat over the past 5 days would give the same answer.

Is the outcome something you can see? For some it definitely was.

And I’m pretty sure the answer before and after the retreat would be different.

Certainly the focus of identifiable outcomes would be different each day.

For me it was body partly- winter sun, vegetarian food, no alcohol, no caffeine (by choice), trying to drink more water … sugar I tried to limit but the temptations were too great… daily exercise swimming or running…and new routines with daily kundalini 🧘 yoga.

Being in a shared space 24/7 with people who start off strangers and end up friends is/was a journey on its own.

But the mind, soul and spirit certainly went on a journey … it felt like a small step in some ways because I’ve become aware that there’s so much for me to learn in the future, but a profound step because I know now a whole new knowledge, experiential and philosophical space will open up to me. I didn’t have this awareness before the retreat and day by day it became stronger.

So the inner work took a couple of surprising turns for me - firstly I recognised how I had actually arrived at this retreat in a good place and could reflect on how far I had come already.

And I suppose as a result of that my next steps became abundantly clear as I found a way of thinking, learning, connecting which just pulled together everything I feel in my heart about this world and life, my values and purpose.

It was definitely a different outcome to what I was expecting … if I ever knew what that was… but my hope at the start of the retreat was a better connection to myself and I know that’s true.

New experiences, new knowledge, new questions, new friends, new possibilities. And a bit of a glow on my skin along with a dot to dot of mosquito bites 😬

I’d say on reflection that was definitely a week well spent 🫶.

Thank you all and