Hello there.
My name is Becky (she/they) and I am a neurodivergent individual, a yogi and yoga teacher, a nerd, and a fellow human being.
I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at age 27. I had no idea. By then I had developed anxiety and depression and had been through periods of disabling burnout as a result of intense effort to "fix myself" so that I would be accepted despite being different from my peers. I was unable to communicate my experience to others and did not know how to ask for help, so I had flown under the radar for a long time despite ongoing mental health interventions. Ten(ish) years later, I'm still having a rough time but it's getting better. I recently learned that I also have a lot of autistic traits so I am now going through the expensive and involved process of obtaining a professional autism assessment. I will be sharing more about this experience later, once I receive the results.
ADHD, autism, learning disabilities, and other neurodevelopmental conditions are just a few examples of labels associated with being neurodivergent. The medical community is only just beginning to understand how neurodevelopmental conditions impact and express themselves in women, racial minorities, and other politically marginalized groups because most of the research done in Western medicine has focused on cis-gender white males. That means many neurodivergent folks don't know that they are neurodivergent, and are living in a world that was not designed for their nervous system. Many folks are also lacking access to the resources they need so they can be supported, comfortable, and safe.
Thankfully, the human body, including the brain, is designed to heal itself... provided that it can rest in a safe and comfortable environment. I don't know a better and more accessible approach for creating a healing environment than yoga. Yoga practice has become a significant part of my own recovery.
This project, Know Thyself: Yoga for Neurodiversity, is meant as a place for me to catalog and share information, resources, and tools that I learn along the way through my own yoga journey as a neurodivergent human. For those of you looking to learn, you are your own teacher; I am just here to share the practice.
I am so excited to be able to do something for myself that I feel good about sharing with others.
As part of my day job (it's amazing, more to come on that), I speak with a lot of yoga teachers. Over and over again, I hear testimonials from both beginners and experienced teachers who tell me that they do this work because they are deeply passionate about sharing something that has done so much for them. I have yet to meet a yoga teacher who is not purpose-driven.
So, I am joining ranks of purpose-driven teachers and combining two of my more useful passions:
1) Yoga: exploring myself and the world around me with curiosity, and
2) Self-advocacy: sharing my discoveries with anyone who will listen
Along the way, I'll definitely be nerding out about the nervous system, quantum physics, the wind in the trees, and all of the other random things that spark joy in me or are just super cool facts. Yes, there will also be moss-petting.
Finally...
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Check out my Welcome + Introduction video here or on my Videos page to hear more about where we're going on this cosmic journey with Know Thyself: Yoga for Neurodiversity.
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