Adell Bridges, Yoga Instructor: “I Have More Compassion Since My ADHD Diagnosis”
“Since my diagnosis, I’ve given myself permission to focus on what I’m good at, and to ask for help with those things I’m not so good at. I have more compassion for myself, and that leads to feeling more compassion for others.”
My identical twin sister was diagnosed with ADHD in the U.S. about a year ago. At the time I lived in the UK. My first thought was, “C’mon, they hand out diagnoses left, right, and center in the U.S.” I didn’t believe it. It certainly never crossed my mind that I might have it as well.
Once I began listening to podcasts about ADHD and how it presents in women, everything about my own life started to make sense. I found answers to questions I’d asked all my life, like, “Why am I so good at the hard things, but confounded by the everyday things, like scheduling a doctor’s appointment or speaking without going off on tangents?” That’s when I decided to get evaluated, eventually receiving my diagnosis.
ADHD has been both a blessing and a curse for me as a business owner. I’m a writer, content creator, and yoga teacher. Like many with ADHD, I have an inexhaustible supply of ideas, but it’s frustrating when those ideas don’t get implemented because I am a one-woman business and do everything myself.
[Could You Have ADHD? Take This Self-Test for Women]
My rejection sensitive dysphoria also means I have an urge to make everyone happy. I’ve learned that I will never please everyone — and if I do, it means that I’m likely not pleasing myself. This experience has allowed me to practice detachment — an element in yoga called aparigraha — whereby I detach my ego from others’ assumptions about me and the name tags they might use to describe me.
Since my diagnosis, I’ve given myself permission to focus on what I’m good at, and to ask for help with those things I’m not so good at. I have more compassion for myself, and that leads to feeling more compassion for others.
My advice to living well with ADHD? Speak to other people with ADHD, join groups, listen to podcasts, read books, and anything else that will educate you on the ADHD experience. I’ve discovered that ADHD isn’t a problem to “overcome.” It means I have a wonderfully quirky brain that just works differently. Understanding the individual and unique ways that ADHD shows up in my life is the key to making it my superpower.
Adell Bridges and Her ADHD Story: Next Steps
- Free Download: Make Mindfulness Work for You
- Blog: “My Life Before and After a Late ADHD Diagnosis”
- Read: Why ADHD in Women is Routinely Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Treated Inadequately
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