ADHD: Women Exploring the Neuroverse

Welcome back! Leonie-Ruth and Rachael chat about the challenges of keeping a podcast going with ADHD, how everyday lifestyle choices can affect our health, and why reconnecting with nature can make such a difference to our well-being.

This episode is a cornucopia of topics including ADHD, health, lifestyle, natural remedies, mental health, podcasting, self-care, environment, natural light, fatigue

Takeaways:

• Living with ADHD requires flexibility and support systems.
• Lifestyle and environment significantly influence mental and physical health.
• Natural remedies and herbal approaches can be effective alternatives to medication.
• Medications often lack personalized research, highlighting the need for individualized care.
• Reconnecting with nature and natural light can improve well-being.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and personal updates

01:57 Challenges of recording and technical issues

04:11 Dealing with fatigue and burnout

07:07 The impact of medications and natural alternatives

10:01 The importance of lifestyle and environment

14:58 Reconnecting with nature and biophilia

20:05 Practical tips for natural living

24:59 Meal prep and nutritional strategies

26:58 Closing thoughts and future plans

Rachael's Granola Recipe:

Dry ingredients:

• 2 cup whole rolled oats
• 2 cups nuts/seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, almond, peanuts)
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 TBSP chia seeds
• 2 TSP cinnamon
• 1/2 TSP salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of mayple syrup
• 2 TBSP unrefined coconut oil
• 2 TBSP Peanut butter or almond butter

Method:

• Preheat oven to 160c
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper
• Combine dry ingredients
• In a seperate bowl combine wet ingredeints
• Drizzle this mixture over the dry ingredients
• Scoop onto baking sheet and press out evenly
• Bake for 15 minutes: halfway through (at 8 mins) rotate and use a fork to break up the mixture
• Bake for another 15 minutes (total of 30 mins baking)

👉 Join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for support and community, or reach out if you’d like to share your ADHD journey! 📬 Interested in being a guest or working with us? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ruth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rachael⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ directly—we’d love to hear from you!

This short ‘hello again’ episode includes some vulnerable sharing as Ruth and Rachael briefly unpack recent challenges — part of life as neurodiverse women navigating a wonderfully chaotic world

Recorded September 2025, but better late than never!

Thank you to all our listeners who keep coming back....we are working on it.

Quick mini episode about how Rachael used her neurodiversity and creative problem solving to figure out how to be true to herself and also standing up for her values.

Just a quick hello and reminder 🥰

ADHD energy management, abundance mindset, spoon theory reframe, self-compassion, practical strategies, and thriving with ADHD.

In this episode, we dive into what it means to approach our energy with an abundance mindset. 💫 Instead of living in constant fear of “running out of spoons,” we explore how reframing our relationship with energy can bring us more ease, self-trust, and joy. We share personal stories about burnout, guilt, and overcommitment—and how we’re learning to see energy as something we can nurture and grow, not just spend.

We also unpack how to work with our ADHD brains, rather than against them, by noticing the rhythms of our energy and finding practical ways to honor our limits without feeling defeated. If you’ve ever felt like your energy defines your worth, this conversation is your invitation to see yourself with more compassion and hope. 🌞

✨ Key Discussion Points:

• Spoon Theory, Reframed: We talk about why traditional spoon theory can feel limiting—and how to shift toward a mindset of abundance without ignoring our real needs.
  

• Noticing Energy Rhythms: How tracking your natural highs and lows can lead to a more balanced and guilt-free life.
  

• ADHD & Burnout Patterns: We share personal experiences of burnout and the patterns we’ve spotted in how ADHD brains push themselves too far.
  

• Practical Energy Boosters: Small, actionable steps we’re using to gently increase our energy reserves over time.
  

• Self-Compassion as a Tool: The emotional weight of fatigue is real. We discuss why self-kindness isn’t just “nice to have”—it’s essential.
  

Whether you’re feeling completely drained or just curious about how to better care for your energy, this episode will help you rethink what’s possible and feel more at home in your own body and brain. 💛

Helpful Links:

• ADHD: Women Exploring the Neuroverse on Instagram
  

• Learn more about Spoon Theory
  

✨ Love what you hear? Don’t forget to subscribe and rate our podcast to help more ADHD women connect and thrive in the Neuroverse!

understanding yourself with ADHD, energy depletion, integrating new self-understanding, personal growth, ADHD and self-discovery, neurodivergent self-awareness, ADHD burnout recovery, mental exhaustion and ADHD, emotional burnout ADHD. 

Ever wondered if there’s a connection between being “bendy” and living with ADHD? In this episode, I open up about my own experience with hypermobility and how it overlaps with ADHD in ways that often go unseen. From brain fog and fatigue to those “is it me or my body?” questions—we’re diving into the real, lived experience behind the research.

🌱 What you’ll hear in this episode:

• The surprising overlap between ADHD and hypermobility

• How both conditions can affect energy, focus, and daily life

• Why validation and self-compassion matter more than “fixing” yourself

• Small, practical ways to listen to your body and protect your energy
  

This is not about labels or limitations—it’s about understanding ourselves better. For me, learning about the ADHD + hypermobility connection has been empowering. It gave language to things I thought were “just me being bad at life” and turned them into something I could meet with compassion and strategies that actually work.

💛 If you’ve ever felt exhausted, clumsy, or misunderstood in your body—while also navigating ADHD—this episode is for you. You’re not alone, and you’re not broken. Our bendy brains and bodies just work a little differently.

🎧 Helpful links

• Move Your DNA podcast⁠ by Katy Bowman – Ep. 177 Hypermobility, Proprioception, and Building Up a Bendy Body⁠⁠

👉 Join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for support and community, or reach out if you’d like to share your ADHD journey! 📬 Interested in being a guest or working with us? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ruth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rachael⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ directly—we’d love to hear from you!

Topics: Understanding yourself with ADHD, energy depletion, integrating new self-understanding, personal growth, ADHD and self-discovery, neurodivergent self-awareness, ADHD burnout recovery, mental exhaustion and ADHD, emotional burnout ADHD. 

In this episode, Ruth and I get real about what happens when your old ways of coping no longer work—whether it’s because of ADHD fatigue, big life changes, or just the need to build new foundations. We talk vulnerability, honest communication, and the power of showing up as your true self.

✨ What You’ll Hear:

• Shifting dynamics through vulnerability: I share how opening up about my anxiety changed the way a coworker saw me—and how that kind of honest communication can transform relationships.

• Finding your own rhythm: We explore how tuning into your internal signals (interoception) and your connection with others (exteroception) helps you adjust and thrive.

• Power hours and productivity: I admit my power hour didn’t go as planned—but journaling and carving out gentle routines feel like the next right steps.

• Nourishing your nervous system: Ruth talks about the soothing power of human voices and how simple things—like the resonance of a viola or the right audiobook—can support your wellbeing.

• Fatigue, nutrition, and small moves: We discuss hypermobility’s role in fatigue, the value of rainbow-colored plates, and why tiny, consistent habits add up to big shifts.

• Movement that fits your life: From stretching during work to playful PE moments, we celebrate movement that feels good without pressure or overwhelm.

• Designing your life: Ruth invites us to think like designers, consciously creating systems that fit our values and evolving them with kindness and flexibility.

• Intuitive learning and knitting: We share how going at your own pace—and embracing intuitive learning—can be a game changer, whether you’re knitting, learning languages, or managing ADHD.
  

💬 I hope this conversation encourages you to embrace your unique path, create new structures when old ones fade, and find joy in small, authentic moments.

✨ Helpful links:

We will return next week with a new full episode, and we should be back on track. Thanks for hanging in there with us!!

✨ Helpful Links:

• ⁠ADHD: Women Exploring the Neuroverse Blog⁠

• ⁠5 Minute Guided Breathing Meditation⁠
• ⁠Blueberry Noise Frequency⁠

👉 Join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for support and community, or reach out if you’d like to share your ADHD journey! 📬 Interested in being a guest or working with us? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ruth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rachael⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ directly—we’d love to hear from you!

📚 Do you feel like you're floundering? Ruth helps women move from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Functioning to Flourishing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Focus on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Sh*t Done⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Rachael.

Topics: ADHD and emotional burnout, task paralysis, life changes overwhelm, decision fatigue, workplace sensory overload, guilt and shame, prioritizing self care

In this episode, we explore the challenges of navigating major life changes while living with ADHD—and how these moments can intensify symptoms like task paralysis, overwhelm, decision fatigue, and energy crashes.

Whether it's a move, a job shift, family transitions, or starting something new… ADHD brains can struggle to keep up with the demands, the emotions, and the sheer unpredictability of it all.

✨Key Discussion Points

🐝ADHD Brain Overload

We explore what happens when we feel like everything is too much, and our brain just says, “nope.” You know that moment when even the smallest task (like replying to an email or unpacking a box) feels monumental? 

🐝Executive Functioning + Energy Rhythm

Rachael shares how her executive functioning recently ground to a halt mid-transition, and what helped her start again… slowly. 🐌 Ruth brings in a beautiful lens on honouring energy rhythms, embracing the pause, and recognising when your nervous system needs some loving care—not more to-dos.

🐝ADHD-related Fatigue

We talk about how task paralysis is not laziness, and how ADHD-related fatigue can sneak up on us—especially when we’re trying to hold it all together. There’s a little bit of neuroscience, a lot of honesty, and our usual dose of gentle humour.

🐝Navigating Major Life Changes with ADHD

This episode is especially for anyone navigating transitions, feeling exhausted, or wondering why “simple” things suddenly feel impossible. We reflect on the internal and external chaos that often comes with transitions—moving house, shifting jobs, health changes, emotional upheaval—and how ADHD brains can find these moments extra intense and hard to manage. 

💡Whether you’re moving, shifting jobs, family transitions, or starting something new, this episode is a reminder that you’re not alone. We understand ADHD brains can struggle to keep up with the demands, the emotions, and the sheer unpredictability of it all—but these experiences are part of your ADHD journey.

As always, we’re here bumbling along beside you in the Neuroverse 🐝💛

✨ Helpful Links:

• ADHD: Women Exploring the Neuroverse Blog
• Move Your DNA Podcast-Ep 177: Hypermobility, Proprioception And Building Up A Bendy Body
• 5 Minute Guided Breathing Meditation
• Blueberry Noise Frequency

👉 Join the conversation on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for support and community, or reach out if you’d like to share your ADHD journey! 📬 Interested in being a guest or working with us? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ruth⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Rachael⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ directly—we’d love to hear from you!

📚 Do you feel like you're floundering? Ruth helps women move from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Functioning to Flourishing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Focus on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Sh*t Done⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Rachael.