12 Weeks of Wellbeing

As we near the end of the month your mind might already be thinking about the upcoming holiday season.

There's only 8 Sundays until Christmas. I haven't started my Christmas countdown this early, however I saw someone post the number of Sundays on social media.

The lead up to the festive period can feel stressful and unpredictable. This can especially be the case when you're in a neurodiverse family.

Although you will be doing your best to keep a sense of routine and predictability for your child(ren), there will be things that pop up outside of your control.

This could be overstimulating Christmas decorations, lights, music, or scents that arise when you're out in different public places.

Or the places that you would normally visit start becoming busier, at the usual quiet times.

This can cause you and your family to feel more stressed and the possibility of sensory overload or meltdowns increases.

The feelings and emotions will probably already be up and down. It might feel like you're on a never ending rollercoaster of emotions. Yet, this might feel more so in the coming months.

This can feel daunting for you and your child(ren). Elements of unpredictability can cause stress when navigating the best ways to support your family.

Creating time for you

When you spend your life attending/organising meetings, appointments, and your energy goes towards advocating for what your neurodivergent child(ren) needs, you'll not have much energy left for yourself.

This is on top of all the other life admin tasks and activities on your to do list the length of your arm.

You might dream about having more time for yourself to switch off your mind and simply relax.

If you're feeling exhausted from when you wake up until when you go to sleep, you can take action to boost your energy by living mindfully.

When you're caring for a neurodivergent child, there will be times when things are going smoothly, and then suddenly, you're back in stress mode.

You could get an unexpected call from your child's school to tell you about an incident that has happened or a letter in the post about an upcoming appointment.

Or maybe your child isn't on a full timetable at school or is homeschooled due to the challenges they face in the school day.

Living each day feeling stressed can eventually lead to burnout.

Unless you take steps to release the stress that you're carrying.

Which could also appear physically in your body, such as feeling tight or tense in your body.

Like your body needs a massage (or 10!).

Self-Compassion

When you do have thoughts about wanting time to yourself you might think you're being selfish.

Spending time to focus on yourself, and taking care of your wellbeing isn't selfish.

A gentle reminder for you…

If you don't look after yourself, you won't have the energy to support your child(ren).

I understand that it can be difficult knowing where to start when you are used to giving all your time and energy to your child(ren) and you move yourself down the priority list.

There are many ways that you can take steps to focus on your mental health to help create a clearer mental space.

However, you might not know what to look for when you're looking for ideas online.

I invite you to join my 1:1 Transform Programme!

I have recently revamped this programme to make it offer you even more value.

Instead of 8 weeks you'll now experience 12 weeks of support to explore bringing mindfulness into your everyday life. As a result, you and your family will feel the ripple benefits of you feeling less stressed and calmer.

Each week focuses on a theme(s) from my book for parents ‘Mindful Living: A Guide for You and Your Family’.

This means that you can delve deeper into mindful living and have a space to reflect and receive weekly check-ins along the way.

Plus, you'll experience three monthly deeply relaxing meditation sessions to help you release the mental and physical stress that you're carrying.

Discover how you can start releasing mental stress and tiredness and avoid burning out when caring for your neurodivergent child(ren).

If you want to spend the next 12 weeks feeling less exhausted and create a calmer mental space this programme is for you.

Discover more by clicking here.