ADHD/LD Awareness Month / life / quotes

[catching up] mantra monday[-ish]. [10/31]

• by kerri

Thanks, Thanksgiving, today is really Metaphorical Monday. So I’m not really late. Actually I am.

Whatever.

My friend Mike started this thing called Mirror Mantras, where he puts a positive phrase or quote on his bathroom mirror to focus on for the week. Of course, I copied him. Here’s mine for this week.

https://i0.wp.com/farm9.staticflickr.com/8669/29641819504_6c4fcc4c94.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

“Don’t live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.”

Plank update [yesterday]: 95 seconds. (Seriously. WHAT!)
Meditation update [yesterday]: I did something except Smiling Mind only gives me ONE meditation history, sooo I cannot tell you what it was. This is why I should update every day. 

ADHD + learning disabilities / ADHD/LD Awareness Month / advocacy

ADHD fact friday #1 [7/31]

• by kerri

adhd fact friday

Week One Fact:

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. ADHD is caused by genetic and biological factors that affect how the brain develops. Like most neurodevelopmental disorders, it can be mild, moderate or severe, and affects each person differently.

Challenge Update Day 7:

Meditation: Body Scan meditation last night, 8 minutes.

Plank: 85 seconds down—think my form was better than yesterday but it was hard. I get two more 85 second days so that should be doable.
ADHD/LD Awareness Month / life / mindfulness / writing

observations: google word usage trends [06/31]

• by kerri

I didn’t realize until tonight that Google had little word usage graphs under dictionary entries. When I was searching for a synonym for relax just now (to plug into the Mindfulness Pebble app because I might as well try it for 43 hours), I saw this and was kind of floored.

relax

Case in point: in the last 2 minutes I’ve forced myself to drop my shoulders three times. Three times.

It is hard to tell with the scale of the graph but to me, it looks like there’s a pickup around the second World War, and then a pretty freaking steady incline from like 1970 onward. 

stress

And maybe people weren’t as stressed about Y2K as we thought?

Here are some other interesting observations:

worryWe worry more…

happy

And we’re happy less;

We give less…

give

And we need more… 

needIncreasing pretty constantly.

Okay so those are some pretty broad generalizations, but interesting regardless, no? I’m curious to start paying a bit more attention to some of these words in my own world and see where those observations lead…

 

And what does this have to do with ADHD Awareness Month? Well, I was going to write you a post about my whiteboard, and you see where that went. 😉

Challenge Update Day 6:

Meditation: Exploring Movement (not at all following the instructions) on my walk to the bus stop today. Last night I think I did something like Listening Mindfully.

Plank: 75 seconds. I think my form completely sucked, as well. Just putting that out there ;). 
life

adhd tech tuesday: tile [04/31]

• by kerri

Lose stuff all the time?

Yeah, me too. Thanks, executive functioning fail.

I’m pretty sure that since Christmas, Tile has saved me at least 30 minutes per week I spent looking for my keys. I don’t know where my spare key(s) is(are) because I don’t need to. Because I can find my keys with my phone. By hitting a button in the app, my keys emit this cute tune via the Tile.

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5121/30009507322_84b9e92e7c.jpg?resize=375%2C500&ssl=1

Yeah, there’s some mild grossness on my Tile because duh, it’s like constantly in my pocket/backpack/etc. Which means it’s actually useful.

The badass thing is that I can also find my phone using my keys! The “e” is a secret little button that you can press and make your phone ring even if it is on silent. So I am only screwed if I lose both of them. I guess I could put the Tile app on my mom’s phone, but she’s misplaced her phone more times this year than I have in my life, so… 😉

The only drawback for Tile is that the battery is non-replaceable. But, given the popularity of the Tile vs. others, and the community aspect of it (other people’s phones running the Tile app pick up other Tiles—they just can’t see where they are—and transmit your Tile’s data to you in the event your item is lost).

My keys are the only thing I’ve put a Tile on, but, with the new slimmer Tile out, I’m considering putting one in my wallet, too. Just in case ;).

I don’t know if the people who made Tile (or anybody else that has made similar technology) have ADHD, but this kind of tracker is a godsend for those of us who do!

Day 4 Challenge Update:
Plank: 75 seconds. Tomorrow’s an app rest day, but I’m going to plank still. ‘Cause it’s a MONTH LONG plank challenge, yo.

Meditation:  
I should probably just stop noting that I’m using the Smiling Mind app, but hey. It’s good stuff. I did the Bite Size meditation called Internal Weather. My internal weather was just sleepy so I was happy the meditation was Bite Size ;).

ADHD/LD Awareness Month / life / mirror mantra / quotes

mantra monday! [03/31]

• by kerri

https://i0.wp.com/farm6.staticflickr.com/5177/29980242002_d788fb5dd7.jpg?resize=389%2C500&ssl=1

My friend Mike started this thing called Mirror Mantras, where he puts a positive phrase or quote on his bathroom mirror to focus on for the week. I adopted the idea and kept up with it for a good while, but it’s been awhile since I did a mirror mantra.

So in the spirit of overthinking things and mindfulness, perhaps, here’s this week’s. “Understand that not everything is meant to be understood.”

Day 3 Challenge Update:
Plank: 75 seconds. Movin’ on up.

Meditation: Twice daily achievement = unlocked. I think meditation is one of those things where perhaps the more I do, the more I want to do. 
Last night I did the 7 minute Mindful Listening: Dreamtime music meditation from Smiling Mind. This morning I continued with the Short Mindfulness Practice one. While it won’t fix my annoying lungs, I’m hoping a quick break with the Studying mediation (because work is like studying?) re-energizes me a bit because I shouldn’t be tired at 7:44 pm!