How to Feel More Present When Neurodivergent Parenting: A Look Inside ‘The Mindful Reconnect’

This is the transcript from a bonus episode of the Butterfly Minds Podcast, with a few edits to suit a blog format.

You can listen to the podcast onThis is a transcript from an episode of the Butterfly Minds Podcast, episode title ‘*Bonus* Is Mindfulness Possible for Busy Parents of Neurodivergent Kids? | The Mindful Reconnect’ with a few edits to suit a blog format. You can listen to the podcast on various platforms. 

I'm going to be sharing the behind the scenes of my online self-paced course, The Mindful Reconnect. This is a course for parents and caregivers who are in a neurodiverse family and have a neurodivergent child or children, who are looking for ways to reduce feeling overwhelmed. 

Maybe you're feeling a bit drained, stressed or just needing some space and time to look after your own energy and reconnect to who you are beyond your caring responsibilities.

I know that a lot of your time or most of the time all your energy and time will go outwards towards your family and it can be difficult to have time to come back to yourself and learn different tools to help manage any of the ups and downs while you're neurodivergent parenting. 

In this episode, I'll be sharing what the course includes and you'll hear from someone who participated in this online mindfulness course and what they thought and were thinking before the course and during and how they're feeling after. 

Why did I create an online mindfulness course for carers and parents with neurodivergent kids?

I'll share a little bit about why I created the Mindful Reconnect. The main reason was that a lot of the time your energy and time and mental energy and physical energy goes towards parenting and to your child or children and to any other members of your family. 

This means that when you hear the word ‘mindfulness’ it can feel like something that's difficult or something that's not spoken about much other than when you're in the mindfulness or wellness space. You might feel like it's something that you don't have time for or people think that mindfulness is only a meditation practice.

I wanted to create this course as a way for parents and caregivers to go through different practices to look after their own wellbeing without having to have a certain day free during the week for a Zoom call or feel pressured that they have to finish everything and get things done, and try only meditation techniques.

I wanted to make it to be a self-paced course, so that you can take care of your energy and bring the practical mindfulness tools that I share in the course into your daily life, without having any pressure put on yourself to help you feel more calm and patient, and present.

Since a lot of the time when neurodivergent parenting, you'll be probably thinking about what's going to happen in the future, or what's already happened, and just a sense of uncertainty and worry. This relates back to the course, as you'll learn about self-kindness and compassion, and quieting the inner critic which can make a big difference.

Can ADHD parents with an ADHD child practice mindfulness?

Yes!

This course is designed to be neurodivergent friendly and beginner friendly for parents with neurodivergent kids and who are neurodivergent themselves, included if you're a parent with ADHD.

I'd like to share the words from someone who took part in the course. I think it'll resonate with you and you might share some of the thoughts that she was thinking before and her background to her life and it might be similar to yours.

Kayleigh told me that: “I was a bit unsure if the mindfulness course would be for me at first. I have ADHD and find I struggle with mindfulness techniques and keeping up with courses.”

I realised this myself that trying to keep up with courses, and do lots of different things can be a challenge at times, and having something that's rigid can be hard to stick to.

She continued: “The course was broken down into easy to follow bite-sized chunks, which meant I was able to work on them at my own pace. The videos were fab and made me feel connected while completing the course. The resources and tips were really helpful and easy to use.”

The next part of this episode is a bit about her, and the effects that she felt after the course. She continues to have access to the course, and the Butterfly Minds Circle, for as long as she likes. The Mindful Reconnect provides lifetime access to the mindfulness techniques to guide you through your neurodivergent parenting journey.

Lastly, in case you're thinking, what if I don't have time? She shared that “I have three neurodivergent children and a very busy life. Taking some time for mindfulness is really helping my mental health and wellbeing.”

I wanted to share this with you to share the positive difference that mindfulness can make. You have the option to explore different mindfulness techniques, at a time that suits you, and you can take these practices and come back to them at any time. You can bring them into your everyday busy life to help support your mental health and wellbeing. This can help you learn how to feel calmer and less worried and take time for yourself to reconnect back to you.

How to start practicing mindfulness

If you're wondering what kind of things are covered inside this mindfulness course, it's across eight weeks and there's a couple of weeks where you'll have integration weeks. These are weeks where you can go back to practices from the previous weeks, and integrate the things that you've already learned into your course into your daily life, those are in week 4 and week 7.

Inside the course, you'll be guided through the ‘what are the basics of mindfulness’ in an accessible way. You'll learn more about what mindfulness is and how mindfulness can benefit you in your everyday life.

You'll discover how to build self-kindness, self-compassion, and reduce feeling overwhelmed. This is by trying to become a nicer, better friend towards yourself and to talk to yourself as if you talk to someone that you love and care for. Often you can have different inner critical thoughts that can add to feeling more stressed or worried about things.

You'll explore everyday ways to weave mindfulness into your routines. These are practical mindfulness tools that you can bring into different activities you have through your day that's not meditation practice, like sitting down. You can practice while you're moving or doing any other daily activities.

Lastly, there are other things inside the course, but in this summary, you'll find ways that you can share mindfulness with your family. When you practice mindfulness, the effects that you experience also flow out into your family. When you're feeling more calm and patient, then it benefits everyone. However, if you're interested in sharing different practices that are for children and family based, then you'll discover fun and engaging activities to bring this to your family as well.

Plus, you'll get a bonus, which is the ebook version of my book, Mindful Living: A Guide for You and Your Family. This will help you to bring more mindfulness activities into your life.

This book shares mindfulness through storytelling where I share my personal experiences as well as other reflection activities that you can incorporate into your life which can go nicely with the course. There are reflection activities and techniques that you can do throughout the course as well as short meditations.

Where to meet other parents with neurodivergent kids online

Some parts of the course have recently been revamped. There's the Butterfly Minds Circle, which has a new name, this is a private community chat using Telegram, which is similar to WhatsApp.

This is a supportive space where you can connect with me and others. I share weekly mindfulness discussion prompts and different topics. There will now be a monthly Q&A session where I'll answer any questions that pop up and within the community circle. You won't need to find time, or a quiet space, for a Zoom call as the messages will be through text and audio messages. I know that some people prefer audios and some text messaging, so I ensure that I share a combination of both.

This circle community group is optional to join, so there's not any pressure if you sign up to the course to join the private group. It's an option if you'd like to be part of a community of other parents and caregivers who have a neurodivergent child or children who are interested in exploring new ways to practice self-care and take care of their wellbeing and practice mindfulness activities.

How to manage the summer holidays in a neurodiverse family, and beyond

That's a summary of everything involved. If you're someone who's listening and you think that this sounds like something that you'd like to explore and join, it would be great to have you in the course. It's self-paced, so you can go through the course at any time.

However, I do have an offer that's available until the 3rd of July. When you join, you'll also receive a free 30-minute one-to-one coaching session via audio and text messaging through Telegram. We'll create a personalised wellbeing action plan using different techniques such as mindfulness and if you're interested in doing more meditation techniques we can include those.

This will be your opportunity to create a mini toolkit and take further small steps to experience practical ways that you can add gentle calming activities into your wellbeing journey. As I understand that SEN parenting is tough and it can have a big impact on your health, without having the right support around you.

Things might start feeling like it's a bit too much to manage, especially with the summer holidays, and if you're in Scotland, you might already be on summer holiday. In other parts of the world the summer holidays are coming, so this can be a good time to look after your and prioritise your wellbeing. It can be a long six weeks, or some places might be longer, where you'll have a big change of routine. If you're a parent who's neurodivergent, or a caregiver, this could add extra overwhelm and stress into your life, which I understand can be challenging.

How to Feel More Present When Neurodivergent Parenting: Next Steps

If you would like to find out more about the course and to sign up, or if you've got any questions, then feel free to send me an email at hello@butterfly-minds.co.uk I would be happy to answer any questions.

It would be lovely to see you inside the course, the Butterfly Minds Circle, and in a 1:1 session to support you to prevent feeling like you're in a cycle of burnout.

That's everything I wanted to share in today's episode. Thank you for listening and joining me for a behind the scenes of the course. I hope that you can find more, more calm and connection as well in terms of community when you join the course as taking care of your own mental health and wellbeing is a step towards feeling more calm and connected to yourself and with your neurodiverse family.

Join The Mindful Reconnect today and start supporting yourself and your mental health and wellbeing, start today.

P.S. If you're a mum with ADHD who wants to carve out time for rest, and connect with other ADHD mums, the doors are open to my new Cocoon of Rest programme starting on the 9th July. Discover more here