ADHD and Your Nervous System: Cold Water and Yoga

Cold water, yoga, a five-second cold shower: they all train the same thing, your nervous system's tolerance for stress. Part 2 of 4 in our ADHD series. Last week was the mind, this week is the body.

Rebecca explains hormetic stress: a small, controlled dose of a stressor, like cold water, that trains your nervous system to regulate when the uncontrolled stress arrives. She covers the safety check that comes first (not if you're already at your tipping point, not with a heart condition), the shower version anyone can do, and why yoga is really breath training under pressure.

David explains why he jumps into freezing water at sunrise, why he still hasn't done yoga, and his rule for knowing when a challenge is right for you: curiosity vs urgency. You cannot be curious and triggered at the same time.

The back half is about telling "I'm afraid" apart from "this is not for me", which David reckons are cousins in the same bloodline. Rebecca makes the case that self-awareness is a trainable skill, with the story of a client who only noticed a year-long toothache once he sat still. And whether you start with the mind or the body, both roads end up at the same place.

Rebecca's yoga and breathwork classes: https://purewellnesstasmania.com