Archive for the ‘ADHD Tips’ Category

Box It and Act Now

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Is there a project you have been meaning to get to? Are you procrastinating it?

Image of The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life
Renowned dancer/choreographer Twyla Tharp starts work on a creative project by writing the name of the project on an empty box. Once the box exists so does the project and Tharp is committed and connected to it.

In the box Tharp places bits of inspiration and information that help crystallize her idea. She collects things like sheet music, cd’s of songs, videos, cloth for costumes, pictures of dancers, articles, newspaper clippings. Anything remotely relevant goes into the box. It all gets worked out later. The contents are sorted at the right time – but not too early to stifle the flow of ideas.

With the box Tharp feels organized. The box offers structure. It marks the project as real though she may not know where it is going.

The box represents a specific idea for what can and will be. Whether dance production or an idea for a new choreography, the vision is built as the box fills. Its contents, symbols of steps taken and decisions made, evolve the image to completion. When the project is finished, the box is archived. And yet, Tharp remembers that without the box – the project may never have existed.

Unbinding Chaos

Thursday, March 25th, 2010
State of Mind

My son designed a sculpture weeks ago. This presentation of great artistic magnitude reflects a certain state of mind I experience on occasion. The various elements or tasks of life are bound by stress. All things feel important. Order seems impossible.

To tackle such a mass of confusion, I need perspective and a  good dose of dopamine to help me see what’s there and begin unbinding the individual items.

I find perspective in the trees, flowers, earth, sky, and ocean. The fresh air clears my mind. A good walk, run, bike-ride, enervates the neurons that bring some extra release of dopamine where I’ll need it – the prefrontal cortex.

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What works for me is also supported by research as to what helps relieve some ADHD symptoms. Director of Landscape and Human Health Laboratory, Frances E. Kuo, and Andrea Faber Taylor report in their research that a walk in nature can help children with attention difficulties concentrate better.

In addition, much research links cardiovascular exercise with improvements in executive function. Among several researchers, John Ratey and John Medina are raising awareness of exercise and its crucial benefits, for everyone, but particularly those with attention challenges.

Not that my problems are solved by the flap of a butterfly’s wings, but nature and exercise better equip me to problem solve. I can be more creative and feel less burdened by the heavy hand of anxiety.