Author’s note:

I must have been feeling mystical when I wrote this. Perhaps there was an excess of particulate matter in the air.

To be neurodivergent can feel like an endless cycle of exhaustion and recovery.

Existence is suffering

Also known as dukkha, the first noble truth of Buddhism. Buddhism says the answer is to confine and release our cravings.

Rest for neurodivergent people resembles a process that could be called confinement and release. Confinement comes first, something like this:

• Low sensory input or low unwanted sensory input
• No masking
• No demands
• Safety and predictability

Turning the volume down on the outside world, confining it, that we might also confine our consideration of it must be the first step.

It starts with the immediate - what is happening now, around us. Then, if successful, it can progress to higher levels of confinement and finally release as the body and mind are calmed.

This might enable us to undertake activity that brings real interest, tapping into the deepest parts of our self. The things that we would do if there were no deadlines, no responsibilities. This can allow the release - as we pour ourselves into something external we see from a different perspective. One that can let us accept that the cravings and the suffering are part of life.