Looking for community amongst other blog readers

How many times in a day do you want to do things and just can’t get the energy to do it? Before I get too far into this post I must clarify- I KNOW that the “energy” I’m talking about is actually my struggle with executive functioning.

If you’re new to my blog, my name is Kristina and I’m an Occupational therapist. I work with children and adults with various disabilities, and in the last year I’ve also started my journey of self diagnosis of autism. This is something I’ve been quite open with amongst my friends and colleagues but not with family. I am the kind of person who “doesn’t seem to have autism”. I have a bachelors and masters degree, a good job, a partner, many friends, seem to be quite social etc. But on the other end of that I also get very overstimulated quite easily. I have anxiety, struggle in social situations and use a lot of the strategies that I teach my autistic clients so that I can function well in society.

The reason I reintroduce myself for this blog is because I want to put a blog out there to see if others are also struggling like me. Winter is a hard time for me- my biggest coping strategy are long walks, but when I get home from work it’s already dark out…. And as female presenting individuals, we all know it’s not ideal to walk alone at night. I work outdoors so I do get the benefits of nature all year round, but my physical exercise is significantly reduced. Throw COVID in there and my anxiety has been consistently so high that I can’t make myself return to the gym.

So I guess here’s the point of my blog post – back to the comment I made about executive functioning. My body LOVES movement and feels so calm after working out and my brain feels safer when my muscles are sore from moving. However, the task of starting a home workout after thinking about it is the part that keeps me from moving my body daily.

I guess I’m wondering if there are other people who feel like they also struggle with this and would be eager to connect in a safe online space where we can motivate each other to move our bodies over the winter? Something that is so important to me when writing this is protecting people (especially those with mental illness or disabilities as we are seen as more vulnerable) from scams. People asking for help with workouts and health and wellness often get drawn in by people in multilevel marking companies such as Bodi (formally known as beachbody) or Optavia, because they offer a community. Joining these communities often come with loss of money and unhealthy practices, so these groups are NOT what I’m looking for.

If anyone is interested in me creating a Facebook group to create community or has suggestions of apps that you’ve used to help with starting and continuing workouts please let me know 🙂

This is my first big self care act of the season and I’m hoping that whoever was thinking on the same page as me can find some motivation from this post

Xoxoxoxo love always