ππ½ Subscribe for thoughtful, bite-sized emails β from Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist β on how to take care of your nervous system & understand your brain.
Navigating complexities: joy, grief, care, hope πͺ·
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As highly sensitive & neurodivergent people, I think a lot of us are used to navigating complexities and holding dualities. For example: the complexity of masking to stay safe and unmasking to conserve energy, while learning who you are underneath the masks. The duality of experiencing deep joy and deep grief, sometimes within the same hour. Or the same breath. And the whiplash of shifting between these two states. The paradox of parts of you wanting connection, and parts of you wanting to be alone. Being hyper-focused on one thing, while being completely unaware of all the other things in your environment. (Which is why you might cut the onions perfectly, while the potatoes burn in the oven and the sink overflows.) Then there is the complexity of being a human in this world, in these times. Where any given day might ask us to hold grief in one hand & joy in the other. β In an art workshop I attended recently, we participants were invited to practice Tonglen. This involves: π breathing in, while being with the suffering of oneself and others π breathing out, while being with a wish for relief We wrote down statements that expressed acknowledgment of suffering, as well as a wish for relief. Hereβs what I wrote β I invite you to hold the duality with me. β π₯ I feel the sadness of witnessing the world in its suffering & inhumanity. πΉ I feel the deep care & hope of those who move us toward a better world, through everyday acts of resistance & love. β Acknowledging both the suffering and the wish feels grounding to me. Itβs not spiritual bypassing. Itβs not hopelessness. Itβs being with all of it, as it is, right now. β A few questions for you: What are you bearing witness to? What is your wish for relief? How is it to be with both? β With care, β β P.P.S. If you're overwhelmed & burnt out, but too busy for weekly therapy, I am here to support you. I offer βNervous System Healing Intensivesβ β three 90-minute sessions, using brain-body modalities (Brainspotting, IFS, EMDR) that go deeper than talk therapy & help you feel better, sooner. β
β Intensives are a type of short-term, accelerated therapy β for folks who prefer a hyper-focused approach to healing; who need longer than 50-min sessions to warm up & process deeply. Our three 90-minute sessions are scheduled across 1-2 weeks. ππ½ If you want to get an Intensive on the books, click here to book an intro call. I have a couple spots available in January & February 2026. β βP.P.P.S. Know someone who needs to hear this? Forward it along. New readers can subscribe βHEREβ. I help highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults heal their nervous systems & connect with their authentic selves. π Need a nervous system reset? β> Join me for a Calm Place meditation.
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βLiz's Neurodivergent Letters
ππ½ Subscribe for thoughtful, bite-sized emails β from Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist β on how to take care of your nervous system & understand your brain.
If someone were to ask you, βhow are you, really?ββ¦ what would you honest answer be right now? In times like these, when the world & current events seem to move faster than the human nervous system was designed to process, I feel grateful to know my βparts.β So, my honest response to βhow are you, really?β would not be a short answer β itβd be an answer that acknowledges all of my parts. We all have parts, working inside of our nervous systems, helping us to navigate life in whatever way...
How does your brain like to process information? By reading words on a page? Skimming a screen? Talking it out in a live conversation? Watching videos? Looking at images? π Listening to podcasts? While moving your body, or while sitting still? Our brains process information in so many different ways β visually, auditorily, kinesthetically, verbally, non-verbally, sub-consciously, consciouslyβ¦ and more. π§ If you happen to be an auditory processor, you might enjoy this new resource that Iβve...
I recently joined a pottery class, as a way to unwind, be creative, meet new people, and learn a fun new skill. πΊ 2 weeks & 1 clay-splattered shirt laterβ¦ and I want to share some (neurodivergent) observations. *** My art teacher uses a lot of verbal instructions β put your hand there, put your other hand here, position your body this way. The challenge? My brain struggles to process verbal instructions. I have a much easier time with slow, experiential, and visual learning. Whether your...