As ADHD’ers we are all too familiar with the “ADHD Paralysis”.  Our brain can find tasks like complex projects or deciding between too many choices overwhelming, which often leads to getting distracted or finding ourselves avoiding the task altogether.

I don’t know about you but this expresses itself much more profoundly for me when I am already stressed in other areas of life.  I will maybe write a few lines of a blog, wander, get distracted by the horses out the window, beat myself up that I can’t focus, circle back around to the blog, then the cycle continues.  This compounds in stress over things not being crossed off my to do list or not moving as fast as I “should” through my day.  This then, of course, with the ADHD’er, can lead to not finishing anything.

This feeling of overwhelm is often referred to as ADHD paralysis.  Put simply, it is when someone with ADHD is unable to start or finish tasks or make decisions while stressed.  From this place we tend to put things off, get distracted, or not finish which can also tend to lead to beating ourselves up, feeling like we are “lazy”, wondering why we can’t just FOCUS for once, the stories go on.

Now, this is a very real feature of our brains.  It is a very real part of our reality that understanding Human Design or Gene Keys does not fix.  My hope is to help my clients gain a deeper understanding of themselves & how their ADHD may be compounded by their unique design.

In this blog we are going to look at the pressure that can be created in the root centre, amplifying the effect “ADHD Paralysis”.

ADHD Paralysis

First, you are not broken.  While ADHD is not a superpower (in my opinion) simply understanding how we are wired can be incredibly helpful in taking back the drivers seat of our lives.

Stress or pressure, even something so seemingly simple as having to make a call that we don’t want to make, can seriously impact our ability to focus or complete tasks.  ADHD Paralysis occurs because the ADHD brain has impaired executive function, and therefore we respond to stress in very different ways than the neurotypical brain does.  What tips the scale may also be something so seemingly small that we don’t recognize our patterns in the beginning.

Now, whether we have ADHD or certain activations in our bodygraph does not mean we are victims to our wiring.  My approach to this subject is helping myself & others take ownership of our shadow patterns so that we  can take back the drivers seat of our life.  It doesn’t mean our patterns disappear or that our brain is magically fixed by understanding our design, in fact most clients notice as they decondition that things tend to get “worse” before better.  What it *does* mean is that simply understanding the mechanics at play below our conscious awareness can provide us the personal power to succeed while working with our unique brains.

The Root Centre

The Root Centre is associated with the adrenal glands with the function of pressure, drive, stress, & kundalini.  The root centre physically gets us going, yet how we connect with & process stress is associated with our unique root configuration.  There is no one sized fits all in how our unique root is expressed or intertwined with our ADHD.

Pressure & stress are not the big bad in the corner. It becomes problematic when we allow it to become overwhelming or “stuck” living in a chronic state of stress.  For us ADHD’ers it also becomes problematic when that stress or feeling of overwhelm causes our brain to “freeze” in a certain sense, therefore limiting our executive functioning even further.

In Human Design Ra Uru Hu said: “stress in life cannot be avoided, but you can learn to take advantage of the energy it creates rather than suffer from it”.  The more we become aware of our mechanics as well as our brain we are better equipped to move with it, and understand it, than previously.

The Gates of the Root

Depending on your unique configuration of your Bodygraph, as well as your unique expression of ADHD this information will impact you in a very unique way.  Based on the gate names alone I am sure you can see ways in which these impact your daily life with ADHD.  For example, Gate 52 if defined, you have the potential strength for temporary self-imposed inaction to benefit evaluation, however with the ADHD brain we already struggle with focus & self-imposed inaction therefore may turn this pressure inwards causing ADHD Paralysis. This is the so-called “Buddha” gate – the ability to bring the physical body and senses to a state of calm and to use energy in a concentrated way under times of pressure or stress.  Lack of focus in those with this gate defined can lead to stress, anxiety, fussiness, and depression, or, again, for the ADHD’er “ADHD Paralysis”. 

Or, for Gate 58, the pressure to correct & make better may actually become the fuel that sends the ADHD’er into ADHD paralysis due to perfectionism & fixation on that which “needs” to be corrected.

Defined Root Centre

People with a defined root centre have a fixed way of dealing with stress and pressure in their daily lives.  The defined root could be connected to the sacral, solar plexus, or spleen.  A root connected to the sacral has a fixed way of dealing with physical stress.  The connections to the solar plexus will experience a fixed way of dealing with emotional pressure & fear. The connection to the splenic centre has a fixed way of dealing with pressure in regards to health, healing, & survival fears.

Now, one of the biggest misconceptions in Human Design is that only “openness” is a place of dysfunction for energy.  The definition also holds the potential to be expressed in an “unhealthy” way.

The defined root in a healthy state is comfortable with internal pressure & allows healthy pressure to drive them.  This person notices the internal pressure but doesn’t allow themselves to be pushed into initiating things.  They let strategy & authority guide them.

Now, for the ADHD brain this is a perfect world that often isn’t our reality, not from lack of trying. Our brain simply functions in a way that can easily tip us into the “unhealthy” state due to our brain simply amplifying everything. For example, the pressure can cause lack of emotional regulation & an amplification of pressure which then tips us into chronic “ADHD Paralysis”, without the ability to self regulate through it.

The defined root centre in an unhealthy state can easily become obsessed with things then burn out from them.  This stop & go energy often is attributed to someones design, such as “It is because I am a Manifestor so I have surges of energy”, when in fact it is an unhealthy expression of a centre amplified by the ADHD brain.

This is one of the greatest places of compassion we must have with ourselves.  A willingness to take ownership of our shadow patterns without beating ourselves up over it, which can simply add to the stress & pressure (hello snowball, we meet again!).

Undefined Root Centre

People with an undefined root take in stress from the outside world and those around them.  People with undefined roots are always under pressure and to rid themselves of it they often keep taking more tasks on, however that doesn’t lead to a release of pressure. They simply take on more until they hit  overwhelm or paralysis.

Those with an undefined root with ADHD may also be someone that their entire lives others looked at you as an example of how much work can be accomplished.  Maybe you easily climbed the corporate ladder & were recognized for your intense work ethic.  Maybe you were even able to hold it together for a long time before finally crumbling & wondering what changed.

The undefined root healthy state is able to sit in the quiet & stillness before moving or making decisions.  They do not allow others or outside energy to influence their decisions as they can easily recognize healthy pressure or stress.  We can right away see how this expression is going to be difficult for a brain that is impulsive, lacks emotional regulation, & seeks stimulation.  

The undefined root unhealthy state allows pressure to run their lives, and more specifically for ADHD’ers allow the pressure to push them into overwhelm & “ADHD Paralysis”.  The pressure is more of an internal suffering created rather than anything in particular actually putting the pressure on us.

When ADHD’ers with undefined roots begin to let go of identification with their conditioning they begin to become wise on how stress functions & how they can use it properly.  When we combine this with a deep understanding of the ADHD brain, how it works, & typical limitations within it we can provide the scaffolding that allow us to release the internal narrative of “Let’s get over this quickly”, “I can do it fast & get a reward”, “I am going to hurry and get this done as quickly as possible so that I can prove myself to others (undefined root & undefined ego).

Common Not Self Talk of the Undefined Root

• I have to hurry up and get this done so I can rest.
• I have to drive really hard to keep up with others/ prove myself.
• I must finish this today.
• I constantly feel under pressure & act impulsively in an attempt to release it.
• I don’t know how to say no.
• If someone wants something done it needs to be done now so I don’t upset them.

Now, does this mean we never fall into these patterns? Of course not.  It means we take back our personal power in recognizing them & overcoming some of the challenges present when we have mechanics operating below our conscious awareness. 

As Carl Jung would say: 

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

You can see ways for further support here: https://www.adhdandhumandesign.com/

Ashley

Founder: ADHD + Human Design

[email protected]