“Yoga for neurodiversity” is just yoga.

That said, my mission with the Yoga for Neurodiversity project is to help fellow humans approach the practice of yoga with an awareness of the differences in our own bodies and brains…

At first, stepping into a yoga studio felt so far removed from Christian fundamentalism that I naively (and understandably) believed that the same systems of oppression didn't and couldn't exist in yoga spaces. I embraced the love and light and Om symbols…

Of the vast universe of thoughts, wonderings, and awes that I don’t share, or haven’t yet shared, one of the most pervasive and poignant is why society is so readily accepting of rules and agreements that are so wholly unnatural as to exclude the participation of so many vibrant, gentle, and compassionate human beings who don’t “see” the world the way everyone else sees…

I've been finding my rhythm in ways that fit my neurodivergent mind and body, which is not an easy task. I'm super grateful to everyone in my community for showing up, offering support, and just being on this planet with me! Here's a bit of what I've been to with my yoga practice and neurodiversity advocacy work from December 2023 until now.

A few months ago I was interviewed by Joni Sweet for an article about why the world needs more neurodiversity-affirming yoga. Read the published article in Yoga Journal here: How Neurodiversity-Affirming Yoga Can Help Us All

https://youtu.be/53C7xk78bqw

Join us in a thought-provoking discussion hosted by Adrian Molina, co-founder of Warrior Flow School. In this video, Becky Aten, a faculty member in our 200-hour yoga teacher training program, shares her experiences as a neurodivergent individual and discusses the transformative role of yoga for people with neurological differences.

Time for another project update! Big changes have been happening, and I've been slowing down and unmasking in order to ride things out without burning out.

I’ve been connecting & settling... and cultivating joyfulness!

Shelby Phoenix hosts a Yoga Corner Chats podcast interview with Becky Aten: Affirming Neurodiversity

Watch here: https://youtu.be/9O5zejQYXGQ

I’ve been balancing and transitioning. And, of course, petting moss!

Keeping up with commitments without burning out is hard for me, and I'm recognizing the need to ask for help more often. It's uncomfortable, and it's also been worth it. Thanks to everyone who is on this planet with me!

Yoga practice is different for every brain and body. It can take time to find the variations, props, and practices that feel most supportive for you. Read on for some examples of how your own yoga and mindfulness practice might look or feel different from the people around you as you find ways to support your nervous system following your body's own inner wisdom!

I was invited by the Autism Society of Southeastern Wisconsin to speak at the Governor's Proclamation presentation at the Wisconsin State Capitol for Autism Acceptance Month this April, 2022.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/G4nKXZk0aQo

Neurodiversity = all nervous systems are different. We all have different brains, different bodies, and different experiences of the world. This is both a fact, and the foundation of the neurodiversity movement, a social justice movement connected with the broader disability rights movement.

For those of you who missed my August and October project updates on Instagram, here's what I've been up to... I have been busy learning and planning, creating and teaching!

I can only teach from what I know, and that isn't much. My journey to "Know Thyself" is very much at the beginning, but I received a big ol' piece of information this year that has been incredibly helpful for embracing my path forward: I learned that I'm autistic.

A blog about nothing.

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” – Socrates

My name is Becky, and I’m a beginning yogi and yoga teacher who knows nothing, but understands a little. I'm autistic and currently learning how this part of my identity affects the way I learn and practice yoga, but this blog is not really about autism or neurodiversity; it's about my attempts to understand yoga philosophy. I'm a shameless over-thinker who likes to absorb information about psychology, nature, and quantum physics, and this gets tangled into my yoga practice. I get excited when I learn something new and I forget that I don't know anything; in fact, sometimes I think I know quite a lot. Today I think I know some stuff. I might change my mind about all of it tomorrow.

I started this yoga project for myself, but I keep forgetting this. I keep wondering what other people want from me, and I avoid putting anything out that I think no one else wants to read or watch or see. This has been my M.O. on social media-- post when I feel good, disappear when I don't. When I am feeling less than my best, I worry that I might do more harm than good by sharing my practice... but my practice keeps going no matter how I feel, and if I am to honor what I set out to do with this project, that means not disappearing just because I am not feeling my best.

I want to share a little bit about how ADHD affects my brain and my body.

Over the past two weeks, I have started writing a dozen different blog topics, which I abandoned without finishing. Okay, I finished one about entropy but it was a bit dark and nihilistic, which maybe represents how I was feeling last week, and perhaps it is for the best that I didn't publish anything with such a funky energy. I wrote for several hours almost every evening. Some days I chose to forego my yoga practice because "I gotta write this blog!" and then never actually finished writing a blog.

When I first started practicing yoga, I had no idea what teachers meant when they talked about being "grounded." Even though I knew the definition had something to do with being connected to the earth, and not being forced by a parent to stay in the house all weekend (because I Googled it), I still felt entirely lost as to was my body supposed to be feeling when I was "grounded." Yoga is full of abstract language, and coming to understand abstract concepts over time is part of the practice. However, for folks who process information literally, too many abstract verbal cues can serve to create more confusion than clarity, especially in the beginning. For me, it wasn't until I read a physics book about gravity that I finally began to understand what it means to be grounded.

Hello there.

My name is Becky (she/they) and I am a neurodivergent individual, a yogi and yoga teacher, a nerd, and a fellow human being.