ADHD Untangled

After living with ADHD all her life, Rosie Turner turned her struggles into strengths after discovering the therapeutic, soothing powers of yoga and movement. Now she wants to help others do the same

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Meet Rosie Turner. As well as being a qualified yoga and Pilates instructor, she’s also an accredited ADHD coach, passionate about helping other individuals with ADHD who have felt unable to understand and embrace their differences to find a more meaningful life.

She believes that the majority of struggles that she has faced from addictive behaviours, unstable relationships, careers and mental health struggles are largely due to her untreated ADHD.

“The world has long misunderstood the detrimental impacts of untreated ADHD on an individual's mental health,” she tells OM. “This misunderstanding has cost many wonderful human beings their lives and undoubtedly many talented and gifted ones at that because they got tired of seeking answers to the persistent questions: What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I constantly struggle? Will I ever just be normal? Without a global understanding, the cost will continue to rise.”

All of these interests are now covered under her ADHD Untangled business umbrella, soon to be relaunched as The ADHD Movement. “I don’t want to waste my story of struggle,” she says. “I want to use it to have a positive impact on the lives of late-diagnosed ADHDers.”

Her mission is simple enough. “Two things have enabled me to still be here today and tell my story: yoga & ADHD awareness and treatment. So I want to empower the community to not waste their struggles, and instead, use them to rewrite their story, which I like to call a story of strength. Ultimately, I support my clients in making big changes and hitting their life goals by using their ADHD awareness as a starting point and then taking authentic steps forward to be who they were always meant to be. In practical terms, this has meant raising awareness and educating the wellness industry in ADHD so we can lead the change and embrace our differences whilst making a difference to others.”

She adds: “Certified ADHD training is available for coaches and business owners in the wellness industry to create an environment where everyone can thrive. I am dedicated to empowering wellness professionals with a deeper understanding of neurodiversity, enabling them to create inclusive, neurodivergent-friendly environments that comply with disability laws.”

Central to this, she adds, is championing 55 om mind movement as a form of treatment for ADHD and in driving positive change.

All about ADHD

Her story dates back many years, and after painfully trying to suppress her differences and ‘fit in’ to the world around her, until the loss of a dear friend through their own mental health struggles led her to run the London Marathon in his honour. This re-introduction to exercise is what led her to the yoga mat, which became her lifeline and a starting point for her living a more authentic and meaningful life.

Turner turned her lifelong struggles into strengths after discovering the therapeutic, soothing powers of yoga and movement. Now she wants to help others do the same. “Like so many others, my life has often felt chaotic, to say the least, due to what I describe as having a tangled brain — married at 24, divorced by 27, with eight failed driving tests, constantly misplacing my belongings, partying like a rockstar, struggling to accept rejection, and facing difficulties staying motivated in a corporate job while fitting into societal norms. Nothing in my life has been consistent, apart from one question: What the hell is wrong with me? This question has haunted me for decades, leading me to believe I was not enough.”

This constant feeling of never being enough, perhaps familiar to many others, resulted in a desperate hunt from an early age to find her place in the world, determined to be accepted, loved, successful and find happiness. In this quest, Turner says she would sometimes “abandon my identity and seek a new one.”

This mission to find her place led to a life of extremes, meaning she has played many different roles in the 35 years she has been in this world, exploring various career paths, personas, relationships and interests.

“My journey into ADHD coaching is profoundly personal. Following my own late ADHD diagnosis, I embarked on a path of self-discovery, having spent my twenties caught up in an unhealthy lifestyle that led to struggles with addiction, relationship breakdowns and my mental health.”

Turning point

The turning point came when a friend signed her up for the London Marathon — a race she eventually completed in his memory after he tragically took his own life.

“This experience led me to become a certified yoga teacher in India and a qualified Pilates instructor, teaching movement and meditation for over eight years. I firmly believe that this re-introduction saved my life by enabling me to overcome my mental health and addiction struggles, as it provided the dopamine my brain constantly craved. This underscores the profound impact of physical activity on those with ADHD.”

It has set her on a path to share this knowledge and experience with others facing similar challenges.

“My life with undiagnosed ADHD has been an adventure, full of some mind-blowing and exciting experiences that I often can't believe are part of my story. But there were many parts of this adventure that brought me to many dark places; places that almost led me to not being here to tell my story. Places that could have been avoided if I had the answers I had been searching for my whole life.”

But this is a story with a positive and enduring message, she says. “I passionately believe that individuals with ADHD are destined for greatness. ADHD is not a limitation when properly treated; it can become our unique advantage. Individuals with ADHD possess an incredible array of strengths that set them apart.”

She says it is these strengths that fuel the unstoppable ‘can't stop, won't stop’ attitude that has propelled many high achievers to where they are today. “So let’s turn your ADHD story of struggle into a story of strength.”

First ever Yoga Alliance-certified ADHD training launches online in November — OM readers will be given an early-bird discount Rosie Turner is a yoga teacher, podcast host and the founder of ADHD Untangled. Visit: untangledco.com