Islay Sarah Wellness

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Laguna Niguel, CA
Islay Sarah Wellness

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✨ Wellness for your actual brain, body & life
🧠 Evidence-based • ND-friendly • no wellness BS
🦄 MSc • RYT-500 • CFT • ADHDer

11/02/2026

Sometimes self care is giving yourself permission to just not. Other times, it’s getting yourself out the door even when it’s hard.

So how the heck do we know which one?! 😆🙈🤣

It’s a balance, and it looks different for everyone. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we don’t. And either way, it’s ok!

But let this be a little reminder that even when it feels like it’s not worth the effort, getting outside for a walk might be exactly what your nervous system needs. 💕

10/28/2026

This is a topic that often plays on my mind. Because I think sometimes the nuance gets lost.

We all have negativity bias so making an effort to see more of the good can be really beneficial. Positive psychology research supports practices that help us recognize our strengths, cultivate positive experiences, and build resilience.

AND we also know that toxic positivity, when we ignore or suppress the hard stuff, is NOT helpful.

Both these things are true. And they don’t conflict. But I think it can be hard sometimes to see the difference. If you were raised with a lot of toxic positivity, it be an be hard to break that cycle. And if you’ve been stuck in a negative cycle for a while, that’s also really hard to break.

You can train your brain to find that balance. To see more of the good, to savor it, to really feel it, without straying into toxic positivity.

A balanced, mindful approach is the key.

If you’d like to practice cultivating this kind of awareness, this is what we’ll be digging into in next month’s free virtual workshop, Why the Bad Stuff Sticks: How to Train Your Brain to Notice More of the Good. 🌿✨ I’d love for you to join me!

It’s 100% free. Link to register is in my bio. 💕✨

10/26/2026

Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you HAVE to.

Our energy is a limited resource, and being intentional about where it goes is essential for taking care of ourselves.

Rest isn’t something you have to earn by reaching a certain level of exhaustion.

Neither are boundaries.

And to be clear, setting boundaries doesn’t mean we never make sacrifices for others. Recognizing that our energy has limits doesn’t mean we shouldn’t sometimes choose to give it generously or selflessly. Intentional use of energy doesn’t mean avoiding all discomfort or never doing hard things.

That’s not the point.

The point is recognizing that we have choices about where our energy goes. That we don’t have to do EVERYTHING. And that we don’t have to earn the right to say, “No, thank you.”

A lot of us (especially neurodivergent women) experience tremendous guilt when we set boundaries. When we say no. When we feel like we can’t live up to everything the world expects of us.

And for neurodivergent folks, managing energy can come with some additional challenges. Things that might seem small to others — switching between tasks, adapting to unexpected changes, organizing thoughts and managing basic daily tasks, translating social cues and navigating social expectations — can require significant cognitive resources.

But neurodivergent or not, this isn’t about giving up on doing our best or showing up for the people & things that matter.

It’s about recognizing that managing our energy intentionally is what helps us KEEP showing up.

Sometimes, rest and boundaries ARE acts of kindness. Because when we take care of ourselves, we’re better able to show up for others, too.

It might be a cliché, but it really is true:

You can’t pour from an empty cup. 🫗

So consider this your reminder that it’s okay to take what you need to fill yours. 💛

We can all benefit from living with a little more intention and making sure we’re putting our energy where it matters most.

💬 What’s one boundary that’s helped you protect your energy?

10/21/2026

Well, in a not-so-surprising turn of events, turns out I’m autistic too! 😅

For a long time, I’ve felt like there was a puzzle piece missing. A few people had raised the possibility of autism, but I attributed a lot of my autistic traits to my ADHD.

(There’s a lot of overlap between the two, including sensory sensitivities, so this post is a playful oversimplification. 😂)

Still, there were things ADHD alone didn’t seem to explain.

When I started learning about how autism and ADHD often present together as AuDHD, things started clicking into place.

2 weeks ago, I was assessed for autism and reassessed for ADHD (for the third time lol). Officially diagnosed with both.

Things about my life started making so much more sense.

Seeking a diagnosis is a personal choice. Some people don’t feel they need a label, and that’s completely valid. But for me, knowledge is power.

I had questions about why certain things had always felt so hard. I wanted to understand. I wanted to know.

As a high-achieving, high-masking AuDHD woman, it’s easy for people to think, “She doesn’t seem autistic or like she has ADHD. She seems fine!”

But what people see on the outside doesn’t necessarily reflect what’s happening on the inside.

For many late-diagnosed, high-masking neurodivergent women, life can feel like it’s constantly set to hard mode.

AuDHD can be full of contradictions and double whammies. Craving novelty but struggling with change… Developing elaborate systems to manage executive dysfunction and sensory needs… Experiencing physiological consequences of prolonged masking & recurring episodes of burnout… Needing significant recovery time after being around people or being in overstimulating OR understimulating environments. 😅😭

(And in my case, needing approximately 7 pairs of earplugs strategically stashed everywhere so I can hopefully find one. 🙃)

I’m still processing what this diagnosis means, but I’ll share more as I go. And I’ll probably start adding AuDHD-specific wellness resources into my website! 🥰

Anyway, PSA over. 😂

Any other neurodivergent baddies have systems like this? Share in the comments! ❤️

09/18/2026

As a health-conscious individual… and as someone who tends to try really hard 🤣… I know it can sometimes feel like if we’re not wrangling our brains into submission and focus, that’s on us. We just need to try harder! Focus better!

But sometimes our brains don’t need us to try harder—they just need the right conditions for attention to settle. 🪼✨

So this is my invitation to let go of effort a little bit. Let yourself be. Instead of pushing harder, find something that captures you, engages you, settles you.

For me, these jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium were pretty entrancing—and absolutely meditative. 😂

But if you don’t have an aquarium handy, 😆 and you’d like to learn more about how to create the right conditions for focus and train your attention without constantly fighting your brain, I’m giving a free workshop next week: Training Attention in a Distracted World.

We’ll talk about what gets in the way of focus, learn some practical tools, and meditate together.

Free + virtual. 💛 Link in bio to register. Hope to see you there!

09/16/2026

Getting distracted during meditation doesn’t mean you’re bad at meditating. In fact, noticing that your attention wandered—and gently bringing it back—is part of the practice.

Meditation gives us a place to practice working with our attention, so we can become more aware of where it goes and how we respond when it wanders. There are also some specific practices we can do that have been shown to improve attention and focus.

Want to learn more and practice with me? Join my FREE virtual workshop next week: Training Attention in a Distracted World. We’ll explore the neuroscience of attention, focus, and meditation—and we’ll practice together.

✨ Register through the link in my bio.

09/11/2026

These workshops are a little passion project of mine. 💛

I love teaching, and I really believe that wellness tools shouldn’t only be available to people who can afford a premium program, a membership, or one-on-one support. There are simple, evidence-based tools that can help us feel better, understand ourselves better, manage stress, and navigate everyday life a little more easily—and I want more people to have access to them.

So, once a month, I host a free virtual workshop. They started as meditation workshops, but this fall I’m broadening them into wellness workshops—where we take one topic and make it practical, approachable, and actually useful in real life.

Here’s what’s coming up:

🧠 Sept 22 — Training Attention in a Distracted World
⚡ Oct 14 — Why Am I So Tired?
🌱 Nov 18 — Why the Bad Stuff Sticks
🎄 Dec 9 — Healthy-ish for the Holidays

They’re all free, live on Zoom, and you’re welcome to join one or join them all. Replays are available if you can’t attend live (but registration is required to get the link).

Save this post so you have the dates, send it to someone who might want to join you, and sign up through the link in my bio. 🦄✨💕

09/09/2026

😁🌲🌳🤸🏼‍♀️

09/08/2026

No need to take ourselves too seriously, right? 🤣😂

09/02/2026

Sometimes it feels like the easiest option is what your nervous system wants… but sometimes what feels easiest in the moment isn’t what makes us feel best afterward.

Getting yourself outside, into the sunshine, into the water—even when your first instinct is to stay put, do nothing, keep scrolling, or what I call “cocoon” in the house lol—can really shift things in a powerful way.

Being outside in nature is a proven stress relief and nervous system regulation strategy, as is reducing screen time! Getting outside also in known to boost mood, and support our overall wellbeing. 🍃😊✨ And there’s something especially powerful about being near (or in) water. 🌊

Did you know that water therapy, ocean therapy, and forest therapy are traditional health modalities with ancient roots across multiple cultures? And today, there is promising research supporting them!

So when it feels tough to get yourself out of the house and away from your screen, remember: you don’t have to do anything huge.

Step outside. Feel the sun. Put your feet in the water or sand or grass or even mud (ok messy and a little weird I know, but also therapeutic and oddly satisfying 😂). Or just go for a little walk. Get some fresh air (old but solid advice haha).

Sometimes your nervous system just needs a different kind of input.

And it will pretty much always thank you for choosing the water instead of the doom scroll. 😊💕✨❤️

Follow for simple ways to support your nervous system and your wellbeing. Plus you can find free resources, workshops, classes, and more through the link in my bio. 🦄✨

Address

Laguna Niguel, CA
92607, 92677

Website

http://www.wellnesswithislay.com/

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