Pain & Pleasure, Finding Equilibrium, & Finding Joy In Discomfort

What if discomfort could actually make everyday life feel better?This week on 2 Curly Haired Girls with ADHD, Florence and Julia get into the relationship between pain, pleasure, dopamine, and the brain’s constant attempt to find equilibrium — and why voluntarily doing hard or uncomfortable things might change the way we experience the rest of our lives.Our brains are constantly trying to return to baseline: pleasure can be followed by a comedown, while discomfort can sometimes create its own rebound in the opposite direction. But what about intentionally choosing safe, voluntary discomfort as a way to become more present? From hot yoga to improv, we talk about how uncomfortable experiences can pull you out of your thoughts, reconnect you with your body, and potentially make ordinary moments feel a whole lot better.And then, naturally, can you actually find pleasure inside an uncomfortable experience? Florence has been experimenting with that during dental cleanings — consciously noticing tension, relaxing her body, breathing through discomfort, and changing her relationship to an experience she normally dreads.Along the way, the girls also get into ADHD executive dysfunction, visual cues for closing open loops, self-regulation, mindfulness, relationships and communication styles, improv, Buddhism, non-duality, equanimity, cutting your own hair, dental anxiety, and why Florence and Julia attempting to make a podcast without a producer resulted in episodes sitting untouched on a computer.Plus: -Vocal warmups are apparently a turnoff-Florence accidentally makes herself more attractive while trying to disgust someone with a chicken wing-Julia briefly becomes a questionable life guru- Rob from The Traitors and his snakes -The girls achieve what may be their most chaotic level of ADHD energy yet.If your brain also jumps from neuroscience to spirituality to haircuts to the dentist and somehow finds a connecting thread between all of them — welcome home.2 Curly Haired Girls with ADHD is a comedy podcast about ADHD, neurodivergence, relationships, mental health, self-discovery, and the beautifully chaotic experience of trying to understand your own brain.Subscribe for new full episodes and clips, and tell us in the comments: Do you have something uncomfortable that actually makes you feel better afterward?#ADHD #ADHDWomen #Neurodivergent #ADHDPodcast #MentalHealth #Dopamine #Mindfulness #SelfRegulation #WomenWithADHD #2CurlyHairedGirlsWithADHD