Mindfulness for Busy Minds (and Other Adaptations)
Tracks
Royal Poinciana - In-Person
| Tuesday, September 29, 2026 |
| 1:05 PM - 2:05 PM |
| Royal Poinciana |
Overview
Shara Jenkins, Create Your Space
Key Learnings
Key Outcomes:
Recognising gaps in traditional approaches
Explore how therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, along with mindfulness traditions influenced by Zen Buddhism, can unintentionally overlook neurodivergent thinking, sensory, and regulation differences.
Adapting mindfulness for busy minds
Learn practical ways to adapt mindfulness and therapeutic activities so movement, fast thinking, and strong internal dialogue are included rather than treated as barriers.
Creative and somatic pathways to regulation
Experience how creative practices and simple somatic techniques can help reconnect brain and body, transform internal narratives, and develop a more compassionate relationship with the inner critic.
Speaker
Ms Shara Jenkins
Owner
Create Your Space
Mindfulness for Busy Minds (and Other Adaptations)
Presentation Overview
Many neurodivergent (ND) people encounter wellbeing approaches through therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), or mindfulness practices derived from Zen Buddhism. While these approaches can be helpful, they often assume neurotypical attention patterns, sensory processing, and emotional regulation styles. As a result, ND participants frequently report feeling that they are “doing it wrong” when they cannot sit still, quiet their thoughts, or apply rigid cognitive strategies to complex internal experiences.
This workshop explores how mindfulness and therapeutic activities can be adapted to better honour neurodivergent ways of thinking, sensing, and processing the world. Rather than positioning wandering thoughts, movement, or intense inner dialogue as barriers, the session reframes these traits as starting points for self-understanding. It introduces creative and somatic approaches that help rebuild the connection between brain and body, supporting regulation, reflection, and self-compassion in ways that feel achievable for busy, fast-thinking minds.
Participants will be guided through a three-panel creative practice designed to translate therapeutic concepts into visual and embodied experiences.
Panel 1 invites participants to explore the idea of an inner superhero or future self. This may represent strengths, protective qualities, or the person they hope to grow into.
Panel 2 draws on a cognitive reframing activity adapted from CBT and hypnotherapy. Participants write negative self-talk, internalised messages, or phrases that loop in their minds. These words are then transformed using neurographic art, layering lines and shapes across the text. The words are not erased, but the focus shifts, symbolising how narratives can change without denying lived experience.
Panel 3 explores the inner critic, helping participants identify its role, recognise its origins, and develop a more compassionate relationship with it.
Together, these activities demonstrate how creative, neurodivergent-affirming adaptations can make mindfulness and therapeutic practices more accessible, meaningful, and sustainable.
This workshop explores how mindfulness and therapeutic activities can be adapted to better honour neurodivergent ways of thinking, sensing, and processing the world. Rather than positioning wandering thoughts, movement, or intense inner dialogue as barriers, the session reframes these traits as starting points for self-understanding. It introduces creative and somatic approaches that help rebuild the connection between brain and body, supporting regulation, reflection, and self-compassion in ways that feel achievable for busy, fast-thinking minds.
Participants will be guided through a three-panel creative practice designed to translate therapeutic concepts into visual and embodied experiences.
Panel 1 invites participants to explore the idea of an inner superhero or future self. This may represent strengths, protective qualities, or the person they hope to grow into.
Panel 2 draws on a cognitive reframing activity adapted from CBT and hypnotherapy. Participants write negative self-talk, internalised messages, or phrases that loop in their minds. These words are then transformed using neurographic art, layering lines and shapes across the text. The words are not erased, but the focus shifts, symbolising how narratives can change without denying lived experience.
Panel 3 explores the inner critic, helping participants identify its role, recognise its origins, and develop a more compassionate relationship with it.
Together, these activities demonstrate how creative, neurodivergent-affirming adaptations can make mindfulness and therapeutic practices more accessible, meaningful, and sustainable.
Biography
Shara Jenkins is a creative therapist and facilitator focused on neurodivergent wellbeing. Through Create Your Space, she supports individuals of all ages to explore identity, regulation, and belonging through creative practices. Her work centres neurodivergent and disabled perspectives, recognising that wellbeing grows when people are supported to work with their unique brains rather than against them. Shara also delivers workshops and leadership supports that encourage inclusion and respect. Guided by the belief that belonging shouldn’t cost your wellbeing, she uses creativity, reflection, and practical tools to help people express themselves freely and build sustainable ways of living, learning, and leading.
