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3. Nostalgia as a Nervous System Strategy

3. Nostalgia as a Nervous System Strategy

Update: 2025-10-29
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003. Get ready for a throwback!


In this episode, Kristy dives into the dopamine-rich world of nostalgia and how it can actually serve as a nervous system strategy for ADHD women. From fake childhood radio shows and 90s perfume scents to the comfort of rewatching Friends for the tenth time, she explores how revisiting the past can regulate, restore, and reconnect us to our authentic joy.


You’ll learn how nostalgia can:

  • Regulate your nervous system through familiar sensory anchors

  • Reconnect you to creativity, play, and intrinsic motivation

  • Restore your “continuity of self” — reminding you who you’ve always been

But Kristy also gets real about the flip side — when nostalgia becomes escapism — and how to use it as fuel for your next evolution instead of getting stuck in the rerun.


✨ Takeaway: Nostalgia isn’t about living in the past. It’s about remembering the truest version of you… and building from there.


🎧 Tune in for: dopamine hits, 90s throwbacks, and a gentle reminder that your inner weirdo was onto something all along.

Topics Covered:

  • Why nostalgia is a legit nervous system regulator for ADHD adults

  • Childhood radio shows, mixtapes, and creative hyperfocus as early “flow”

  • The science of “synthetic nostalgia” and how it calms ADHD burnout

  • How millennial nostalgia culture can both soothe and sedate us

  • Using nostalgia to reconnect with play, creativity, and intrinsic joy

  • Rebuilding your present life with energy from your most “alive” past self


Key Quotes:

“Back then, my brain was self-regulating — I was in flow before I even knew what that meant.”

“We’re not reclaiming all distractions — just the good ones that remind us who we are.”

“Let nostalgia inspire your creation, not replace it.”


Next Episode Teaser:
If today was all about reclaiming our past for nervous system gold, next week we’re going way back — to when villages were the OG body doubles.


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3. Nostalgia as a Nervous System Strategy

3. Nostalgia as a Nervous System Strategy

Kristy Powers