F*ck the 5AM Club: Why ADHD Women Need a Different Kind of Rhythm

ADHD women aren’t meant to fit into the 5AM Club. Here’s why forcing early mornings doesn’t work—and how to honor your real rhythm instead.

You don’t need to wake up early to be worthy.

For years, I tried to force myself into the 5AM Club.
You know—the glossy version of wellness that says if you wake up early enough, you’ll finally be productive, successful, enlightened, evolved, or just… enough.

As a yoga teacher and wellness guide, I truly believed that waking up at 5AM was a sign of discipline, devotion, and spiritual progress. I tried. Again and again.

And it never worked.

What it did was make me feel like shit.
Tired, foggy, disconnected—and worse, like I was failing at wellness.

The Myth of Morning Mastery

You’ve seen the headlines.
“Win the morning, win the day.”
“The 5AM Club.”
“Start your miracle morning routine.”

But these aren’t rituals. They’re marketing campaigns.
Hustle culture disguised as healing.

They tell you the key to transformation is pushing harder.
But what they don’t say is this: those routines weren’t built for ADHD brains—or ADHD bodies.

Why Waking Up Early Feels So Wrong (Because It Is)

For ADHD women, our bodies often need more rest, not less.
We’re navigating delayed sleep cycles, irregular hormones, sensory overload, and chronic overstimulation.
Forcing yourself to rise before your body is ready doesn’t create clarity—it creates cortisol.

And if you’ve ever felt guilt for not being an “early bird,” let me say this plainly:
You’re not lazy.
You’re not broken.
You’re just different.

The problem isn’t your rhythm—it’s the rigid system that refuses to honor it.

The Shame Spiral of “Discipline”

Here’s what happens when you try to force a routine that isn’t made for you:

You miss the mark (again).
You internalize it as failure.
You burn out trying to “catch up.”
You disconnect from your own needs, intuition, and truth.

Sound familiar?

You don’t need more discipline.
You need permission to live in a way that honors your actual body, brain, and season of life.

Seasons, Sleep, and Self-Honoring

I live in the Pacific Northwest. In summer, I naturally wake up earlier.
In winter, when the sun rises at 8:30 and it’s wet and dark? I rest more.
That’s not laziness. That’s alignment.

We’re not machines.
We’re seasonal.
We’re cyclical.
And pretending otherwise—especially as ADHD women—only leads to more shame.

If It’s Not Built for You, You Don’t Need to Fit It

Here’s what I’ve stopped doing:

Forcing 5AM “miracle mornings”
Judging myself for needing 9+ hours of sleep
Measuring my worth by what I can squeeze into a day

Here’s what I’m doing instead:

Listening to my body
Designing my day around my energy rhythms
Letting slow mornings be sacred instead of shameful

Because the truth is: your body knows.
And no bestselling book, influencer, or guru knows what’s best for you more than you do.

You don’t need to hustle for rest.
You don’t need to earn the right to sleep in.
You don’t need to wake up early to be a good person, a spiritual person, or a successful person.

The 5AM Club isn’t built for us.
So let’s stop trying to make it work.

Let’s build something better—something cyclical, sensory-aware, ADHD-friendly, and honest.

You don’t need to rise early to rise whole.

Categories: : RISE → Focus & Follow-Through, ROOT → Body & Energy