Table of contents:
0:47 Worrying about ever getting better
4:55 Worrying delayed my concussion recovery
6:48 The concussion stories you read online
9:22 There is hope!
10:53 Brains are adaptive systems
14:24 How to recover from your concussion faster – 3 steps
17:18 Conclusion
Introduction to how to stop worrying and recover from a concussion faster
Using the player above, you can listen to the Concussion Stories episode to learn how you can recover from your concussion faster by addressing and eliminating your worries. Specifically, we’re going to look into the worry about never making a full recovery from your concussion. This worry is exactly what stands in the way of your recovery.
To recover from a concussion faster, we have to change worry into action. That’s why this episode will first help you recognize the worry and its causes. Then, it will provide you with 3 actionable steps so that you replace your worries with progress right away.
Transcript & links
What follows is a transcript of this podcast episode. Also, in this episode I share 2 resources I made for you: The brain foods PDF and the PDF that helps you take away the source of your worries.
Concussion Stories
[0:00] Welcome to Concussion Stories: a Lifeyana podcast series filled with hope. I’m here to let you know that you are not alone in your concussion recovery.
I’m Melanie and I spent more than six years experimenting, training, and learning to heal myself from a very bad case of post-concussion syndrome. And today, I feel better than ever before.
In Concussion Stories, we dig deep while discussing hopeful stories of recovery as well as the hard stuff in the messy middle. If you’re struggling to focus, be sure to take breaks.
Down in the description of each episode, you can find a table of contents in case you want to skip ahead. Let’s dive right in.
Worrying about recovering from your concussion
[0:47] Today’s episode, I want to devote to a worry that I know a lot of you have. And it’s a worry that’s fundamentally undermining your recovery. And this worry is about whether you’re ever getting better. It’s a worry that I know very well.
Taking away the causes of your worry
And I want to look deep into it with you to see what the causes of this worry are, because they are there. Even though worrying isn’t helpful, often the causes underlying the worries are very logical. And once we are able to see these causes, we’re also able to take them away. And that’s what the purpose of this episode is.
3 Things to do to help your recovery
I want to hand you things that you can do right away that is going to not only eradicate your worry, and help you feel relieved instantaneously, but also start helping you feel better in your recovery and move forward.
My concussion was not healing fast enough
For me, the worry of not ever getting better was very closely linked with another worry that I wasn’t recovering fast enough.
If you hear me saying this and you can relate to it, you’re one of these people in the world that are very ambitious, that are used to relying on their brains, and you’re also used to the fact that if you think of something and you make a plan, then it works out.
That’s what I was, that’s what I always had experienced in my life. My brain was, well, me. And once this fell away and I felt that my life was slipping through my fingers because of the concussion, I experienced most of all, that I wasn’t recovering fast enough.
I believed the future would look like the past
First, I had weeks, then I had months and then I had years of experience that I didn’t recover. And looking forward, I didn’t see myself recovering anytime soon. So, this created this really dark, but also flawed idea that the future wasn’t going to look any different from my past.
It made me feel powerless
[2:57] It made me feel like I had no influence my recovery. And in a broader perspective, I had no influence over my life. I felt very angry with episodes and I felt very sad.
Feeling lost if your brain doesn’t work anymore
And also, most of all, I remember the feeling of feeling lost. Lost at the deepest human level. Everything is connected to your brain: your relationships, your work, your finances, your dreams, your hobbies. And if it doesn’t function anymore, it feels like it’s all going down the drain.
I didn’t believe in recovery anymore
One other thing that I vividly remember from this time is that, if I didn’t watch my thoughts, they would automatically go to the belief that I wouldn’t get better. So not only did I worry about it, but I never believed anymore. What it made me feel like was that I was stuck. And like I said, so lost.
You’re reading this, so you’re looking for recovery
If you feel this way too, I also know that you feel a different way, because you’re here right now. So, there’s a voice in you, I guess, that’s telling you that there’s got to be more than you can do. Because you went looking for more. And that’s why I know you have it in you to find a way out.
I’m here to help you
I was like you, and unlike you – and this is very good news for you – I had to figure it out all by myself. But you have me. You’re now listening to this episode. You can listen to other Concussion Stories episodes.
You can read my blog posts, you can download my freebies, in which I put a lot of insights and especially practical tools that I needed to have before in order to cure myself so much faster, which is what I want you to do. I want you to learn from my mistakes, I want you to learn from everything that helped me so that you can recover so much faster than I did. So, let’s do that together.
Worrying delayed my concussion recovery
[4:55] After making a full recovery from a concussion that doctors declared uncurable, I know all the things that were key to my recovery, and I know all the things that only postponed my recovery.
And one of the most fundamental things that postponed my recovery, was worrying about ever getting better. I don’t want you to postpone your recovery by spending all this energy and all this time on worrying, while you also could get some action to get positive results, and feel that you are getting out of this hole.
The reason why you worry
Now, the worries come for a reason. Maybe you’ve been recovering before, and suddenly you feel like you’re getting worse. It could also be that you have been recovering before,and then you hit a plateau and you’ve been on this plateau for a while now. So, you feel like you’re not getting any results anymore.
And maybe, I had this from the start, you’ve only gotten worse. So, you’ve never even seen any improvement. And whichever reason it is that you have started to worry, because these are all valid reasons, right?
Losing control over your recovery
You’re starting to feel powerless and thoughts are crossing your mind, you’re wondering like, what am I doing wrong? And what could I be doing better? What else do I have to do to get my life back? Why don’t I have any control over this?
You do have control over your recovery!
Since I know these questions so well, I want to demystify the idea that you have no influence your recovery, because you have. You have control, you just need to know what to do. And that’s what I want to share with you later on in this episode.
The Concussion Stories you read online
[6:48] What you can also probably relate to, is the first thing that most of us do when we are worried about something. And that’s Google. And we do it mostly when we’re super worried or tired, like in the middle of the night or at 4 pm in the afternoon. When we’re tired from work, from the day. When we’re essentially at our weakest. And this is when everything hits us even more.
Stories of people with lasting concussions
Because when you Google for concussion stories, you’ll find all kinds of horror stories. Of people sharing their stories of being bedridden for years, or people having had post-concussion syndrome for over 10 years.
Also, people having suicidal thoughts because of not having a perspective of ever getting better. And people having such bad headaches that they can’t do that work, or they haven’t been able to go into work for years already. Essentially, people seeing their futures going down the drain. Wait for it, it’s getting hopeful.
You’re not crazy for feeling hopeless
But I want to acknowledge that this is what you read. This is what you find online. This is almost the only thing that you’ll find on the Internet. And I’ve been there, I’ve been in the situation where you’re at your most vulnerable, you’re looking for a lifeline, and all of this hits you hard. And it can knock you down and you can feel lost and sad and alone and not knowing what to do. I know where you are.
The bias behind online concussion stories
But you have to know one thing and it’s super important to know. Because, we have a blind spot when we see all these search results. Who do you think, in general, posts stories on the internet about not recovering? People not recovering!
People who have long-term concussion syndrome
People who are in the middle of the process, who want to vent and who want to find help, and who are not helped in the regular medical system. And this creates a distorted vision of recovery. And of all the potential that you have.
Let’s turn it around.
People who made a full recovery
[8:53] Where do you think all the people who have recovered are? What are they doing right now?
They are living their lives! They have moved on without ever reporting to you that they have recovered. That there is hope; what they did to get there.
They have moved on – and rightly so: they are are so blessed to be able to move on with their lives after having had weeks or months or maybe like in my case, even years of struggle. But that creates such a distorted vision.
Hope for concussion recovery
[9:22] And this is why I wanted to make this episode for you. That is why I decided to do everything I’m doing right now with Lifeyana. I want to represent all those 1000s of people who have recovered, but who have never left a trace of their story. I want to share with you my story of hope.
Doctors told me my concussion would not heal
Because you know what? Doctors told me repeatedly that my brain would never recover. That my brain damage was beyond repair. I repeatedly got the message that if your brain has been damaged for two years, it will not heal anymore. And I lost all hope because of that. And because of all the stories on the Internet.
But I recovered anyway
And still, I have fully recovered! More than that! And it’s been more than two years now since I’ve realized that my concussion was gone.
And my brain has only gotten better
And ever since that moment, my brain still improved! My fitness improved, my capacity to think and to create improved. And this no longer happened from a broken brain situation, right?
This happened from a healthy brain. And that’s because all of the techniques that I discovered. The brain training techniques, and all of the lifestyle changes that I was able to make and to improve upon over the years create this environment for my brain, where it only gets better and better and sharper and more fit every time.
Brains are adaptive systems
[10:53] And that’s because my brain and your brain is an adaptive system. If you feed your brain something, it’ll give you more of that. So, let’s say if you believe that your brain will never recover, it will not look for ways to recover. I believe it was Henry Ford, who said, if you believe that you can do something or you believe you can’t do something, you’re both right!
Tell your brain to find ways to recover
Your brain works the same way. If you tell your brain, there’s no way, it will not look, and you will not find a way. But if you tell your brain on the other hand, hey, there is hope – it’ll start looking.
And that’s probably already what you did, because you’re now listening to this and you’re looking for ways out. And there are ways out: there are tons of things that you can do right now to start feeling better.
What happens if you don’t believe in recovery
I just want to give you another example before we go on. If you don’t believe you’re getting better – and remember, I’m not judging, because I believed this for years myself, so I know where you are.
But if you believe this, your actions will be like this: you will probably not go out a lot, you will be alone on your couch or in bed, feeling bad, feeling sad, not having any faith in the future, and not eating well.
You have to help your brain regenerate
And all of this causes your brain not to be challenged and not to be finding new ways, but also not to be in this state where it can repair itself. And why this is important, is this: it’s already been found that the brain is able after injury to recover, and to restore itself. But it’s not able to do this good enough.
Lingering concussion symptoms or concussion syndrome
If you have lingering concussion symptoms or post-concussion syndrome, you already know for sure that your brain is not able, by itself, to recover and heal itself good enough. So, it needs your help to really get over the edge and fully recover.
Use the learning system that is your brain
You see, this is where your mindset and your beliefs really influence your whole future. Because if you do believe that you can get better; if you believe that there’s hope for you, that today can look differently than yesterday, and that what you do today matters, then your brain will be able to recover.
And I believe it will even give you more than what you expect right now, I’m completely sure of it. Because it’s a learning system.
Stimulate your brain to regenerate
So, if you believe your brain is getting better, and you believe that what you do today matters, then you’ll probably go for a walk right? You’ll eat super healthy food, you’ll do brain training – which is very important,and I’ll tell you more about it later. Essentially, you will stimulate your brain and you will get it inside this environment where it can regenerate. And that’s how you cure your concussion.
Your mindset is your power
So, you need this mindset of hope and this mindset of action and of positivity. This is where it all starts: what you do today matters. You have so much more power over your recovery than you realize right now.
You don’t need authority to heal
And also, you have the power to decide that you will heal yourself. You don’t need any doctor giving you a green light. You don’t need any white code or pill or PhD degree or any test to work with your body, and to experience that action creates results.
How to recover from your concussion faster: 3 steps
[14:24] I want to give you three things that you can do right now to turn your worries into positive action.
#1: Mindset – tell your brain it can recover
And number one we just discussed: it’s to start with your mindset. Start with the belief that it’s possible to recover: tell your brain that there is hope.
#2: Feed your brain brain foods
Number two. I would have started eating my calories away and spending them on brain foods right from the start.
Really, I would have saved so much time and so many side effects that I caused by doing the wrong things, if I’d started eating brains foods from the start. And to save you this time, I made a freebie for you.
So, it’s a PDF that you can print and you can stick it onto your fridge. So you can refer to it when you’re doing groceries or when you’re about to eat, to really make the right choices for your brain to help it regenerate and repair itself.
#3: Take away the reasons why you worry
The third action that you can take right now, is very important in taking away your worries about ever getting better. Your worries are probably partly logical.
Worrying in itself isn’t a useful process, we know that. But the reason why you worry could be valid. And that’s because some things are standing in the way of your recovery. And that’s why you start to ruminate and to worry about it.
These are the things that cost you too much
The things you worry about probably are also the things that are costing you too much. For example, too much focus or too much tension you’re getting from it or too much of your limited time.
And because you’re still doing these things, or seeing these people that are causing this, you’re experiencing major energy drops, or even setbacks in your recovery.
But you feel like you’ve got to keep doing them right, because of social obligations, or because you just can’t tell your boss that you’re really not doing well, because you’re afraid of losing your job. Or because you just have to pass that exam in order not to drop out of school.
The worries will stay if you don’t change the causes
On the other hand, it feels like your recovery is stopped, is not progressing at all. And you will keep on feeling this way, the longer you keep on doing these things that are costing you something.
Again, remember that I’m not judging, okay? It took me a very long time to figure all of this out. So, the reason I’m telling you this, and I’m saying it like it is, is because I want you to get it sooner.
Just fill out the PDF
Now, you don’t have to figure all this out for yourself. I made another downloadable PDF for you, in which I explain the entire process. It only has to take you about 10 to 20 minutes, and it can turn your entire recovery process around. Just follow the steps, that’s all there is to it.
Conclusion
[17:18] So, in conclusion, when you’re worried that you’re not ever getting better, it’s so important to know that there is hope and that you’re not alone in this. There are a lot of people who are struggling with the same thing, and it’s not weird that you feel this way.
Step 1: Mindset
The actions that you can take are: One, it’s very important to feed your brain positive ideas about the future. If you only feed your brain negative ideas, it will not go looking for ways to recover. So, tell your brain that there is hope. There is hope: remember my story. Start looking for ways.
Step 2: Eat brain foods
Two: feed your brain healthy things. Refer to that brain foods freebie that I made and linked for you.
Step 3: The things that hold back your recovery
Then number three: acknowledge and mitigate all the things and people that are holding back your recovery. That are essentially making you worry about ever getting better. You don’t have to do anything radical; you can just fill out the freebie that I made for you. And from there, you’ll know what to do. And you’ll free up all this energy that you can now spend on the most important thing in your life right now. And that’s your recovery.
Now it’s your turn
And there’s one final thing that I’d like to ask you to do right now. And that is to share with me what you’re taking away from this episode. What is one action that you’d like to try right away so that you can start improving on your recovery? Let me know in the comments below.
And if you want to hear and read more Concussion Stories, actionable steps and inspiration, be sure to subscribe to the Lifeyana email list so that you never miss out on new materials we constantly make for you.
Thank you for listening to this Concussion Stories episode by Lifeyana. May you be well and may you be happy.
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