A firsthand account of the effects Mindfulness Meditation can have on anyone’s life, if approached, well, mindfully. Take a moment to read this inspirational story.
Article Source: brainline.org
Enjoy,
~ Marsha
For almost six years after her car crash in 1993, Melissa Felteau expended much of her energy wanting things to be different from what they were. She’d dream about her “old” self, only to wake up a new, confused, and confusing version of that self.
Prior to her crash, when she sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI), she had been a master swimmer, a skier, and kayaker. She’d held a top job as director of public relations for Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital in Ontario, Canada, and she had a robust social life. Little seemed out of reach. But after her crash — at age 31 — she couldn’t read or write. She had a hard time following conversations, and she couldn’t get organized or remember anything. “It was a long, slow, painful, depressing recovery,” she said.
Worst of all, the mental chatter in her head wouldn’t quit. It was relentless — all the talking, criticizing, judging. “The injury was devastating to my self-image. I told myself over and over that I was no longer loveable, that I was no longer good enough,” says Melissa. “More than anything else, the brain injury left me with a residue of unworthiness — a deep soul wound. I was desperate to buoy myself back to myself, to find some kind of inspiration.”
When a friend invited her to a yoga class to help with her persistent physical pain, Melissa discovered meditation. She felt a change immediately.
Learning to let go
The role of non-traditional treatments to help in recovery after brain injury is finding a more formal place in hospitals and rehabilitation centers. These treatments can include meditation, mindfulness, acupuncture, energy balance, biodfeedback, and craniosacral therapy (basically, gentle manipulation of the skull and its cranial sutures to enhance the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid, and release restrictions in the connective tissue that protects the brain.)
“People tend to look at the brain after TBI as a damaged or pulled muscle, and that’s not right. There is physical damage to the brain, yes, but there is also trauma to the brain that needs to be looked at neurologically and psychologically,” says Rick Leskowitz, M.D., director of the Integrative Medicine Project at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. “The use of integrative treatments is really interesting. Clearly, they have benefits for people. We don’t know why or how they work, but we do know that they work and are therefore a very promising line of study.”
Read the rest of the Article, HERE.
Article Credit: Victoria Tilney McDonough, BrainLine
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I started meditating after a brain injury 4 years ago. I KNOW it was a crucial part of my full recovery beyond what anybody predicted. As with Melissa, incredibly high anxiety, ceaseless negative mental chatter, lack of focus and inattention were a big challenge for me at first. Meditation has really helped all this.
As the article states, a brain injury is more than just physical damage.
I had a tumur removed from my left frontal lobe 2 years ago in June. I was, to put it mildly, tortured by negative voices, critical thinking and loveless thoughts about myself and everyone around me including the people who were trying to help me. My world was a very dark place to say the least. Very similar to what Melissa stated.
I was determined to get back my “old self” as I referred to it, only to be tortured even more because i did not want to accept that my ‘old self’ was no more. This determination made me do everything to recover and one of those things was meditation.
After a few months of meditating I noticed I was questioning why I wanted to be that old self. Now, after 13 months of mindfulness training I can say without a doubt I am a more complete, open, courageous, compassionate, free and deeply strong individual because of this experience. I wouldn’t want to go back to that old ego based self if you were to pay me a million pounds! (i believe you refer to it as ‘Bucks’ in the states).
Working in the health sector in the UK (NHS), I am now fully committed to help bring awareness to the medical associations as to the huge health benefits that meditation can and does indeed bring. This is a great site.
Thank you.
Aengus Shanahan.
{ 1 trackback }