Brain Injury Recovery

How Yoga Supports my Brain Injury Recovery and Inspires Ideas for my Podcast

It was at the 8 month milestone, post Subarachnoid Brain Haemorrhage (SAH), along with medical support and guidance that we felt it was the right time to see where the body was at, through participating in yoga and gentle movement. However, it was with restrictions. I could not be in any pose/position that required my head being below my heart, and under every circumstance I had to listen to what my body, especially the sensations that my head, were physically telling me.

After receiving positive recommendations to come and try Yoga LYFE (thank you Lisa Ball), I opened that gorgeous door into the studio, feeling all the feels that come along with trying something new and I was a little more wary and cautious about my body. That first session gave me a sense of feeling free, yet vulnerability, as I could feel the impact of where I was now in my body. Initially, the reality hit hard! It was going to take a lot of time, patience, and perseverance. In one session with the lovely Steph, I broke down and cried, due to frustration of where I used to be physically and where I was in that point of time (thank you for the nurturing hug Steph).

I was grateful to be given the second chance at life and even to do yoga, yet I was going through the process of grieving the old me, who was able to do so much more. A brain injury is a long process, there is no expiry date. There are some days you are feeling great, then other days you are lucky to have made it to the end of the day relatively unscathed.

Sitting in front of all the yoga teachers, embracing each session, is like my version of medicine, healing, a ‘church service’ if you will. It has become a space that fills me with warmth, compassion, happy challenges, and the growing sense of community that has become a compulsory way to experience my week. It is making me a stronger and more accepting and loving person towards myself. I am really enjoying learning to love the new me, in all its true north.

It also allows the creative juices the flow so I can show up for myself and those I interview for my podcast The Brain Game Changer: how heart felt stories awareness and education can change the game. Yoga, centres me and keeps me grounded, allowing me to listen to what is humbly required when wonderful humans sit in front of the mic, sharing their adversities with hope and integrity.

The Brain Game Changer Podcast is available on Spotify and iTunes Podcast.

Love, light and in unity,

xxxx Mel

Melissa Gough @thebraingamechanger