Ep. 90 | Concussion Chronicles #3: 6 Ways To Cope When Things Feel Really Hard

In this episode of 'Life Boost with Amelia,' host Dr. Amelia, an integrative health and life coach and veterinarian, shares her personal concussion recovery journey.

 Through candid reflections and reading her social media posts from that time, Amelia outlines six crucial strategies she used to cope with the challenging recovery process. 

She underscores the importance of addressing both good and uncomfortable emotions, reframing setbacks as learning experiences, and seeking gratitude and curiosity even in difficult times. 

To help others foster a positive mindset, Amelia offers a nine-minute morning affirmations meditation, available here: https://www.lifeboost.today/morningaffirmations

00:00 Introduction to Life Boost with Amelia

01:01 Amelia's Concussion Recovery Journey

03:30 Coping Strategies for Difficult Times

05:09 Embracing Challenges and Finding Strength

06:57 Daily Choices for a Positive Mindset

10:11 A Gift of Meditation and Affirmations

Get all the Aligned Success Reboot details: https://www.lifeboost.today/aligned-success-reboot

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Transcript

0:30

Welcome to the Life Boost with Amelia podcast where we're changing the narrative around what true health and success look like. They should give you energy, not drain it. I'm your host, Dr. Amelia multi-passionate integrative health and life coach, entrepreneur, and recovered burnout veterinarian. Together, we'll explore the science behind how your brain and body work, including the unconscious mind while also connecting with what your heart needs in order to stand up to the norm of feeling stuck on a hamster wheel-working hard yet feeling exhausted and not where you want to be- and instead live a life that makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning and in love with who you see when you look in the mirror. The reality is if you do what everyone else is doing, you're not going to feel good. Let's break the norm.

amelia: 1:21

Hi friend. I am going on my morning walk, so going to share more of my concussion recovery journey. If you don't know the full freak accident story, check out the first of these Concussion Chronicle episodes. I am going to be reading some of the posts that I shared on social media during this time. I found I couldn't look at screens at all, and it was even hard to be having conversations, like thinking about things was hard. But I did discover that if I simply wrote my thoughts out on paper a lot like how I journal every morning, just a complete mind dump. Then that was doable some days. And so I started to write on Post-It notes as a way of processing things for myself, but it was also a way to stay connected and to be sharing my experience, which helped me to have a sense of purpose during a time that felt really hard. So I'm gonna read some of it and I may add some of my own comments. As I go through. So the first one that I shared was maybe like the first week, so I had no idea how long the recovery process was going to be. So I said: Not going to lie, recovering from a concussion feels really hard. It is a much slower process than I imagined, and I'm grieving the week, or month, I thought I was going to have. A lot of the things that usually help me cope when things feel hard aren't an option, like walks, workouts, being outside, my work, going somewhere, texting or calling friends, family, watching a fun show, et cetera. Sometimes shitty circumstances happen that are out of our control. Here are six ways I'm coping. One, I'm talking about it. Sharing that I feel sad, lonely, frustrated, et cetera, helps to take a little of the heaviness away. It's like a pop off valve so they don't totally consume me. And to add a comment about that, in many ways it felt like I couldn't actually talk about what I was experiencing. I wanted to be able to process and talk through things so much more, but that was really challenging for my brain. But instead of focusing on that, I just continued to get curious about how could I share? What could I do that day? Two, I'm making space for uncomfortable and comfortable emotions. I'm acknowledging feelings like sadness and frustration so I can process and release them like crying, and I'm looking for opportunities to feel love, connection, curiosity, gratitude, humor, pleasure, because both can be true. It doesn't have to be either or. Three, I'm accepting reality and coming up with a plan that feels empowering versus limiting. I could either hate everything for the next six weeks or make the most of it. This is a work in progress. My plan yesterday was still too ambitious for my brain and that felt frustrating. But I learned what doesn't work, so I can get curious again today to find what does. Every time in life that I have felt stuck or limited. For example, burnout, running injuries, restrictive food trials. Have led to new discoveries that have ultimately added richness to my life. I know this will be the same. And to add this comment, I cannot emphasize how true that is. The times when I just feel frustrated to tears or just so stuck, they have led to incredible discoveries, like for each one. For burnout. It helped me to understand what wasn't working so I could just be back in alignment so I could release those blocks that were holding me back. For my running injury, I used to just run excessively and that was all that I did. And so, when I was forced to stop, it forced me to start to look at my body in a more holistic way to start strength training, to start doing mobility and yoga, and ultimately helped me to be listening to my body so much more. For food trials that felt so restrictive. Those were hard. And also, every time I found new food combinations or ways of eating that I actually continue to use now, and if I hadn't been forced to get ultra creative, I may not have had that. As long as you get curious, in challenges, it will add richness to your life in some way. Four, my brain filter, the reticular activating system, wants to focus on all the things I can't do. So I am actively working to see the good and what I can do. This takes a lot of reminders. For example, last night in bed, I said out loud all the things I'm grateful for. This morning I made a list of the things that I can still do. Five I'm reframing perceived fails into wins.. For example, yesterday walking for 10 minutes was too much, which felt frustrating. But it was a win that I learned and listened. That's what will help me to move forward. Six. I'm using this as a reminder to go for the risks that are worth taking in life. Our brains are so good at coming up with worst case scenarios, when that's often the least likely. And yet even playing it safe like sleeping comes with risks. You can't control everything, but you can control how you respond to it. Fails and setbacks are never the end, as long as you embrace compassion and curiosity. If you made it this far. Thanks. Writing about it helped. Sending you positive vibes and energy, Amelia. So that post, I think that it was like a week into my concussion recovery, and things became even more limiting and hard after that. And yet, I consistently did those things throughout and I trusted that there was going to be light on the other side. There was going to be clarity and new perspectives, and I was going to be stronger. And those six things were truly crucial. And they did involve making a choice every day, even hour to hour, of noticing how much my brain wanted to focus on the negatives or to be feeling like a victim. And just correcting that into a mindset that felt so much more empowering and helped me to feel more in control despite so much being out of my control. And I'm recording this on a week when there has been so much violence in the news and polarization and things are feeling hard and there is so much that feels out of our control. And yet imagine if all of us really tuned into what we need to move forward in a way that helps to lift us up and those around us. And so yesterday I felt like we needed a gift and support, and so I recorded a meditation of affirmations that can really help you to embody this mindset, to feel confident in your ability to navigate things when they feel hard. So it's just say nine minute meditation. If you carve out nine minutes in the morning to listen to it, I guarantee you're gonna notice a huge positive ripple effect in the way that you navigate and feel the entire day. So give it a try at least once. I'll leave the link in the show notes. You can also get it at www.lifeboost.today/morningaffirmations Sending you so much love, positive vibes and energy. Bye.