A Healthy Mind Habit
In This Reflection:
Coping with amplified stress after brain injury
Letting go of “pushing through”
A simple meditation rhythm for regulation
Building steadiness without perfection
Creating sustainable daily habits
There are stretches in my recovery when my thoughts feel overwhelming and even small stressors feel amplified. I spent a lot of energy trying to manage it by pushing through. I rarely spent time sitting with what was going on in my head. I was always trying to move past it and keep going.
What changed things for me was simple: I began meditating.
Not in a rigid or perfect way. Just being still every morning when I wake up and every evening before bed. I notice my thoughts and let them be. I don’t try to silence them. When I realize I’ve drifted, I return to my breath.
That’s the practice. It’s less about achieving a perfect state of calm and more about becoming comfortable with my own mind. Thoughts still come and go. Some days are better than others. I’m simply learning to sit with my own mind and take what comes.
I’m currently at 400 consecutive days, though my meditation practice began earlier in my recovery and was more occasional. After the first year passed, it stopped feeling like a milestone. It’s just my daily rhythm. Just another morning. Just another evening. Sit. Breathe. Return.
Meditation hasn’t erased hard days. I have my fair share of them. What it’s given me is steadiness. A way to stay centered and pace myself. A place to come back to on difficult days. It’s simple. It’s consistent. And for me, it’s been one of the healthiest habits in my recovery.
Written by: Jonathan Schimpf
Person living with a brain injury
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Becoming more comfortable with my own mind has helped me navigate recovery with more patience and clarity. I hope this reflection encourages others to explore what that might look like for them.
