Good Brain DayLife after brain injury

Community creations

Made by people living with this

Poems, photographs, artwork and writing shared by people with a brain injury, and by the people around them. Everything here is published with permission.

A close up photo of the moon

Rest doesn't HAVE to mean doing nothing.

By Josh (G.B.D. host)

Photo Other Advice

One of the most important things you can do for a brain injury is rest.

With cognitive fatigue, stimuli overload, and living in an already chaotic world, giving yourself time to step back and rest is a vital part of managing a brain injury.

But for many of us, despite our brains crying out for down time, it can be hard to find ways of switching off and truly resting.

There are many things you can do to try and help. You can close your eyes to some calming music or natural white noise, there are apps and tools you can use, such as the calm & overload reset tool on GoodBrainDay.com, and then there are activities.

It may feel like actively doing something is the opposite of resting, but it depends both what that activity is, and how you approach it.

Last night I took some photos of the moon. This may not sound like a particularly relaxing task, but once the camera was set up, I was just sat there, peacefully appreciating the calm night sky and occasionally taking a photo.

This works for me partially as I had a career in photography an videography, but the photos was just a mechanism that let me satisfy both my brains desire to be doing something, whilst equally resting into a calm environment.

For you it doesn't need to be photography, it could be lying back and finding shapes in the clouds, exploring the leaves on a tree, or the grass on the ground.

It need not even be something outside, though the natural world can be a wonderful escape from the business of modern life.

Tasks like this are a matter of finding a way to be calmly focussed. Much like with breathing exercises having you focussed on the breath you draw in, hold, and release, this can have a similar effect.

Don't focus on time constraints or a finite goal, just relax and enjoy it.

If you have a limited amount of time before you need to do something else, set an alarm with a gentle noise to let you know it's time to stop, rather than constantly checking the time.

Whatever you do, be kind to yourself, and relax, you've got this!

What you can share

Anything that might mean something to someone else going through the same thing.

A success story

A post brain injury achievement, whether it be to do with your recovery, or a personal project or work related achievement that you feel especially proud of.

A personal experience

What it has actually been like. The hard parts count as much as the good ones.

Art, poetry, photos

A painting, a drawing, a poem, a craft project, or a picture you took that means something.

Something else entirely

If it does not fit any of these and you still want to share it, send it anyway.

Would you like to share something?

Send it over and it may appear on this page. Nothing is published without asking you first, and you can be credited by name or stay anonymous, whichever you prefer.