Head injury? Even if years ago, you may need these two drills…
"Brainy What-Why-How"
Your weekly nibble of science-backed goodness to help you move better and feel unstoppable.
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What (the TL:DR)
A lot of people who experience injury to their brains are left without proper treatment.
This can result in a slew of symptoms* that Western medicine usually fails to link to the brain, such as depression, insomnia, or even PCOS.
But there are a few "brain drills" that anyone can do that are...well...just really really good for brains in general but can go a long way to help someone who's struggling with chronic issues due to an old concussion:
1: Drills that activate the visual and vestibular systems
2: Breathing drills
Why (the geeky neurology)
The brain -- but especially a damaged brain -- needs two things to survive (i.e. stop brain cells from dying, which is a major problem with head injuries!):
🧠 Activation (getting information from the rest of the body)
&
🧠 Fuel (namely in the form of glucose and oxygen)
How (apply it to your life)
One super easy way to bring activation to SEVERAL areas of the brain that affect loads of other areas is to do something called a Vestibular Ocular Reflex drill:
👁️ Keeping your eyes focused on a single point (the closer it is to your face, the harder it will be), move your head in different directions:
⬅️➡️ left to right (rotate chin towards shoulder)
⬆️⬇️ up and down
↩️↪️ side to side (ear to shoulder)
One super easy way to help the brain become more efficient in gathering fuel from oxygen:
🌬️ Air Hunger:
Stay relaxed while you practice:
- Pausing your breathing while your lungs are empty
- Optional: add in simple movements such as squats, jumping jacks, or push ups
- Breathe in once you get the urge to inhale. You should be able to recover within 2 breaths.
Over time, you'll be able to increase the time you spend holding your lungs empty.
Simple, but super effective! Like practising kindness 😘
Adell xoxo
- I go into the details in my Brain Injury lecture for my NeuroYoga YTT. I've just made that lecture available as a stand-alone workshop which you can purchase here for just $5.
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