Survivor Story: Self-Compassion- Not Just a BuzzWord! with Vanessa Woodburn

Life. Is. Hard! (Thank you Captain Obvious).  How we tell our stories and talk to ourselves directly impacts our mental health and abilities, to not only recover from brain injury, but to live a fulfilling life. In this episode we talk about how to love yourself through ALL times.  Vanessa Woodburn, integrative health coach, PCS survivor, and author of Bounce Back: Reclaim Your Life After a Concussion joins us with practical advice on self care.  Even if you don’t have PCS this episode applies to all brain injury survivors and we venture to say, all humans.  Topics covered in this episode:Integrative health coaching: looks at the whole person: emotional, spiritual, nutritional, physical, sleepPost concussion syndrome: there can be a lack of awareness in the medical community of what to do for someone with PCS, “you look fine,” “your test results are fine”Vanessa found she needed to search for help on her ownBounce Back: Reclaim your Life After a Concussion by Vanessa WoodburnApplies to any brain injury.  The book focuses on self compassion while doing this work.  Gives a stepwise approach for recovery addressing many topics such as sleep, nutrition, exercise, self talk, telling your story, etcWriting our stories (self talk)Is what I’m telling myself true? We have the ability to change our story into positivityRising Strong by Renee Brown.  The reckoning, the rumble, and the revolution of our stories.We are neuro-biologically wired to make ourselves safe in our story.  We have to search for what is true.  Our stories never end and constantly changeNight of the Gun by David Carr: a reporter who had addiction issues that after recovery wrote about his story.  He found that the way he represented his story was not actually true, he had created a safer story leaving out difficult parts. After interviewing others he found a more true version The constant rehashing of your story can get you bogged down.  What does the revisiting to the story do to your mental health?  There have to be points along the way where you release parts of your story so you don’t get stuck. Sometimes you need space from it rather than living in it“If you fight for your limitations you get to keep them” (Jim Kwik).  Am I putting a lot of energy to stay in a certain place that doesn’t feel good? You can choose to put your energy into moving forward (16:12)It's a balancing act of listening to what you need but not getting stuck in a spotSelf compassion: with all these things going on, what do I need today? The answer might be different then what it was yesterday. Is today the day to push yourself?  (18:45)Self-compassion and Self-care: what will nourish you? Your brain, your body, and your mental health? Self-care considerations: moving your body, how is your sleep? how are you connecting with yourself on the inside, building in quiet so that you can actually listen to what you need?Bring it to a practical level. Kristen Neff, researcher- self care has a ying...