Mind Your Head Co-op https://mindyourheadcoop.org/ Your life, your brain, you're healing! Tue, 05 May 2026 13:30:06 +0000 Brain Injury Usually Improves Rather Than Degrades https://mindyourheadcoop.org/brain-injury-improves-rather-than-degrades?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[As a general rule, brain injuries improve rather than degrade. Unlike dementia or Alzheimer's, which get worse over time, brain injury's symptoms usually improve with time. But I'm Getting Worse! What's up?!--more-- The experience of things getting worse is usually explained by a few possibilities. Early in a Brain injury: In the first six weeks or so after a brain injury occurs, symptoms may appear. As a person heals and feels better and resumes more activities, symptoms may "suddenly appear" because the brain simply isn't ready or capable (yet) of doing those things that way. Learning what overstimulates the brain and how to manage brain energy becomes key to learning how to move forward. Over Time, After a Brain Injury Could easily be over stimulation from new stressors, or activities. Learning what overstimulates the brain and how to manage brain energy becomes key to learning how to move forward. A new injury (concussion), illness, tumor, or condition may have occurred. If the person with brain injury has poor memory, they may not remember it, or think it was inconsequential. This can be tricky to understand, because brain injury can effect most things about us, so new symptoms may easily be interpreted as brain injury related when they aren't. The key is to note if over stimulation/brain energy debt are causal to the symptoms or a result of them, and that can be very had to do. Working with your medical team is key to sorting out what is effecting what. ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> As a general rule, brain injuries improve rather than degrade. Unlike dementia or Alzheimer's, which get worse over time, brain injury's symptoms usually improve with time.

But I'm Getting Worse! What's up?

The experience of things getting worse is usually explained by a few possibilities.

Early in a Brain injury:

  • In the first six weeks or so after a brain injury occurs, symptoms may appear.
  • As a person heals and feels better and resumes more activities, symptoms may “suddenly appear” because the brain simply isn't ready or capable (yet) of doing those things that way. Learning what overstimulates the brain and how to manage brain energy becomes key to learning how to move forward.

Over Time, After a Brain Injury

  • Could easily be over stimulation from new stressors, or activities. Learning what overstimulates the brain and how to manage brain energy becomes key to learning how to move forward.
  • A new injury (concussion), illness, tumor, or condition may have occurred. If the person with brain injury has poor memory, they may not remember it, or think it was inconsequential. This can be tricky to understand, because brain injury can effect most things about us, so new symptoms may easily be interpreted as brain injury related when they aren't. The key is to note if over stimulation/brain energy debt are causal to the symptoms or a result of them, and that can be very had to do. Working with your medical team is key to sorting out what is effecting what.

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/brain-injury-improves-rather-than-degrades Wed, 30 Jul 2025 13:39:50 +0000 Understanding Brain Injury https://mindyourheadcoop.org/understanding-brain-injury?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[These links are great to help family and friends better understand brain injury. I recommend reading them aloud and then explaining what is similar and different for you. Family Guide to Brain Injury Spend a day on Planet TBI Brain Budgeting Anger bursts These are things that help me enter life as fully as possible, giving myself permission to go "as fast as I can, as slow as I must."!--more-- diet: eliminate processed foods and eat real, whole foods. I am on Weston Price Traditions diet, and we put our supplement budget into our food budget, as real, whole foods have what we need, and are far more bio available. exercise: aerobic exercise, ideally only nose breathing. walks, hikes, runs, bike rides. Promotes blood flow, releases stress of life with brain energy, and if we go long enough releases various natural levels of canibinoids et al that I believe are far more beneficial to our brain than if we take the drugs ourselves. Develop a note system for people, meetings, events, and projects, ideally pencil to paper, a note card system, as writing pencil to paper is a huge brain connection, cross referenced, and then use it. Homeopathy. Prayer and faith. Saving the most important one for last: Life with brain injury is stressful and begs questions about our meaning and purpose and why we're here. Prayer and faith are essential for answering both, and giving surety in lifting our heads to the horizon and moving forward to strive to breath God's breath into the world that He first breathed into us. This post, "Out of Soul Crushing Anxiety" may be helpful. ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> These links are great to help family and friends better understand brain injury. I recommend reading them aloud and then explaining what is similar and different for you.

Family Guide to Brain Injury

Spend a day on Planet TBI

Brain Budgeting

Anger bursts

These are things that help me enter life as fully as possible, giving myself permission to go “as fast as I can, as slow as I must.”

  • diet: eliminate processed foods and eat real, whole foods. I am on Weston Price Traditions diet, and we put our supplement budget into our food budget, as real, whole foods have what we need, and are far more bio available.
  • exercise: aerobic exercise, ideally only nose breathing. walks, hikes, runs, bike rides. Promotes blood flow, releases stress of life with brain energy, and if we go long enough releases various natural levels of canibinoids et al that I believe are far more beneficial to our brain than if we take the drugs ourselves.
  • Develop a note system for people, meetings, events, and projects, ideally pencil to paper, a note card system, as writing pencil to paper is a huge brain connection, cross referenced, and then use it.
  • Homeopathy.
  • Prayer and faith. Saving the most important one for last: Life with brain injury is stressful and begs questions about our meaning and purpose and why we're here. Prayer and faith are essential for answering both, and giving surety in lifting our heads to the horizon and moving forward to strive to breath God's breath into the world that He first breathed into us. This post, “Out of Soul Crushing Anxiety” may be helpful.

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/understanding-brain-injury Wed, 30 Jul 2025 13:33:57 +0000 Faith Matters: Science, TBI, and Faith https://mindyourheadcoop.org/faith-matters-science-tbi-and-faith?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[I have been asked why I speak so freely about my experience with faith and about praying for others. The bottom line answer is I am a Catholic deacon and it is integral to how I approach everything, including TBI support, both here and elsewhere through the decades. However imperfectly, I express my faith, and welcome others to do the some of theirs. I encourage you to do a web search for: faith mental healing study, and; faith study tbi mental health !--more-- There are various studies from recent decades exploring the effect of faith and prayer. Among these studies findings: Significantly better mental health among those active in their faith; the more active in one's faith, the better one's mental health. One study put it this way in its abstract: Increased spirituality occurring after acquired brain injury is a part of post traumatic growth (PTG). Participants were asked about their spirituality, and their responses were analyzed. Eighty-one percent exhibited a moderate spiritual impact on their recovery. Studies suggest that patients’ spiritual needs are not being met, and chaplains are being underutilized. Trust and a sense of presence are essential to encouraging PTG, and, by fully utilizing the skills of our chaplain colleagues, could improve PTG. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1542305019853588) Talking about faith and praying for each other is a legitimate, healthy, and helpful aspect of life with brain injury and supporting others living with brain injury. I did find this fascinating: Specifically, we find that praying with others and positive emotions felt during prayer are correlated with greater overall mental health and more positive self-concepts. However, we also find that petitionary prayer topics, belief that God is impersonal, and negative emotions felt during prayer coincide with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and a lack of control. Generally, these conclusions hold after controlling for basic demographics, religious tradition, and church attendance, which confirms that mental well-being is related to the practice of prayer in both beneficial and detrimental ways. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-024-02121-5) In other words, what one believes matters. How one answers questions such as who we are, who God is, why we are here impacts how we handle the many and various challenges and sufferings of life. I believe faith is an important aspect of how we face life, and it become more important when facing challenges and suffering ... as we do with brain injury. Other links I found in those searches: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2765488 https://www.nicabm.com/can-spirituality-improve-outcomes-for-traumatic-brain-injury-patients/ https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/512216/religion-spirituality-tools-better-wellbeing.aspx https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328521978ReachingResolutionTheEffectofPrayeronPsychologicalPerspectiveandEmotionalAcceptance https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/the-science-of-prayer-2.html May Christ startle you with joy! ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> I have been asked why I speak so freely about my experience with faith and about praying for others. The bottom line answer is I am a Catholic deacon and it is integral to how I approach everything, including TBI support, both here and elsewhere through the decades. However imperfectly, I express my faith, and welcome others to do the some of theirs.

I encourage you to do a web search for: – faith mental healing study, and; – faith study tbi mental health

There are various studies from recent decades exploring the effect of faith and prayer. Among these studies findings:

  • Significantly better mental health among those active in their faith; the more active in one's faith, the better one's mental health.

One study put it this way in its abstract:

Increased spirituality occurring after acquired brain injury is a part of post traumatic growth (PTG). Participants were asked about their spirituality, and their responses were analyzed. Eighty-one percent exhibited a moderate spiritual impact on their recovery. Studies suggest that patients’ spiritual needs are not being met, and chaplains are being underutilized. Trust and a sense of presence are essential to encouraging PTG, and, by fully utilizing the skills of our chaplain colleagues, could improve PTG. (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1542305019853588)

Talking about faith and praying for each other is a legitimate, healthy, and helpful aspect of life with brain injury and supporting others living with brain injury.

I did find this fascinating:

Specifically, we find that praying with others and positive emotions felt during prayer are correlated with greater overall mental health and more positive self-concepts. However, we also find that petitionary prayer topics, belief that God is impersonal, and negative emotions felt during prayer coincide with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and a lack of control. Generally, these conclusions hold after controlling for basic demographics, religious tradition, and church attendance, which confirms that mental well-being is related to the practice of prayer in both beneficial and detrimental ways. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-024-02121-5)

In other words, what one believes matters. How one answers questions such as who we are, who God is, why we are here impacts how we handle the many and various challenges and sufferings of life.

I believe faith is an important aspect of how we face life, and it become more important when facing challenges and suffering ... as we do with brain injury.

Other links I found in those searches: – https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2765488 – https://www.nicabm.com/can-spirituality-improve-outcomes-for-traumatic-brain-injury-patients/ – https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/512216/religion-spirituality-tools-better-wellbeing.aspx – https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328521978_Reaching_Resolution_The_Effect_of_Prayer_on_Psychological_Perspective_and_Emotional_Acceptance – https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/the-science-of-prayer-2.html

May Christ startle you with joy!

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/faith-matters-science-tbi-and-faith Wed, 23 Jul 2025 15:08:48 +0000 Out of Soul Crushing Anxiety into Hope https://mindyourheadcoop.org/out-of-soul-crushing-anxiety-into-hope?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Brain injury leads to many challenges, and many of them are the state of our countenance, or mental health. I approach these things very differently, as a Catholic. That different approach may be helpful. Under the blend-our-own-cocktail of fear, anger, anxiety, depression, and/or despair are the fundamental questions of life. Who am I? Who made me? Why am I here? Is there a God and if so, who is God? In my experience, how we address these questions !--more--is fundamental to how our countenance handles the challenges and suffering and joy life throws our way. Faith, prayer, family, friends. The first two are my cornerstones, the second two help me live them as fully as possible. Absent Christ, I would have no hope. With Christ, I have hope unassailable. What place does faith and prayer have in your daily life? How supportive of faith and prayer are your family, and friends? Have you answered the foundational questions of life? Who am I? Who made me? Why am I here? Is there a God and if so, who is God? Our answers to these questions effect our capacity to embrace the challenges and suffering life throws our way (yes, to everyone, without exception) all while having an overall positive countenance. May Christ's healing balm wrap you in His peace! ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> Brain injury leads to many challenges, and many of them are the state of our countenance, or mental health. I approach these things very differently, as a Catholic. That different approach may be helpful.

Under the blend-our-own-cocktail of fear, anger, anxiety, depression, and/or despair are the fundamental questions of life. Who am I? Who made me? Why am I here? Is there a God and if so, who is God? In my experience, how we address these questions is fundamental to how our countenance handles the challenges and suffering and joy life throws our way.

Faith, prayer, family, friends. The first two are my cornerstones, the second two help me live them as fully as possible. Absent Christ, I would have no hope. With Christ, I have hope unassailable.

What place does faith and prayer have in your daily life? How supportive of faith and prayer are your family, and friends? Have you answered the foundational questions of life? Who am I? Who made me? Why am I here? Is there a God and if so, who is God? Our answers to these questions effect our capacity to embrace the challenges and suffering life throws our way (yes, to everyone, without exception) all while having an overall positive countenance.

May Christ's healing balm wrap you in His peace!

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/out-of-soul-crushing-anxiety-into-hope Wed, 21 May 2025 14:46:19 +0000 TBI and PTSD https://mindyourheadcoop.org/tbi-and-ptsd?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[TBI and PTSD often occur together and, in my years of working with folks with brain injury, including vets, many people have no idea how they interplay or how to help untangle the wild mess of confusion and rage that can downward spiral terribly. There is a way forward. Be kind to yourself, !--more-- starting with forgiving yourself for what is, as yet, beyond your control. There is a magnification factor with TBI and PTSD that can rapidly spiral down in nanoseconds in a hellacious feedback loop. One or the other can start the cascade. Thus, the more you understand brain overstimulation that leads to brain energy debt and then acting like a cornered, wounded animal under attack, that will help you learn to manage your "Brain bank" which, over time, will have smooth things out more and more. The PTSD is a flood of adrenaline and rage and confusion and nerves firing on overdrive, so instantly overloads the brain. The key, to start, is to slowly work to get out of the adrenaline rush cycle. Work with your doctors and priest/minister (I'll explain this more below) to sort out the best way to do this, but you will most likely become the main expert on your situation and needs. Drugs, nutrition, and anything else that effects brain chemistry may be an issue as well. Often, prescription drugs are ill advised, including psych drugs, because an injured brain experiences the side effects times 1000, and the cure is worse than what it may help. Faith, in my experience, is key to healing PTSD. Interestingly, this shows in the book "Unbroken," after his POW camps in Japan. PTSD is a lot of soul issues and questions, and while mental health is an aspect of this, it can't address the deep fundamental questions of who is God, who am I, why did this happen, why am I still here and they aren't, what purpose suffering, and more. Hence, working with a good priest or minister is key. ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> TBI and PTSD often occur together and, in my years of working with folks with brain injury, including vets, many people have no idea how they interplay or how to help untangle the wild mess of confusion and rage that can downward spiral terribly.

There is a way forward. Be kind to yourself, starting with forgiving yourself for what is, as yet, beyond your control.

There is a magnification factor with TBI and PTSD that can rapidly spiral down in nanoseconds in a hellacious feedback loop. One or the other can start the cascade. Thus, the more you understand brain overstimulation that leads to brain energy debt and then acting like a cornered, wounded animal under attack, that will help you learn to manage your “Brain bank” which, over time, will have smooth things out more and more. The PTSD is a flood of adrenaline and rage and confusion and nerves firing on overdrive, so instantly overloads the brain.

The key, to start, is to slowly work to get out of the adrenaline rush cycle. Work with your doctors and priest/minister (I'll explain this more below) to sort out the best way to do this, but you will most likely become the main expert on your situation and needs.

Drugs, nutrition, and anything else that effects brain chemistry may be an issue as well. Often, prescription drugs are ill advised, including psych drugs, because an injured brain experiences the side effects times 1000, and the cure is worse than what it may help.

Faith, in my experience, is key to healing PTSD. Interestingly, this shows in the book “Unbroken,” after his POW camps in Japan. PTSD is a lot of soul issues and questions, and while mental health is an aspect of this, it can't address the deep fundamental questions of who is God, who am I, why did this happen, why am I still here and they aren't, what purpose suffering, and more. Hence, working with a good priest or minister is key.

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/tbi-and-ptsd Thu, 17 Apr 2025 16:26:24 +0000 Migraines and "TBI Headaches" https://mindyourheadcoop.org/migraines-and-tbi-headaches?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[These come in many flavors and with brain injury they seem to ramp up exponentially to the point that a "regular" migraine looks like a friendly kitty cat. Sardonic grin. Oh, and they can go on for days, weeks, months and even seem perminant. Homeopathy has helped me a LOT here, to the point that I rarely get them anymore and when I do, they are usually gone before they really get started, within a few hours to half a day. I use two different Banerji protocols: !--more-- Migraine: Picricum Acidum 200C Belladonna 6C Migraine w/ nausia: Sanguinaria 200C Belladonna 6C These can be found at a healthfood store or ordered online. These are teh most effective potencies, but if you can only get 30C (what the stores often carry), that's a great place to start. Disolve one pellet of each under your tongue every 15 minutes up to 4-6 times, then ever hour or so (it may naturally spread out as you "forget" you have a headache ... that means it's working!) until very much better. Repeat as needed. There are no known side effects to homeopathics and they do not interact with prescription drugs. To find a homeopath to work with, I recommend Banerji Homeopathy (it's what Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta often used). In the US, contact Joette Calabrese's office and asking them for a list of the homeopaths that she has trained. https://joettecalabrese.com/ ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> These come in many flavors and with brain injury they seem to ramp up exponentially to the point that a “regular” migraine looks like a friendly kitty cat. Sardonic grin. Oh, and they can go on for days, weeks, months and even seem perminant.

Homeopathy has helped me a LOT here, to the point that I rarely get them anymore and when I do, they are usually gone before they really get started, within a few hours to half a day. I use two different Banerji protocols:

Migraine: Picricum Acidum 200C Belladonna 6C

Migraine w/ nausia: Sanguinaria 200C Belladonna 6C

These can be found at a healthfood store or ordered online. These are teh most effective potencies, but if you can only get 30C (what the stores often carry), that's a great place to start.

Disolve one pellet of each under your tongue every 15 minutes up to 4-6 times, then ever hour or so (it may naturally spread out as you “forget” you have a headache ... that means it's working!) until very much better. Repeat as needed. There are no known side effects to homeopathics and they do not interact with prescription drugs.

To find a homeopath to work with, I recommend Banerji Homeopathy (it's what Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta often used). In the US, contact Joette Calabrese's office and asking them for a list of the homeopaths that she has trained. https://joettecalabrese.com/

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/migraines-and-tbi-headaches Mon, 01 Apr 2024 11:48:44 +0000 Grieving losses from brain injury https://mindyourheadcoop.org/grieving-losses-from-brain-injury?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[There is so much that we lose with a bludgeoned brain, and it is invisible to others, who often can't begin to understand, or, more humorously, think they understand because they sometimes lose their keys. Grin. The need to grieve a loss of capacity isn't often understood because they are usually associated with the death of a loved one, or having a terminal illness. Brain injury, however, is a mini-death, or a series of mini-deaths. We lose capacity. The planet we live on is simply harder on us that the planet everyone else lives on. !--more-- The stages of grief are the same, and there are seven (you may have thought there were only five, as that's what's typically understood. But the last two are essential for being able to enter life as fully as possible, so I've added them. Denial. Nope. I do not have a brain injury. Nothing's wrong with me. I can push harder and get through it. Splat. Anger. Arrrrgh! God and creation and everyone hate me and are against me. God, can you please help me through this? Bargaining. God, make it go away and I'll ... owe you one. But I already owe you beyond anything I can possibly imagine. Huh. Depression. Nothing I can do. The world is so heavy and hard. Oof. Acceptance. Uh ... the sun came up, and it's warm. Yeah, life is harder, I have a bludgeoned brain, but I do experience joy. It's a long hard road, but maybe, just maybe... Integration. Alright. My capacity is different, and I have to do things differently, but I CAN do quite a lot ... I just have to let go of expectations from before. So... Co-Creation. What am I called to co-create with God? How do I get started? Let's go! These stages tend to happen one after the other, but it can be easy to get stuck in one. How do we move forward? Naming them helps, a lot. Prayer. Talking with loved ones about it. Writing folks on a support group. We keep experiencing the stages as long as we live ... because we still have losses and we are still alive! It's been 40 years since my first concussion, and 21 years since my 8th+ concussion left me disabled, and I still grieve the various stages at various times. When I can't attend an important event (wedding, funeral, baptism, etc), it can hit hard, and seems like it's out of the blue. That's when I pray the prayer of Thanksgiving: https://mindyourheadcoop.org/relaxing-through-the-rocks-in-the-road How have you experienced grief so far? ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> There is so much that we lose with a bludgeoned brain, and it is invisible to others, who often can't begin to understand, or, more humorously, think they understand because they sometimes lose their keys. Grin.

The need to grieve a loss of capacity isn't often understood because they are usually associated with the death of a loved one, or having a terminal illness. Brain injury, however, is a mini-death, or a series of mini-deaths. We lose capacity. The planet we live on is simply harder on us that the planet everyone else lives on.

The stages of grief are the same, and there are seven (you may have thought there were only five, as that's what's typically understood. But the last two are essential for being able to enter life as fully as possible, so I've added them.

  1. Denial. Nope. I do not have a brain injury. Nothing's wrong with me. I can push harder and get through it. Splat.
  2. Anger. Arrrrgh! God and creation and everyone hate me and are against me. God, can you please help me through this?
  3. Bargaining. God, make it go away and I'll ... owe you one. But I already owe you beyond anything I can possibly imagine. Huh.
  4. Depression. Nothing I can do. The world is so heavy and hard. Oof.
  5. Acceptance. Uh ... the sun came up, and it's warm. Yeah, life is harder, I have a bludgeoned brain, but I do experience joy. It's a long hard road, but maybe, just maybe...
  6. Integration. Alright. My capacity is different, and I have to do things differently, but I CAN do quite a lot ... I just have to let go of expectations from before. So...
  7. Co-Creation. What am I called to co-create with God? How do I get started? Let's go!

These stages tend to happen one after the other, but it can be easy to get stuck in one. How do we move forward? Naming them helps, a lot. Prayer. Talking with loved ones about it. Writing folks on a support group.

We keep experiencing the stages as long as we live ... because we still have losses and we are still alive! It's been 40 years since my first concussion, and 21 years since my 8th+ concussion left me disabled, and I still grieve the various stages at various times. When I can't attend an important event (wedding, funeral, baptism, etc), it can hit hard, and seems like it's out of the blue. That's when I pray the prayer of Thanksgiving: https://mindyourheadcoop.org/relaxing-through-the-rocks-in-the-road

How have you experienced grief so far?

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/grieving-losses-from-brain-injury Fri, 29 Mar 2024 22:34:39 +0000 Help Your Brain Heal by Your Body Eating Itself? https://mindyourheadcoop.org/help-your-brain-heal-by-your-body-eating-itself?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[You read that title correctly. Autophagy is a very useful biological “clean-up crew” process that helps get rid bits and parts floating around that no longer need to be there. Trouble is, the conviences of modern living stop the clean-up crew from coming around disrupting our feasting and lounging. Regular, long-term, responsible fasting exercise, ketogenic diet (or at least low carb) were build in parts of daily life for thousands of years before we became agrarian. Bottom line, living in such a way that your body regularly engages it’s self-cleaning mechanisms, autophagy, not only promots long, healthy living, but it can help heal the brain because the body is restoring #Godsengineering, working as God created us to work. !--more-- This post from Mark’s Daily Apple is an excellent guide to autophagy and how to encorparate practices into daily life than may help you. Here is a preview quote... Autophagy: the word comes from the Greek for “self-eating,” and that’s a very accurate description: Autophagy is when a cell consumes the parts of itself that are damaged or malfunctioning. Lysosomes—members of the innate immune system that also degrade pathogens—degrade the damaged cellular material, making it available for energy and other metabolites. It’s cellular pruning, and it’s an important part of staving off the worst parts of the aging process. In study after study, we find that impairment to or reductions of normal levels of autophagy are linked to almost every age-related degenerative disease and malady you can imagine. Early in my brain injury I went off processed foods. Abnout ten years ago, I discovered paleo and ketogenic (I eat the ketogenic version of the Perfect Health Diet). I eat only two meals a day, with little to no snacking except on “hard” brain days. I ride my bike several hours every day my brain allows. I have improved slowly and steadily over this time, and notice I do worse in those times I am unable to regularly enter autophagy. For me, it is a key component of my #longtermTBIhealing. May God startle you with joy! ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> You read that title correctly. Autophagy is a very useful biological “clean-up crew” process that helps get rid bits and parts floating around that no longer need to be there. Trouble is, the conviences of modern living stop the clean-up crew from coming around disrupting our feasting and lounging. Regular, long-term, responsible fasting exercise, ketogenic diet (or at least low carb) were build in parts of daily life for thousands of years before we became agrarian.

Bottom line, living in such a way that your body regularly engages it’s self-cleaning mechanisms, autophagy, not only promots long, healthy living, but it can help heal the brain because the body is restoring #Godsengineering, working as God created us to work.

This post from Mark’s Daily Apple is an excellent guide to autophagy and how to encorparate practices into daily life than may help you. Here is a preview quote...

Autophagy: the word comes from the Greek for “self-eating,” and that’s a very accurate description: Autophagy is when a cell consumes the parts of itself that are damaged or malfunctioning. Lysosomes—members of the innate immune system that also degrade pathogens—degrade the damaged cellular material, making it available for energy and other metabolites. It’s cellular pruning, and it’s an important part of staving off the worst parts of the aging process.

In study after study, we find that impairment to or reductions of normal levels of autophagy are linked to almost every age-related degenerative disease and malady you can imagine.

Early in my brain injury I went off processed foods. Abnout ten years ago, I discovered paleo and ketogenic (I eat the ketogenic version of the Perfect Health Diet). I eat only two meals a day, with little to no snacking except on “hard” brain days. I ride my bike several hours every day my brain allows. I have improved slowly and steadily over this time, and notice I do worse in those times I am unable to regularly enter autophagy. For me, it is a key component of my #longtermTBIhealing.

May God startle you with joy!

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/help-your-brain-heal-by-your-body-eating-itself Thu, 28 Mar 2019 15:23:04 +0000 More Evidence Ketogenic Diet Restores Cognitive Function https://mindyourheadcoop.org/more-evidence-ketogenic-diet-restores-cognitive-function?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[I’ve been on a ketogenic diet, including with regular intermittent fasting, for over ten years and have noticed improvement in mental clarity, focus, and other aspects of cognition I struggle with because of my brain injury. It seems I’m not the only one noticing the effect of high-fat ketogenic and intermittent fasting on improving brain function. ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> I’ve been on a ketogenic diet, including with regular intermittent fasting, for over ten years and have noticed improvement in mental clarity, focus, and other aspects of cognition I struggle with because of my brain injury. It seems I’m not the only one noticing the effect of high-fat ketogenic and intermittent fasting on improving brain function.

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/more-evidence-ketogenic-diet-restores-cognitive-function Fri, 22 Mar 2019 19:52:58 +0000 Sleep Helps Heal Individual Brain Cells https://mindyourheadcoop.org/sleep-helps-heal-individual-brain-cells?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[A fascinating study out of Isreal that reveals what every person with brain injury intuitively discovers, even if we fight against it because sleep is “inactivity.” Far from being inactive, sleep, science is discovering, is part of God’s engineering that helps us heal and function as fully as possible. Combine 8-10 hours of sleep (or more, as needed) per day with regular exercise, also shown to aid brain function and healing, and we are well on our way to a solid long-term brain injury healing plan! May God startle you with joy! #TBI #brain ___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!]]> A fascinating study out of Isreal that reveals what every person with brain injury intuitively discovers, even if we fight against it because sleep is “inactivity.” Far from being inactive, sleep, science is discovering, is part of God’s engineering that helps us heal and function as fully as possible.

Combine 8-10 hours of sleep (or more, as needed) per day with regular exercise, also shown to aid brain function and healing, and we are well on our way to a solid long-term brain injury healing plan!

May God startle you with joy!

#TBI #brain

___ Join the discussion on our Mind Your Head Forum!

]]> https://mindyourheadcoop.org/sleep-helps-heal-individual-brain-cells Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:17:51 +0000