Fundraiser | Love Your Brain | Inverted Perspective

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and we miss it, but that we aim too low and we reach it.”

   ~ Michelangelo

For various reasons, it has been a long time since I have posted anything on my blog.  For a long time, I was unable to use screens due to a TBI (traumatic brain injury) I sustained in 2019, following an earlier concussion in December 2015, when my car tyre blew out.  This also caused a major Lyme relapse.  I completed Lyme treatments (2017-19) & I’m currently in remission with no Lyme symptoms, but some lingering fatigue remains.  

Throughout, I continued my shoulder rehab (watch this space, I have more to say!); I also had neuro rehab for my TBI from 2019, as well as PT treatment for my neck & jaw.

Eventually, after finding an incredible surgeon, who promised he would try to find a solution, in August 2021 (as I’ve documented on social media) I had ACDF surgery - anterior cervical discectomy & fusion (C4-C6) - to stop the discs compressing my spinal cord in my neck & to remove instability.

It’s been a hell of a decade: challenges, hard work, progress… repeat.

(Photos below.)

The quote at the top of this post is one that I have really focused on during these difficult few years.  It continues to resonate with me in everything I do.  In the past few years, mindfulness, meditation, & yoga have all played key roles in shaping my journey.  I am now hoping to continue this path by completing qualifications that will help me offer these supportive tools to others.  I’m fundraising for Love Your Brain, the organisation which offers support to people with brain injuries as well as training courses (more below).

If you know me, or have read any part of my blog, you will know that determination is just in me.  Sometimes I’m not entirely sure where it comes from - but it’s there, shoving me onwards, despite my conscious (sane, rational) brain protesting at times.  It’s not been an easy journey, & I continue on this winding path of rehab, recovery, and healing, but I have never stopped aiming high - and it has been worth every crazy moment; every effort to keep moving forward; and every annoying insistence to medics focused on ‘acceptance’ that I would not stop looking for ways to continue to improve.

There’s a lot I could - & will - write moving forward, but I am returning to my blog as my health improves enough for me to return to life and (surprise!) I decided to start by throwing myself in at the deep end…

As part of my treatment, and understanding how to live with a brain injury, I completed two Love Your Brain Yoga, Mindfulness, & Meditation courses run by Love Your Brain, a charity founded by US Olympic Snowboarder Kevin Pearce after he sustained career-ending TBIs. 

All classes are free for people living with brain injuries - including those caused by Lyme Disease.  My worlds collided in those courses.  

These classes, and the tools and skills I learned, and continue to develop, have helped me with all the health challenges I have face, and those I still live with.

Looking back several years to this post: Meditation Failure, I would never have believed where this would all take me!

My perspective has changed in many ways.  

Follow my journey @inverted__perspective on Instagram.

Diving in

Last week I made a last-minute decision to apply for a Love Your Brain Mindset course.  After completion, I will (hopefully!) be qualified to help provide the same valuable tools and support to others as I was fortunate enough to receive at a critical time.  I am also hoping to complete a LYB Yoga Teacher for TBI course in June. 

I applied to the LYB Mindset course last Tuesday, was accepted on Wednesday, started on Thursday, and have since completed 6 modules!

I've been awarded a partial scholarship for the cost of this course and I'm aiming to raise £525 ($675) to cover fees for both courses.

All funds raised will go to LYB.

If you can support me, & Love Your Brain, in any way - donations &/ or sharing my post, blog, or fundraiser link - it would be greatly appreciated.

My GoFundMe page is here: Love Your Brain Fundraiser

Fundraising aim: £530 ($675)  

All money raised will go to the Love Your Brain Foundation to support the amazing work they do around the world - in classes & online - to support people with brain injuries.

(N.B. GoFundMe automatically adds a 'tip' of 15% to your donation. This money goes to GoFundME. It is optional & you can select to opt out.)

You can read about this amazing organisation here: https://www.loveyourbrain.com/

As an extra thank you, I will enter all donors into a random name generator to pick one winner for this handmade ( - by me: gfmjewellery) Swarovski crystal, pearl, & semi-precious gemstones wrap bracelet. 

If I exceed my target, and raise extra money for LYB, I will offer a second prize draw for a custom piece of jewellery - to be completed after the course ends!

My fundraiser is now live and will run until Saturday April 16th (midnight UK time; 7pm US Eastern).

The winner will be selected via a random generator & announced on Sunday April 17th.

As for further updates, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few snapshots of my journey to date - and I promise more blog posts coming soon!   

As always, I’ll end with a quote: 

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

   ~  Socrates

November Mindfulness: Comfortable

November Mindfulness: Day 3 'Comfortable'

I think this really speaks for itself, but for a brief explanation of the most comfortable 'bed nest' in the world:

Back/periscapular muscles spasm causing horrible, lasting pain (talking over a week of heightened pain here) & a very unhappy body...

Nurse: Don't sleep on that arm [with the PICC line in it]

Physio: Don't sleep on that shoulder if it's compressing nerves

Body: .............. OUCH! Can't sleep.... 😱!!!!

Insomnia driven brain = best creative ideas EVER.

😴

Comfortable
#bednest #pillowfort #icepacks

I literally put the cushion back on the chair 3 days in a row and ended up hauling it back to my bed in the middle of the night again.  It's been back on the chair for several days now and my bed no longer looks like a nest.  Every night since, I have stared at it and wondered if I'd be sleeping already if it was back on my bed....

"Insomnia is my greatest inspiration."

~ Jon Stewart ~

November Mindfulness: Nourished

November Mindfulness: Day 2 'Nourished'

Unsurprisingly, I'm playing catch up on day 2.... I took the photos, planned the posts... not sure I have a reasonable excuse for not even uploading a photo!

'Nourished' did make me think a little bit more deeply about what true nourishment means just now. Yes, I eat well (even with the 'good' dark, organic, low sugar chocolate... mostly); I can't drink any alcohol because it would prevent antibiotics from working; I drink loads of water & herbal teas; I take various supplements - some antimicrobial, or ones that work in some way to complement the antimicrobial action of medications/ herbs, and others to boost antioxidants and aid in detoxing my body as it (hopefully) is so exhausted because it's clearing out nasty, twisted (ha ha... Lyme jokes) spirochetes.  But that didn't really feel like it went very deep - it was too literal, so I think this collage better represents how I 'nourish' myself right now.

'Nourished'
#herbaltea #organicchocolate #cactusgarden #breathe #ifyoucandreamityoucandoit #butterlies
#justwhenthecaterpillarthoughttheworldwasoveritbecameabutterfly
#somepursuehappinessotherscreateit #art #myart #arttherapy #flowers #candles

There is tea (green tea, ginger tea, matcha tea, turmeric tea, kava tea, 'breathe deep' tea, 'throat coat' tea, 'bedtime' tea, milk thistle tea, fruity teas, fruity green teas, minty teas.... basically everything except 'real' tea - British and I dislike tea.... I've got the healthy ones though & I think that's what counts here!) - all with the obligatory hipster(hippy?)-but-I-love-it tea bag tags offering a dose of philosophical existentialism a few times a day, and some amazingly tasty coffee-chocolate from our local health food store.... no, my diet's not perfect, but I TRY!!  

More representative of how I 'nourish' (/boost/ motivate/ pick a synonym) myself are all the little things I surround myself with. I like to look around me and feel the little boost I get from these things I've inadvertently collected or created over the years.  I find this in quotes, art, plants (although I fear they might really be struggling for light now the clocks have gone back, unless they can get on board with my personal Lyme-time-zone), books, scented candles, special cards, my piano, (a million) notebooks, paints, pencils, pens, sketchbooks (different from notebooks), colouring books and a variety of my own creations.  Lots of little things that make me smile, make me think, or remind me how much I enjoyed creating them.  Some are clear messages - and perhaps the reason I've sworn at 'cheerful' inanimate objects on the odd occasion; some are things I have spent valuable time and energy (and spoons) creating myself - painting, drawing, planting....  Creativity is truly a form of escapism and is probably where I find mindfulness best.  And even if some objects seem irrationally annoying on bad days, most of the time they serve their purpose and remind me to focus on the positive.

Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.

~ Earl Nightingale ~

Mindful November

I had this plan to try to really focus on my blog this month. A project, a post a day - something to aim for, however small it may seem. My health seems to be dominating everything right now, and making it a thousand times more difficult to be even the slightest bit productive… or organised, or tidy, or really 'functional' on a daily basis.  It feels like I am either at some form of medical appointment, most often physical therapy; infusing my medications or flushing my PICC line; or sleeping.

I thought taking photographs would be an easier way to set a realistic goal, and then I came across this 'MindfulNovember' on instagram so adding a little bit of guidance and ready-made inspiration seems like a good combo! Plus actively employing some mindfulness everyday has  to be beneficial.

"Mindfulness is to keep our consciousness alive to present reality"    

~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~

Zen and the art of colouring

It has been a while since I've blogged.  There are various reasons for that, right now I'm just going to leave it at 'this year's not been an easy one'. I'm sure I will get around to filling in the gaps at some point.


But, it's a new month, and I have been thinking about my neglected blog; so hopefully it will be a successful and productive month; and I am hoping my blog - and writing - will help me get through it because it feels like anything that helps is worth it....... I am sure I'll get into that later too.

https://www.pinterest.com/gmun22/inspiration-for-recovery/

Recently I have been embracing 'mindfulness' in a big way - there are lots of different specifics claiming to teach mindfulness, or to help achieve mindfulness, but for me it is about recognising where you are and what you feel in that moment, identifying that, accepting it, dealing with it, and then allowing yourself to move on.

https://www.pinterest.com/gmun22/pain/

This specifically describes a very traditional method of mindfulness, but the key point is identifying how you
feel in the moment and finding what works for you  For me, that's not simply sitting and breathing, since
emptying my mind - although the ultimate meditation - just doesn't work!

https://www.pinterest.com/gmun22/just-me-my-thoughts/

Writing has always done that for me - it's always been an escape.  Art (as in drawing, painting etc.) has played a big part in it too - but since hurting my shoulder 4 years ago, art has still felt like more of a chore - an exercise in determination rather than relaxation...... sometimes worth it, sometimes not; but definitely something I still love to do when I can.

But over the past few months I have found the 'adult colouring book craze' to be the perfect compromise between my (limited) body and mind.  I honestly think it is the first time I have found something that allows me to relax and to switch off since I stopped being able to exercise - a decade ago.  I'm not creating the art, so it's actually more relaxing than drawing; I can get into 'position' - pillows positioned perfectly, both arms supported, my neck supported by my neck pillow, my pens/ pencils/ paintbrushes right next to me; sometimes I have Netflix or music (or um, noise, I've also become a fan of binaural and isochronic beats for pain/ sleep/ relaxation/ energy - not that I've found that one very useful.....); sometimes I am just thinking about colours - I can feel my subconscious ticking away, as always, my thoughts just flowing through my head, but they are not my focus.  I am lost in colours and designs and I feel relaxed.  Anyone who knows me knows that's not exactly my strong point.  My attempts at meditation are pretty much summarised in this old post: Meditation Failure.  All attempts: past, present, probably future - all of them!  So finding my zen in a colouring book is a pretty significant achievement!

https://www.pinterest.com/gmun22/inspiration-for-recovery/

And just as an extra bonus, my shoulder surgeon, hand surgeon, physios and doctors all approve - I am rebuilding neuromuscular connections so it's actual therapy on all fronts! (I've definitely stopped dropping things as much with my right hand....... not completely, although I haven't involuntarily thrown anything for a while); I'm getting better at staying inside the lines with my right hand(!); my left hand seems to be better at that - I am not sure if I am benefiting from improving my ambidexterity and exercising both hemispheres of my brain; or if I am just confusing left and right even more; but either way, it's pretty relaxing, yet beneficial rehab for both sides - I can just swap hands when one side gets a bit tired............ I've even managed to colour with both hands at once! That goes back to a bit more concentration and not as much relaxation though....

Oh, and I am absolutely recommending 'colouring books for mindfulness' to everyone I know for everything and anything!

                                    

                   

                      

Just a few examples

The secret of life is in art

~ Oscar Wilde  ~