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Episode 2: Understanding How The Brain Works: My Orchestra Analogy · Understanding Your Concussion

• Jana: There's something I want you to understand about your concussion. though we may ⁓ concussions ⁓ looking at the parts of the brain ⁓ systems ⁓ work with the brain that's exactly how the brain is designed to function heal. Let's talk about it. a concussion, brain undergoes the inflammatory response or the neurometabolic cascade of events, starts to go an energy crisis, and there could be to the neural pathways within the brain. Thank you for joining me in understanding your concussion. hope that you are leaving this episode feeling empowered in what is going on behind the scenes of your injury, why you feel the way you feel, and how to begin to take action to move forward in your unique healing journey. Interested in checking out understanding your concussion course? Head to concussion healingspace.com or the link is in the show notes. The neural pathways are responsible to send ⁓ and receive information. That how the brain processes information is through the neural pathways. I want to empower you in your concussion recovery journey so that you can work towards feeling and functioning like yourself again. When we sustain a concussion whether by hitting our head or going the whiplash mechanism, It can lead to a shearing effect within the neuropathways. If you think of the neuropathways like a wire, they can get stretched, can get frayed, or they can get torn. You can purchase lesson one through four, reminder lesson one is free. you're interested in connecting with me for mentorship and support, one on one consultations are available online or join the Support Club where you get access all four courses and weekly drop in support options Join me in understanding your concussion, where I empower you navigating the complexities. of a concussion recovery journey by sharing the science of what is going on behind the scenes, the stories of why we feel the way we feel, and how we can work with our brain to find our way back to feeling and functioning like ourselves again. those pathways have been disrupted. ⁓ It is going to change how the functions, which in turn impacts how can function. What I want to understand is that one neuro pathway is not responsible for one task or activity. brains are highly interconnected. The wiring is very intermingled. And so you can't just rely on ⁓ pathway alone. ⁓ going to rely on the various different pathways that are intertwined, that is specific and unique to you and how you develop that neural pathway. So the reality is, that ⁓ many different ⁓ of brain work together as a whole, not just on certain sections parts ⁓ to carry out that particular task activity. many different parts of the brain are simultaneously working together. That's why you can smell something or taste something and it'll trigger a memory because those wires are intertwined together. are times where I pop a raspberry into my mouth. ⁓ And if it has that right amount of tartness sweetness, I am taken back to being a kid in my Grandpa back garden, eating raspberries off the bushes that used to grow in his backyard. Those pathways are intertwined for me. ⁓ and triggers that memory of being at my Grandpa Louie's house. When we study the brain when we treat the brain under the lens of a concussion, we tend to look at these ⁓ or of the brain or the systems ⁓ that with the brain in isolation, individual to But I want you to remember that a concussion is a functional injury. we need to that individual sections or parts of the brain or systems that work with the brain are functioning well on their own. that can lead to the experience of symptoms. ⁓ we also want to ensure that that system or part of the brain that we have been working on can then integrate back the whole ⁓ the brain to be able to rely on and work on together simultaneously, not fix that one thing and then everything kind of all comes back together easily. Our brain functions as a whole entity. when we are helping or supporting our brain ⁓ in recovery process, ⁓ we to help and support it return ⁓ back how it is intended ⁓ or is designed to function. That way we can back to how we remember us feeling and functioning as ourselves. an analogy. that I like to use is by relating ⁓ the way that the brain is designed to function to an orchestra. you think about an orchestra, there are various ⁓ sections of the orchestra. You've got winds, ⁓ strings, ⁓ and percussions. you can break down those different section of the orchestra into parts. take string section, you have the violins, the violas, the cellos, and the bass. each of those parts have ⁓ that make up that section or part. And the individual player themselves. So you can see how we can come from this bigger view of the orchestra, like the brain, working all together, but then it can be broken down into these various different parts or sections may or may not be impacting the orchestra's ability to play beautiful music. We want to ensure that the individual player is playing correctly, playing the right music at the right time with all the other players of their section. We then want to ensure that that section can integrate and coordinate with the whole strings section. And need to ensure that the strings section can work together along with the winds and the percussion as the whole orchestra and integrate together where they're playing music at the same time, at the same place in the music, at the same tempo or speed, all together so that it can create this beautiful music that we get to enjoy. It's the same for our brains when we're recovering from a concussion. healthcare professionals have started to break the brain down into various parts or sections. And if we identify that maybe that system is struggling, then we want to support it in returning to how it can function as it is designed. So that when it integrates back into the whole, not either ⁓ behind or struggling to function, which is what's bringing up the experience of symptoms. in the concussion recovery world, right now what we're seeing is that these sections or way that healthcare professionals have started to divide ⁓ and at the different sections or systems ⁓ that with the brain, they've created concussion subtypes, I was just recently speaking on a panel on concussion recovery. of the other guest speakers had talked about these concussion subtypes or referred to them as ⁓ different flavors that you might experience that might lead to symptoms in your concussion. And I just love that. currently in the research, there are a number of concussion subtypes or flavors ⁓ the healthcare professionals have agreed upon. Your neck, your your vestibular system, the autonomic nervous anxiety or mood, and cognition. When you work with a concussion provider, they are looking to these systems that work with the brain to identify if they are struggling to function on their own. And what's leading to or driving your symptoms or the experience of symptoms. But course, it's not black and white because, symptoms ⁓ overlap. ⁓ You can experience for a number of reasons, or you can experience dizziness being driven one or a few of these systems I just mentioned. it's really about determining ⁓ system is driving your symptoms and being able to help that system learn to function again. if ⁓ want to be a detective and put that ⁓ little detective hat on, I encourage you to go check out my website and look up lesson one, understanding your concussion, getting to know your injured brain. module two, I you through ⁓ the different concussion subtypes or the ⁓ symptoms that you might be ⁓ associated with that system so that you can start to decide or identify for yourself your might be coming from and what other options ⁓ you have to seek out support or treatment. let's say you have headaches ⁓ and you've gone to see someone for your neck. Headaches can also come from the vision system. And so that is something that you haven't had a chance to dive into or address. You might stuck in your recovery process. I wanted to empower you with that information so you could start to identify for yourself where some of your symptoms might be coming from. and give you the ability to wear that detective hat and start to take action forward, knowing for yourself healthcare professional ⁓ be able to support you in navigating that system. the point ⁓ seeking out rehab or treatment is ensure that we can get these systems functioning well on their own. You know the way that you're showing up in life doesn't feel or sound beautiful music to you. And so by being able to ⁓ recognize your symptoms ⁓ and know what systems could be involved, will empower you to take some action in your journey in a way that can be supportive ⁓ rather than it a guessing game. We do want to ensure that the systems are functioning well on their own. And we also want to ensure that those systems are able to integrate back into the whole of the brain, back into the whole of the orchestra. If that individual player is struggling or that individual section is struggling in that particular piece of music, in the way that the orchestra is functioning in that performance, they can go off and they can be worked on with the conductor and practice and practice and keep practicing and doing your exercises and doing your exercises and going for appointments. ⁓ that system or if that section doesn't get an opportunity to learn ⁓ integrate back into the whole orchestra before performing again, that performance it might still feel or sound a little bit off or awkward. And that's often what can happen in this journey, is that you've gone off and done the treatments, you've done the rehab, ⁓ and focused in that one section or system and that therapist have said, you did it! Good job! Great! off you go and you're thinking, okay, like I know I have a lot more mobility in my neck and I'm feeling maybe as headachy, but I still am experiencing headaches at the end of the day or ⁓ I get headaches. So ⁓ what it? Is it still my neck? Do I still keep coming here? But the therapist told me not to ⁓ now. You need to take all of that action, all of that work, effort and energy that you've put into that system help it integrate back into the whole so you can feel and function like you again. ⁓ so when you are functioning as yourself, it does feel like beautiful music to you. The integration piece often the piece that gets missed in this journey. if you've been living with symptoms long term, months, ⁓ maybe this might resonate with you you might have been through that rehab process ⁓ and you feel you have experienced healing and improvement, but you're just not quite back at that. ability or level of functioning the way you remembered. This might be that piece ⁓ that missing for you you have to remember We are all ⁓ individual. we have to ensure that we've done the work in helping that system to ⁓ function better that ⁓ integrate it back in our brain ⁓ in the way we want it to function. We are all individuals. So it's very different the way someone has to function who sits at a desk working IT versus someone who works in the mall doing retail where they're moving and changing levels and turning their head and engaging in customer service. It's also very different if you are a ski instructor and need to ski for your career. How you function yourself, you need to support that system ⁓ integrating back into the brain in the way that you are intending to function as yourself. One of my goals was to return to skiing. I live in a mountain town. I moved out here for skiing. sustained my injuries skiing. However, that did not deter me from wanting to get back to skiing. And my journey, it was not feasible for ⁓ to feel that I could go skiing for many It was challenging enough just to go for a walk. ⁓ so returning to skiing just felt so ⁓ far away. But that was a goal of mine and I wasn't really ready to give up on that goal. felt strongly that I could return to feeling and functioning like myself again. I might not return to the same ⁓ of how I was skiing prior to my concussions, but I did want to return to skiing ⁓ any way, shape or form. And so I started on my healing journey of working towards this goal. in looking at how I was going to function as a skier, I realized that there be different systems involved. When you ski, your heart rate goes up. It is a physical activity. So I needed to address that cardiovascular piece, ⁓ which is associated with autonomic nervous system subtype. There's a lot of vision. and vestibular involvement as well in skiing. So I needed to ensure that I addressed those systems. and movements are involved, ⁓ balance, cognition. Obviously an component our sport, the activities that we love to do. So when I had this big goal, I focused on breaking down that orchestra of how I was going to function as a skier into those different sections or parts The main thing for me, what was really driving my symptoms at the beginning was the autonomic nervous system. And so the two things that I really focused on in the beginning was the cardiovascular piece and my anxiety. ⁓ had helped systems to improve they were functioning on their own, then the next bit was addressing more of the vision and vestibular piece. Now I've done all my rehab. I know I can get my heart rate up without symptoms. My anxiety I am working on and I've a bunch of exercise for vision and vestibular. each system now can function well on their own. First bit success. However, I recognize it was going to be a very big leap from ⁓ doing my rehab. to then jumping all the way into like skiing down a mountain. So what I started to do was to help those systems and my brain integrate back together and mimic how I was going to function as a skier, but just off the hill. as a skier, we tend to keep our head still and you rotate your body underneath. ⁓ Now doing lot of vision and vestibular work involved more of head and eye movements together. But I didn't necessarily think about those ⁓ body rotations. impacts the neck. That feeds into the vestibular system. That was an important way that those systems were going to function while I'm skiing. I started to combine those systems that were initially in isolation and started putting them together. I would sit on a stationary bike and do my vestibular exercises So that those systems started used to being ⁓ activated together. And they started building those pathways of them able to function and work together. ⁓ In doing so, what I was doing was preparing my brain in how it would function on the hill. So that when I went to go skiing, my brain wasn't gonna freak out. by preparing my brain and mimicking how I was going to function allowed for neural pathways to be built. And then when I went to go skiing, my brain was able to rely on that and go. okay, yeah, I know this. ⁓ done this. Okay, ⁓ yeah, and I've done this while I was doing that. So yeah, I can do this. As opposed to just going skiing right away, knowing cardio is good, vision and vestibular are good, anxiety, you know, ⁓ on it. That ⁓ of a sudden it would just be like, well, what this? I'm so overwhelmed. ⁓ can't this. Boom, intense symptoms. Preparing your brain or building those pathways that your brain can rely on helps to function in the way that we want to function ⁓ leading to those really intense ⁓ or that experience of overstimulation. So by preparing my brain and building these pathways, my brain had a foundation to rely on. It was the foundation of how I wanted to function. that process of recognizing what systems were involved in the activity or task I wanted to do, breaking it down into those systems, ensuring they are all functioning well, slowly all the different pieces back together, then allowed me to return to how I wanted to function. I was ⁓ using act of neuroplasticity for my benefit. I was helping and supporting my brain to repair, rewire and create the neural pathways of how I wanted to function so that when I went out there, I could function the way that I wanted to function. And then that was another element of just building up my endurance, my capacity and my energy tolerate a full day of skiing. The rehab portion of this recovery process is essential. You do need to ensure that your systems are functioning well, but it doesn't end there. That is one aspect of this journey. Maybe this resonates with you. Maybe you've done the rehab portion and it helped, but maybe you're not quite back to feeling and functioning like yourself. This could be the missing piece, that integration piece and how you can integrate things back together. There are various ways for you to play around with that. talk a lot about integration. in lesson two, understanding your symptoms. And integration is one of those bits that might be holding you back in being able to feel and function like yourself again. Healing is all about supporting how you want to feel and function. You are the expert on you. Not your physio, not your doctor, not your neurologist, not your mom, not your best friend. You are. are the only one who knows ⁓ it feels to function like you. you have to be the one ⁓ that your brain, your system, towards healing in a way that you want to function again. You can build those neural pathways to support you moving towards that future self. The one that breaks it down, builds it back up, integrates it all together, and then finds herself on the mountain with her mom for the first time, I'm getting emotional, in years with the plan to do one to two runs. and end up doing four because it actually went better than I thought. possible. If you feel like you're trying to get from rehab to your sport, rehab to activity, rehab to return to work, whatever it is, and you keep hitting a plateau or a wall and you can't get beyond that, this is your strategy. Break it down, integrate, how you want to function, and slowly build it back up. and then you will find yourself out there just doing it. You might be tired. You might have a little bit of symptoms later, but that's just all part of the process. Eventually, you'll be up there skiing with your kids without having to think about symptoms at all.