Personal injury is a legal term that refers to an injury to a person’s mind, body, or emotions. This is usually caused by another person’s careless actions or inaction and can significantly impact the victim’s life.
Personal injuries can be caused by car accidents, slipping and falling, and more. Depending on the severity of your injuries, recovering can take a long time and be challenging. The circumstances that cause the injury can often leave you with physical, emotional, and mental injuries.
Personal injuries can be a result of the following:
- Motor vehicle accidents- this includes car, truck, and motorcycle accidents.
- Defective products- products design defects that cause the product to be unreasonably dangerous and cause harm
- Medical Malpractice- healthcare providers injuring a patient through poor care
- Slipping and Falling- this can happen on either public or private property when the premises are unsafe and you are injured due to a slip and fall.
- Animal bites or attacks- animals that are not adequately contained and attack
- And more
As a result of these incidents, you may suffer from injuries such as:
- Broken bones
- Concussions
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Chronic pain
- PTSD
- Anxiety
- Mental health struggles
- Memory loss
- Increased levels of stress
- And much more
Most doctors can help you heal physical wounds, like broken bones, with remedies such as surgery, medication, and rest. However it can be much more difficult to heal the emotional and mental injuries sustained like PTSD or anxiety, which can last long after the physical injuries have healed.
This is where meditation can help.
What are Meditation and Mindfulness?
Meditation is a practice where you focus on an object, thought, or activity to arrive at a mentally clear and emotionally calm state.
Mindfulness is maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surroundings through a soft lens. This means paying attention to these things without judging them or labelling them as “right” or “wrong”.
Meditation and mindfulness can achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm state. These practices allow you to live in the present moment and accept your circumstances without judgment. This can help you reduce your stress levels, which may help relieve other stress-related symptoms.
How Can Meditation and Mindfulness Help in Personal Injury Recovery?
After experiencing an injury caused by someone else’s action, or in some cases inaction, you will likely feel stressed due to pain, missed work, and financial strain.
You may meditate on the idea that your injuries could have been avoided if the responsible person acted responsibly, causing you to feel even more stressed.
This stress you feel every day can prolong your healing process. Meditation and mindfulness come into play because both practices help by giving you the tools to calm your mind and reduce stress.
Studies have shown that meditation can help alleviate the following:
- Stress, anxiety, and depression
- Pain
- Insomnia
- PTSD
- And more
All of which are symptoms that you might experience during injury recovery.
Studies on Meditation and Mindfulness
While research on meditation and mindfulness aiding injury recovery is still relatively new, Easter traditions have utilized the practices for thousands of years.
According to Eastern philosophy, meditation allows individuals to follow their breath to find an inner state of harmony.
Some recent research shows that meditation and mindfulness may affect brain functions and alter the brain’s structure.
Some research has found that meditation changes how the body works and induces a hypo-metabolic state, a relaxed state similar to hibernation. Achieving this state allows the body to heal on a cellular level.
Other studies have shown that meditation can help to produce genes that counteract inflammation in the body.
Another study compared the fMRIs of people who practised mindfulness meditation for four days to the fMRIs of people who had not practised. The study revealed that those who had practised mindfulness meditation had less sensitivity to pain.
Wrap-up- Give a Try
If you are recovering from an injury, you may want to try meditation and mindfulness. These practices are low-risk and can be done alongside Western medical practices without interfering with treatment.
A quick YouTube search will reveal thousands of options for guided meditations and offers a wealth of knowledge on the rules. Give meditation a shot, and you may be pleasantly surprised by how it can help you.
Christopher Adams is a registered dietitian specializing in weight management and preventative healthcare. He’s also the author of a bestselling book on nutrition and a consultant dietitian for hospitals and wellness centres. Adams believes in empowering individuals to make healthier food choices using evidence-based research and practical advice.