According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention – CDC – it is estimated that 1.7 million Americans suffer from a traumatic brain injury – TBI – every year. It’s not difficult to imagine that a large percentage of these individuals are athletes. Athletes put themselves at risk for a serious injury all the time for the sake of entertainment. When talking about athletes who suffer from TBI’s, football players probably come to mind, but athletes who play contact sports are not the only ones at risk.

For example, take professional snowboarder, Kevin Pearce. Pearce’s specialty is the halfpipe, and while he was training to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team, he sustained a TBI when he lost control and hit his head on the halfpipe. Even though Pearce was wearing helmet, it was not able to protect from experiencing a serious brain injury. Although Pearce was placed in critical condition, he was able to recover thanks to the human brain’s remarkable healing powers.

You might be wondering how meditation can help with TBI treatment for athletes. First of all, meditation is like exercise for the mind. It literally strengthens your brain. Second of all, scientists doing research at the University of Manchester discovered that people who meditate regularly are better at dealing with pain. For them, pain is less intense because they anticipate the pain less.

Meditation has been an esoteric practice for countless generations, but learning how to properly meditate is not as hard as you might think. In fact, you probably meditate all the time without even realizing it. For example, anytime you are completely engrossed in a movie, TV show, or even a song, you are practicing a form of meditation. You are meditating. You just aren’t doing it consciously; it’s happening by accident. However, once you learn how to consciously put yourself in that state of mind where you are not focusing on the past or the future, but rather fully experiencing the now, you then can unleash the true healing powers of meditation.

Note: Specifically, with regards to medical issues, always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Web site.

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