Meditation is one of the words that gets used so often it has almost lost meaning. So let me say what it actually is for me: a quiet, gentle space to come back to myself. Not emptying the mind. Not achieving a state. Just creating a few minutes each day where the noise stops and I can hear what is actually going on inside.
What meditation is (and is not)
Meditation can be defined as engaging in contemplation or reflection, or focusing one's thoughts, or a mental practice for reaching a heightened level of self-awareness. In practice it looks different for every person. It can be guided or unguided, silent or accompanied by music, seated or moving, five minutes or an hour.
What it is not: a performance. You do not have to achieve a blank mind. Thoughts will arise. That is not failure. The practice is in noticing the thought and gently returning attention to the breath, the body, or whatever anchor you are using. The noticing and returning is the practice. You are not trying to stop thinking; you are learning to observe thinking without being completely run by it.
Why it matters specifically after concussion
For a recovering brain, meditation has several things going for it that are relevant beyond general wellbeing.
The default mode network, the brain's resting state network that activates when we are not focused on a specific task, is often dysregulated after concussion. It can stay active even when you are trying to concentrate, which is part of why cognitive fatigue sets in so quickly. Meditation, particularly mindfulness-based practice, has been shown to support healthier switching between the default mode network and the focused attention network. Over time, regular meditators show more efficient brain network use, which matters directly to anyone managing post-concussion cognitive load.
Meditation also measurably reduces cortisol, lowers blood pressure, improves heart rate variability, and supports sleep quality. For a nervous system that is running hot after an injury, this is not a small thing. It is creating the internal conditions that healing requires.
There is also something harder to measure but equally real: the reconnection to self. One of the most disorienting things about concussion recovery is the sense of having lost yourself. Meditation, done regularly, is a daily practice of coming back. Of checking in. Of finding out what is actually present rather than what the anxious mind is projecting.
How to start
The main thing is to lower the bar enough that you actually do it. One minute counts. Three minutes counts. Perfection is not the goal and missing days is not failure.
- Set a routine anchor. Tie it to something you already do every day: first thing in the morning, after your coffee, before you open your phone. The anchor matters more than the duration.
- Use a guide to start. Trying to meditate without any structure when you are new to it is harder than it needs to be. Guided meditations give your attention something to follow.
- Try different things. Body scans, breath focus, loving-kindness practice, visualisation: different approaches suit different people and different days. What works for someone else may not work for you, and that is fine.
- Do not judge the session. A meditation full of intrusive thoughts where you kept returning your attention is just as valid as one that felt peaceful. The return is the practice.
Apps and resources worth trying
- Calm (calm.com): a good entry point with structured beginner courses
- Insight Timer (insighttimer.com): huge free library, good for variety
- Balance (balanceapp.com): adapts to your experience level over time
- YouTube: Great Meditation: free guided meditations of varying lengths
I call meditation my biggest game changer, and I mean it. But I want to be honest about what it was like at the start, because I think the way it gets talked about can put people off.
Initially I found it very hard to concentrate. My mind would race, I would lose the thread, and then I would feel like I was doing it wrong. There was a period where I spent most of each meditation judging my inability to meditate, which is a fairly absurd loop. What helped was understanding that the wandering is normal. The mind is supposed to wander. The practice is the noticing, not the stillness.
I started with the Calm app, which gave me enough structure that I was not just sitting there in silence feeling lost. Over time I moved to Insight Timer for more variety, and I now use YouTube's Great Meditation channel regularly.
My current routine: I wake up, light a candle, pull an oracle card with a mantra for the day, note it in my journal, and then meditate. Some days it is five minutes. Some days longer. It has become the thing that sets the tone for everything that follows. On the days I skip it, I notice.
I also want to say: if you have a busy, driven mind, meditation will feel hard at first. That does not mean it is not working. If anything, the busy mind is the one that needs it most. Yours is probably the same. Start small and be patient with yourself.