{"id":18274,"date":"2023-08-14T21:13:21","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T21:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yogajournal.com\/?p=113187"},"modified":"2023-08-14T21:13:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T21:13:21","slug":"can-mindfulness-help-with-injury-recovery-heres-what-experts-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/2023\/08\/14\/can-mindfulness-help-with-injury-recovery-heres-what-experts-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Mindfulness Help with Injury Recovery? Here\u2019s What Experts Say."},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! <a href="https:\/\/outsideapp.onelink.me\/wOhi\/6wh1kbvw" class="o-content-cta-link" data-analytics-event="click" data-analytics-data="{"name":"Element Clicked","props":{"destination_url":"https:\/\/outsideapp.onelink.me\/wOhi\/6wh1kbvw","domain":"<>","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}”>Download the app<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Being injured keeps you busy. Trust me. When I recently hurt my hip and couldn\u2019t run for three months, there were countless doctors\u2019 appointments, physical therapy<\/a> exercises, and cross training programs. Also, physicians repeatedly urged me to integrate meditation and visualization sessions into my recovery, suggesting that the mindful practices<\/a> would help the healing process.<\/p>\n

With everything else I had to do, it felt silly to spend time sitting quietly and imagining my way back to health. Wouldn\u2019t that be  wishful thinking? Or was there something to that?<\/p>\n

Can Meditation Help Your Body Heal?<\/h2>\n

You likely know that your natural emotional response to injury\u2014anger, depression, hopelessness\u2014isn\u2019t exactly helpful. \u201cThe Buddhist term for this sentiment is the second arrow: it makes unpleasant experiences even worse because now we\u2019re worrying about it and we\u2019re imagining it happening forever,\u201d says Simon Goldberg, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. \u201cIt adds all this fuel to the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enter meditation<\/a>, a practice that can help reduce stress, depression, and anxiety when you\u2019re sidelined. Britton Brewer, a psychology professor at Springfield College in Massachusetts, explains that there is robust evidence for the psychological effects of meditation among injured athletes, including feeling more confident and having less anxiety about returning to the playing field.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tempting to leap to the conclusion that meditation\u2019s ability to lower stress levels can also lead to physical healing. And yes, research<\/a> has found that mindfulness meditation can reduce inflammation and support the immune system. Claims supporting the physical effects of meditation on healing are less well-documented and larger, definitive studies examining the effect of meditation on the injured body haven\u2019t been conducted. However, existing small-scale research suggest there is potential of meditative practices, such as mindfulness, to benefit athletes.<\/p>\n

In a study<\/a> that Brewer collaborated on, runners with knee injuries went through an eight-week mindfulness training program that included breathing exercises, body scans, gentle yoga, and meditation. After learning the techniques over two sessions, participants were asked to practice at home for up to 45 minutes each day. When the participants returned to running, those in the mindfulness group reported less pain compared to the control group.<\/p>\n

Mindfulness training might also help prevent injury. In a 2019 study<\/a> published in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology<\/em>, soccer players participated in seven weekly group sessions that focused on mindfulness exercises and acceptance techniques. They also listened to recordings of the exercises throughout the week. Over the course of the season, players who participated in  mindfulness practices had fewer injuries compared to their teammates, a finding Brewer contributes to reduced stress.<\/p>\n

When it comes to visualization exercises, such as imagining a bone rebuilding, the evidence in athletic rehabilitation is mixed or lacking. But studies from other fields are promising. When used in conjunction with standard cancer treatments, guided imagery improved immune function<\/a> and reduced stress<\/a> in breast cancer patients. Research also reveals that imagined strength workouts lead to real muscle gains<\/a>, and visualization can help prevent strength loss<\/a> in immobilized muscles.<\/p>\n

Even if these practices don\u2019t help ease physical symptoms, the mental health support can be crucial. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to downplay the importance of the psychological aspects of an injury experience,\u201d Goldberg says. Meditation and visualization can give you a sense of control, which means there is still something you can do to work toward your goals, even before you\u2019ve been cleared to do much else.<\/p>\n

Carrie Jackson, a sports psychologist and author of Rebound: Train Your Mind to Bounce Back Stronger from Sports Injuries<\/em><\/a>, explains that it\u2019s vital to not just practice visualization but believe in it. Whether it actually helps to heal the actual injury remains unclear. \u201cBut if you think that it won\u2019t help, then it won\u2019t,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

So, Should You Try a Mindfulness Practice for Your Physical Health?<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no harm in trying it. Goldberg recommends engaging with mindfulness practices for a week before making a judgment. The Healthy Minds Program app<\/a>, created by his colleagues at Healthy Minds Innovations, is free for download and has different practices, such as loving-kindness meditations and purpose-based mindfulness exercises.<\/p>\n

Sitting still may be uncomfortable and difficult at first, but that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re failing. \u201cIt takes time to get our minds in shape, just like it would our bodies,\u201d Goldberg says. These mental practices are hard, and you need to take breaks, just as you would take a recovery day<\/a> when training.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s work,\u201d Jackson says. \u201cIt takes time, as well as emotional and mental energy to do these things, and that is real energy.\u201d She also stresses prioritizing one of the best recovery tools: sleep.<\/p>\n

However, mindfulness practices don\u2019t have to take much time. Some studies<\/a> on the psychological effects of meditation found positive results in as little as five minutes a day. If you have a few moments to spare\u2014when you\u2019re sitting in an ice bath or waiting for a doctor\u2014there might be benefits beyond injury recovery. \u201cIf you can manage your stress, you can not only feel better and be less likely to get injured, but you might perform better as well,\u201d says Brewer. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll never know if my attempts at mindfulness practices helped my hip heal faster. Despite this being my worst injury to date, daily meditation certainly helped lessen the onset of depression and hopelessness. Although I never did feel comfortable visualizing the bone healing and I eventually gave up trying.<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019m running again, I prefer the meditative rhythm of my footsteps and have fallen out of the meditation habit. But the evidence that a mindfulness practice could prevent me from being sidelined again is sending me back to the mat. A few minutes each day to keep me doing the sport I love? I\u2019ll take it.<\/p>\n

\n

When you buy something using the retail links in our stories, we may earn a small commission. We do not accept money for editorial gear reviews. Read more<\/a> about our policy.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Can<\/figure>\n

We know that meditation benefits our mental health. Could it do the same for our physical healing?<\/p>\n

The post Can Mindfulness Help with Injury Recovery? Here’s What Experts Say.<\/a> appeared first on Yoga Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18275,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[37,35,36],"class_list":["post-18274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ayurveda","tag-blogs","tag-yoga","tag-yogacourseware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogacourseware.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}