Brain Overload: We’ve all been there before, your mind is running at a million miles per second and it feels like you have far too many things going on. When you aren’t feeling 100% there can be a multitude of things that can be contributing to this. This blog will look at “Brain Overload” and what this can mean for you health, well-being and your recovery!

We all have a lot going on in our life – and it is frustrating when we sustain an injury on top of this. Consider how much your brain is dealing with at any given time. . . this can extend from when to pick up the kids from school, whether you have enough time to get a task completed today, what’s for dinner, how you are feeling etc etc.

When you mix in an injury and negative thoughts – KABOOM! Our brain can get over-loaded with negative information from the body. It’s only way of letting you know that it can’t cope is by telling you to stop, so that you change what you are doing. This message from the brain to the body is usually in the form of symptoms. Symptoms can include:

– Pain numbness, tingling, aching
– Restricted movements ( stiffness)
– Muscle Tension
– Headaches
– A cold or flu, feeling run-down
– Heavy feeling in the chest, anxiety
– Shallow breathing patterns
– Digestive problems
– Etc

Our bodies are extremely smart – and they will tell you what they need you to ( or not need you) do. Typically these symptoms will limit our bodies so that we can’t do what we love, that way we have a chance to stop and reflect on what is making our bodies feel this way.

Types of loads on the body:

  • Musculoskeletal load on the bodycan be change, and if you ensure that you are not loading up your body with poor postures, bad training techniques, tight muscles and stiff joints, life can be a lot more manageable.
  • Work Load is less changeable. There may be deadlines due that month and there may not be much we can do about it.
  • Amount of sleep This is sometimes decided by us and for others it is dependent on a few things – new born babies, roadworks out of the front of your house, etc.
  • Down time/rest days: Once again, this may or may not be decided by us.
  • Nutrition: This is usually decided by us, but there are always times when we can’t control our intake of food ( delayed flight and having to eat at the airport. Dinner out with friends. etc)
  • Emotional Load: This can be in the form of stress, worry, anxiety, depression. It can be thoughts, beliefs, fears or memories that you have. This can be changeable with the right input for each individual.
  • General health load: These are non – musculoskeletal influences on the body. Things like our organs, immune system, endocrine/hormonal systems, infections, illness or conditions.

When you consider each of these factors separately it can be clear to see the link between your health and a Brain overload. In order to manage your Brain load it’s important to have a look at the loads above, and see what is contributing the most to your health – and manage it!

This can mean looking at the amount of sleep you have in a night, and whether this can be increased, looking at the amount of down-time you are able to have and even your nutritional and emotional load.  When you begin to break down each load, it can help you to work out what you can change to improve your health.

Next week we will be looking at what managing your load would look like, and how we can help you to live your Barefoot lifestyle – free of a Brain Overload!