ON THE COVER WHEN REST IS BEST
If you’re anything like me, you may find the advice to “rest and recuperate” rather difficult to follow.
I’m an active relaxer and energiser bunny with a busy work and social schedule. I’m mostly on the move and like it that way. For the past six or so months, however, I’ve been forced to slow down.
The catalyst was a car accident. Watching the driver coming towards us and knowing that he was going to hit us, that there was nothing we could do except brace for impact, was almost an out of body experience.
I now really get why “speed kills”. We were stationary on impact; the other car was travelling at approximately 45kmph yet we were shunted 2 metres, airbags activated and both vehicles write-o s. We all walked away “injury-free”, or so I thought until I was diagnosed with concussion resulting from whiplash.
It’s been a slow process of recovery that in the beginning required reduced work hours, and I still need to take “brain breaks” to reduce the cognitive load. It’s been frustrating but has also reframed my thinking in more ways than one!
For example, I’ve learned about managing mental fatigue by listening to my symptoms and resting. And, that exercise isn’t just good for heart health and keeping fit, it helps keep your brain in tip-top shape, too.
Due to its high metabolic demand, the brain demands good circulation, and exercise aids it. Exercise induces good blood flow to deliver all the nutrients required to carry out the brain’s job, while it also increases production molecules important to brain function, including memory.
I’m loving the habit I’ve formed of a minimum 30-minute brisk walk each morning, with a couple of hills thrown into the mix, as I really do notice the di erence cognitively.
The concussion experts at Axis Sports Medicine Specialists and NeuroConnect have been helping me on my journey and it’s good to follow their advice.
Nadia Lim, who we are delighted to have on this issue’s cover of Good, has been on a health journey too, following a skiing accident which fractured her spine.
Today she is a walking example of how you can recover well, and relatively quickly, if you take time to repair, rather than push your limits too soon after surgery. She shares her story and health tips on pages 14-21.
When I caught up with Nadia at Royalburn Station I marvelled at her impressive wild garden that had self-seeded during her recovery. It was heaving with produce.
We also discussed striving for balance, and she got me thinking about that di erently, too.
“Nothing’s ever 50-50, it’s always changing so I think you just have to integrate things and go with the flow,” she says.
I think that’s great advice and more achievable to take micro moments, rather than setting ourselves up to fail.
That includes our obsession with gadgets and health trackers. Do we really need them? See Niki Bezzant’s feature on pages 22-26.
With all this in mind we’ve filled this issue with helpful health advice and tips, some of which you may find easy to incorporate into your lifestyle, like my now daily mind-altering 30-minute morning walks.
Here’s to good health!