Mindful Concussion

09/24/2025

I just signed a contract with Page Two Books!!!! My book The Power and Perils of Mindfulness for Brain Injury will be launched in June 2027, just in time for brain injury month in Canada.

What a journey it has been to get here:

From my car accident in 2013, to taking up mindfulness and finding that it helped and also hindered, to becoming a qualified mindfulness teacher, to launching Mindful Concussion and creating my own courses and workshops via my Mindful Concussion Method, to being mentored by David Treleaven who encouraged me to write, to years of writing, to finally feeling ready and brave enough to approach a publisher, to sending in my proposal on September 3, to signing today!!!!

I am so honoured to be working with the fabulous team at Page Two. They offer the editorial, marketing, and brain injury support I need to make this the very best it can be. Here’s to a juicy journey ahead.

09/23/2025

It is vital that you understand that the state that brain injury survivors bring to the mindfulness classroom is very different from that of students with relatively regulated nervous systems.

When I was first learning mindfulness after my car accident and brain injury, I so easily fell into either hyper nervous system arousal (I became anxious, angry, or afraid) or into hypo nervous system arousal (I became numb or shut down/dissociated).

Sometimes, I even landed in both hyper and hypo arousal, with my feet on the proverbial gas and the brake at the same time.

Back then, it felt so confusing and deeply embarrassing. Now I know that it was to be expected.

This basic understanding is the beginning of being able to support brain injury survivors in the mindfulness classroom.

This is quote TWO from the draft of my forthcoming book, The Power and The Perils of Mindfulness for Brain Injury.

YumThis Phrase from a Page campaign is a space to workshop ideas before the book goes to print. Thanks for sharing your wisdom by engaging with the quote, questions, and reflections that accompany each post.

HAVE YOU NOTICED THIS IN YOUR CLASSROOM? YOUR OFFICE? YOUR CLINIC? YOUR LIFE?!

Keep an eye out for purple in your feed and follow along at

Jessie Rain Anne Smith

09/18/2025

Hi there, Jessie here.
I was so relieved to learn that brain injuries cause physiological changes that both increase dysregulation and make self-regulation more difficult. This meant that my reactivity was not my fault!

Mindfulness helps me bolster self-regulation by bringing my attention off my fears about the future so that I can land instead in the present moment, in:

Calm
Clarity
Connection

Mindfulness helps me let go of my fear of my symptoms, and in this I feel a DISSIPATION of much of my suffering. My body learns that I can handle my symptoms.
But some mindfulness practices (especially when I was first learning) have done the opposite. Instead of dissipation, I feel an INTENSIFICATION of my symptoms and nervous system dysregulation.
I land instead in:

Panic
Dissociation
Shame

Later I learned that panic attacks and dissociation were not a shameful Problem - they were Protection. In the face of sensations that are too overwhelming, my body takes charge and launches a fight, flight, or freeze reaction to keep me safe. Thanks, body!
In time I learned to modify mindfulness so that I can actually stay present while practicing. I learned how to listen for those feelings of overwhelm when they are just warning signs, not yet alarm bells.
This way I am in choice. In those moments, I can either:

Feel it

Or

Soothe it

I get to decide depending on my capacity in that very moment.
This is quote ONE from the draft of my forthcoming book: The Power and The Perils of Mindfulness for Brain Injury. This Phrase from a Page campaign is a space to workshop ideas before the book goes to print. Thanks for sharing your wisdom by engaging in the quote/questions/reflections that accompany each post.
Here is a broad question to kick-start the conversation:

HAVE YOU OR YOUR PATIENTS/CLIENTS/STUDENTS EXPERIENCED THE POWER AND/OR THE PERILS OF MINDFULNESS FOR BRAIN INJURY?

Keep an eye out for purple in your feed and follow along at

Jessie Rain Anne Smith

Check out this LinkedIn Single Image Ad designed by Jessie Smith.

08/11/2025

I had been practicing bare mindfulness for several years before I began to incorporate mindful self-compassion into my concussion care. At first it felt wrong, as though I were somehow betraying my mindfulness practice and that by adding on care when I was suffering I was reducing my mindful attention. I soon realized that in fact adding compassionate care to myself in fact dramatically increased my capacity to sit with my suffering.

I would love it if you would check out this blog post. How about you? What is your experience with mindful self-compassion.

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Mindfulconcussion.ca/t1

Cultivate Mindful Self-compassion (it’s the Secret Sauce that supports us) *Photo: Spirit Island in Jasper National Park I had a rocky introduction to the concept of self-compassion. I first learned of it through metta (loving kindness) practice. Often on retreat teachers end with some loving kind...

07/30/2025

Brain injury survivors are often encouraged to take up yoga (yeah!) but in doing so we need to figure out which style works best for us.

Some people prefer faster yoga that focuses on strength and balance, but after a brain injury I found the slower holds of yin and restorative yoga to be more supportive. What I needed most was nervous-system regulation, and those long, slow, deep holds helped me release the issues that were trapped in my tissues, and helped me calm my frazzle.

What kind of yoga works for you or your TBI clients/patients?

Slow Yoga to Release the Issues in our Tissues You may already have a ‘fast’ yoga practice, and that’s great if it doesn’t intensify your symptoms, but in this blog post I’d like to introduce you to the healing power of ‘slow’ yin and restorative yoga. FYI: I write each new blog with t...

07/24/2025

I am pleased to share the link to this Mindfulness Voyage podcast interview with Ted Meissner. It is wonderful to meet a fellow teacher who understands that mindfulness, as he says 'is not one size fits all.'

Have you had your own experience of realizing that some mindfulness practices need to be modified for you or your clients/patients/students?

Jessie Smith speaks about how mindfulness has helped herself and others with concussions.Be sure to visit https://mindfulness.voyage/ for more shows and mind...

07/13/2025

Check out my blog about lessons learned and my poster board from the World Brain Injury Congress that was held in March in Montreal. Key take-aways are listed here. What is something you learned in Montreal, or at another recent brain injury conference?

1. The Goldilocks Principle: I learned that brain injury survivors are encouraged to find a balance between being over-avoidant and over-whelmed.

2. Exercise protocols: The recommendation is not to under or over exert. On a scale of 0-10, we should increase our symptoms by no more than 2 points.

3. Pink Concussions: Up to 75% of women who experience intimate partner violence end up with a brain injury.

4. Why we get sensory overload: An injured brain finds it more difficult to filter information and our processing of sensory experience is slower.

5. Useful Measurement Tools: The blog has links to five useful tools for measuring brain injury

The blog also includes a link to my poster board presentation from the Congress. It outlines the power and perils of mindfulness for brain injury, as well as how to modify mindfulness to take advantage of the power without falling prey to the perils; it is the subject of my forthcoming book.

My Experience at the World Brain Injury Congress In March (2025) I was honoured to have the opportunity to share Mindful Concussion lessons via a Poster Board presentation at the world’s largest brain injury conference: the World Brain Injury Congress. I met many of the top leaders in the field an...

07/10/2025

Love this. It’s a bit fast. I had to listen a few times to catch it all!

4565 likes, 131 comments. “🧠 “I crammed years of psych study into 60 seconds… here’s what your therapist wishes you knew.” You are not your thoughts. You are not your feelings. You are not broken. But the way you think? It’s shaping your entire life. Garbage in, garbage out. 🗑️ Y...

07/03/2025

Yesterday I was interviewed for Stroke Warrior Radio. While my focus is on traumatic brain injury (in particular, mild TBI because that is what I know best), the truth is that this gentle approach to introducing mindfulness is supportive to people with a wide range of conditions that cause them to be easily dysregulated: trauma survivors, stroke, people Alzheimer's or aging in general, people on the spectrum, and just about anyone when sometimes it feels too overwhelming to feel all of the feels all at once.

I call my approach Mindfulness for Dysregulated Nervous Systems (MDNS).

Might you benefit from a mindfulness practice that starts with nervous-system regulating practices as I describe in this interview?

06/26/2025

Langara just announced my talk on my research for my book:

The Applied Research Centre’s Seminar Series showcases Langara faculty members sharing their experiences as researchers at the College.

Join us for this semester's seminar featuring Jessie Smith, who will present on “The Power and Perils of Mindfulness for Brain Injury.”
In 2013 Jessie Smith was driving to the College when another driver ran a stop sign. Their collision on 49th Avenue left Jessie with long-term brain injury symptoms, so she works half-time. She was told to take up mindfulness and it helped, but it also hindered; some mindfulness practices were much too cognitive and others caused detrimental nervous system dysregulation.

Over time, Jessie learned how to modify mindfulness to take advantage of the power without falling prey to the perils. Ever the educator, she became a qualified mindfulness teacher (through the University of California) to support fellow brain injury survivors. She was honoured to be granted both ARC funding to present at the world's largest brain injury conference in Montreal in March. Jessie has also taken a one-year education leave from teaching (to write a book with the same title as this talk).

For more information see mindfulconcussion.ca

The Power and Perils of Mindfulness for Brain Injury

Date: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Time: 2:30–4:00 pm
Location: T Gallery
RSVP by July 7, 2025
Light refreshments will be served. The event concludes at 4:00 pm, but faculty and staff can drop by for as long as you are available.

Do you struggle with post-concussion symptoms? Foggy-brain, dizziness, headaches, overwhelm?You’re not alone.Hi! I’m Jessie. I’m a concussion survivor, a meditation practitioner & an educator. While no two concussions are alike, most concussion and trauma survivors tend to be easily overwhelme...

06/24/2025

Mindfulness in nature is one of my top daily go-tos to support my injured brain. In this blog I share how I modify the practice to meet my needs.

Instead of the usual mindfulness instruction to Notice nature, I encourage you to Savour Nature. We use our brain to Notice the green tree - no thanks! We use our hearts to Savour the colour green of the tree - yes please!








https://mindfulconcussion.ca/go-for-a-walk-in-nature-my-mindful-journey-started-with-flowers/

06/20/2025

In this blog I highlight ten ways to modify mindfulness for brain injury:

1. We track the state of our nervous system via my Merging Map of Nervous System Concepts

2. We start in the parking lot of learning with anchors of attention that are least likely to overwhelm

3. We allow ourselves to feel rather than mask our symptoms, but only when we are ready (when we have some self-regulation skills on board)

4. We take some long, slow, deep breaths, where the exhale is longer than the inhale

5. We prioritize learning attentional control before introducing open awareness practices (which may cause nausea or dizziness)

6. We learn to discern which type of mindfulness practice will serve us best in any given moment (sometimes we are served by sitting meditation and others by paying attention to the warm water of a hot bath)

7. We learn how to practice mindfulness in nature by savouring beauty

8. We enjoy the healing balm of yin yoga (to release the issues in our tissues) and restorative yoga (to deeply settle our nervous system)

9. We learn to cultivate self-compassion (it's easier to later learn to 'get comfortable with the uncomfortable' of our symptoms if we have a friend - ourselves! - at our side

10. We explicitly resource ourselves to cultivate calm clarity (we focus on nervous system regulation skills before we introduce insight practices because wisdom does not arise when we are in the middle of fight, flight or freeze)

How to Modify Mindfulness for Brain Injury In this blog and other Mindful Concussion resources I tease out the trauma-sensitive and concussion-sensitive modifications I have figured out on my own, as well as modifications I have learned from others.For now, let me briefly introduce the basic element...