[andromeda]

I read in another thread Mark's suggestion of fishing for an activity that doesn't overstimulate the brain.

That sounds very appealing to me, but I know nothing about fishing and don't have any equipment, though I do have a pond in my garden

I have tried lying down and staring at the ceiling but whenever I do this I always fall asleep and wake up several hours later very confused.

So I was wondering what other things we could do that won't overstimulate...does anybody have any ideas or things that already work for them?

[Mark in Idaho]

I have found that activities that focus on use of the hands tend to be good brain stimulation. I do not mean video games where you thumbs are causing the screen to change. Playing cards with a deck of cards not a mouse and screen, although some can do OK with a simple computer card game.

Avoid texting and other small screen based activities.

The common manual tasks are things like painting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, etc. NFL players have found knitting to be a stress reducer. Carving or whittling wood can be an invigorating activity without a lot of mental stress. Gardening, organizing, sorting, ironing, cleaning, etc.

The point is to find things that have more light physical effort and less mental effort.

Sitting and reading to little kids can be great. Little kids often respond very well to a slow and quiet one on one with a caring adult.

Does a local library need volunteers? How about the food bank? Filling bags and boxes with food would be appropriate.

[andromeda]

Hmm,I have some knitting I haven't touched in a while, I'll give that a go.

Do you think piano playing would be okay? I find music therapeutic and used to play the piano a lot.

[Laura G]

Hi Andromeda,

I had a right frontal lobe injury six months ago and for a few weeks could not tolerate lots of visual stimulation e.g. couldn't watch TV or movies, flashing screen, etc.

Needlepoint and knitting are very good in general for soothing the brain - they are repetitive and offer a type of what is referred to as bilateral stimulation e.g. alternating back and forth from left to right side which is rather calming and relaxing. To emulate this you can cross your arms in front of you and squeeze your upper arm with the opposite hand, and then switch to the other side, back and forth.

For myself, b/c of my injury I couldn't organize the colors well for the cross stitch I thought I would do.

I have found gardening to be most soothing, and I enjoy very much looking at pictures of irises (starting a collection). I found the pictures on the internet, downloaded and printed out, and sometimes just go through my iris book which shows what my shriveled rhizomes will become in the spring.

It is also a good reminder that healing has a developmental process attached to it - things die back in winter, then come forth in spring. Certain areas of my brain are readjusting and my medical team has every confidence that all of my abilities will return. (I have problems with memory, can't tolerate competing noise, get nauseated, have headaches, trouble organizing activities, general fatigue.)

My mother suggested lying down in a dark room and pullling the blinds. When I asked my Neuro MD he said, definitely not, light cognitive stimulation.

So, once I returned to being able to tolerate a little visual stimulation like TV, I knew I should pick things which are lighthearted and would give a laugh, but be interesting.

I ended up ordering from Netflix the whole "All Creatures Great and SMall" series (seven years I think) just a disc or two at a time. There are a lot of funny scenes and stories, and I love animals too so that was in my interest area.

Other calming activitees - I spend time playing or sitting with my dogs. I have two. Petting an animal companion is shown in the research literature to have anti-stress and blood pressure lowering properties. Yea dogs!!

I live in a country area and can walk in quiet places looking at nature, watching birds. I have rigged a couple of bird feeders in the garden where I live and have gotten countless hours of joy watching the hummingbirds, hawks hunting, robins searching and the peacocks roosting in the nearby pine tree. You can think as much or as little about all these creatures as you wish.

Do what feels good to you. WHen you get tired or feel uncomfortable or confused, just stop and relax.

Take care.

Laura

[Eowyn]

On my blog, under "Power-ups," is the list of things I found I could do that either didn't hurt me or helped me feel better. The more points they are worth, the better they were for me!

http://eowynridesagain.wordpress.com/game-basics/

This was in the range of 3-6 months post-concussion when I had severe daily migraines inhibiting most activities.

[rmschaver]

I do puzzles with my wife. Shapes really confuse me but I found I am very good if I organize everythig by color. Can we say OCD. The repetitive turning and placing seems calming. I also walk but can't walk too much, makes my back hurt and my hands tingle.