Whether you’re an athlete or just enjoy working out, an injury can be a real pain when you have to spend countless hours of physical and mental work behind the scenes. Amateur sportspeople will often not see this when they face struggling with an injury.
When injured, people can feel isolated, frustrated, anxious, and depressed meaning that their mental health is severely impacted as a result. If you’re injured and out of commission while battling doubts, fear, low self-esteem and confidence issues, you may wonder if you’ll ever get to feeling like yourself again. Here are some of the things you could be doing to make your life easier while in recovery.
Try to Think Positive
When we are faced with big life challenges, our minds can often get clouded with negative thoughts. Of course, ‘thinking positive’ is a lot easier said than done when it comes to being able to change your entire mindset, but some people find that positivity can come through simple measures such as having a mantra written somewhere. Having it written down somewhere you will see it frequently will enable you to be able to read it or repeat it when you start to feel those feelings of self-doubt creeping in and sabotaging you.
Feel Those Feelings
It is natural to feel disappointed by your inability to participate in a sport if it is a big part of your life. You’re likely missing the people you train with, as well as the rush you get from being active or achieving something new within your sport.
Only you know the feeling you get from taking part in your sports—so when it’s no longer available to you, it becomes a loss that you might grieve.
Recognizing your feelings is one of the first steps to managing them, owning them and moving through them.
Get Help and Support When You Need It
Every single world-class athlete gets to an elite level of their game with a whole load of help. In the same way that you may go for physio for your body, seeing a therapist or coach can act as a helpful motivation to keep you in the right mindset.
You would never feel ashamed of going to see a physiotherapist for the pain in your body, so seeing a therapist for the pain in your mind is just as, if not more important.
Know That You Are In Control
Injuries can often make us feel powerless. While there are many things beyond your control as you recover from an injury, there are certain conscious choices to be made such as taking the right amount of rest and only pushing yourself when it feels 100% right. Taking ownership of your situation means that you can insure that your injury doesn’t have power over you. You are in control.
It’s not possible to anticipate the obstacles that you will face should an injury occur. However, whether you are training or resting, you should always do yourself to be the best you can be.
And until next time...
Stay Curious!
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