Gold Mind Meditation Project
(Transformation: Benefits for fellow head-injury survivors)        

Brain-injury is an invisible disability, not easily noticed from the outside like a wheelchair or crutches. It's a complex injury to the our brain and associated neurosensory systems. Each survivor experiences a unique array of symptoms, known profoundly from inside. Moving forward in times of great difficulty calls for drawing on one’s buried resources. Gold Mind Meditation Project empowers you to access resources in the mind and actually thrive in life through learning the Power of Mindfulness.

I speak from personal experience.  Returning to college years ago, I was involved in a serious car accident. Jaws-Of-Life were required to free me from the vehicle. I got a skull fracture and was in coma for seven days.  My brain swelled in my skull causing much secondary damage after the crash impact. When I came to I had severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), diplopia (double-vision) and amnesia. In an instant I was not who I used to be.

Since that time I've lived with continuing challenges of TBI. I struggled to complete my university degree and to get on with my life. I graduated from the university and then within a few years experienced frustrating failure in the loss of several jobs due to cognitive deficits:
weak learning and memory, poor boundaries and speech pathology. Often my perceptions were very cloudy - unaware of what I could do or be. My friend who is an Occupational Therapist pointed out that this condition was the direct result of TBI, what TBI is, and that I can actually have a powerful say in the process and success of my TBI rehabilitation.

TBI has often been misdiagnosed and thus poorly treated. In expensive and top-of-the-line rehabilitation programs I learned of my 'cognitive-deficits' and 'compensatory coping-strategies' for those deficits. These strategies are well-intended rehab but fell short of knowing and actually addressing the best possible well-being for me.  I had to learn this inner transformation for myself.

In my own explorations I have learned to sift gold (possibilities) from the gravel of my life experiences in order to find meaning, value and purpose for myself. Mindfulness Meditation is the key, learning to be brightly alive and awake in the present moment. I’ve learned the meditation practice called Insight Meditation.  Regular practice helps me be concentrated and focused, capable of sustained attention to chosen activities and to hold said purpose in mind. With Mindfulness practice we take a stand for our inner wellness, solidly at peace beyond the damages of our trauma and change. This is a path of being at peace with and authentic in your life, now. You can be ready to pick up whatever is next in your life path, with greater ease and joy, skillfully. You will get back benefits in proportion to the time that you put into the practice of mindfulness mediation, empowered to strongly face challenges.

Mindfulness practice can lead to brain healing ('neuroplasticity'- the brain can heal itself).  I am now choosing to live my life intentionally and more skillfully - making peace with this malady and finding the healing I need with present moment awareness. You can do this too. This is the start of a new path for you! Being calm and clear - activating your mind’s inherent strengths. Loving the life you live now.  Really!

Had C. Walmer                     hwalmer@gmail.com                (503)332-3046  


Gold Mind Meditation Project
"Introduction To Mindfulness Meditation"
Six Classes, Wednesday evenings, 6:00-7:30
Wednesday evenings, 6:00-7:30
September 23, 30. October 7, 14, 21 & 28.
RSVP and COMMITMENT :$20.00 cash or check to 
Brain Injury Connections, NW
Meet at Wilcox Building, Conference Room B,
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital
1015 NW 22nd & Marshall, Portland, OR 97210
Contact Had Walmer (503)332-3046 Hwalmer@gmail.com.