May is a month for blossoms, warmer weather and abundant sunshine (at least in New England, where Katherine and I live… I know many parts of the US are already well into summer-like weather!). It’s also a month for awareness – Better Hearing & Speech Month, Mental Health Awareness Month and Stroke Awareness Month.
Stroke Awareness Month
Last year, we posted a blog about Stroke Awareness Month – I invite you to read through for information on types of stroke, common risk factors for and warning signs of stroke.
SLPs who work with adult neuro populations across settings (acute hospital, inpatient rehab, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient rehab, private practices) work with people who have had strokes quite frequently. Stroke can affect many different domains that an SLP would address, including speech, language, cognition, swallowing and voice. Rehab for these domains includes patient and family/caregiver education, development of functional strategies and a variety of exercises that target areas of need.
What is the Role of Mindfulness in Stroke Recovery?
Katherine and I came together to form our company to create a program that would offer high quality speech therapy in conjunction with mindfulness. We believe mindfulness plays an integral role in stroke recovery. Why does mindfulness matter?
Mindfulness
A common definition of mindfulness given by Jon Kabat-Zinn is “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally”. In this article that is linked, he also adds that this practice is “in the service of self-understanding and wisdom”. When one is recovering from a stroke, he engages with himself in an entirely new way to examine his functioning on a deeper level. Some tasks that were once completed without thought now require focus and effort. Understanding how to function in your daily life requires introspection and reflection.
Mindfulness can also help ground the stroke survivor in the present moment in order to avoid getting lost in the “when”; When will I be better? When will I be back to normal? When can I start living my life the way I want to? Stroke recovery can only happen one day at a time, and mindfulness can be just the tool to help you on this journey.
Interested in learning more about stroke recovery, speech therapy or mindfulness? Please reach out! We’d love to chat.