Concussion: spiritual meaning and emotional causes
What concussion is
Concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury. A blow to the head, or a sudden jolt to the body that shakes the head, briefly disturbs how the brain works. Falls, sport, road accidents and assaults are the usual causes. Many people do not lose consciousness at all.
Common symptoms include a headache, dizziness, nausea, feeling dazed or confused, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and noise, poor concentration, memory problems, irritability and tiredness. They may appear straight away or develop over the following hours.
Most people recover within two weeks with rest, a gradual return to normal activities, and simple pain relief. Doctors usually advise avoiding contact sport until fully recovered, and some people are given a step-by-step plan for returning to work, school or sport. Symptoms that last longer are sometimes called post-concussion syndrome and can be helped with specialist support. A head injury can also cause bleeding inside the skull, which is why the warning signs matter. During recovery, doctors generally advise plenty of rest, cutting back on screens, reading and anything that needs intense concentration for the first day or two, then slowly increasing activity as symptoms allow. Driving should wait until you feel fully recovered.
The emotional meaning of concussion
Spiritually, concussion is a sudden, direct way of being stopped. The jolt to the head interrupts everything, and in that pause you are invited to look squarely at what is happening in your life.
Old ideas colliding with new ones
The main image is a collision inside. You may be holding on so tightly to old ideas or attitudes that they crash into the new ones that are trying to take their place. The shock to the head mirrors that clash. Something in you wants to move forward, and something else refuses to let go.
Living someone else's life
Concussion is also associated with clinging to a person or a situation. You may define yourself through others instead of being yourself, and feel safe only when someone is close. Over time that attachment can start to smother you, because deep down you want to live your own life, not the one others expect of you. Handing over the responsibility for your life can feel easier, until something forces you to take it back.
Escaping instead of facing
The spiritual interpretation also sees a tendency to run from feelings. There are many ways to avoid what hurts, but sooner or later reality asks to be faced. A sudden stop can be the moment that avoidance ends.
A life that is being shaken
There may be a bump in the road. Someone, or something they said, has shaken you. A struggle that seems endless keeps hitting you hard. The concussion brings you, indirectly, to pause, review your life and decide which way you want to go now. Priorities come back into view.
A head too full
Finally, your head may simply be too full of ideas. You scatter your energy in all directions and need to come back down to earth. When everything is rushing, a collision follows. During a concussion the mind is briefly "elsewhere", and the questions that remain are simple: where am I in my life, and which direction will I take?
For more on how injuries are read in this approach, see the guide to accidents and injuries. It is never a question of blame: an accident is first an accident.
A gentler way to hold it
Once your doctor is happy with your recovery, these steps may help you use the pause well:
- Come back to the ground. Walk slowly, feel your feet, and deal with one real situation at a time instead of all of them in your head.
- Name the old and the new. Write down one belief you have outgrown and the newer idea that is asking for room.
- Take back your own direction. Ask where you have been living for someone else's approval, and choose one small decision that is truly yours.
- Face what you have been avoiding. Choose one situation and look at it honestly, with support if you need it.
- Stay open. Notice what is happening in your life as it happens, and let change in a little at a time.
Questions to ask yourself
Take your time with these. There are no right answers; simply notice what comes up.
- Which old idea or attitude am I holding on to while something new is trying to take its place?
- Have I handed the responsibility for my life to someone else?
- Is someone, or something they said, shaking me more than I admit?
- Is there a struggle in my life that never seems to end?
- Is my mind running in every direction at once, without a real course?
- If I stopped and looked honestly, which direction would I choose now?
“I come back to the ground, I look at my life as it really is, and I choose my own direction.”
Your free concussion journal
Take this page off the screen. Four printable pages to explore what your body may be saying, at your own pace.
- The 6 questions above, with space to write
- A 7-day log to notice when it flares up, and what came just before
- Your affirmation with a 21-day tracker
Go further, gently
If this reading resonates with you, THE BODY DECODER gathers this page and every other symptom and feeling into one book you can keep, with a 30-day programme to work with them.
Our products are designed for relaxation and self-reflection. They are not a medical treatment and do not replace the care you receive.
When to see a doctor
- Call 999 (UK) or 911 (US) after a head injury if the person is unconscious, even briefly, has a seizure, cannot stay awake, has difficulty speaking or understanding, has weakness in an arm or leg, has problems with their vision, or has clear fluid or blood coming from the ears or nose.
- Go to the emergency department if, after a head injury, there is repeated vomiting, a headache that keeps getting worse, memory loss, confusion, changes in behaviour, or if the person takes blood-thinning medicine or is older.
- Any head injury in a baby or young child that worries you needs a medical check.
- Symptoms can appear hours or days later. Someone should stay with you for the first 24 hours.
- Rest from sport and screens as advised, and do not return to contact sport until a professional has cleared you. A second blow before the brain has recovered can be dangerous.
- See a doctor if symptoms last more than two weeks or you are struggling with work, school or mood.
Related conditions
Sources and inspiration
Medical information
Emotional and spiritual interpretation
- Jacques Martel, Le Grand Dictionnaire des Malaises et des Maladies , pp. 97.
This page is an original interpretation written by the Body Hemi-Sync editorial team. It is inspired by these sources and does not reproduce them. How we write and check our pages.