By Martine, The Netherlands
Table of Contents
A new journey begins
One morning, I woke up with an immense pressure in my head. Within hours, I was rushed into emergency brain surgery. From that moment, everything changed.
For many people with an acquired brain injury, known as ABI, a condition that changes everything, the world can suddenly feel unfamiliar. Overwhelming. Hard to keep up with.
I’m sharing my journey because even when you can’t return to your old life, it doesn’t mean life is over. A new way opens, not only different, but deeply precious. A second chance. A possible new journey. For anyone with ABI or for anyone who experiences sensitivity as a burden.
When life turns upside down
Nothing prepared me for how suddenly life could change. The emergency removal of a colloid cyst saved my life, but the life I returned to wasn’t as I knew it. I felt light and happy, but even the simplest things required effort. Oversensitivity, fatigue, and a new, unknown connection with the world around me became my everyday reality.
And for many who go through something similar, the message is often the same: You can’t go back to work. You’re not fit for society’s pace anymore. You’ll need to accept your limits.
But what if there’s another way to see it?
What if not fitting back in is not the end of the story, but the beginning of a different journey? A path not defined by productivity, but by presence. A path where recovering doesn’t mean becoming who you were, but discovering who you deeply are.
This is what the cyst brought and what Yoga supported as a way forward.
Why Yoga?
The sudden change in my life happened surrounded by Yoga. Not long after returning from a Yoga Teacher Training in India, with indescribable meditations in ancient caves. The afternoon before, I had been sharing Yoga with children at a school. And then everything changed. The immense pressure in my head I woke up with, turned out to be caused by a rare colloid cyst blocking the flow of brain fluid.
Thanks to the alertness and care of those around me, a life-saving surgery was performed. The cyst was removed, and the natural flow could continue again. I remember so clearly the last moment before the anesthesia took over, a moment of full awareness and surrendering, on all levels.
The first time I was able to sit up after the surgery, I instinctively began practicing Pranayama. Anuloma Viloma, the alternate nostril breathing which I was used to practicing more times a day, reconnected me with my presence. It felt completely natural to do so. From that moment, the recovery began.
I felt very light. Simply happy. I started to experience life through the sensations in my body, the flow of my breath, the sensitivity in my brain, and a kind of expansion beyond. I often found myself just sitting, on different moments, fully aware, like in meditation.
It became clear why Yoga had come into my life a few years earlier, and why I had been given the moment of meeting Sage ViGo in the Netherlands. That meeting opened a path towards connecting with the vastness, clarity, and completeness of Yoga, and most importantly, with how to live Yoga. To connect with life itself. And exactly that became a way to live a life after brain surgery, not as before and not as expected, but deeply worth living. What I began to discover personally is deeply aligned with what Yoga has brought for centuries.
Beyond recovery: living Yoga
In the months that followed, I began to see that recovering was not about trying to go back to how things were. Life was asking me to relate to everything differently, to let go of the pressure to perform, to achieve, or to keep up. My energy was limited, my senses easily overwhelmed, and yet there was something profoundly alive within me. It became clear that this wasn’t the end, maybe just the end of the life I had lived until then, but the beginning of something new. It might have been normal to feel suffering after such a major change. But there hasn’t been a single moment of sadness or anger about what happened, because it so clearly felt like the opening of something new, even if it was still unknown. And with an immense thankfulness for still being there to enjoy life.
It became even more clear that practicing Yoga wasn’t about doing postures or following a routine. It is a way to be fully present, fully aware, in totality of our existence, the 3 body’s (physical, astral and causal) and 5 koshas (body, energy, mind, wisdom and soul). The body as the physical layer, energy and mind as the astral layers and wisdom and soul as the causal layers. The period after surgery gave space to simply be present with what was happening. And that turned out to be incredibly supportive.
This was not just recovery, it was the unfolding of a new journey. A life not built around fitting into society’s pace, but attuning to life itself. Each day became an invitation to live more inwardly connected, more aligned, and gradually, more easeful. It wasn’t about withdrawing from life, even though that sometimes felt like the only option. My head could become so sensitive that the rest of the day, very little was possible. Sometimes it felt like wearing a swimming cap pulled too tight, or like my head was under an invisible electric pressure. The only solution to let this dissolve was to stop, to pause, to reconnect, to surrender and to purely be. Yoga means union and therefore it is clear that this was the direction. Yoga became a way of life, not only for managing symptoms, but for exploring a completely new way of being.
Beyond its vast philosophical roots, Yoga is also a deeply practical method, a path towards union. Let’s explore how this gift can support anyone living with ABI (acquired brain injury) or heightened sensitivity.
The gift of Yoga
Yoga is a gift for every human because it is the essence of living. It is a living reality that goes beyond what science can yet describe. While modern science continues to search for explanations, ancient scriptures have already described what is ultimately beyond words and beyond scientific proof. For anyone living with ABI or heightened sensitivity, Yoga can make the difference between experiencing life as a disability or as an ability. You don’t need to study many books or scriptures, especially since mental understanding can be challenging after a brain injury. Instead, it is about opening to the pure happening of life itself, a natural unfolding that comes from practically applying Yoga. Not only in physical practice but in every moment, every situation, and every interaction.
Insights on ABI and high sensitivity from Yogic perspective
Many people experience similar effects after a brain injury. Whether from surgery like mine, an accident, or another cause. Most go through a heightened sensitivity on various levels: seeing, hearing, feeling, doing. For me, it felt very logical: whenever the brain is triggered or has to ‘work,’ it becomes sensitive. Almost as if you can feel the ‘parts of the machine’ running.
If we look at Yoga philosophy, it clearly explains what the main struggles and obstacles in human life are. These are universal, and also relevant for people with ABI or sensitivity. I’ll highlight a few insights that directly relate to common symptoms after brain injury. Reflecting on these can support a different mindset. Although the effect is very real and has an impact on life, how to be with it makes a major difference.
For example:
- You are not your sensitivity, nor your brain injury. Labeling yourself as disabled or incapable can limit you more than necessary. Sensitivity simply is, it’s a fact beyond acceptance or rejection. This sensitivity opens the door to subtlety, which is the path of Yoga, from gross to subtle. Seen this way, what feels like a weakness can become a unique strength.
- You are more than your physical body. Yoga supports you in connecting with all five sheaths (koshas) of human existence. Often, it is the sensitivity itself that opens the door to expand beyond body, energy and mind and connect with wisdom and soul. From this completeness arises the possibility of pure being, reflecting life, like a mirror.
When Yoga becomes a way of life
When Yoga is practiced in the right direction, certain effects naturally begin to unfold:
- Becoming more stable and at ease with life: less affected by what happens around you.
- Living beyond the mind: while the mind is an incredible tool, it can also stand in the way of fully living. With brain sensitivity, there’s often no choice but to become more gentle and easeful in the mind. One of Yoga’s core directions is towards mental equanimity. When this happens, the mind can shift from being a disturbance to becoming a platform for union. Practically, this means not being overwhelmed or disturbed by too many thoughts. It means becoming easy with whatever arises, and this is exactly what allows the new journey to be lived with joy.
To be clear, Yoga will not bring your old life back or return things to how they were. But the clarity of Yoga, combined with an authentic practice, supports you in living life fully, in a different way. It opens the possibility to express your true potential in ways you may never have imagined. Not a life defined by suffering, incapability, or weakness, but a balanced path walked in full presence.
Yoga supports and is always available
When the practice of Yoga becomes natural, it serves both as ongoing support in your journey and as a kind of first aid when needed. Many people with ABI experience moments of overwhelming, when the brain tells you to stop. If you know how to be with those moments, with full awareness, reconnecting becomes possible. This will also support you to become stronger, in the sense of being more balanced, easier to deal with next situations, because that is life, it is a happening and you can’t run away from it.
This is how Yoga supports you:
• Body for presence: The only purpose of practicing Yoga postures is to become stable and easy in any position. And in the end to be able to sit easy and long for mediation to happen. If postures are practised in this direction, it will reflect also in life: to become stable and easy in any situation. This is exactly what is required with brain injury.
• Breath to (re)connect with life energy for expressiveness: We are surrounded by life energy, it is omnipresent and always available. We need to know how to connect with it. The practice of Pranayama offers this possibility. Through well-designed practices, it is always possible to (re)connect, and if practised on a regular basis, it will bring a natural transformation towards a more energetic and expressive state in life. If the breath becomes more natural, deep, and continuous, it will have a positive effect on body and mind.
• Peace of mind for presence: As mentioned before, if the mind is in balance, not disturbed by thoughts, it becomes like a mirror, actually like a crystal reflecting life. In silence, everything can dissolve. Especially with ABI, it is crucial to connect with silence. Many express that meditation was the way to help them become less affected and sensitive. Meditation is not something you do, it’s something that happens. But you can start the steps towards it. As mentioned earlier: through the body, through the breath, so the mind will benefit. This is the path of Yoga, described as the 8 limbs in Patanjali Yoga Sutra.
• Expansion for easiness: If the sheaths of body, breath, mind become more balanced and subtle, an opening comes to connect beyond, to wisdom and soul. Without thinking how, trying to understand, or analysing, it is something that will naturally happen. That brings enormous strength to be with all, because you will become same, you are all. In that sameness, there is no difference, no separation, and therefore, no disturbance. Of course, reaching this state is a journey. But moving in this direction is already deeply supportive.
• Commitment: Once you feel the practice of Yoga has a positive effect on how you are with life, you want to create space for practice, and naturally it becomes a way of life.
Final reflection
This journey is not about becoming who you were, but about discovering who you truly are, beyond roles, expectations, and abilities. Yoga doesn’t promise to erase the challenges, but it offers a way to live with them, not as burdens but as invitations. To be present. To learn. To move from resistance to receptivity. From surviving to truly living a new journey.
I see and read about so many people with brain injuries who are struggling deeply, physically, mentally, emotionally. My deep wish is that everyone rediscovering life after brain injury or dealing with heightened sensitivity, can experience the clarity and support Yoga offers. Not as a treatment, but as a path. A way to live again, more at ease, still fully alive.
And maybe, just maybe, this new life, though not the one you expected, is the one that brings you a unique opportunity to reconnect with your true Self.
Closing note
For me, the way Sage ViGo shares Yoga and the ancient teachings at Yoga Gita Ashram has been such a steady support, so pure, clear, and real in how it applies to life. I’m truly grateful, and I hope these teachings can be a support for anyone who feels called to them, wherever they are.
About the author
After exploring various paths in life, ranging from playing the French horn professionally and planning and programming for cultural centers, to organising congresses and events for local government and teaching Yoga to children, Martine eventually settled in India with her husband and daughter.
Realising that understanding one’s true Self is the ultimate purpose and the key to a joyful life, Martine dedicates her time to applying ancient wisdom in everyday living. She chose to embrace a Yogic way of staying at Yoga Gita Ashram under the guidance of Sage ViGo.
