In this episode of The Grass Gets Greener podcast, I'm joined by Ellen Bard of EllenBard.com. Ellen joins me to share her story of how the impact of being hit by a truck has lasted for over 10 years and how that has changed her life.
Click the play button below to check it out!
The Details
Traumatic experience:
While driving for her job about 11-12 years ago, in her mid 20's, Ellen's car was hit by a truck. The accident could've been far worse than it was but she experienced delayed onset effects from it that have led to a chronic pain condition.
Effects of the traumatic experience:
Of course Ellen experienced some initial reactions like being very shaken at the time as well as some whiplash, but it was pain she started experiencing later on that became a problem for her. Her pain kept coming back until it was always present and started getting worse. It also moved to different parts of her body. This is something that affected her daily life. She also experienced some depression and anxiety and was concerned that others would view her differently if they knew about her condition.
Overcoming the traumatic experience:
One of the things that really helped Ellen was finding the right treatment program that was designed to help her with her chronic pain. She did a lot of work with mindfulness and yoga as well as applying what she knew as a psychologist and coach to her own situation.
What Ellen does today:
Ellen is a Chartered Organizational Psychologist and writer.
Final Question:
Given what you know now, if you could go back to when you were going through the tough times and give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Ellen's Answer: You always have a choice, and be kind to yourself.
Links Mentioned
EllenBard.com - Ellen's website where you can learn more about her
Facebook - Ellen's Facebook page
Twitter - Ellen's Twitter profile
The Complete Self-Care Toolkit - use code GreenerMarch2015 to get a $10 discount (good during March 2015 only)
Tiny Buddha article - Ellen's guest post article about her accident
Mindfulness Meditation, The Body Scan - the body scan technique that Ellen mentioned in the episode
Psychology Today article - a written version of the body scan
BeMindful.org article - an interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn on pain
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A note about comments:
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Very interesting, informative and helpful interview with Ellen Bard. Always good to share others’ stories and see how they have coped and moved on from difficult life experiences. Well done, Ellen. Keep up the positivity!
Hi El, thanks for the comment! I’m glad you found the episode helpful. Ellen definitely is positive about her situation and that has helped her very much.