In this instructional video, concussion‑recovery expert David Brimacombe introduces a brief morning routine designed to rewire the brain’s subconscious patterns and support recovery from post‑concussion syndrome (PCS). He explains that immediately after waking the brain shifts from an alpha to a theta state, a highly plastic window where new mental inputs can reshape neural pathways, especially the reticular activating system that filters perception. Brimacombe presents three simple mantras—(1) “Today is going to be a great day,” (2) “I am grateful even while I’m recovering,” and (3) “I am not my thoughts; I am simply the one noticing them”—each linked to specific neuro‑psychological mechanisms (positive expectation, gratitude‑induced pathway competition, and self‑distancing from symptom identity). He then outlines a four‑step practice: (a) take 2‑3 deep breaths with elongated exhalations, (b) recite the mantras (any order, multiple repetitions), (c) look outside to ground and reinforce safety, and (d) move to increase cerebral blood flow. Brimacombe challenges viewers to apply the routine for seven consecutive days, monitoring changes in clarity, energy, and symptom dominance, and suggests adding a bedtime session for maximal neuroplastic impact. The video concludes with an invitation to explore further morning‑routine content.
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Every morning, your brain gives you a rare opportunity to rewire for recovery. The problem is that most people accidentally stay stuck in that stressed state by rushing, by scrolling, by ruminating on all those thoughts that are causing them harm. What if, in 3 simple prompts, I could provide you with clarity and calmness that can help start your day off Right. If you wake up and your symptoms are already loud— the brain fog, the dizziness, the fatigue— your brain is telling your body a story. Today is going to be hard. I'm going to give you 3 simple morning prompts, and these 3 simple morning prompts are going to change the way your brain looks at those symptoms. It's going to turn those symptoms into signs of recovery. Let's begin. Hi and welcome to the PCS Resilience Collective. My name is David Brimacombe, and after 20 years and 7 concussions, I learned a lot about all the lifestyle modifications needed in order to recover from PCS. One of the simplest parts of my routine has been a morning mantra. I want to give you 3 simple sayings that you can start your day with so that you can change and break out of rumination into a state of positivity where recovery is not only possible, it's plausible, and it is going to happen. Let's begin. Right after waking, your brain enters a highly susceptible state for changing your subconscious thought. It is when you go from your alpha to your theta state, where your mind is ready and willing to take in the new information that you provided. Now here is the problem, is that 95% of the thoughts that ruminate in our mind are things that we don't even truly believe. They're things that don't even truly align with our current self. They are things that we've thought about for many, many years but have yet to break that cycle. So if we start the day off right, if we start with one of these or all of these 3 morning prompts, we can start to break that cycle. So what are those 3 prompts? Let's start with the first one. This is one that I have been using for over 5 years. I love it. I use it every day. I use it throughout the day, and it is, today is going to be a great day. Now, I got this prompt when I was reading the book Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg. Now, the beauty of this lies in the fact that it can change your brain from a state of I have no chance to heal. I am simply just a product of my PCS. It is going to be a great day. This is not to say that you will not have symptoms. This is not to say that you will not feel that struggle, but you are going to overcome it. You have the power to step beyond it, to go beyond your symptoms to a place that you might not have expected prior. So when I say this, I plant my feet on the ground, I look outside the window, and I say, today is going to be a great day. And I mean it. For all these sayings, you can't just speak the words. You have to live the words. You have to feel it deep inside of you. Now, that might take some time, but the more repetition you provide your body, the greater chance that it's going to stick. It's going to land. Your body understands this is a sign of safety. Okay, remember that when your nervous system is dysregulated, it is constantly looking at the world as a dangerous place. The more that we can instill these positive thoughts, these thoughts of belief, the more we get that sign of safety, that feeling of safety. Number 2, I am grateful even while I'm recovering. Now, this is not to deny the difficulty with PCS recovery. It is not to deny that symptoms will still occur. What it is saying is that I can be— I can see the good in my situation even though it might be hard. So when I think of this phrase, I think of the immense power of gratitude. Gratitude shifts your mind from something that I see a symptom That my body is broken, that my body is not something that is going to change. This is simply a puzzle that I need to solve. It is simply an inconvenience in the moment but not a permanent situation. I've now changed the way I look at the world. I've changed the way I see my body. I'm going to look for small signs of victories. I'm going to look for how I'm better today than I was yesterday. But it starts with a simple phrase: It starts by looking at the good in the world, even if on those days, your darkest days, it doesn't seem possible. You just need to find one thing. Okay, I'm grateful to be alive. I'm grateful for another day to become a better version of myself. It doesn't matter what it is, but that sign of gratitude, at least temporarily, nullifies any chance of anger, of frustration, of mental anguish. Because, you know, those 2 pathways, those 2 neural pathways cannot exist at the same time. You cannot be grateful and angry, grateful and irritable at the same time. So the longer you're grateful, the greater chance you're going to see the good and avoid ruminating on all those negative signs and symptoms. Number 3, I am not my thoughts. I am simply the one noticing them. Now, this one was profound for me. I had to disassociate myself from my symptoms. I had to disassociate myself from PCS. For the longest time, anytime someone would ask, you know, why do you have sunglasses on? Why are you so irritable when it gets noisy? And I say, it's my PCS, it's my post-concussion syndrome. It was my biggest form of my identity. It's who I was. Now, That is true, but it wasn't helping me. It wasn't serving me. So I had to disassociate. I stopped telling people it was the PCS. I would just tell them that it was highly sensitive to light and sound. I didn't mention the PCS. I tried to disassociate, to cut that part out of my life. Why? Because if I always had that as part of my identity, it would be stuck. It would be fixed. And with that, I would be stuck with those symptoms. Those symptoms were part of me. They were entrenched in me. I wanted to get those out of me, so I wanted to get that off my identity. I pulled it off. I became me. I was simply someone who in that moment needed to work through some stuff. I wasn't someone who was going to let this diagnosis live forever. Okay, so again, this is not an easy one to deal with. None of these are, but what they are is they're providing the The framework, the groundwork. They're changing your perception of your world. They're altering your reticular activating system, the filter for how you see the world. And when you change the way you perceive the world, the world around you changes as well. So how are we going to apply all 3 of these? Here's a simple 4-step methodology. The first thing I want you to do is to get into a nice calm state. When I get up, I take 2 to 3 breaths. Again, always elongating that exhale so you're dropping that heart rate down. The second thing I'll do is I'll do my mantras. I'll say one of these phrases. I'll say all 3. I'll say all 3 multiple times. It doesn't matter. Okay? After I've done that, I'm going to look outside. I'm going to ground myself. I'm going to remind myself that I am safe and I am healing. And then lastly, I want to move. Why move? Because movement increases blood flow. Blood flow to the brain helps retain information. It reminds me that I am capable of moving. I have overcome many things in my life. One of the things that I've overcome is my exercise intolerance. It's just another reminder of how far I've come in my journey. I'm not perfect, but I'm far better than I was 5 years ago. I challenge you over the next 7 days to try this every morning. And then at the end of those 7 days, see how you feel. Do you feel like you have more clarity? Do you feel like you have more energy? Do you feel like your symptoms are no longer running your show and determining what you want to do with your life? If that's the case, then this is a simple addition to any kind of protocol you already have. All you need to do is do it in the morning. If you want to layer up, do it before you go to bed as well. Those are the 2 times that your body and brain are most susceptible to changing that subconscious rewiring. I really appreciate your support, and I appreciate you staying to the end. If you want to learn more about my morning routines, you can watch the video above. Thank you, and we'll see you again soon.
