In this short instructional video, David Brimacombe—who has lived with post‑concussion syndrome (PCS) for 20 years after seven concussions—introduces “horizon gazing,” a sub‑minute nervous‑system reset. He explains that constantly being indoors and focused on screens heightens PCS symptoms such as eye strain, cognitive delay, and heightened stress. By stepping outside, sitting on a bench, and deliberately shifting visual focus from near objects to the distant horizon, a person can quickly lower stress, increase a sense of safety, and reduce symptom intensity. Brimacombe emphasizes the therapeutic power of nature: fresh air, birdsong, and visual cues of beauty (e.g., a heart‑shaped leaf) help move attention away from self‑focused rumination toward the broader environment. He urges viewers to make this simple practice a habit whenever symptoms spike, positioning it as an accessible, evidence‑backed tool for PCS resilience.
Chapters
If your symptoms spike indoors, looking at screens in busy places, I want to give you a quick nervous system reset that you can do in under a minute. It's the power of horizon gazing. 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 how the power of nature to change your nervous system, to change the way you perceive the environment around you. Today I want to talk about horizon gazing, looking into the distance, and that power to shift how you view the world around you. Let's begin. Here's the thing, we are constantly surrounded by walls, by any kind of enclosures, living indoors for the predominance of our, our lives. We are used to indoor living. Now, that is okay. We have the comforts of heat and of AC and of running water, but what you have in the environment outside is far more substantial. Okay, one of the biggest things I found in my recovery is that when I went outside, when I went for a walk, when I looked beyond a screen in front of my face, I had a profound impact on my stress levels. Okay, so one of the things I do I'll come sit on a bench like this, and then I'll just gaze into the distance. What I'm doing is I'm changing my focus from a focus of something in front of me to something beyond. Okay, it's actually been found that looking into the distance reduces your stress. Okay, increases the level of safety you feel. Okay, you can see the world for what it is. The world is a vast, beautiful place. Okay, that goes beyond your environment. That goes beyond your existence. When you have PCS, you, you tend to think about only you, only your symptoms. It's not that you're being selfish, but you are inundated by these concepts all the time. Now, what are the exact triggers that looking off into the distance are going to help with? Okay, it's going to help with your eye strain. It's going to help with that cognitive delay. When you're outside, you have the fresh air, you have the sights and sounds. Your mind shifts from one that's constantly thinking about you to one that's looking around, seeing the world for what it is, listening to the birds, seeing the beauty. Okay, I always say that when I go outside, I look for signs of beauty, of joy, of awe. I'm gonna look at a tree. I might see a heart-shaped leaf. I might see 2 birds flying. But that to me is a sign. That there is beauty out there. Even when I feel the worst I could possibly feel, there's beauty in nature, and that is huge when you're struggling. So I know this is a quick video. It's to remind you that there is great beauty out there. Go outside, see the horizon, okay? That's going to allow you to get outside of yourself, okay? The beauty lies in the nature, okay? And it's out your front door. Thanks for listening and watching. Enjoy it.
