Mindfulness and Stroke: A Personal Story of Managing Brain Injury

The core of this book was created by Jody Mardula over several years following a life-threatening stroke - a fairly unusual type of stroke known as a subarachnoid haemorrhage. At the time, Jody was Director of a world-renowned mindfulness centre at Bangor University. The stroke - along with a second 11 months later and a subsequent diagnosis of vascular dementia - affected Jody both psychologically and physically.

In Mindfulness and Stroke, she charts her journey from the day of her first stroke, and explains how she adapted short, easy-to-learn mindfulness practices in order to support herself, manage the impact of her injury and make sense of her situation. Jody’s text is enhanced by clinical neuropsychologist Frances Vaughan, whose ‘Neuro Notes’ provide information and advice about coping with the events described in each section of Jody’s writing. Frances also contributes Section Two of the book - ten chapters explaining some of Jody’s experiences, and looking more broadly at brain injury and its impact on areas of life such as attention, memory, self-awareness and identity.