John Collinson Shares How He Navigated Multiple Season-Ending Injuries

Professional skier John Collinson has had his share of knee injuries--three, in fact.

While Collinson wrote that "injuries are tough both mentally and physically," he learned a lot going through the recovery process multiple times. For these experiences, Collinson compiled a list of the things he did to stay well mentally.

Collinson advises giving the injury respect. "This one will probably look different for a lot of people, depending on the injury. For me with soft tissue damage, it was important to understand the timeline for recovery, and allow myself to be sad about the fact that life was going to have a change of pace for awhile."

In prior injuries, Collinson has noted that he takes the time to feel the sorrow up front, and then wastes no more time having a pity party. He always expresses gratitude for the life he lives, which is highly respectable in a time of loss, as we can all resonate with the sense of loss accompanied by an injury.

This is also solid advice, considering most people reading his post are athletes, outdoor enthusiasts, or just people who like to move and sweat to release endorphins. Plain and simple, that will look different with an injury. There may be ways to still get those movement endorphins, but it likely will not be from doing the same workouts or routines in your day-to-day. Accepting that is a huge step in the process.

Collinson wrote that "really 'feeling the feels' for a couple days was good, then afterwards I felt I was able to attack the recovery with a more realistic attitude rather than forcing false bravado."

Collinson also advises being patient and trusting the process. "This is a lot easier said than done, and I had to remind myself of it all the time. Within this process, I tried to really focus on what I COULD do, instead what I couldn’t."

John writes that this strategy helped him take focus off of the sports he wasn’t able to do yet, and move that focus 100% into improving whatever he were working on at the time (range of motion, strengthening etc).

He also writes that on this note, another helpful thing to do is to celebrate "all the small wins."

"It’s a roller coaster, not a straight line to the finish, so taking a moment to pat yourself on the back for little wins goes a long way."

Thirdly, being curious and asking “why” is immensely helpful in recovering from an injury. Collinson says, "it probably drove my surgeons/ PTs/ coaches a little crazy- but I wanted to know why we did everything."

"Knowing the purpose for each movement gave every second of rehab an intention. Having that intention really helped drive me forward instead of mindless repetition. I wanted every rep to be better than the last one, especially if I knew what purpose it served."

Lastly, Collinson acknowledges that every situation is unique. "I couldn’t compare myself to other people, or how their healing process was evolving. These things that helped me aren’t going to fit for every person and every injury- but hopefully it resonates for some of you going through it right now."

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