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Mindfulness for migraines
Mindfulness is the number one, overarching tool that has helped me reduce my migraine triggers (stress, fatigue, posture) and increase my resilience to the triggers I can not avoid (genes, hormones, climate etc.). As a result, I have managed to reduce my migraines from 3 days a week to one day…
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My migraine story
I have experienced migraines since I was 11 years old. In the early years they only appeared occasionally and did not have a major impact on my life. In my thirties however, they became more regular, and I began to experience hemiplegia (stroke-like symptoms). In my forties I was occasionally hospitalized for treatment and…
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Are you a super-hotty or a cool kid?
In anecdotal evidence, I’m discovering that migraineurs tend to be either ‘hot’ or ‘cool’ people. Those of us who are ‘hotties’, like to take our caffeine hit in the form of a cup of coffee. When we take a shower to relax tired muscles, it needs to be nice and…
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“Medical retirement” – leaving your job because of migraines
Dehenna Davison (1993-) was born in South Yorkshire, England. After studying British Politics and Legislative Studies at the University of Hull, she was elected as MP for Bishop Auckland during the 2019 general election. [I hope that’s right, because it comes from Wikipedia and as an Australian, the titles and places…
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The dangers of doom-scrolling
I’ve been thinking a lot about how I might seem like Nero, the Roman emperor who supposedly played his lyre while Rome was burning in 64 AD. How can I write about such small things when the world around us is falling apart? “Why don’t you read the paper in…
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Is it OK to feel sorry for yourself?
I’ve always been a fan of John Denver (the music, more than the moppy-haired-man). Perhaps it’s because I have a fair bit of farming in my family tree, or just because I’m a back-to-nature kinda gal when possible. His songs ‘Rocky Mountain High’ and ‘Take Me Home Country Road’ are…
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Compassion for Overwhelm
Quite by accident, I came across a mindful-meditation teacher called Tara Brach. I found her while searching for information about self-compassion and discovered that she had written a book called ‘Radical Compassion’. I haven’t had a chance to look into it yet, but my attention was caught by a video…
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Trauma and migraine
Dr Aimie Apigian was interviewed about trauma for the series of interviews held at the 2024 Migraine World Summit. I made a promise to myself when I started this blog at the beginning of the year that I would not post content that I felt might be triggering to myself…
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Brain-strain (not pain): Part TWO (answers)
SPOILER ALERT: Today’s post includes the answers to the three matchstick riddles I offered on Tuesday. If you would like to go back and try the puzzles before you see the answers, go to the link here: * * * * * Ok then, for everyone else, how’d you go?…
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Pain rescue: sometimes you have to save yourself
Today is May the first – May Day. It’s traditionally a European day of ribbon twirling and dancing. But, me being me, it also reminds me of the distress call “Mayday – Mayday!!” I looked up the origins of the phrase, and it apparently comes from the 1920s and is…
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Brain-strain (not pain): Part ONE (questions)
I’ve been talking a lot about how to improve brain health from the point of view of minimizing pain. But I also realized that brain health in general is important; “use it or lose it”, as they say. So, I thought that for something completely different, I’d find three ‘matchstick…
The Mindful Migraine 