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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 (every week for…
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My migraine story
I have experienced migraines since I was 11 years old. In my younger years, they only appeared occasionally and did not have a major impact on my life. As such, I’ll be brutally honest and admit that I never attempted to understand the migraine diagnosis, my symptoms, triggers, or treatment options.…
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‘My’ first ever podcast episode
OK, so if you’ve visited my blog before, then you know that I feel very conflicted about AI. Two years ago, I was so excited to discover AI could make images for me with the push of a button… and then… the novelty wore off. Especially when the whole internet…
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The opposite of The Placebo Effect
I don’t identify with the term ‘pessimism’. I see myself as ‘rationally realistic’. My husband, an ‘eternal optimist’, would probably disagree. I’ve written before about the version of pessimism that I carry through life (which can be summarized as ‘hope for the best / plan for the worst’). The prior…
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Novel ways to be written off as a woman
As anyone with the internet knows, once you start reading certain posts, ‘The Algorithm’ starts feeding you more of the same. Sometimes, however, strange stories come through my news feed that feel random… or perhaps not. One such ‘news’ article that landed on my desk was “The most absurd female…
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Advice from page 47
Life is not always easy. That’s why it feels good to know there are other people out there looking out for us; sending us some good vibes. You guys do that for me, whether you know it or not. I feel your kindness even when I’m offline, and I thank…
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What is ‘therapeutic touch’?
In a recent post I made about my ‘migraine cave‘ (which is the room I retreat to when I feel unwell), my friend Michelle from the Greenwell Centre blog (here), recommended the advantages of having a family member trained in Therapeutic Touch so that they can assist you during a…
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“A memoir of migraine survival”
Today is a book review of “10: a memoir of migraine survival” (2018) written by Danielle Newport Fancher – here’s her website: Books | Migraine Writer in which she refers to herself this way: “Danielle Newport Fancher lives a double-life. In one life, she’s a smart, upbeat, and happy 30-year-old;…
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Snakes on rods: a symbol of health (or stealth?)
OK, so I thought I knew something… but it turns out I only sort of knew about this something… and since it was super-trippy for me to discover the other half of what I knew about this fact, I thought it might be an eye-opener for you too, hence today’s…
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DIY Migraine Cave
When a full-blown migraine strikes, there is not a lot you can do other than ‘shelter in place’ as it were; go to a quiet room, close the curtains, and shut the door. For me, I’ll have the company of a heat-pack I place on the right side of my…
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Bedroom… where are you?
People getting lost in their own home is a real thing. It’s a condition called Developmental Topographical Disorientation (DTD). It’s not the “where am I?” kind of moment that happens when you wake up from a Nanna-Nap and can’t remember how you got on the sun-lounger. It’s also not the…
The Mindful Migraine 