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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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Ugly art therapy
I’m a big believer in ‘the art of distraction‘ and know from firsthand experience that when we slip into ‘the flow’ of creating something (be it sewing, kiddy craft or a short story) we can forget about time, our surroundings, and most importantly, our pain. I’ve also written in the…
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“Precious Illusions”
I was a child in the 1970s and 80s. It was quiet. I don’t mean that figuratively, but literally. Our house had a small black and white TV, a radio and a giant piece of furniture that held a mini-record turntable (in the corridor (of all places)). Weekends were spent…
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When your migraine triggers are a trigger
“What do you think caused this bad migraine?” my husband kindly asks. “I don’t know,” I honestly reply; “yesterday was very hot, so maybe I got overly dehydrated?” If I’m in a reasonable mood the innocent enquiry will end there. If I’m feeling more paingry, then I’m likely to get…
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Aliens… alienated
When I was growing up, the word ‘alien’ was a shorthand way of conjuring up images of E.T. Phoning Home, eating mashed potato mountains while humming an electronic beep-bop tune, or an assortment of green-hued light beams, metal donuts, and other-worldly secrets deliberately concealed or accidentally revealed… oh, and THAT…
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Dark showering for migraines
There’s something very mood-affirming about finding out that the way you live, or the strange habits you have acquired over time, are suddenly considered ‘mainstream’ or ‘on trend’. The first time I felt weirdly vindicated was during the Australian Covid lockdown when everyone had to stay home all day, every…
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“We are waves in the same ocean”
The above quote is shamelessly taken directly from another blogger’s post – Raffaello Palandri writes a beautiful blog that covers everything from philosophy to Tai Chi, meditation, Buddhism, art and photography – it is one of my favorite places to visit in blog-land. In a post I tagged a year…
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Retro-walking backwards
Not long ago I posted about the Walk for Peace. Whilst last year I wrote about how I say the alphabet backwards to help me get to sleep and another about riding a bicycle backwards. Continuing my interest in both walking and backwardness, I recently wrote about Tai Chi Walking,…
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The king of the castle (a short story)
Today’s short story gets a bit graphic (even a bit gory). I write these Migraine Gothic stories as a way of wrestling with the horror of head pain… rest assured, however, it’s pure fiction… but if your nervous system is feeling fragile, save yourself some stress and give it a…
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“The body keeps the score”
I had heard A LOT about the book “The Body Keeps the Score” (2014) by Bessel van der Kolk, long before I picked it up. Perhaps it was all the hype around its potential life-changing ability that made my expectations VERY high… but I’m going to be potentially controversial and…
The Mindful Migraine 