themindfulmigraine
TheMindfulMigraine.Blog
My name is Linda: I suffer from chronic migraine - but holistic strategies are helping me - so I blog about them. Hope they help you too.
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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 problems’ online and make up some graphics for them. The questions are here today (Tuesday my time), and the answers…
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Creating a (mental) happy place
When I was a child, I used to suffer from insomnia. I would lie in bed and overanalyze what had happened that day… agonize over whether I could have handled things differently… imagine alternative tomorrows… catastrophize a bit. I’m not a huge fan of the concept of a ‘migraine personality’ but I am self-aware enough to recognize that I have always been at least a little bit anxious, and as…
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The Boston Marathon and Mount Everest
What do the Boston Marathon and Mount Everest have in common? They seem to be the two most common stories I hear referred to as an (im)possible dream. A dream so big, the dreamer knows it could take them years to achieve, but one which they believe the sacrifice will be worth it.
I’m not sure if I’m remembering correctly, but in my neurologist’s office (on the day he told me to start my…
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Sacrifice
Today (the 25th of April) in Australia and New Zealand, is ANZAC Day (the acronym stands for “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps”). Since 1916, it’s been a National Day of Remembrance which pays respect to all those who served and died in all the wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping missions our nations have been involved in. It generally involves a dawn vigil and wreath-laying ceremony at each…
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Chair Yoga for migraines
One of the first posts I ever made on The Mindful Migraine Blog was about Yin Yoga. My neurologist recommended I do a few lessons as a form of mindful movement to help reverse my chronic pain. I mentioned at the time that I felt “no victory” getting out of bed and lying on the floor. Several of the postures also made me feel unwell (anything that puts your head down low or places pressure on a…
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Being cruisy in carparks
Yesterday’s post “can drafts can cause migraines?” got mixed responses here, and on Instagram and LinkedIn (where I sometimes post links). Some people were ‘heck yeah’, some were ‘I guess so’ and some were ‘meh…’ – which pretty much sums up all my feelings over the last few weeks I’ve been thinking about it.
There was one comment on LinkedIn, however, that felt like a bit of a tough-love moment.…
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Can drafts cause migraines?
A month ago, while I was walking my two dogs, a lady who was visiting a neighbor up the road stopped me. She wanted to chat to my dogs. After her dog-whispering was complete, she started up a conversation with me. She mentioned she wasn’t feeling that well and began to list her aches and pains. I commiserated. One thing led to another, and we ended up talking about migraines (as I so often…
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Acupuncture for migraines
About five years ago, a friend recommended I try acupuncture for my migraines. I have mixed feelings about (un)solicited advice. On the one hand, I’m open-minded, keen to get better, and curious to learn about my options. On the other hand, I’ve had more than my fair share of advice that is a bit tedious, especially when it is delivered in a ‘this is THE cure for EVERYONE’ manner.
Moreover,…
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Living in the grey (or orange) zone of life
Our language tends to favor a binary (on/off or 1/0) version of events. Life is good/bad, the sky is clear/overcast, people are heroes/villains, decisions are right/wrong, play a game and you’re a winner/loser, and in our final hour we may well turn out to be saved/damned. If you used traditional wedding vows to get hitched then you got married for the polar opposites of better or worse,…
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3 months young and getting resourceful
OK, one more post about mini-milestones, then I promise I’ll stop carrying on (for a while at least!) On the 17th of January 2024, I posted my first ever entry – “My migraine story” – since then, I’ve slowly got into the habit of posting Monday to Friday, until here I am; 3 months young today. I’m still learning how blogging works (for example, only yesterday I accidently discovered I can include…
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Press the (fishy) doorbell - then clap - please!
The internet is a weird and wonderful place, no doubt about it. The other day when I was on Tumblr I read a fantastic post about a fish-doorbell. Yep, you read that correctly. In the Netherlands they have lots of canals, and on those canals they also have ‘locks’ which open and close to allow, or block, the flow of water through that point, presumably helping to maintain appropriate water levels…
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Lady Gaga’s migraine ad
A few weeks ago, I did a post labelled ‘migraines as advertised’ that showed several (not great) migraine medication ads from decades ago. Seconds after I hit ‘publish’ I noticed an article about a ‘controversial’ Lady Gaga ad for migraine medication. Lady Gaga is well known for her singing and acting. What you may not know is that she also apparently gets migraines and suffers from…
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We are ALL influencers
After spending a few weeks on Instagram I have become hyperaware of ‘influencers’. In Australia, and in my line of work, I don’t really hear much about them, except the occasional story when one gets arrested returning from an overseas travel trip that ‘sponsors’ paid for (sponsors who turned out to be drug dealers). There are also stories where influencers get busted for not paying taxes on…
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Being out of sync with the rest of the world
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that the blogosphere is overflowing with foreign phrases such as “snow melt” and “frost thaw”, and pictures of blooming flowers, including those on my new-blogger-friends Amy and Edward’s pages. “Spring has sprung!” all the pictures declare. Only it hasn’t. It’s the start of Autumn (or “Fall”) where I live in Australia. We might notice leaves on a few…
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Royalty free images
For today’s post I’m going a bit rogue. This morning, my youngest daughter headed off on a school excursion to the Art Gallery in Sydney, and it reminded me of something I recently read. I know that a lot of my readers are also bloggers, so I wanted to share the news with you all. The article (from last month) announced that the Getty Museum was making thousands and thousands of its images free…
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Migraine Biomarkers
The next instalment from my file notes from the ever-giving 2024 Migraine World Summit is a discussion on whether increased knowledge about biomarkers could improve migraine diagnosis. Dr Patricia Pozo-Roisch, the head of neurology at a Spanish institute was interviewed, and the short answer to the hypothesized question is yes… but.
A ‘biomarker’ is a way of measuring a biological condition in…
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The blog-rolls keep rolling
I said I was going to annoy you all with my mini-achievements, so here I am celebrating another teeny-tiny-yet-epic milestone: 500 LIKES! Because, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m super motivated about collecting likes (not really – but I’m only human, and they make me warm and fuzzy so keep them coming!)
When I started this blog at the beginning of the year, I had absolutely no clue what to…
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