The Mindful Migraine

One of my favorite places in Blog-land is brand new blogs; they are filled with such good intent and a contagious enthusiasm. A recent newbie I came across is “Simon Says Blog – Personal growth, personal weirdness…” After some email chit-chat (I’m here if you need me) I invited him to write a guest post on mindfulness. Here’s Simon’s fabulous reply:

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What mindfulness means to me…

I was honored to be invited to write a guest post for Linda’s Mindful Migraine blog. 

It was the topic of breathwork that connected Linda and I on opposite sides of the planet, as this was the topic of my first blog post, and something I am deeply passionate about. Since then, I’ve subscribed to Linda’s blog and have been enjoying regular doses of her writing. If you’re here I assume you’ve done the same, but if not, I strongly recommend doing so! 

For this post, I decided to offer three short reflections on different wellbeing and mindfulness practices that I use, in the hope that some of it will resonate and be useful to you guys. 

Here goes…

1. The Gratitude Journal

Gratitude is closely related to mindfulness for me. But gratitude is something I have really struggled with over the last year or two, as I have hit what is often described as the ‘mid-life crisis’ in my 40s, so this is something I am really trying to work on.

The journal is something I started recently, and since then I have been trying to use it every day. Consistency is very much on my mind at the moment (again based on a number of inspirational coaches and writers that have influenced me), something I write about here.  

I find it helpful to have a prompt, or template. This one is broadly based on the ‘10-minute priming’ ritual attributed to the author, coach and motivational speaker Tony Robbins. This is just trying to quickly set you up for your day in a time-efficient way. 

• 30 x yoga ‘breath of fire’ (around 1 minute – inhale, and exhale through the nose fairly forcefully)
  • I am not a yoga expert, just an enthusiastic amateur around breathing who has attended classes, read books etc. If you want to substitute this breath with something grounding and calming, I write about coherent breathing here. 
• 3 experiences you are grateful for (around 4 minutes).
• 3 things you want to achieve (around 4 minutes).
• A mantra (around 1 minute). I added this step at the end. For example, “I am comfortable, relaxed and happy in my own body”… 

2. The Meditation Practice

You may already know a lot about meditation, or have personal experience of it. You may or may not already know of the fantastic Dr Joe Dispenza, a lecturer, researcher, author and speaker whose areas of expertise span the fields of epigenetics, quantum physics & neuroscience. 

Dr Dispenza is a powerful and eloquent advocate of meditation. I am really enjoying his book ‘Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself’ – a great title for me as it’s punchy, and also provocative, as it appears to contradict that frequently repeated and supposedly helpful advice, ‘be yourself’. 

The reason I bring this into this article was in thinking about a personal health and wellbeing challenge like suffering from migraines, something I have not suffered from myself but that has afflicted some people that I know. Some people credit meditation as advocated by Dr Joe with reversing major health challenges.

Whether you give credence to Dr Dispenza’s ideas or not, for me meditation is a powerful addition to our lives, and Dr Dispenza’s argument that ‘in order to change your personal reality, you have to change your personality’ is a very compelling one. 

How can we change our lives if we hold onto the old stories and experiences that have shaped (perhaps limited) our lives so far? 

3. The Cold Plunge

Cold swimming, cold plunging, cold showers, outdoor swimming – all of these are great. Immersion in cold water has been a part of my life for years, and has been growing exponentially in popularity in recent years due to high-profile advocates like Wim Hof. 

As a light-hearted aside, Linda is based in Australia, and I am an Englishman who has watched one too many Youtube videos of crocs, sharks and other aquatic terrors, mainly in Australia and the US! I suppose if I was unlucky I could get mauled by a seal in the English sea if I accidentally swam between a mother and her pups, but generally the worst we have to contend with here is an aggressive tadpole, mutated through the scandalous pollution levels in some of our rivers. 

The reason I mention cold exposure on Linda’s blog is around pain relief and the sense of wellbeing – even euphoria – that can be obtained via cold swimming and cold plunging. 

Rather than write more on cold swimming, I’ll end with a video I made back in Feb ’22. I tried to focus on the following three benefits of cold swimming, and did the best research I could manage at the time, with a piece of evidence to back up each benefit:

• Mood improvement
• Pain Relief
• Immune system support

If you’ve gotten this far, well done (and thank you) as I do go on a bit! 

Great to meet you all, and I would love to hear how this landed with you in the comments!

Namaste. 

Simon

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Here’s cheers to Simon’s 3 suggestions; gratitude journalling, meditation, and the cold plunge [although I might give the last one a miss – I’m a serious wimp when it comes to the cold… and our Aussie sharks!!] If any of his three approaches resonate with you, be sure to pop over to Simon Says Blog and share some support.

What I love most about Simon’s post is that it is a reminder that we’re all in this together apart… each on our own journey to wellness, with paths that often crisscross and diverge… and that makes all the difference!

Take care taking care, Linda x