OK, so the heading probably sounds a bit dramatic, something along the lines of “lay down your weapons”… especially given the crazy-scary state of the world right now. But that’s not where I’m coming from. I’m not trying to be figurative, or metaphorical – just purely literal.
Throughout the day: check in on your hands – and keep loosening them up.
If they’re in a fist, uncurl your fingers and turn your hands into a wide-open star-fish formation. If your two hands are wringing each other, stop, let go, shake your hands around. When you’re resting, rest your hands too, lay them open in your lap, palm-upwards to receive positive energy.
The reason I’m telling you this, is because I’ve been shocked to discover just how much tension I seem to carry in my hands.
One of my very first posts on this blog was called “feeling your face” and it mentioned that I was surprised to discover how much tension I carried in my face. I realized that I was always frowning, squinting, pouting, or grinding my teeth – sometimes it was due to pain, sometimes it was just my (not so great) way of concentrating.
I called this look my “pug puppy face” – all wrinkly and squinkly – and I started to practice mindfulness techniques that helped me melt the tension away – such as imagining a balloon inside my head being blown up so that my face had to expand to make room for it, and all the wrinkles disappeared and my eyebrows rose up and outwards, and my lips went up and out – and formed a smile.
[Strange but true – try it!]
About the same time, I researched all the ways I could use power poses, massage my face and the acupressure points that could be EFT tapped into relaxation… and I got a mouthguard to stop me clenching my teeth (and protect the teeth I broke during my worst migraine ever)… later still, I discovered Face Yoga and that helped even more.
It was a big thing for me, and after all that researching and writing, I got very good at managing the tension in my face through self-awareness and mindfulness techniques.
AND THEN
I recently got the mother of all mother-fk’n migraines (sorry Mom) and as I was lying in pain, I suddenly became VERY aware of how tightly I was clenching my fists – so much so, I had made a series of little crescent moon indentations on my palms.
It was as if all my angst and agony found its way into hands and I was ready to punch the Universe (if I had the energy) or else, just simmer in impotent rage.
I was “paingry” and it was manifesting itself mostly in my hands.
*
Here’s something I’ve learnt – don’t give your pain-brain a reason to panic – be as relaxed as can be so that when it does one of its regular ‘welfare checks’ on you, it doesn’t find signs of trouble.
Imagine you’re a police officer and you get told to check on a couple of houses down the street. When you arrive, one house is pristine, prettily painted, well maintained and clearly loved and looked after. The other house looks like a tip. It has rubbish in the yard, broken windows and a roof that is one good gust of wind away from blowing right off.
Which house would your intuition tell you is the one in which trouble awaits?
It’s not fair, and might not be reasonable or right, but chances are your intuition will automatically suggest that tidy-outside probably means orderly-inside.
Do the same for your pain-brain: hide the evidence – fake it til you make it – put up a good pretense – remind it that you are safe and sound and there’s no reason to put you back in bed with another migraine or other chronic pain flare-attack.
Chill.
[And I know how annoying that sounds (what anxious person was ever cured by the phrase “chill out”) – I know, I know – but there IS some truth in it.]
You can’t control everything about your health, but sometimes you can control the mood you channel towards it; energy flows where attention goes.
*
Unclench your fists – you don’t have to be at war with your body, your pain, your brain, or the whole darn Universe – you don’t need to be a Migraine Warrior all the time – stay open minded and open handed.
Oops… I guess it turned out that this was a “lay down your weapons” kind of post after all!
Take care taking care out there,
Linda xox
The Mindful Migraine 
Leave a comment