The Mindful Migraine

Hello!

Welcome to The Mindful Migraine Blog – where healing happens (naturally!)

My name is Linda. I’m in my early fifties, and live in Australia. I’ve trained as an architect, worked for decades as a project manager, and (just) graduated from studying for a PhD whilst trying to make peace with chronic pain.

I’ve had migraines on and off since I was 11 years old. More recently, my ‘episodic hemiplegic migraines’ began to merge together, and I was diagnosed with ‘chronic migraine’.

Chronic migraine reduced my ability to parent, work, study, travel and socialize. It is a debilitating condition, which is not yet fully understood and is not currently curable. It’s more than ‘just a headache’ – it’s a ‘full body catastrophe’ – and perhaps not surprisingly, can lead to isolation and depression.

But it doesn’t have to be all bad news – I’m turning my life around, and if I can do it – so can YOU.

About two and a half years ago, after months and months of relentless pain that wasn’t responding to available medications, my neurologist recommended I change my mindset and follow a more holistic approach to healing.

Through a journey of exploration, I have been learning about a variety of alternative approaches with the aim of reducing my migraine triggers and increasing my ability to tolerate those triggers.

Whilst I still have a permanent low-level pain in one eye, practicing mindfulness (paying attention to my body, staying calm, and focusing on the positive) has helped reduce my ‘full blown’ migraines from 3+ days per week, every week, to 1 day every 3 weeks (with a few setbacks). 

When I told my neurologist about how his advice had turned my life around, he congratulated me and said, “why don’t you write a blog to help others?”

After wrestling many inner-demons who told me I wasn’t qualified enough, or interesting enough, or wordy-wise enough… I eventually started this blog on the 17th of January 2024. I hoped it would be a way to cure my loneliness whilst helping others who were suffering from persistent pain and didn’t feel heard, understood or valued.

This blog includes the program that I initially used to get better, personal strategies, as well as resources that have helped me, including links to breathing exercises, Tai Chi and Qigong YouTube classes, meditations, Yin Yoga, stretching, self-massage tips, fitness routines and healing music. 

If you’re reading this, I’m sorry for your pain, and I RESPECT you for pushing through to be here. Also know that you’re not alone. I hope that the resources here help you achieve more-pain-less days, and that the comments bring you closer to others who are going through what you are, right here, right now.

Remember it’s ‘your brain – your pain – your journey’ and since every body and every situation is different, you should always work with your health care support network on which strategies will best suit your individual condition.

But also remember that we’re more powerful when we band together; when we help each other out, we also empower ourselves to keep going and keep growing, and we ALL emerge stronger than before.

Take care taking care, Linda x

If you’re curious to hear me speak about my healing journey, you can see me in action, chatting to Ellen at Studio Migraine in the Netherlands: Studio Migraine meets The Mindful Migraine blogger Linda

There’s also a chat with Amber Horrox from Warrior Within which includes laughter and brutal honesty: Overcoming guilt & shame with Linda X

Or you can pop over to listen to me on Roi Shternin’s Chronically Empowered Podcast: How mindfulness got a 3 year long Migraine under control! – Sick notes

The most recent of all, is a discussion with Violet Li, Tai Chi Master, about how mindful movement helped reduce my migraine pain: Migraine Relief Through Tai Chi: Linda’s Path

(DISCLAIMER: Please be sure to speak to your health care provider before making any major lifestyle changes – I am not a medical doctor – I am only writing about what has and hasn’t worked for me based on my 40 years of lived experience with migraine.)

*

If you want to stay in touch, feel free to say hello just about anywhere:

The Mindful Migraine Blog | Linktree

*

Alternatively, come join the 1,000+ members of “Team Mindful Migraine” by subscribing to The Mindful Migraine Blog, and read along as we help each other navigate our holistic health journeys and reclaim happiness: