Category: BookReview
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“Not tonight honey – I have a headache”
What a cliche! And yet… where there’s smoke there’s fire… or is there? Today’s post is a little bit long (it went places I wasn’t expecting) and it is also potentially a little bit tricky as it initially treads into an area many people might consider taboo for public conversation.…
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Bibliotherapy and migraines
As someone who has had a lot of migraines, I can tell you that there is a sliding scale of functionality that is attached to a life lived with pain. On some days, the pain is manageable or nearly missing, so you can do most things, even perform something as…
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“No mud, no lotus”
Today’s blog post is a book review for Thích Nhất Hạnh’s book “No Mud, No Lotus” which is a practical self-help guide published over 10 years ago in 2014. Before I started to read it, I knew nothing about the book or the author, other than I had heard the…
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“Unlearn your pain”
I’m always on the lookout for information that will change the way I relate to and understand my chronic pain. In my search, I came across a book online called “Unlearn your pain” by Dr. Howard Schubiner. (The book is on his website here). The title alone made me optimistic……
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“The neuroscience of mindfulness”
A while ago I posted about “Mindfulness and its discontents”, a book I picked up from the university library. In the same visit I also picked up another book, titled “The neuroscience of mindfulness” by Australian neuroscientist Stan Rodski (2019). The book starts straight out with why we need mindfulness;…
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“Hidden from View”
A doctor I met on LinkedIn sent me a PDF of a book suggesting it might help me with my migraines; “Hidden from view: a clinician’s guide to psychophysiologic disorders” by doctors Allan Abbass and Howard Schubiner (2018). As the title suggests, I think it was designed for people who…
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“How to change minds”
When my neurologist told me that “more medicine doesn’t equal less pain”, I didn’t want to listen. When he told me that to heal, I needed to adjust my lifestyle and mindset, I became as prickly as a cactus. When he suggested that I should start doing meditation, yoga and…
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“In bed” by Joan Didion
Joan Didon (1934-2021) is an American writer and journalist. Her obituary in Vogue casually mentions: “She was afflicted by migraines and was frequently depressed, even wearing dark glasses through the wedding ceremony.” I found a picture on Joan’s website, and sunglasses indoors does appear to confirm she is a person…
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“Mindfulness and it’s discontents”
The more I learn about mindfulness, the more I discover there is also push-back. If mindfulness is a ‘movement’, then there are those who are advocates and those who are not. The internet is full of the first camp, and you don’t have to look too hard to find someone…
The Mindful Migraine 