Category: Strategies

  • The 4 F-words of trauma

    The 4 F-words of trauma

    This blog post is a very high-level discussion about how people respond to trauma and is hopefully not upsetting in any way, but it IS about stressors, so you may want to give it a miss. * * * * * For a long time when I was growing up,…

  • “How to change minds”

    “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…

  • What is functional medicine?

    What is functional medicine?

    When I first heard the phrase “functional medicine” from my blogging buddy Midwest Mary, my first thought was – “isn’t all medicine functional? Why would I take a non-functioning medication?!?” Curiosity piqued, I went off to find out more about ‘functional medicine.’ First stop – my computer’s AI assistant which…

  • Mini-mindfulness course

    Mini-mindfulness course

    A couple of people have asked me if I have any plans to write a mindfulness course to purchase… the answer is no… I don’t have the time, energy or skills to create the additional content to a level of quality that you all deserve, AND I want everything I…

  • What am I doing here?

    What am I doing here?

    While doing my regular blog-land roundabout I came across a blog called The Spectacled Bean and a post labelled “Home Sweet Home: do you know where you belong?” The post referred to an interactive website (OECD Better Life Index) where you can find out which country best suits you based…

  • Midnight migraines

    Midnight migraines

    A while ago I wrote that I was pretty sure that nightmares can trigger midnight migraines… today I’m adding another unconventional culprit to the list: wearing socks to bed.  Hear me out… For a few months there, one of the biggest banes of my life was midnight migraines.  I was…

  • Wearing a mask / Resting B!@#$ Face

    Wearing a mask / Resting B!@#$ Face

    I couldn’t decide what to call today’s post. The polite version of what I want to write about relates to “wearing a mask” when you live with chronic pain. I often find myself smiling politely to people when I really feel like sleeping / sighing / crying. It’s not the…

  • Whispers and screams

    Whispers and screams

    The other day I read a comment on the blog Thriving Chronicles – it immediately struck me as so simple and yet deeply profound: “I try to listen to my body when it whispers, so it doesn’t have to scream!” My goodness – why hadn’t I thought of that!?! This…

  • No spoons (or forks) for me…

    No spoons (or forks) for me…

    A while ago I wrote about the history of “spoons” – the metaphor people with fibromyalgia use to explain how people with chronic pain allocate their limited amounts of energy.  Today I want to go into a bit more detail to explain the idea, AND tell you why it doesn’t…