Category: Strategies
-
The migraine-pain-brain-train
The other day I had to catch the train into university to see my PhD supervisor. It takes about one hour, as long as everything goes right. If there is any sort of problem, then it can be even longer. Very occasionally, I’ve had to get off and change to…
-
Be prepared… but like, REALLY prepared
The Boy Scouts have a saying (or at least they did when I was there earning my merit badges while backpacking with leeches) which is “be prepared”. The idea is to hope for the best but plan for the worst. Don’t head off into the wilderness without a bottle of…
-
“The Migraine Brain”
“I’d rather die than get another migraine!” – that’s the dramatic start to the introduction of “The Migraine Brain” (2020) by Dr Carolyn Bernstein. It was attention getting, no doubt, but it also got me immediately on edge. I recognized the sentiment, sure, but I also think of that form…
-
The step after self-actualization
Today’s blog post is something of a thought experiment. It’s about things that have been floating around in my mind for a while, but this is the first time I’ve tried to articulate the ideas. So, think of it as a ‘first draft’ and apologies in advance if it doesn’t…
-
Sit in your discomfort longer
When my eldest daughter was about 10 years old, I remember her teacher saying, “the best advice I was ever given as a parent, is the same advice I give to all the parents of my students: let kids sit in their discomfort longer.” What she meant was; when a…
-
Why you might not be healing
As a person who was diagnosed with a chronic pain condition over two years ago, there is NOTHING that holds a greater priority in my head and heart than healing. I REALLY want to get better. Now, that might sound like I’m de-prioritizing my family, but that’s not true. They…
-
Is my pillow causing my migraine?
When I first started to pull myself out of my chronic pain downward spiral, I listened to a podcast that had a title similar to the one I just wrote, something like: “is my pillow the problem?” This is it, I thought! I’m going to start to learn everything I…
-
Segment intending – or as I like to say: “chunking”
One of the difficulties of getting through a standard day when you’re feeling under the weather (whether it’s mood-wise, pain-wise, or motivation-wise), is that there is always a lot of things that need to get done AND whilst there might be a lot of time to get it done, that…
-
Generosity rather than gratitude
Today is International Day of Charity. As such, today’s post is a reminder to think about others rather than yourself. A while ago I wrote a post about how I replaced the desire for “less pain” with the hope of “more joy”. The shift sounds small, but it was in…
The Mindful Migraine 